tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/quebec-separatism-86263/articlesQuebec separatism – The Conversation2022-09-08T21:57:27Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1902072022-09-08T21:57:27Z2022-09-08T21:57:27ZÉric Duhaime and the Conservative Party of Québec’s contradictory stance on nationalism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483565/original/file-20220908-9395-pdgu6b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C0%2C2991%2C2151&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Conservative Party of Québec leader Éric Duhaime speaks at the unveiling of his campaign platform in Drummondville on Aug. 14, 2022. Quebecers will go to the polls on Oct. 3. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The current Québec election campaign is an opportune moment to measure the political divisions brought about by the sovereignty question. It also provides an opportunity to see how Éric Duhaime’s Conservative Party of Québec (PCQ) is attempting to position itself on this issue.</p>
<p>Between 1976 and 2018, Québec elections were structured by the division between federalists and sovereignists. This division was reflected in the alternating in power of the Québec Liberal Party and the Parti Québécois. When the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) party took power in 2018, it muddied the waters of this persistent division.</p>
<p>What role will Québec’s Conservative Party play in the election on Oct. 3? And where does it stand on the political spectrum of the right? As a professor in the department of sociology at the University of Québec in Montréal, my current research focuses on nationalism and populism in Canada, Québec and Germany.</p>
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<h2>Nationalism without a quest for statehood</h2>
<p>If the national question no longer creates the same division and no longer puts the same two political parties in the forefront of Québec politics, the last four years have shown that it is too early to declare an end to nationalist dynamics in Québec politics. </p>
<p>Some, like Duhaime, believe that the divide between sovereignists and federalists has given way to one between the left and the right. My co-author and I do not share this view. There is not one nationalist movement in Québec, but rather several movements that do not all share the same objectives. They can sometimes be contradictory. </p>
<p>These dynamics will certainly shape this election campaign. With the decline of the sovereignist option, the type of nationalism oriented toward statehood that is historically associated with the Parti Québécois, as well as with Québec Solidaire, is on the decline among the electorate. Although <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/quebec-premier-confirms-another-sovereigntist-candidate-for-fall-election-1.5933718">many CAQ voters still identify themselves as sovereignists</a>, they do not vote for a political party that openly promotes this type of nationalism.</p>
<p>The strength of the CAQ’s nationalist mobilization strategy is that it brings economic, republican, autonomous and populist nationalists together under one umbrella. The party is quite adept at seizing opportunities to win the loyalty of these different currents by playing on a number of legal and symbolic issues, but without arousing the fears often associated with the referendum option and the sovereignist horizon.</p>
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<img alt="Premier François Legault speaks at the microphone, accompanied by a man and a woman" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481354/original/file-20220826-16-4hffco.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481354/original/file-20220826-16-4hffco.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481354/original/file-20220826-16-4hffco.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481354/original/file-20220826-16-4hffco.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481354/original/file-20220826-16-4hffco.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481354/original/file-20220826-16-4hffco.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481354/original/file-20220826-16-4hffco.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Québec Premier François Legault, surrounded by CAQ candidates, speaks to the press in Laval on Aug. 12. The strength of the CAQ’s nationalist mobilization strategy is that it reaches out to a cross-section of economic, republican, autonomist and populist nationalists.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Canadian Press/Peter McCabe</span></span>
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<p>The CAQ has been willing to provoke conflict with the federal Liberal government. This strategy has been relatively successful so far, with the exception of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/federal-election-trudeau-legault-1.6183682">François Legault’s support for the Conservative Party</a> in the last federal election.</p>
<p>Beyond that, the CAQ tries to create situations where it can win in one of two ways. Either it gets what it wants, or it denounces the interference of the federal government or the rest of Canada in Québec politics. One example is the <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/ottawa-will-join-supreme-court-legal-challenge-of-bill-21-lametti-says">ongoing challenge to Bill 96 (French language law)</a>. Many Québec voters, even if they are opposed to Bill 21 (on state secularism) or Bill 96, are equally opposed to the federal government interfering in legislation passed by Québec’s National Assembly.</p>
<p>If the Parti Québécois, Québec Solidaire and CAQ are sticking to familiar ground when it comes to the nationalist question, it remains to be seen where the PCQ and its new leader Duhaime will position themselves.</p>
<h2>Where does the PCQ stand in Québec’s political landscape?</h2>
<p>Duhaime’s party <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/quebecs-provincial-conservative-party-surges-as-protest-vote-against-provinces-heavy-handed-government">was galvanized by opposition to health measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic</a>. Its libertarian and convoluted position on the vaccination issue allowed the party to gain support via a protest vote. </p>
<p>It has also built a loyal base that often flirts with conspiracy theories <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-report-finds-people-increasingly-distrust-media-avoid-news-out-of/">in a context of strong distrust toward the media in Québec</a>. Early in the campaign, a Conservative candidate was once again forced to explain himself <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2022/08/25/did-a-conservative-leadership-hopeful-compare-covid-19-vaccines-to-nazi-atrocities-leslyn-lewis-rejects-cowardly-accusation.html">after associating the government’s treatment of non-vaccinated people with that of Jews “at one time”</a>.</p>
<p>Some members of the Conservative team – <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/investigates/quebec-s-conservative-party-surges-in-the-polls-as-some-of-its-candidates-spread-conspiracy-theories-1.6532486">up to 30 per cent of candidates according to a CBC survey</a> – have spread misinformation about vaccines and other treatments related to COVID-19. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2053168021993979">Research</a> shows a correlation between opposition to health measures, voting for populist right-wing parties and conspiracy thinking.</p>
<p>In a political climate in Québec <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/allison-hanes-threats-to-politicians-are-a-threat-to-democracy">where threats against politicians of all stripes have never been higher</a>, many point out that Duhaime is playing a dangerous game by adopting the anti-establishment, friend-enemy rhetoric of radical right-wing insurrectionist movements, <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/liberals-rizqy-accuses-conservative-leader-duhaime-of-channelling-hate">only to timidly call his activists to order later</a>. </p>
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<img alt="A man and a woman embrace, in a crowd" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481353/original/file-20220826-6184-zxgvqy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481353/original/file-20220826-6184-zxgvqy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481353/original/file-20220826-6184-zxgvqy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481353/original/file-20220826-6184-zxgvqy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481353/original/file-20220826-6184-zxgvqy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481353/original/file-20220826-6184-zxgvqy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481353/original/file-20220826-6184-zxgvqy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Conservative Party of Québec Leader Éric Duhaime with one of his controversial candidates, Anne Casabonne, during the unveiling of his election campaign platform in Drummondville on Aug. 14.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span>
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<p>The party is placing all the cards in its very right-wing hand on economic issues, occupying a void left by the CAQ’s centre-right politics. In a context where young voters are dealing with inflation, the carrot of a tax cut — also proposed by its Liberal and CAQ competitors — could pay off. With this tax cut and its proposal to suspend the provincial gas tax, the PCQ is trying to position itself as the party of tax relief.</p>
<p>In terms of socio-demographics, the party has significant appeal among <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/pandemic-weary-quebecers-boost-conservatives-popularity-poll-suggests">young voters</a>, particularly young men. Some <a href="https://angusreid.org/quebec-spotlight-bill-96/">polls</a> measured a disparity in voting intentions by gender with up to eight percentage points more among men. This gap has <a href="https://338canada.com/quebec/polls.htm">narrowed</a> recently. The PCQ now exceeds the Parti Québécois in voting intentions.</p>
<p>The PCQ’s strategy on the national question can be gleaned from two clear sources, the election platform and the program, and two grey sources, the leader’s public statements and the <a href="https://en-quebecproud.nationbuilder.com">Québec Proud platform</a>.</p>
