Word: frasers
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...John Fraser, Member of Parliament from Vancouver South, British Columbia, explained current Quebecois separatist aspirations at a level deeper than language differences. "It doesn't matter which one you scratch, you find a French-Canadian nationalist," he said last week, refering to French-Canadian Quebecers. "They look upon Quebec and themselves as a separate nation. They do not see themselves culturally or ethnically as part of the English-speaking mosaic of the rest of the country...
Despite worldwide respect for their country, Canadians have traditionally treated their nationality with a cynicism bordering on embarrassment. In a country whose people are unaccustomed to national pride, the separatists have a least for the moment seized the initiative. The "patriotic rhetoric and fervor" which Fraser mentioned presently belong to the Parti Quebecois. "This country will be lost if people aren't prepared to get just as tough as Levesque is," Fraser suggested...
...going to be a very brutal affair," Fraser continued. "I have to say as a Member of Parliament that, if...they decide to go, I say 'Look out!' because that going is going to be on my terms... The self-interest that I'm going to exercise is not their interest...
Resentment toward a separated Quebec could well be characteristic of many Canadians. Fraser's remarks place him in the resentful category: "There's no such thing as a nice, tidy, happy separation. You're not going to get agreement from English Canada on the basis of what Levesque thinks he can have...
...Quebecers wanted separation from Canada, I wouldn't think that the federal government would try to keep them in Confederation by force." Problems arise in defining a "good majority." O'Leary claimed that 51 per cent of the voters would constitute a majority large enough to warrant separation. Fraser disagreed, saying that 51 per cent of the people do not "have the right to destroy the citizenship of 49 per cent...