Word: parties
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...most pernicious document" that would "systematically isolate" Quebec. In fact, polls show that only 32% of Quebeckers back his stand, while 48% feel he should have approved the new constitution. Levesque boycotted the ceremony in Ottawa, but French-and English-speaking members of Quebec's opposition Liberal Party attended. An anticonstitution demonstration organized by his Parti Quebecois in Montreal drew 25,000 marchers...
...British Parliament to transfer the B. N. A. Act, complete with the new amending formula and charter of rights, to Ottawa. No real trouble is expected in London now that Trudeau has satisfied the concerns of the Canadian Supreme Court. Still, the compromise left Lévesque, whose Parti Quebecois favors independence for the French-speaking province, disquietingly isolated and the course of his future actions in doubt. "Quebec finds itself alone," he declared. "It will be up to the Quebec people to draw their conclusions...
...since Lévesque's Parti Quebecois first swept to power 4½ years ago had there been such a spontaneous outpouring of French-Canadian nationalism. Coming only eleven months after voters delivered a resounding non in a referendum on the issue of Quebec separatism, the election amounted to political rebirth for Lévesque. It seemed to establish his party's vision of an independent Quebec as a driving force in national as well as provincial politics. Said the victor: "We are no longer an accident of history...
...vesque's tactics paid off handsomely: the Parti Québecois won an impressive 80 seats in the 122-seat legislature compared with 67 in the outgoing assembly. Moreover, the victory was accepted with equanimity by the losers. There was no trace of the near panic that followed Lévesque's 1976 election, when many Quebeckers hastily transferred their assets to U.S. banks in fear of possible devaluation or other economic turmoil...
...battles on the constitution's particulars could last years. Paradoxically, a new constitution would offer strong provincial premiers a central outlet for griping, an unmoveable target. The national Conservatives could play on local sentiment and run a Reagan-like campaign, pledging to "restore" power to the provinces. Levesque's Parti Quebecois will doubtless try to capitalize on any pro-Anglophone or pro-West articles in the constitution; other provinces could rail against concessions to Quebec. The possibility of a wealthy province like Alberta withdrawing from a revised federation is greater then many think. Variations on Levesque's "sovereignty-association" formula...