CANADA: Secession v. Survival

A proud province raises the fear that a nation could come apart

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says that the task is "to win the hearts and minds of Quebeckers to stay in confederation." Trudeau is keeping a large part of his counterstrategy against separatism under wraps. But among other things, his government intends to arm itself with the power to call its own referendum, in case René Lévesque unfairly biases the Quebec plebiscite question. The central government is also preparing proposals for constitutional change: for example, stronger provincial representation on Canada's Supreme Court and in other national institutions, and a bill of rights protecting French-and English-language rights. These would not only placate Western Canadians but might also make Lévesque seem unreasonable to Quebec voters should he refuse to accept them. All that is still part of the future. At present the stark fact is that Canadians may have to struggle harder than at any other time in their history to keep their future intact.

*Mostly concentrated in Ontario, New Brunswick and Manitoba, with smaller numbers scattered in the other six provinces.

*Last month a Quebec judge ruled that a part of Bill 101 was unconstitutional. French cannot be the only official language in the provincial legislature or provincial courts, he said, since use of English there is guaranteed by Canada's constitution.

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