The United States and the Formative Years of an Independent Quebec's Foreign Policy

Abstract

In the last days of the 1995 Referendum campaign, Bernard Landry, Quebec's Vice-Premier and, at the time, its Minister of International Affairs, wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher. Landry wrote in reaction to what several considered a departure from Washington's traditional public stand toward Quebec's sovereigntist plan, and a step toward a more interventionist U.S. policy. (1) In his letter, Landry warned Christopher that such a shift in the American position, should it come to pass, could harm U.S.-Quebec relations. He went on to say that should the Yes side win, the people of Quebec always remember that they had gained their independence despite, or even against, the will of the United This, he concluded, would make more difficult the task of developing those productive and friendly relations which Quebec is eager to share with the United States. (2) This letter constitutes empirical evidence of what it enunciates: that an independent Quebec's policy toward the United States be greatly influenced by U.S. action during the critical time of Quebec's accession to sovereignty and integration in the international community. This aspect of the question has tended to be disregarded by students of U.S.-Quebec relations, in favor of what are usually considered more structural factors, such as the nature of economic and historical ties already existing between the two countries. Foreign policy scholars have frequently stressed the importance of the period during which a state is created and consolidated; it sets the tone, and so the emotional and cognitive framework in which a state subsequently conducts its foreign relations. (3) Thus, for example and two hundred years later, the formative years of the American republic are still considered to have an enduring impact on the development of U.S. diplomacy. In the following pages, I shall first quickly skim over the foundations on which new political relations can be developed between Quebec and Washington. Then, I shall attempt to imagine what the United States do as Quebec went about becoming sovereign and being integrated in the international community, should this happen. Since the interpretation and judgment in Quebec of the United States' role in this process be greatly influenced by the expectations of the decisionmakers and by public opinion, I shall investigate whether what can reasonably be anticipated as U.S. action for each of these phases matches the story a priori told by the Quebec government. Finally, I shall attempt to assess the impact of these decisive times on future political relations between the two states. The Foundations An independent Quebec's relations with the United States be conditioned by a geopolitical context in many ways similar to that which so intimately unites Canada to its powerful neighbor to the south. As has often been said, the language barrier makes Quebec's society less susceptible to U.S. influence and, as a result, its members are not as frightened as English Canadians of policies favoring greater interconnection with the United This is probably true, and is certainly one factor involved in Quebec's decisive support for the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. But one should not forget that English Canadians, despite their alleged anti-Americanism, are already culturally and transnationally tied to the United States to a level that Francophones in Quebec cannot equal by simply showing political goodwill. (4) Also to be borne in mind is the fact that previous attitudes in Quebec favoring a closer relationship with the United States, especially in the economic sector, were conceived in a federal context, and they were developed, to an extent, to counter-balance the protectionist policies inspired by Canadian nationalism. Should Quebec become sovereign, this dynamic no longer exist. One should also keep in mind that what in a Canadian context might be considered relatively pro-free trade might, in a broader North American context, be seen as relatively protectionist. …