"Maitres chez nous": the popularity of the notion that Quebeckers should be "masters in their own house" has ebbed and flowed over many decades. (National Unity--Quebec Sovereignty).

The riding of Saguenay, Quebec was won by the separatist Pard Quebecois in the 1998 provincial election by a whopping majority of more than 10,000 votes; the people in the Saguenay region, voted 73.3% in favour of sovereignty in the 1995 referendum, and 61.9% in the 1980 referendum. But, in a by-election in April 2002, the Pard Quebecois candidate in Saguenay finished a humiliating third.

What happened? Only a year earlier the people who wanted to cut the ties to Canada were full of confidence. That, when Bernard Landry became Premier and fired up the separatist engines saying, "We want to vigorously pursue the goal of sovereignty ... My action in this regard is based on the central and powerful idea that is now largely accepted in Quebec: That Quebec is a nation."

The idea of separation from Canada came up seriously for the first time in 1918. Hostility between Quebec and the rest of Canada had descended to a new low over compulsory military, service, called conscription.

The First World War (1914-18) was a bloody affair. The generals were using a style of warfare that involved throwing wave after wave of men against withering machine-gun fire to capture a few metres of muddy ground. This tactic looked good in headquarters many kilometres behind the front line. But, for the young men who had to carry out the orders it was close to a death sentence.

Canada needed 20,000 new recruits a year to replace those who were killed or too badly mangled to put back in the front line. But, the lads on farms and in factories were losing their enthusiasm to volunteer for the deadly trench warfare. At the start of the war in 1914, Ottawa had promised that all recruits would be voluntary; there would be no conscription. But, in May 1917, Prime Minister Robert Borden announced there would be compulsory military, service after all. Conscription was supported by English Canadians, although it was far from wildly popular; in Quebec, the draft was strongly and almost universally opposed by francophones. There were riots against conscription causing injuries and death.

Late in 1917, J.N. Francoeur proposed a solution to the tension between French and English Canada. He introduced a private member's bill in the Quebec Legislature that said in part: "Quebec would be disposed to accept the breaking of the Confederation pact if in the other provinces it is believed that (Quebec) is an obstacle to the union, progress, and development of Canada." In language ordinary people use it meant: "If we can't get along better than this maybe we should separate." The bill never came to a vote, but it caused quite a stir.

According to Laval University, historian Real Belanger, "It was from this date that the withdrawal of French Canadians into the fortress of Quebec really began."

But Quebec had to get through the turmoil of the Depression of the 1930s. Then, there was another conscription crisis in World War II, followed by a decade and a half of corrupt rule under Premier Maurice Duplessis.

All the while, small groups of people favouring separation from Canada formed and disbanded. There were furious ideological battles within these groups, which often tore them apart.

In June 1960, the Liberal Party under Jean Lesage won the provincial election. Premier Lesage and his team were elected on a promise of reform. The old conservative control of the Duplessis government and the Roman Catholic Church were set aside. Government was going to be cleaned-up and a new genera don of well-educated Quebeckers was ready to assert the province's identity.

During the 1960 election campaign, the Liberals used the slogan "Maitres chez nous," (masters in our own house). The next few years saw dramatic change in Quebec as Premier Lesage and his ministers put the provincial house in order. This period of change came to be called The Quiet Revolution. The province came alive with new ideas. The government vastly increased its role in the economy, the arts, and social services. A completely new education system was designed and put in place.

The "Maitres chez nous" philosophy spread to relations with the rest of Canada. There was a stormy first ministers' meeting in 1964. Jean Lesage demanded and got Quebec's withdrawal from several shared-cost programs. This got premiers from other parts of the country grumbling about Quebec being given "special status."

A year later, the Bilingualism and Biculturalism Commission reported that: "Canada, without being fully conscious of the fact, is passing through the greatest crisis in its history. The source of the crisis lies in the province of Quebec."

One of the Liberal candidates elected with Mr. Lesage and appointed to several cabinet posts was a former journalist called Rene Levesque. While Canada was celebrating 100 years as a nation, Mr. Levesque presented the Quebec Liberal Party with his plan for taking the province a step beyond special status. At its 1967 convention, he presented a scheme for separation from Canada to be followed by some form of association.

The Quebec Liberal Party turned the idea down and Rene Levesque quit. He did not go alone; 150 other Liberals marched out with him. A year later, Mr. Levesque became the leader of a new political party--the Parti Quebecois (PQ). Option Quebec was the name of the 13-page document that outlined the call for Quebec to become a sovereign state with its own ministries dealing with international relations, trade, justice, and social affairs under the leadership of a prime minister. French would be the country's only official language.

The break with Canada was not going to be total. Mr. Levesque wanted an independent Quebec closely linked to Canada through a complex structure of administrative agencies.

In a remarkably short space of time, the Parti Quebecois formed the province's government and Rene Levesque was Premier. In the provincial election of November 1976, the PQ stunned Canada and themselves by trouncing the governing Liberals. Separatist candidates won 71 seats; the Liberals were their nearest rivals with just 26 seats.

