Word: quebecers
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Chicago 7, Quebec...
This week, Canada's ten provincial premiers huddled contentiously in a downtown Toronto hotel to find some way to obstruct or reform Trudeau's latest package, which he hopes to present to the British government by early 1981. Premier Rene Levesque of Quebec, head of the separatist party that decisively lost a plebiscite last spring on the right to negotiate with Ottawa for sovereignty-association, characteristically produced the most biting quote. He called Trudeau's plan a "proposed coupt d'etat...
...long time held an inordinate piece of the economic pie. The Maritime provinces, traditionally the weakest economically, fear that greater centralization could jeopardize their already tenuous position. And Levesque stands to gain the most personally from a country in disarray; he could then tell his constituency that Quebec would better be able to fend for itself by seceding...
Almost ironically, Canadian voters have struck an odd balance of power. At the federal level, Trudeau won a majority, toppling Conservative leader Joe Clark's minority government after only nine months. But among the provincial premiers, not one belongs to a provincial Liberal party. In Quebec, the federal Liberals' stronghold, Levesque holds forth as the second-most popular politician--behind Trudeau--and the provincial leader determined to lead the anti-federalist camp. In a strange fashion, Canada has demonstrated checks and balances without a constitution...
...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 for secession may prove the wave of the future...