<p>This platform includes the strategic and tactical repertoire that will be mobilized in the election campaign, what Duhaime calls <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/duhaime-conservative-party-quebec-1.6551168">priority issues</a>. These include privatizing health care and the exploitation of hydrocarbons.</p>
<h2>National populist and libertarian themes</h2>
<p>The election platform presented on Aug.t 14 is silent on nationalist issues. It includes no reference to secularism, immigration or protection of the French language. This is not, however, the case with the party platform, nor with Duhaime’s public statements.</p>
<p>After advocating for a decrease in immigration, <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/parti-quebecois-would-reduce-immigration-to-quebec-if-elected">Duhaime is now sticking to the 50,000-immigrant threshold proposed by the CAQ</a>. Speaking in French, he has repeatedly introduced the notion of “civilizational compatibility” as a principle that should structure immigration policy. In the vocabulary of the populist right, this notion of immigration is a dog whistle referring to the limitation of Muslim immigration. The program also aspires to a pro-natalist policy without detailing its content. The family, <a href="https://www.conservative.quebec/values">explains the electoral platform</a> (in French), is “the primary institution of our society and the foundation of our nation.”</p>
<p>These themes align the party’s semantics and program with the national-populist right, but give it a clear federalist tone. By <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/quebec-election-campaign-2022-live-updates-news-opinion-montreal-sovereignty">Duhaime’s own admission</a>, this program shares many points in common with the nationalism of the CAQ. It could therefore appeal to a part of the electorate that supported Legault in 2018. </p>
<p>Beyond general statements, the concrete positioning of the PCQ on language issues is less clear. The PCQ seeks to present itself both as a defender of the French language, and as representing libertarian positions that oppose <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/duhaime-would-repeal-bill-96-saying-anglos-shouldnt-trade-in-historic-rights">Québec’s language laws</a>. </p>
<p>The program claims to want to protect French, “the most important vector of national identity and of the unique character of the Québec people in Canada and in America.” But while seeking to defend an identity centred around language, family and defending civilization, Duhaime is trying to appeal to an <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/hostage-to-a-single-party-conservative-duhaime-courts-english-voters-promotes-bilingualism-1.6057354">English-speaking electorate</a> jaded by the Québec Liberal Party. On Tuesday, before an English-speaking audience in Montréal, <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/duhaime-would-repeal-bill-96-saying-anglos-shouldnt-trade-in-historic-rights">he said he was opposed to using the notwithstanding clause to protect Bill 96</a>.</p>
<p>These are difficult tensions to reconcile in Québec politics. It is hard to imagine how libertarians can commit to supporting Québec culture if they systematically oppose the institutional and cultural instruments that allow the state to subsidize, disseminate and promote that culture. So, even for federalists who support traditional Québec constitutional claims, Duhaime’s platform remains very vague. </p>
<p>This wide-ranging position could end up arousing the suspicion of both nationalists and federalists who are worried about the status of French in Québec and in the rest of Canada.</p>
<h2>Embarrassing support from the Alberta oil and gas industry</h2>
<p>Although ambiguities remain around identity issues, the PCQ is not hesitant when it comes to the question of exploiting of Québec’s energy resources, including natural gas. In this case, petro-populism complements nationalist populism.</p>
<p>Duhaime strongly supports the development of these resources, and his party has ties to <a href="https://pressprogress.ca/this-right-wing-quebec-media-website-has-mysterious-ties-with-albertas-oil-lobby/">pro-oil interest groups</a> in Western Canada. The Facebook page Québec Proud, the French-language counterpart of Canada Proud, <a href="https://ici.radio-canada.ca/recit-numerique/4207/quebec-fier-parti-conservateur-eric-duhaime">was recently described as a content factory for Duhaime’s formation</a>.</p>
<p>The page is a team effort between the oil and gas industry in the West and the PCQ, according to Radio-Canada. The group Québec Proud was recently funded by the <a href="https://canadastrongandfree.network">Canada Strong and Free network</a>. The <a href="https://www.modernmiraclenetwork.org">Modern Miracle Network</a>, an oil and gas advocacy organization, describes Québec Proud as a <a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/10/19/news/little-known-colossus-behind-conservatives-anti-climate-agenda">fossil industry advocacy group</a>.</p>
<p>These endorsements could be dangerous for the PCQ. If the party appears to be a Québec branch of an Alberta-based party, it could drive away voters who had been attracted to the CAQ’s autonomist positions and economic nationalism.</p>
<p>In other words, it will be difficult to present the party as a ruler of its own economic policies if it is perceived as a lackey of Alberta interests.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190207/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Where do the Conservative Party of Québec and its leader, Éric Duhaime, a newcomer on the political scene, fit in?Frédérick Guillaume Dufour, Professeur en sociologie politique, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)François Tanguay, Doctorant, Université de MontréalLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1706192021-11-02T21:25:47Z2021-11-02T21:25:47ZCanada inked a landmark constitutional accord 40 years ago — and it’s still causing problems<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429586/original/file-20211101-19-4dw9rj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C494%2C2012%2C896&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Left to right, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Finance Minister Allan MacEachen and Québec Premier René Lévesque attend the constitutional conference in Ottawa on Nov. 5, 1981 — the morning after eight premiers hastily pieced together a constitutional accord.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ron Poling </span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/canada-inked-a-landmark-constitutional-accord-40-years-ago-—-and-it-s-still-causing-problems" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>On Nov. 5, 40 years will have passed since Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and provincial premiers agreed in an Ottawa hotel <a href="https://primarydocuments.ca/federal-provincial-conference-of-first-ministers-on-the-constitution-verbatim-transcript-2-5-november-1981/">to a new constitutional accord</a>. </p>
<p>While the moment is celebrated as a significant national achievement, it also produced bitterness that continues to impose upon Canada a cost that remains destructive to the country.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HLaGEHrDWx0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">In this clip from CBC TV’s The National, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau lauds the milestone.</span></figcaption>
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<p>After decades of searching for constitutional resolution amid increasing tension and divisions, <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/constitution-act-1982">10 of Canada’s 11 first ministers agreed to add to the Constitution</a> a <a href="https://www.lawnow.org/significance-charter-canadian-legal-history/">Charter of Rights and Freedoms</a>, a commitment to <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/equalization-and-the-federal-spending-power/a-short-history-of-equalization/">fiscal equalization among provinces</a>, expanded provincial jurisdiction <a href="https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/science-data/science-research/earth-sciences/earth-sciences-resources/earth-sciences-federal-programs/roles-responsibilities-governments-natural-resources/8882">over natural resources</a> and an <a href="https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/2019/07/amending-formula/">amending formula</a> aimed at making Canada a self-determining nation.</p>
<p>While this <a href="https://publications.gc.ca/site/fra/9.802751/publication.html">political milestone deserves</a> recognition, so do its troublesome consequences. </p>
<h2>No consent from Québec</h2>
<p>The subsequent plan for constitutional patriation was made without Québec’s <a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1982/1982canlii219/1982canlii219.html">participation or its consent</a>. Its basic elements diverged significantly from the reforms that Québec and other provinces <a href="https://www.queensu.ca/iigr/sites/webpublish.queensu.ca.iigrwww/files/files/pub/archive/books/ConstitutionalPatriation-Meekison.pdf">had proposed several months earlier</a>.</p>
<p>A provincial united front on the Constitution had unravelled as the provinces had come to believe that the sovereigntist government of Québec, led by René Lévesque, would not agree to any constitutional patriation plan. </p>
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<span class="caption">Trudeau stretches to shake hands with Lévesque at the start of the meeting of the first ministers meeting in Ottawa on Nov. 2, 1981 — two days before the Québec premier was excluded when eight premiers constructed a constitutional accord.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CP PHOTO/Bill Grimshaw</span></span>
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<p>The basic elements of Canada’s new Constitution were proposed through a secret provincial initiative hastily constructed in an Ottawa hotel on Nov. 4, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/history/EPISCONTENTSE1EP17CH1PA3LE.html">absent of both Lévesque and Trudeau</a> and containing <a href="https://www.policymagazine.ca/the-conscience-of-the-country/">little room for revision</a>. </p>
