Quebec Sovereignty Research Articles

Linguistic threat: Vote choice, linguistic cues and support for official bilingualism in Quebec

AbstractIn Canada, federal institutions must provide governmental services to all citizens in the country's two official languages: French and English. This paper uses a survey experiment to test exposure to written English as a determinant of support for official bilingualism in the French‐speaking province of Quebec. The data emanate from an exit poll conducted in two Quebec electoral districts during the 2019 Canadian federal elections (n = 430). Results suggest the existence of heterogeneous experimental effects depending on vote choice. Indeed, Bloc Québécois voters—the federal party most strongly supportive of linguistic rights—are disproportionately supportive of institutional bilingualism when randomly exposed to written English on the survey questionnaire. These results are robust to the inclusion of socio‐demographic and attitudinal control variables, including support for Quebec independence. Our paper bolsters causal claims about the contextual determinants of in‐group favouritism and cultural threat in divided societies.

КВЕБЕКСКАЯ ПРОБЛЕМА В СОВРЕМЕННОЙ КАНАДЕ: ПРОШЛОЕ ИЛИ НАСТОЯЩЕЕ?

This article deals with an analysis of the Quebec issue in Modern Canada. Based on the necessary corpus of sources and the corresponding historiography, the author tries to answer the question whether the Quebec issue is relevant for Canada in the present or it has remained in the past forever. In his article, the author not only summarizes and systematizes the history of the French-Canadian issue itself, but also analyzes the activities of the Parti Québécois and the Bloc Québécois, which have been fighting for Quebec sovereignty for many years. He emphasizes that it was with these two associations that the idea of Quebec sovereignty was connected, and focuses on the activities of René Lévesque and Jacques Parizeau, who prepared two referendums on the sovereignty of Quebec. The study results in the conclusion that at the party-political level (due to the change in the party ideology of the Bloc Québécois and the failure of the Parti Québécois in the 2018 provincial elections), of course, the idea of sovereignty has become a thing of the past. While at the mental level (the memory of the historical trauma of the 60s in the 18th century, when new France was conquered by England), the idea of sovereignty meets the interests of part of the French-Canadian community.

Hidden in Plain Sight: Fascism in Quebec during the Second World War

My doctoral dissertation on anti-Semitism and extreme right-wing nationalism in 1929–39 Quebec proved to be a thread that, once pulled, would reveal other aspects of Quebec history that had also been hidden in plain sight. The writing of the most prominent nationalists of the 1930s was available in most university libraries in Quebec. While some politicians acknowledged in their memoirs the influence of these intellectuals in their youth, the appeal of fascism and anti-Semitism was never mentioned. Their resounding silence was quickly shattered by reading the Université de Montréal (University of Montreal)’s Le Quartier Latin student newspaper, where articles praising fascism and denouncing the Jewish influence were common, and a little book that claimed that Pierre Elliott Trudeau had been a member of a revolutionary organisation that aimed at toppling the provincial government to establish an independent Quebec freed from democracy. Researching the French Nazi collaborators warmly received in Quebec after the Second World War led to a little-known man who became the personal ambassador to the Vatican of the premier of Quebec, Maurice Duplessis, during the Asbestos Strike of 1949. Combing through the files of some of the leading actors of that conflict in the Jesuits’ archives would reveal that the miners’ health threatened by asbestosis was a significant issue that the historiography of the event had neglected.

The Quebec Secession Reference and the federal Clarity Act: the fascination with clarity and the value of ambiguity

This article examines the ongoing relevance of the Supreme Court of Canada’s Reference re Secession of Quebec (1998) in managing tensions arising from the coexistence of multiple political communities within a single constitutional order. It explores the lessons to be learned from this landmark case in light of recent debates such as the Scottish independence referendum and Catalonia’s “right to decide”. The article argues that, while the Reference provides a valuable framework for analysing multinational democracies and federal systems, caution should be exercised when employing the political and legal grammar associated with the federal Clarity Act. The latter, enacted by the Canadian federal Parliament after the Quebec Secession Reference, purported to clarify the Supreme Court’s advisory opinion, but actually aimed to exert control over Quebec’s potential secession. By examining the historical, political and legal context, the present article highlights the divergence between the federal Clarity Act and the spirit of the Quebec Secession Reference. It underscores the need to reassess the legacy of these events and their relevance in managing political and legal tensions within multinational democracies. It also invites scholars and political actors interested in these issues to appreciate the significance of ambiguity and avoid overestimating the advantages of clarity.

The FAN TAN file: Quebec separatism and security service resistance to politicization 1971–72

ABSTRACT This article examines an interval during 1970–1971 during which the Canadian Federal government established a clandestine body codenamed FAN TAN within the Prime Minister’s Office to conduct surveillance of, and ‘political action’ against, the Quebec separatist movement. This organization, led by Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Marc Lalonde, sought to persuade the Security Service of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to provide intelligence in support of what was a party political entity based in the Prime Minister’s Office and not in the actual national security machinery of the Privy Council Office. We examine how John Starnes, Director General of the Security Service, went to considerable lengths to resist this effort to politicize his agency, and to warn the government of the potential scandal should FAN TAN become publicly known. We conclude that the FAN TAN affair leaves a number of serious questions to be answered such as: who actually originated the scheme, its legality as well as propriety, what intelligence was used or continued to be collected after the RCMP sought to end its involvement, and why the matter was ignored by the subsequent McDonald Commission that prompted the dissolution of the Security Service. 1

Is Quebec independence still key in making sense of Canadian elections? A longitudinal analysis (2000–2021)

ABSTRACT The issue of Quebec independence was, until recently, considered the most important factor motivating Quebeckers’ vote choice in federal elections. However, the conventional wisdom has shifted and now holds, especially since 2011, that the explanatory power of the issue of Quebec secession would have decreased over time and would no longer be deemed as one of the few decisive determinants of citizens’ vote choice calculus. We provide the first longitudinal analysis of the impact of Quebec independence in federal elections using the Canadian Election Study from 2000 to 2021. Our findings show that, as expected, attitudes toward Quebec secession in explaining citizens’ vote choice were more important at the beginning of the twenty-first century, although only when comparing the discrepancy between the 2000 and 2004 elections. Between 2006 and 2021, the importance of Quebec independence has remained stable and key in explaining electoral outcomes.