Prominent Quebec Liberal Bryce Mackasey advised everyone to stay calm: "Life will go on tomorrow," he said. "We're still a long way from separation ... The important thing is not to panic. Your money is protected in the banks." But, a lot of people did panic, especially the anglophones of Montreal. A few days before the election, when polls suggested the PQ might win, a convoy of armoured trucks headed west on the TransCanada Highway out of Quebec. English-speaking Quebeckers were moving their money to banks in Toronto. Soon after the election, the people started to move as well. Then, companies with head offices in Quebec relocated, mostly to Toronto.

Language laws that down-graded the importance of English (CULTURAL BEDROCK) hastened the departure of tens of thousands of anglophones. As the moving vans pulled away, French-speaking Quebeckers quietly applauded; each anglo that left made a successful vote on separation more likely.

But, the sovereignists were in for a huge disappointment. In May 1980, the separation issue was put to the voters of Quebec, although the Parti Quebecois fudged the question. In a referendum, Quebeckers were asked not if they wanted to separate from Canada; the question was made more vague by asking whether or not they were ready to give the provincial government authority to negotiate sovereignty-association. By not asking the hard question--separation: yes or no--the PQ government hoped to attract the votes of more than just the hard-core sovereignists. The strategy failed; 59.5% of Quebeckers voted "No."

But, the very. fact that the issue had come to a vote at all put the wind up a lot of federalists who wanted Canada to stay united. Several attempts were made to persuade Quebec to sign onto the Constitution. They all failed, even though Quebec was offered greater powers than other provinces. The failure of the Meech Lake Accord and then the Charlottetown Agreement started the separatist ball rolling again. The sovereignists were able to play the old English-Canada-hates-us card again. The rejection of Meech and Charlottetown was way more complex than this, but a lot of Quebeckers swallowed the emotional appeals.

In 1993, Jean Chretien's Liberals won the federal election, but the newly formed Bloc Quebecois became the Official Opposition. Under the leadership of former Conservative cabinet minister Lucien Bouchard, the Bloc took 54 seats, all of them in Quebec. The Bloc's goal was to promote the break-up of Canada through the separation of Quebec. Yet, here was Lucien Bouchard swearing allegiance to the Queen and Canada as Leader of Her Majesta"s Loyal Opposition. The next year, the Parti Quebecois, now led by Jacques Parizeau, was back in power as Quebec's provincial government.

The pieces seemed to be falling into place for the separatists, so Premier Parizeau called another referendum for October 1995. But again, the separatists went fuzzy on the question. This time voters were asked to approve Quebec becoming a sovereign nation after a new political and economic partnership had been negotiated with the rest of Canada.

The result was a close-run thing; 49.4% voted "Yes" and 50.6% voted "No." If just 26,500 votes out of the 4.7 million cast had gone the other way, the result would have been a victory for the "Yes" side.

So far, that's as close as they've come. However, a fair number of Quebec-watchers predict the separatists will keep what they call the "Never-endum" process going. The pro-Canada forces must win every referendum, while the separatists only have to win once.

Since the 1995 nail-biter, Lucien Bouchard came and went as Premier of Quebec. Several times during his term of office headlines of the "Get Ready for Another Referendum" variety appeared. But, there were no more referendums, and Mr. Bouchard made a tearful exit from politics in January 2001. He said he accepted "full responsibility for having failed to revive the flame [of sovereignty] ..."

A couple of months later, Bernard Landry picked up the flickering torch, determined to fan some new life into the "flame of sovereignty." He started out bravely enough:

* "Landry vows sovereignty will be won `very soon.'" (Globe and Mail, 5 February, 2001);

* "Quebec to operate as sovereign nation new PQ leader says." (Globe and Mail, 23 March 2002);

* "Support for sovereignty? rises under Landry," (Journal de Montreal, 5 April 2001);

* "Landry sees new vote on sovereignty by 2005." (Globe and Mail, 20 August 2001).

But, by the start of 2002, it was looking bleak for the sovereignists. Public opinion polls showed the enthusiasm for turning Quebec into an independent country was falling. In 1996, the Parti Quebecois boasted 200,000 paid up members; by 2001, there were fewer than 50,000 members. In a summer 2002 poll, only 30% of francophones said they supported the Pard Quebecois.

In March 2002, Quebec's Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Jean-Pierre Charbonneau, said Quebeckers were not ready to engage in a debate about sovereignty. However, reading the entrails of by-elections and polls, the experts have been quick to warn that separatism is not dead. Polls suggest that around 40% of Quebeckers still support separation, even if most of them currently don't like the political party, most likely to call another referendum--the Parti Quebecois (PQ).

During the summer of 2002, the Action democratique du Quebec (ADQ) surged ahead of the PQ in public opinion polls. Grizzled old observers caution not to read too much into the popularity of the ADQ; it can fade as quickly as it sprang up. However, it should be noted that this party is strongly nationalistic with a platform that calls for a massive decentralization of power to the provinces.

The ADQ stops short of demanding separate national status for Quebec. However, if the party gets what it seeks, Canada would change dramatically. Party leader Mario Dumont told The Globe and Mail in May 2002 that separation is still an option: "Maybe in the next generation, in 20 years, it will become so obvious that 80% will support it and it will happen all by itself."