<p>The prime minister, <a href="https://ipolitics.ca/2011/11/04/marc-dupont-november-4-1981-pierre-trudeaus-strategy-on-the-night-of-the-long-knives/">with palpable unhappiness, accepted it</a>. </p>
<p>First Nations <a href="https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/the-constitution-express-and-its-role-in-entrenching-aboriginal-rights">were outraged that recognition of Indigenous rights were not included</a>. This was a painful result for Indigenous groups; <a href="https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2021/04/23/Pierre-Trudeau-Relented-Indigenous-Rights/">they had been a part of the constitutional negotiations</a>, albeit at side tables, and had expected Indigenous rights to be recognized as a fundamental limitation on federal and provincial powers and included in the new Constitution.</p>
<p><a href="https://riseupfeministarchive.ca/activism/issues-actions/the-canadian-charter-of-rights-and-freedoms/">Women’s organizations were angry</a> over the failure to include <a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/asset/9480/1/9780774828611.pdf">the guarantee of absolute gender equality</a> that they had advocated for and had thought had been accepted by governments as a key element of a modern human rights regime. </p>
<h2>Bitterness created</h2>
<p>The protests over the absence of Indigenous rights and gender equality were resisted briefly by the provinces but, within weeks, these <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/1981-native-people-fight-for-constitutional-protection">two categories</a> <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/women-mark-anniversary-of-rights-milestone-1.579776">of rights</a> were added to the accord. </p>
<p>However, their initial absence created bitterness and confirmed the suspicion that a provincial power grab was truly fuelling the constitutional reform process — not a genuine desire for constitutional modernization. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three men with signs calling for a just society march in a line, banging on a drum." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429738/original/file-20211102-27282-9p4b5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429738/original/file-20211102-27282-9p4b5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429738/original/file-20211102-27282-9p4b5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429738/original/file-20211102-27282-9p4b5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429738/original/file-20211102-27282-9p4b5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429738/original/file-20211102-27282-9p4b5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429738/original/file-20211102-27282-9p4b5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Groups of Indigenous people march on Parliament Hill in November 1981 to protest the elimination of Indigenous rights in the proposed constitution.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CP PHOTO/Carl Bigras</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The sense that provincial self-motivation was the driving force of constitutional reform was strengthened <a href="https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/olsrps/175/">by the provinces’ attack on the proposed Charter of Rights and Freedoms</a> — one that enjoyed broad public support. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/40-years-later-a-look-back-at-the-pierre-trudeau-speech-that-defined-canada-143983">40 years later: A look back at the Pierre Trudeau speech that defined Canada</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The premiers made their agreement for constitutional reform conditional upon Ottawa agreeing to include a section in the Charter — <a href="https://lop.parl.ca/sites/PublicWebsite/default/en_CA/ResearchPublications/201817E#txt13">now known as the notwithstanding clause</a> — that would allow provincial legislatures to override its most fundamental human rights. </p>
<p>Trudeau again accepted this condition <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-constitution-notwithstanding-factsheet-ford-1.4817751">reluctantly and unhappily</a>. It was an alteration of the announced constitutional accord of the most fundamental kind; it occurred without notice or public consultation — and it was Canada’s constitutional surprise. </p>
<h2>Canadian federalism weakened</h2>
<p>The constitutional reform plan adopted in November 1981 has produced resentments and weaknesses in national relations that linger to this day.</p>
<p>Today, Canada’s historic tradition of effective political unification is profoundly tested. Courtesy and trust among the provinces and towards Ottawa have been eroded. We’ve seen countless fights between provinces and the federal government <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/albertans-voice-their-opinion-on-federal-equalization-payments-1.5628483">over equalization</a>, <a href="https://www.scc-csc.ca/case-dossier/cb/2021/38663-38781-39116-eng.aspx">environmental regulations and climate change policy</a> and even over <a href="https://calgary.citynews.ca/2021/09/14/trudeau-alberta-covid-management/">the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.</a></p>
<p>The events of the night of Nov. 4, 1981, were significant contributions to this decline. What happened then was simple ambush politics <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/the-constitution-the-gang-of-eight">led by several provinces</a> to construct a constitutional reform plan that they recognized the prime minister would not be able to reject; <a href="https://www.lawnow.org/significance-charter-canadian-legal-history/#:%7E:text=When%20Pierre%20Trudeau%20became%20Prime,a%20constitutional%20bill%20of%20rights.&text=In%20the%20end%2C%20they%20successfully,it%20on%20April%2017%2C%201982.">national sovereignty and constitutional rights and freedoms had been his battle cry, after all</a>.</p>
<p>Reaching a deal under terms of partial defeat was clearly preferable to Trudeau than complete failure and the continuation of Canada’s constitutional morass.</p>
<h2>The cost of constitutional success</h2>
<p>And so constitutional failure was avoided. But constitutional success has cost Canada <a href="https://www.icps.cat/archivos/WorkingPapers/WP_I_107.pdf?noga=1">and its political integrity</a>. </p>
<p>The specific acceptance by Trudeau’s government of the constitutional bargain ironically eroded commitment to, and confidence in, the federal government. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in a suit with a rose in his lapel bows his head while men around him applaud." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429742/original/file-20211102-19-16jr8cb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429742/original/file-20211102-19-16jr8cb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429742/original/file-20211102-19-16jr8cb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429742/original/file-20211102-19-16jr8cb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429742/original/file-20211102-19-16jr8cb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429742/original/file-20211102-19-16jr8cb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429742/original/file-20211102-19-16jr8cb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trudeau gets a round of applause from Liberal members in the House of Commons after signing a constitutional accord with the provincial premiers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CP PHOTO/Fred Chartrand</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/may-2021/quebecs-attempt-to-unilaterally-amend-the-canadian-constitution-wont-fly/">Québec has not forgotten</a> its exclusion from Canada’s constitutional renewal. The dominant Canadian trope of two nations becoming one was destroyed. Instead, Canada returned to being two nations, and Québec’s unique manner of engaging in national politics since then underscores the growing difficulty of managing the Canadian state. </p>
<p>The consequence <a href="https://vancouversun.com/business/douglas-todd-quebec-to-get-10-times-more-than-b-c-and-ontario-to-settle-immigrants">has been pressure on the federal government for 40 years</a> to act without resolve when faced with nationalist Québec interests. </p>
<p>Granted, this is not markedly different from the attitude of a number of other provinces during the same period, but unlike other regions of the country, Québec’s nationalist policies are viewed as the legitimate protection of its distinct culture. Nonetheless, a country is weakened through inattention and indifference to national cohesion.</p>
<p>The manner in which the Canadian Constitution was created in 1981 following last-minute negotiations has had consequences. The process contributed to weakened national solidarity and has made governing the country more precarious due to insistent demands to accommodate the political wills of provinces.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170619/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The constitutional reform agreement reached in November 1981 has produced a bitterness in national relations that lingers to this day and imposes on Canada a cost that has weakened the nation.Raymond B. Blake, Professor of History and Head, Department of History, University of ReginaJohn Donaldson Whyte, Professor Emeritus, Politics and International Studies, University of ReginaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1615572021-05-30T11:17:47Z2021-05-30T11:17:47ZWhat’s behind Québec’s latest, and largely superficial, constitutional gambit<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403155/original/file-20210527-23-wlonye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C2025&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Worried about another 1980s-style constitutional crisis? Don't be. There may be less than meets the eye to Québec Premier François Legault's recent constitutional proposals.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Québec Premier François Legault recently shocked the Canadian legal community when he unveiled his new proposed <a href="http://m.assnat.qc.ca/en/travaux-parlementaires/projets-loi/projet-loi-96-42-1.html">Bill 96 on protecting the French language in Québec</a>. Among other proposals, Legault announced the province plans to move forward with a constitutional change to the Constitution Act of 1867, with two clauses:</p>
