CANADA: Quebec Says Non to Separatism

A referendum vote approves reform within the system

"It hurts more deeply than any election defeat. We have to swallow it his time." So said Quebec Premier René Lévesque last week, standing on the same platform in Montreal's Paul Sauvé arena that he had used to declare the upset election victory of his Parti Québecois in 1976. Greeted by 5,000 cheering supporters, Lévesque (pronounced Leh-vek) seemed close to tears as he acknowledged that voters in Canada's largest, predominantly French-speaking province had turned him down by 59.5% to 40.5%. They had voted non...

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