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES:

1. In December 2000, the Quebec Legislature passed Bill 99. The Act says that the government or Quebec, if it receives the support of 50% plus one of the "Quebec People," has the right to declare itself an independent nation with its territory, intact. However, in 1998, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Quebec does not enjoy this right to a unilateral declaration of independence. The Supreme Court said that if a clear majority, of Quebeckers voted in favour of separation in a referendum with a clear question, the rest of Canada would have to negotiate. But, said the court, any separation could only, be legal if was achieved through, a change in the Constitution, and only after a negotiated agreement to ensure the protection of the rights all parties including provinces, Aboriginal peoples, and minorities. A representative of the English-speaking minority in Quebec, lawyer Brent Tyler, has launched a court challenge against Bill 99. Open a clipping file on this lawsuit, which will probably end up in the Supreme Court of Canada, and periodically, review its contents.

2. Use the information in this article and the previous one to create a timeline of events in Quebec's evolution.

3. A number people point out that the nature of Quebec society has changed a lot in recent years; the province has become more multicultural. Even though most immigrants live and work in French they do not have the same attachment to the past that francophone Quebeckers who can trace their roots in the province several generations have. Some experts believe this growth in multiculturalism is diluting the passion for separation and making Quebec more like the rest of Canada. Scan news media to find evidence of this.

PHONES

Francophones are Quebeckers whose first language is French.

* Anglophones are Quebeckers whose first language is English.

* Allophones are Quebeckers, usually immigrants, whose first language is neither French nor English.

FACT FILE

Quebec nationalists often refer to themselves as la pure laine (the pure wool); a cultural and ethnic group descended from the original settlers of New France.

FACT FILE

Quebec calls its provincial parliament The National Assembly.

FACT FILE

After the conquest of New France in 1759, the British hoped the francophone population would adopt the English language and culture. When that didn't happen, the Quebec Act was passed in 1774, which recognized the French language, French civil law, and the Roman Catholic Church.

Websites

1995 Referendum Links--http://www3.sympatico.ca/hdoran/refer.htm

Action democratique du Quebec (French only)--http://www.adq.qc.ca/

Bill 99--http://publicationsduquebec.gouv.qc.ca/documents/gazette/prive /bill/99A0103.PDF 

Liberal Party of Quebec-http://www.plq.org/

Maple Square--http://www.maplesquare.com/directory/-government_and_politics /national_unity/

Parti Quebecois (French only)--http://partiquebecois.org/zones/www/

RELATED ARTICLE: Trudeau to the rescue.

Pierre Elliott Trudeau was Prime Minister of Canada from 1968 to 1984, with just a brief eight-month interruption. From Quebec, he was fluently bilingual and completely bicultural. He had a towering intellect and Quebec Premier Rene Levesque was one of the few people who could match wits with him.

Mr. Trudeau believed that the French language and culture would prosper better within Canada than in an independent Quebec. He brought in the Official Languages Act (1969), which made French and English the two languages of the federal government. French was required on packaging, and French-speakers were promoted in the civil service. All federal bureaucrats had to be able to conduct business in both official languages.

On the eve of the 1980 referendum, Prime Minister Trudeau gave an impassioned speech. To a cheering crowd of Montrealers he promised that if a majority voted "No" he would do all in his power to give Canada a new Constitution. There would also be a Charter of Rights and Freedoms that would guarantee language rights. By 1982, the Constitution and Charter were done deals. There was only one problem; Quebec did not sign on.

RELATED ARTICLE: Cultural bedrock.

Bill 101 is the guarantee that the French language and culture will survive in Quebec. Introduced in 1977 as the Charter of the French Language, Bill 101 makes French the habitual language of business, government, education, and communication.

During its three-decade life, the language law has coughed up its fair share of absurdities, such as forcing bookstores selling only English language books to have their signs only in French.

There were court challenges that struck down parts of the law, but its core remained intact. And, French has become the only language of significance in Quebec; so much so, that it is now scarcely an issue anymore.

RELATED ARTICLE: The FLQ.

For some Quebeckers, the Quiet Revolution was too slow; they aimed to hurry independence along by using terrorism. in 1963, the Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ) was formed. The group announced its arrival on the scene by planting 17 dynamite bombs in mailboxes in Montreal on the night of 16-17 May 1963. FLQ members stole $50,000 in one robbery and weapons in another.

People were getting killed and injured in the crossfire or while trying to dismantle FLQ bombs. By 1970, the FLQ had planted more than 200 bombs without hurrying independence along. That's when the group changed tactics.

In the fall of 1970, FLQ terrorists kidnapped the British Trade Commissioner in Quebec, James Cross, and Quebec's Labour Minister Pierre Laporte. Mr. Laporte was later murdered. Ottawa invoked the War Measures Act and arrested 450 people, none of whom turned out to be terrorists. However, the FLQ members were eventually caught and Mr. Cross was released.

The Front de Liberation du Quebec was put out of business and Quebec's quest for sovereignty has been peaceful ever since.