<p>• Québecers form a nation.</p>
<p>• French will be the only official language of Québec. It is also the common language of the Québec nation.</p>
<p>His basis for proposing these changes was to change Québec’s own provincial constitution, which can be altered with the so-called “unilateral” amending formula in <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/Const/page-12.html#h-39">Sec. 45 of the Constitution Act </a> of 1982. </p>
<p>The idea appears to have come from <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/experts-divided-on-whether-quebec-can-change-constitution-to-claim-nationhood/wcm/b047201e-7368-4292-b69b-3a8087509c6d/amp/">Patrick Taillion</a>, a professor of constitutional and administrative law at Université Laval, who made the proposal <a href="https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/idees/593465/langue-francaise-la-langue-de-la-loi">earlier this year</a>. </p>
<p>To those familiar with the <a href="https://opentextbc.ca/postconfederation/chapter/9-12-the-1980s/">constitutional wars of the 1980s and 1990s</a>, this cuts awfully close to the “<a href="https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/2019/07/distinct-society/">distinct society clause</a>.” It was at the heart of the failed <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/meech-lake-accord">Meech Lake Accord</a>, which didn’t obtain the required unanimous provincial consent. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Pro-Meech Lake demonstrators wave pro-Canada signs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403159/original/file-20210527-17-balowm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403159/original/file-20210527-17-balowm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403159/original/file-20210527-17-balowm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403159/original/file-20210527-17-balowm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403159/original/file-20210527-17-balowm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403159/original/file-20210527-17-balowm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403159/original/file-20210527-17-balowm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Demonstrators show their support for the Meech Lake Accord as provincial premiers leave a conference centre during constitutional talks in Ottawa in 1990. The accord later collapsed, paving the way for the 1995 Quebec sovereignty referendum.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Fears of another constitutional crisis now loom. Despite this, there is probably less to Legault’s gamble than first appears. </p>
<p>Here are some answers to commonly asked questions about Legault’s move:</p>
<h2>Can Québec act unilaterally?</h2>
<p>With the usual caveats that experts will always disagree and no one can predict what the courts will do, the answer is almost certainly no. <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/may-2021/quebecs-attempt-to-unilaterally-amend-the-canadian-constitution-wont-fly/">As many</a> <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-ottawa-supports-quebec-language-reform-trudeau-says/">commentators have</a> <a href="https://policymagazine.ca/legaults-language-bill-a-third-way-between-sovereignists-and-federalists/">already noted</a>, these changes go beyond what the Constitution’s unilateral amending formula allows Québec to do.</p>
<p>The clauses don’t pertain to the internal constitution of the Québec state, but would make a change to the constitutionally recognized nation of Canada and otherwise affect guarantees for official languages. Making these changes would likely require, at a minimum, <a href="https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/2019/07/amending-formula/">the use of the Constitution’s 7/50 amending formula</a> for the first proposed clause, and the consent of Ottawa for the second. The bilateral amending formula, incidentally, was how New Brunswick entrenched its bilingualism in the early 1980s.</p>
<p>And yet Québec’s unilateral move has, after some silence, been accepted by the federal government and all of the federal parties as within Québec’s jurisdiction. When the House of Commons faced a Bloc Québecois motion supporting Legault’s move, only Independent MP <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/bloc-quebecois-motion-bill-96-1.6041350">Jody Wilson-Raybould objected</a>. There appears to be no provincial opposition.</p>
<h2>So is that the end of the story?</h2>
<p>Again, no. Legault’s proposal is likely to fail in the courts if the proper procedures are not followed. Nor could the argument be made that the rest of the country has already “consented” via news conference. </p>
<p>This kind of change to the written Constitution would require a legislative act. Notably, Ottawa has accepted a unilateral move by Québec to do this, but hasn’t said it would consent to the change if consent is eventually required.</p>
<p>But Legault is probably not trying to trigger a constitutional crisis. He’s trying to avoid one. </p>
<p>He’s still the Québec premier. Being seen as tough when it comes to French language rights is central to his job. And don’t forget <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2019/09/25/quebecers-to-decide-in-2022-whether-they-want-to-change-electoral-system.html">he’s up for re-election</a> next year. His unilateral move has effectively let the rest of the country off the hook and avoided a major political collision. By merely asserting his right to do it, Legault has signalled he’s not interested in involving anyone else in Canada. </p>
<p>Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s nod to his claim leaves this discussion for another day. For now, Legault can claim victory and move on to other topics that are bigger priorities. If Legault had really wanted to trigger a constitutional crisis, he would have asked for a constitutional conference with Ottawa and the rest of the country. There is no appetite for that. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FgkM2ifNvWc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Trudeau responds to Legault’s proposals.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Keep in mind the context of Legault’s proposals. They were announced in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/curfew-to-end-across-quebec-this-friday-second-vaccine-doses-likely-to-be-earlier-than-scheduled-1.5441875">There was a curfew in Québec</a>, and these proposals were made less than a week before Legault was due to announce the reopening of the province. The minds of the public are very much elsewhere. </p>
<h2>Then why do it at all?</h2>
<p>Legault is responsible for assuring Québecers about the linguistic security of French in Québec and standing up for his province. But it’s easy to forget that Legault is also a former PQ minister who swore off ever holding another referendum. </p>
<p>He’s come a long way on federalism, but he needs to find balance. This proposal <a href="https://plus.lapresse.ca/screens/4f5a3b54-64d6-453e-8f72-c95f16ff853d__7C___0.html">has been characterized</a> in Québec as Legault finding a middle ground between federalist and separatist voters.</p>
<p>What’s to lose? If Legault has read Québec voters correctly, he’ll be a political hero. But if — or when — this dies in the courts, there will be no other politician or other level of government to blame. And that keeps a lid on constitutional politics. For better or worse, the rest of the country appears more than willing to play along with Legault’s game.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161557/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew McDougall does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Québec Premier François Legault’s recent constitutional proposals have caused alarm. But it’s largely a game aimed at finding common ground between federalist and separatist voters in the province.Andrew McDougall, Assistant Professor, Politics, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1543562021-03-21T13:06:25Z2021-03-21T13:06:25ZThe search for a new governor general is tough in a disparate nation like Canada<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390392/original/file-20210318-21-vk9t4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4548%2C2952&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Former Gov. Gen. Julie Payette invests Jeanette Corbiere Lavell, from Wikwemikong First Nation, Ont., as a Member of the Order of Canada outside Rideau Hall in Ottawa in September 2018.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The federal government has <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/governor-general-new-process-payette-1.5947766">kicked off its efforts to choose a new governor general</a> to succeed Julie Payette, who resigned in the face of allegations she created a toxic workplace at Rideau Hall.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390213/original/file-20210317-21-1c4hbfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2428%2C1831&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Julie Payette waves" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390213/original/file-20210317-21-1c4hbfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2428%2C1831&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390213/original/file-20210317-21-1c4hbfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390213/original/file-20210317-21-1c4hbfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390213/original/file-20210317-21-1c4hbfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390213/original/file-20210317-21-1c4hbfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390213/original/file-20210317-21-1c4hbfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390213/original/file-20210317-21-1c4hbfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former Gov. Gen. Julie Payette waves prior to delivering the throne speech in the Senate chamber in Ottawa in September 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The long delay in appointing Payette’s replacement illustrates how difficult it is to fill the job. Whoever is ultimately selected by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must represent Canada’s past, especially its linkage to a monarchy that’s currently <a href="https://www.voanews.com/europe/royal-mess-britains-monarchy-facing-biggest-crisis-1990s">in a state of crisis following recent allegations by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex</a>. But the new governor general must also exemplify its future. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-the-meghan-harry-revelations-change-canadian-attitudes-about-the-monarchy-157104">Will the Meghan/Harry revelations change Canadian attitudes about the monarchy?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Even more importantly, the individual must grasp Canada’s difficult and in some ways accidental road to nationhood.</p>
<p>In rejecting the siren call of <a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/american-revolution-1763-1783/revolutionary-war-northern-front-1775-1777/">the War of Independence in 1776</a>, the northern colonies that became Canada <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-nova-scotia-almost-joined-american-revolution-180963564/">cemented their allegiance to the British Crown</a>.</p>
<h2>British oversight</h2>
<p>Over the next century, the British offered protection against the expansion of the United States. Even after Confederation in 1867, the interests of the British Empire guided Canada’s foreign policy for decades. </p>
<p>The political culture and traditions inherited from Britain — a parliamentary system of government (House of Commons and Senate), common law, a strong degree of conservatism and emphasis on collective responsibility — have shaped contemporary Canada. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Members of the Ceremonial Guard march past Rideau Hall" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390214/original/file-20210317-13-1s66puy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5261%2C3481&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390214/original/file-20210317-13-1s66puy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390214/original/file-20210317-13-1s66puy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390214/original/file-20210317-13-1s66puy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390214/original/file-20210317-13-1s66puy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390214/original/file-20210317-13-1s66puy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390214/original/file-20210317-13-1s66puy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members of the Ceremonial Guard march past Rideau Hall during the first Changing of the Guard ceremony in Ottawa in June 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The very position of governor general, inherited from Great Britain when Canada was but a collection of independent colonies, is one of the features that differentiates Canada from other large countries settled by European powers in the Americas.</p>
<h2>American influence</h2>
<p>Although Canadians rejected the allure of republicanism, politicians over the centuries have felt free to borrow from their American counterparts. Canada pirated federalism (strong regional governments, namely provinces) and a reliance on a written constitution, with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ emphasis on individual rights. </p>
<p>At the same time, the U.S. has been useful as a model of what to avoid: a presidential system of government, slavery, an aversion to gun control and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/5/4/21242750/coronavirus-covid-19-united-states-canada-trump-trudeau">too great a reliance on the free market.</a></p>
<h2>Québec culture</h2>
<p>The defeat of France by Britain that resulted in Québec becoming an English colony is a defining event in Canadian history. However, the decision by the victors to guarantee the French their traditional rights and customs, and the political means to protect their culture, was just as important to Canada’s future.</p>
<p>This approach resulted in bilingualism and biculturalism, ultimately <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/sunday/the-sunday-edition-for-february-24-2019-1.5029453/how-did-multiculturalism-become-so-central-to-canada-s-identity-1.5029456">becoming multiculturalism</a>, and it distinguishes Canada from many other nations. </p>
<p>But Québec has had historical grievances against the rest of Canada, leading to the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7432034/quebec-1995-referendum-25th-anniversary/">1995 sovereignty referendum</a> that came within a few thousand votes of tearing Canada apart. </p>
<p>Québec separatism, even when in decline as it appears to be now, is an existential threat that surely features prominently in the darkest nightmares of every prime minister — and the governor general.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390217/original/file-20210317-17-1hmr3h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Yes supporter holds a Québec flag." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390217/original/file-20210317-17-1hmr3h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390217/original/file-20210317-17-1hmr3h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390217/original/file-20210317-17-1hmr3h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390217/original/file-20210317-17-1hmr3h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390217/original/file-20210317-17-1hmr3h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390217/original/file-20210317-17-1hmr3h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390217/original/file-20210317-17-1hmr3h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Yes supporter holding a Québec flag chants nationalist slogans prior to a concert in support of sovereignty in Montréal in September 1995.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Indigenous population</h2>
<p>Life for Indigenous people in what is now called North America has drastically changed since settlers appeared and did everything in their power to wipe them out, including with longstanding colonial policies like <a href="https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_school_system/">residential schools</a>, the <a href="https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/sixties_scoop/">‘60s Scoop</a> and numerous cases of land dispossession in the 19th and 20th centuries.</p>
<p>Starting in the 1970s, court decisions, changes in federal government policy and determined efforts by First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities and individuals have slowly enlarged the political influence of Indigenous Peoples.</p>
<p>Defining events included Indigenous activist <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/meech-lake-linked-cree-leader-elijah-harper-dies-at-64-1.1286039?cid=ps%3A923">Elijah Harper’s opposition to the Meech Lake Accord</a> in Manitoba,
and the <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/oka-crisis">Oka crisis</a>, a 78-day standoff over the proposed expansion of a golf course and development of townhouses on a Mohawk burial ground in Québec.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390216/original/file-20210317-17-non311.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Elijah Harper holds up an eagle feather." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390216/original/file-20210317-17-non311.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390216/original/file-20210317-17-non311.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390216/original/file-20210317-17-non311.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390216/original/file-20210317-17-non311.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390216/original/file-20210317-17-non311.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390216/original/file-20210317-17-non311.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390216/original/file-20210317-17-non311.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The late Elijah Harper, a former politician and honorary Cree Chief, holds up one of two eagle feathers he held during Meech Lake proceedings, in Ottawa in May 2008. Harper was a symbol of power for Indigenous people when he helped scuttle the Meech Lake constitutional accord.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tom Hanson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More recently, federal government policy has shifted toward <a href="https://reconciliationcanada.ca/staging/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/NationalNarrativeReport-ReconciliationCanada-ReleasedMay2017_3.pdf">reconciliation with Indigenous people</a>, exemplified by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the national inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. </p>
<p>Although most policy is largely symbolic, such as land acknowledgements, efforts are being made to improve the living conditions in many First Nations communities. The federal government, while missing the March 2021 goal of <a href="https://theconversation.com/water-crisis-in-first-nations-communities-runs-deeper-than-long-term-drinking-water-advisories-148977">ending drinking water advisories</a> that last more than a year, has made a dent in providing some communities with safe drinking water.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/water-crisis-in-first-nations-communities-runs-deeper-than-long-term-drinking-water-advisories-148977">Water crisis in First Nations communities runs deeper than long-term drinking water advisories</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Yet Indigenous people make up only a small strand in national politics, culture and power structures. <a href="https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/nunavuts-population-could-reach-54000-by-2043-statcan-says/">Only in Nunavut</a>, with a population of 40,000, do Inuit comprise a majority that allows them to enact laws to protect, sustain and advance their culture and interests.</p>
<p>The new governor general will have to fuse the British, French, American, Indigenous and multicultural elements of Canada that together are at the core of the country. It is not an easy job, especially given the position is mostly ceremonial and one that not all Canadians see as even necessary.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154356/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Klassen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Canada’s new governor general will have to fuse the British, French, American and Indigenous elements of Canada that together are the core of the country.Thomas Klassen, Professor, School of Public Policy and Administration, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1519752021-01-03T14:20:52Z2021-01-03T14:20:52ZScotland could vote to separate in 2021, testing Canada’s independence formula<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376913/original/file-20210103-49872-13sqj5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C47%2C3969%2C2584&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Scottish Saltire flag hangs in the window of an apartment in Edinburgh, Scotland, next to the EU flag in August 2020. Scotland could vote to separate from the U.K. in 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/David Cheskin)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If the <a href="https://www.snp.org/">Scottish National Party</a> wins Scotland’s parliamentary election in five months, it will be with a mandate to hold a <a href="https://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=12053&i=109040">second independence referendum</a>. </p>
<p>Scotland <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/what-scotland-independence-crusader-alex-salmond-learned-from-quebec-1.2766564">took the idea that a lawful path to independence exists from the Québec experience</a>, more specifically from a <a href="https://canliiconnects.org/en/summaries/31075">Canadian ruling on Québec secession</a>. If it comes to a constitutional crisis in the United Kingdom, however, the British balance of powers may make a Canadian-style compromise impossible.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/dec/31/post-brexit-trade-deal-boris-johnson-thanks-mps-and-peers-for-passing-bill">With Brexit negotiations finally complete</a>, a process of national reckoning will soon begin that may decide whether the British union survives with its political and constitutional traditions intact. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1344780841445154817"}"></div></p>
<p>Canada faced a similar reckoning in the 1990s after a punishing series of <a href="https://www.clo-ocol.gc.ca/en/timeline-event/canadians-vote-no-charlottetown-accord">failed constitutional negotiations</a> combined with a close <a href="http://collections.musee-mccord.qc.ca/scripts/explore.php?Lang=1&tableid=11&elementid=105__true&contentlong">referendum in Québec</a> to make the independence question unavoidable. </p>
<h2>Canada’s Supreme Court played a role</h2>
<p>Faced with the prospect of a successful vote in Québec, the Canadian government turned to the Supreme Court for advice. The <a href="https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1643/index.do">1998 Québec Secession Reference case</a> established referendums as a lawful means to legitimate independence, acknowledged Québec’s right to secede and obliged all parties to negotiate an exit in good faith.</p>
<p>Canada was brought to this point because Québec held the power to poll its own electorate. Whether Scotland has the same right is disputed, so Scottish plans to hold an independence vote as <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/scotland-nicola-sturgeon-aims-for-2021-independence-vote/a-55779762">early as 2021</a> sets up a messy confrontation.</p>
<p>The Canadian judgment held that so long as a referendum returned a “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/supreme-court-answers-quebec-secession-questions">clear majority on a clear question</a>,” the democratic implications of an independence vote could not be ignored. The decision was hailed at the time as even-handed; in reality it was a mixed blessing. </p>
<p>It promised to regulate the process of political divorce and offered the international community a yardstick for recognizing new states, but the question of what constitutes clarity was never resolved, merely <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-31.8/page-1.html">assigned to the Canadian government to decide</a>. Yet if a referendum delivers credibility and a duty to negotiate, the incentive for national governments to obstruct consultation among minorities soars. </p>
<p>Consider, for instance, the spectacle of riot police seizing ballot boxes in a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/02/europe/catalonia-independence-referendum-explainer/index.html">2017 Catalan referendum</a> after the Spanish Supreme Court declared it illegal to poll voters on independence.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man holds up a ballot box during a protest." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376162/original/file-20201221-21-bx6n3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376162/original/file-20201221-21-bx6n3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376162/original/file-20201221-21-bx6n3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376162/original/file-20201221-21-bx6n3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376162/original/file-20201221-21-bx6n3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376162/original/file-20201221-21-bx6n3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376162/original/file-20201221-21-bx6n3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A man holds a ballot box during a protest in support of Catalonian politicians jailed on charges of sedition and condemning the arrest of Catalonia’s former president, Carles Puigdemont in Germany, during a protest in Barcelona in March 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Santi Palacios)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Close Scottish vote in 2014</h2>
<p>An unexpectedly close Scottish independence vote in 2014, followed by an unequivocal Scottish “no” to Brexit in the 2016 referendum, made divergent views within the U.K. more pressing.</p>
<p>The 2014 “indyref,” as it became known, was conducted under a <a href="https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130102230945/http:/www.number10.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Agreement-final-for-signing.pdf">joint Edinburgh-London agreement</a> and used a co-negotiated question intended to settle the matter <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/09/19/world/politics-diplomacy-world/cameron-says-scottish-independence-issue-settled-for-a-generation/">for a generation</a>. </p>
<p>Scotland never conceded it needed the agreement, but it was in everyone’s interest to avoid testing the question constitutionally. Still, Scotland made Canadian-style clarity a watchword of its referendum exercise, and when the results turned out <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/events/scotland-decides/results">closer than expected</a>, stakes were raised. </p>
<p>Fifty-five per cent voted against independence but only after an 11th-hour <a href="https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron-ed-miliband-nick-4265992">pledge to extend new powers to Scotland</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students look at their laptops." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376172/original/file-20201221-23-d6ohog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376172/original/file-20201221-23-d6ohog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376172/original/file-20201221-23-d6ohog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376172/original/file-20201221-23-d6ohog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376172/original/file-20201221-23-d6ohog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376172/original/file-20201221-23-d6ohog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376172/original/file-20201221-23-d6ohog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students at the University of Montréal watch on their laptops as polls close in the Scottish referendum in September 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That was when EU membership was still a perk of union. Now, independence offers the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-51357050">best chance for Scotland to rejoin the EU</a>. The Scottish government maintains Brexit <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-49105538">makes a new vote necessary</a>. The British government insists <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-54827100">the matter is closed</a>.</p>
<p>If support for independence continues to climb, Scotland’s demand will be hard to refuse without transparently muzzling popular voice. If the Scottish government presses ahead with plans for what London considers an unlawful vote, it could plunge the country into constitutional crisis.</p>
<h2>Lessons from Canada?</h2>
<p>How did Canada avoid the impasse looming in the U.K.? </p>
<p>In many ways it didn’t; the tensions of the 1990s nearly tore the country apart. The Canadian Constitution is no more enlightened than the British when it comes to secession. As the saying goes “<a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/constitution-is-not-a-sui_b_4073379">the constitution is not a suicide pact</a>,” and specifying terms for its expiry seems perverse. </p>
<p>But while some constitutions, like Spain’s, declare national union “<a href="https://www.boe.es/legislacion/documentos/ConstitucionINGLES.pdf">indissoluble</a>,” Canada’s is silent on the question. Canada largely inherited its constitutional structure from the British, although not entirely, and it crafted an extraordinary formula for reconstitution out of that legacy.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376317/original/file-20201222-15-pt4yko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A fire burns under a Oui sign." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376317/original/file-20201222-15-pt4yko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376317/original/file-20201222-15-pt4yko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=842&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376317/original/file-20201222-15-pt4yko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=842&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376317/original/file-20201222-15-pt4yko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=842&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376317/original/file-20201222-15-pt4yko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1058&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376317/original/file-20201222-15-pt4yko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1058&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376317/original/file-20201222-15-pt4yko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1058&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Montréal riot police watch a fire burn underneath a Oui sign after the No side won the Québec referendum in October 1995.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tom Hansen</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Supreme Court judgment worked like oil on troubled waters, establishing rights for Québec and Canada alike. But it was the balance of power in the Canadian federation that ultimately proved the real saviour of Canada.</p>
<p>Because there was no stopping a Québec referendum, there was no silencing the independence question. The ruling defused the standoff by insisting an unwilling Québec could not be held hostage to union, and that a democratic federation meant heeding democratic voice. </p>
<p>Québec has declined to use its new right of democratically chosen exit. Simply having it acknowledged has so far proven sufficient. For democratic voice to be heeded though, it must first be heard.</p>
<p>By raising the stakes on independence votes, the judgment that saved the Canadian union may have made it more difficult to reach a solution in regions where national co-operation is needed to poll an electorate. In that case, it’s not the clarity of a referendum that matters — it’s the capacity to hold one at all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151975/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Frost receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada</span></em></p>Scotland’s renewed push for independence is not only similar to Québec’s — there are also lessons for Scottish politicians in Canadian law on the concept of separation.Catherine Frost, Professor of Political Science, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1439832020-09-02T12:45:10Z2020-09-02T12:45:10Z40 years later: A look back at the Pierre Trudeau speech that defined Canada<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355870/original/file-20200901-18-1pg52iy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3994%2C2479&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pierre Trudeau hosts a meeting at 24 Sussex in Ottawa with the provincial premiers on Sept. 12, 1980. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>National <a href="https://www.demconvention.com/schedule-and-speakers/">party conventions</a> in <a href="https://www.2020gopconvention.com/">the United States</a>, the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/conservative-party-leadership-results-1.5695925">Conservative leadership</a> convention in Canada, the recent <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/MarleauMontpetit/DocumentViewer.aspx?Sec=Ch08&Seq=7">prorogation</a> and a <a href="https://ca.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idCAKCN25F2H8">likely confidence vote in Parliament later this month</a> have caused renewed reflection on the relationship between political leadership and the effectiveness and legitimacy of public government. </p>
<p>We judge governments by their leadership, whether it’s a matter of integrity and inclusion or rational and intelligent choice of policies. It’s also the values that leaders express, the programs they initiate and the administration they control that determine the population’s satisfaction. </p>
<p>A nation’s international influence is also shaped by the quality of political leadership. </p>
<p>Forty years ago, Canada experienced a clash of values among its political leaders so profound that it shaped our nation. It pitted two starkly different ideas of the national interest against each other.</p>
<h2>First ministers’ meeting</h2>
<p>During the second week of September 1980, Canada’s political leaders — Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and the provincial premiers — met in Ottawa to seek agreement on a <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/patriation-of-the-constitution">reformed constitutional order</a>. </p>
<p>This meeting followed the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-remembers-1st-referendum-1.944455">first Québec referendum on separation</a> in which the provincial government sought popular approval for beginning a process to secede from Canada. Although Québec did not receive the mandate it wished, that experience made clear that Canada’s Constitution needed attention and revision.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Rene Levesque, Québec premier, shrugs his shoulders and walks away from Pierre Trudeau at a conference with flags in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355866/original/file-20200901-14-s5ppy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355866/original/file-20200901-14-s5ppy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355866/original/file-20200901-14-s5ppy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355866/original/file-20200901-14-s5ppy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355866/original/file-20200901-14-s5ppy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355866/original/file-20200901-14-s5ppy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355866/original/file-20200901-14-s5ppy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Québec Premier Rene Levesque, right, Québec premier, shrugs his shoulders and walks away from Pierre Trudeau after a chat prior to the beginning of the second day of the Constitution Conference on Sept. 9, 1980.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Drew Gagg</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The meeting, broadcast nationally, began on the morning of Sept. 8, with statements from the 10 premiers. The statements had a common theme — Canada and its people would be better served if a long list of federal powers were handed to the provinces. This plan would bring about a Canadian state that functioned significantly differently. </p>
<p>After the premiers had spoken, Trudeau delivered his remarks to the meeting and to the nation. It was a <a href="https://primarydocuments.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/1stMinistersConfPMStateTrans1980Sept8.pdf">long, impassioned speech</a> setting out his agenda for meeting Canada’s true constitutional needs. It was one of the most important political speeches in Canadian history. </p>
<h2>‘Vestige of colonialism’</h2>
<p>He began by asking premiers to agree to patriate Canada’s constitution from the British Parliament and remove an embarrassing “vestige of colonialism.”</p>
<p>He admitted that Canada was facing a constitutional crisis, but that the better response to this challenge was to urge the adoption of measures that would make Canada modern, effective and just. He recognized that premiers believed that giving the provinces greater powers over economic and social regulation would make Canada stronger, but he disagreed that Canada would become a more effective nation through weakening the national government.</p>
<p>For the next 30 minutes he addressed Canadians, setting out his ideas on what was required for Canada to attain effective nationhood, meet the demands of a changing world, be respectful of Canada’s diverse peoples, be efficient and serve Canadians’ social needs better. </p>
<p>He wanted to create respect for Canada so it could be more effective on the international stage. He reiterated his lifelong commitment to fundamental rights and freedoms and urged their constitutional protection. He rejected any concept of provincial citizenship rather than a single citizenship for all Canadians.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Pierre Trudeau sits at a desk on a red carpet looking on as Queen Elizabeth, in a teal suit, signs a proclamation." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355851/original/file-20200901-14-a887dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2000%2C1350&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355851/original/file-20200901-14-a887dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355851/original/file-20200901-14-a887dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355851/original/file-20200901-14-a887dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355851/original/file-20200901-14-a887dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355851/original/file-20200901-14-a887dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355851/original/file-20200901-14-a887dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Queen Elizabeth signs Canada’s constitutional proclamation in Ottawa on April 17, 1982 as Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau looks on.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ron Poling</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are two views of Canada, he said, speaking to Canadians through their television sets. The one, <a href="https://www.queensu.ca/iigr/sites/webpublish.queensu.ca.iigrwww/files/files/pub/archive/books/ConstitutionalPatriation-Meekison.pdf">held by the premiers,</a> was that the national common good can best emerge through “each province acting with greater independence and greater ability to maximize its own self-interest.”</p>
<p>The other was that there is a national interest that, when pursued nationally, makes Canada “more than the sum of its parts, more than the sum of 10 provinces.” Canadians want “national institutions and a national government capable of acting on behalf of all of them … with the power to speak for all Canadian people.”</p>
<p>He returned to the theme that the essence of strong nationhood is the ability to protect the fundamental rights of its people. Rights are sacred, he told the premiers, and “none of us here should have jurisdiction … to infringe those rights.” He said a constitution “expresses the will of the people. It is the basic authority in this country [and] … it must say that and ensure that, in some way, our actions reflect that.”</p>
<h2>Not successful</h2>
<p>That <a href="http://www.canadahistoryproject.ca/1982/index.html">September conference</a> ended in failure. Ten months later, after Trudeau’s threat to proceed with constitutional change without provincial consent — followed by successful court challenges and, then, further negotiations — <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/history/EPISCONTENTSE1EP17CH1PA3LE.html">Trudeau and nine premiers, absent Québec’s René Levesque,</a> found a compromise for a new Canadian Constitution that embodied the ideals of diversity, equality and basic freedoms and rights.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-history-of-the-notwithstanding-clause-90508">The history of the notwithstanding clause</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the months that followed <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-15.html">Trudeau’s constitutional triumph</a>, his popularity dipped to levels rarely seen by sitting prime ministers. Nevertheless, his ideal of Canada, based on guaranteed bilingualism, multiculturalism and rights and freedoms, is now well-established and defines Canada’s national identity.</p>
<p>Pierre Trudeau’s contribution to the remaking of Canada cannot be questioned. Throughout the 1980 to 1982 constitutional debates, and in his September 1980 speech, he reminded Canadians that their national achievement as a country is built every day on basic values.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143983/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Raymond Blake receives funding from Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Donaldson Whyte does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Pierre Trudeau’s contribution to the remaking of Canada cannot be questioned. Throughout the 1980 to 1982 constitutional debates, he reminded Canadians of their country’s basic values.Raymond B. Blake, Professor of History and Associate Dean Research and Graduate Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of ReginaJohn Donaldson Whyte, Professor Emeritus, Politics and International Studies, University of ReginaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1369182020-05-04T17:37:47Z2020-05-04T17:37:47ZOn the 50th anniversary of the War Measures Act, we don’t need a coronavirus sequel<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331841/original/file-20200430-42942-10xn3mf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=369%2C479%2C4251%2C2694&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When then prime minister Pierre Trudeau brought in the War Measures Act in 1970, it was the first time the controversial law had been invoked during peace time. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ordinary citizens under siege. An atmosphere of ambient anxiety. A cloud of rumours and conspiracy theories. A Trudeau government at the helm. Sound vaguely familiar?</p>
<p>Welcome to Québec in 1970 — on the eve of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/history/EPISCONTENTSE1EP16CH1PA4LE.html">the October Crisis</a>. Fifty years ago in Québec might seem to be another world, yet it’s also part of our present coronavirus pandemic world.</p>
<p>Canada’s <a href="https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/war-measures-act">War Measures Act</a> came into effect just after the start of the First World War. It gave the federal cabinet sweeping powers to censor publications, jail citizens, take over and dispose of private property. Individual lives were negatively affected. More than 8,000 men, women and children — many from the Austro-Hungarian, German and Ottoman Empires — <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/enemy-aliens--prisoners-of-war-products-9780773523500.php">were interned</a>. </p>
<p>Life behind barbed wire was, historian <a href="https://btlbooks.com/authors/view/kassandra-luciuk">Kassandra Luciuk</a> reveals, a life-threatening ordeal mainly meted out to people judged to be “enemy aliens” because they had the bad luck to be born under the rule of the wrong empire. Historian <a href="https://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol28/iss2/19/">Mary Chaktsiris</a> further reveals that across Canada, more than 80,000 men identified as enemy aliens were forced to register with authorities, report to them regularly and experienced state control over their movement.</p>
<h2>Unions and theatre troupes targeted</h2>
<p>Then came <a href="https://utorontopress.com/ca/an-exceptional-law-2">Section 98</a>, added to Canada’s Criminal Code in 1919, which made it a <a href="https://utpjournals.press/doi/10.3138/chr.91.1.61">criminal offence</a> to belong to any association whose purpose was to bring about “governmental, industrial or economic change in Canada” through the use of advocacy of force or violence. Its terms were so broadly defined that they were applied to trade unions, discussion groups and even theatre troupes and gymnastic clubs.</p>
<p>But Section 98 generated more mayhem and resistance than deference, so Mackenzie King’s Liberals, keen to win support on the left, ended it in 1936. Or did they?</p>
<p>In fact, it lived on in spirit and in the <a href="https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/war-measures-act">Defence of Canada Regulations</a> imposed under the umbrella of War Measures in 1939. This allowed the government to confiscate property, ban publications, intern inconvenient Canadian trade unionists, socialists, minorities and, most famously, more than <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/landscapes-of-injustice-products-9780228001713.php">22,000 Japanese Canadians</a>. </p>
<p>And this brings us back to <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/october-crisis">October 1970</a>. The invocation of the War Measures Act in 1970 was part of a long tradition. Prompted by two high-profile kidnappings and the assassination of Québec’s minister of labour and vice-premier, the government of Pierre Trudeau suspended civil liberties and enhanced police powers of arrest and interrogation.</p>
<h2>Hundreds arrested in 1970</h2>
<p>Across Canada — but most of all in Québec — hundreds were arrested, denied legal counsel and ultimately released, often without any explanation.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331846/original/file-20200430-42935-b9mod.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331846/original/file-20200430-42935-b9mod.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331846/original/file-20200430-42935-b9mod.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331846/original/file-20200430-42935-b9mod.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331846/original/file-20200430-42935-b9mod.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331846/original/file-20200430-42935-b9mod.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331846/original/file-20200430-42935-b9mod.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A policeman searches a woman in Montréal during the October Crisis in Québec in 1970.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By and large, both in Québec and the rest of Canada, people were convinced then that the state had acted appropriately to quell an insurrection by a radical cell of Québec separatists. Only with time did many <a href="https://www.barakabooks.com/catalogue/trudeaus-darkest-hour/">question the government’s actions</a>, with some arguing that Ottawa’s case seemed far-fetched and self-interested. To this day, the imposition of War Measures stirs bitter memories in Montréal and Québec. </p>
<h2>Emergencies Act replaced War Measures</h2>
<p>Such memories led to a widespread move to close the books on War Measures, and in 1988 it was succeeded by the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/e-4.5/page-1.html">Emergencies Act</a>, its kinder, gentler, Charter of Rights-friendly successor. Yet, as was the case in the 1930s, what seemed the death of the old bill was in many ways resurrected under another name. The Emergencies Act similarly gives cabinet the capacity to govern without almost any parliamentary oversight. </p>
<p>In the peculiar atmosphere of ambient anxiety fuelled by COVID-19, we once more hear the clarion call: <a href="https://www.mccarthy.ca/en/insights/articles/covid-19-emergency-measures-tracker">an emergency situation demands extraordinary powers</a>.</p>
<p>At the beginning of the pandemic, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau <a href="https://www.iheartradio.ca/am-1150/news/pm-trudeau-says-emergency-measures-are-under-consideration-1.10856190">mused about using the Emergencies Act</a> for the first time to allow the government to, among other things, have total <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/emergencies-act-province-letter-1.5526496">control over medical supplies</a>. But <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/majority-of-premiers-oppose-using-emergencies-act-after-pm-consults-1.4891527">the country’s premiers</a> have since told Trudeau invoking the controversial law is unnecessary. Still, the Trudeau government has sought the right to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/25/canada-coronavirus-emergency-trudeau-148362">impose taxes</a> without prior parliamentary approval.</p>
<p>Thanks to vastly <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/smart-cities-technology-coronavirus-covid19/">fortified means of surveillance via technology</a>, the ability to regulate the lives of citizens can now be carried out on a microscopic level beyond anything imagined by Mackenzie King or Pierre Trudeau.</p>
<p>The Emergencies Act has a controversial legacy, one that historians have regularly critiqued and pointed out. Whether it’s the War Measures Act or Section 98, Ottawa’s top-down impositions often come at a hefty price. Canadians should remember that before granting their governments sweeping — and not easily revoked — powers. </p>
<p><em><a href="https://wilson.humanities.mcmaster.ca/2020/04/08/repenser-octobre-rethinking-october/">The Wilson Institute for Canadian History</a> — in partnership with Université Laval, McGill-Queen’s University Press and the Bulletin d’histoire politique — is hosting a conference Oct. 15-16 on the 50th anniversary of the October Crisis.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136918/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ottawa used the old War Measures Act when it wanted sweeping powers to deal with extraordinary events. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has mused about using the newer Emergencies Act during the pandemic.Maxime Dagenais, Coordinator of the Wilson Institute for Canadian History/Adjunct Assistant Professor of History, McMaster UniversityIan McKay, Director of the Wilson Institute for Canadian History, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.