Federalism as an institutional doctrine

Federalism as an institutional doctrine

Canada: A Very Short Introduction by Donald Wright (review)

Reviewed by: Canada: A Very Short Introduction by Donald Wright Barry Ferguson Wright, Donald–Canada: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. 160 p. Donald Wright’s Canada: A Very Short Introduction is a fresh and snappy historical overview replete with insights and explanations for anyone curious about modern Canada. It is well-grounded in history and social science, and draws on the arts to punctuate its arguments. The brevity of the format leads to bold assessments that invite critical discussion. The book begins and ends with vignettes about a family of recent refugee immigrants to the country. These snapshots prompt Wright to pose a longstanding question raised since the late nineteenth century by non-Canadian and Canadian commentators. Many writers have been puzzled by the country’s very existence. Is a country that lacks a “national identity” and tight unity truly a “real country”? The basic issues that have raised these doubts are Canada’s vast geography, its ethno-cultural diversity, and a “complicated,” that is divisive, history. Wright is critical of this entrenched perspective and counters it with eloquent arguments enucleated in the 1960s by Ramsay Cook. Cook explained that Canada was a distinct country precisely because it lacked an official culture, dominant concept of nationality, or stable political majority. Although Wright does not explore the ideas, they have been explained by others, notably Cook’s intellectual ally, Pierre Trudeau. Years before his political work fighting Quebec separatism and shaping constitutional transformation, Trudeau’s academic writing consisted of a remarkable demolition of traditional nationalisms and a fierce defence of plural states. [End Page 239] Wright’s book consists of six pithily stated and deftly illustrated themes that explore Canadian national experiences. The chapters consider the many historical attempts to impose unity, their divisive effects, and the twentieth- and twenty-first-century emergence of the plural, diverse, and functional country that has survived despite its divisions. These explorations start with two broad historical overviews. “Beginnings” and “Dispossessions” summarize the long history and great achievements of the highly diverse Indigenous Peoples as well as the lasting impact of three centuries of French and British colonial projects. Understandably, there is little space for nuanced discussions. For instance, the Royal Proclamation of 1763 heralded the British colonial takeover, the recognition of Quebec’s separate institutions, and also the primary British sovereignty over Indigenous nations. Quebec has understandably chafed under aspects of that separate institutional identity, but Quebeckers still value its constitutional force. Two centuries of political protest and litigation have resurrected the Royal Proclamation as an “Indian [sic] Bill of Rights.” In explaining “dispossessions,” Wright examines the relentless economic and political expansion and exploitation, the crucial and deadly effects of “viral pathogens,” and the intricacies of legal doctrines and public policies. The legal framework is epitomized by the 1876 “Indian Act,” a reviled but continuing foundational legislation to control Indigenous Peoples. Public policies are seen through the notorious residential school system that began in the 1880s and persisted for over a century to impose assimilation. The original Confederation of Canada in 1867 and the crucial treaties with and laws governing Indigenous Peoples punctuated a project that both defined and severely marginalized the original peoples. The book then examines four of modern Canada’s most significant facets. First, it considers the continuous impact of “nationalisms” as ideas and policies. Second, it reviews the post-1945 emergence of a “rights” culture. Third, it outlines the modern problems of Canada in the international order, or its “borders” as Wright puts it. Finally, the book assesses the country’s physical environment using the concepts of its “norths.” The treatment of “nationalisms” proceeds from the book’s initial pluralist interpretation. Nationalist movements are shown to have more often divided rather than unified political and social life. The deep social bases and corrosive effects of the sectarian and ethnic/racial nationalisms of French and “English” Canada (the latter would more accurately be described as “British” Canada) are explained. The discussion is insightful but would have been clearer if the varieties of nationalisms—ethnic, racial, and religious as well as civic and political variants—were specifically laid out from the outset. The impact...

Unwritten Constitutional Principles: Ensuring Consistency and Evolution in Canadian Law

With reference to the Supreme Court case City of Toronto v. Ontario (Attorney General) and decisions from Reference re Secession of Quebec and other legal cases, unwritten constitutional principles are defined, and their nature as being foundational to Canadian legal practice is highlighted. This paper discusses the nature of unwritten constitutional principles and their role in Canadian legal practice. The textualization of these principles can be considered redundant as they are observed in both the judiciary and the legislature. This paper also emphasizes arguments for why the origins of these specific legal principles are being referenced. The ultimate issue is that there must be an attempt by relevant actors to maintain consistency of the law and the treatment of Canadians - the judiciary or the legislature, or both, can take this action.

Recollections of Sir George Williams University

This essay offers a narrative account of events at Sir George Williams University between the years 1966 and 1970. Recounted here are stories of student life as well as recollections of various faculty members who were on staff during the complex political moment of the late 1960s. These stories of university life are also framed within the happenings and cultural-political shifts in the city of Montreal. This essay uses first person recollection to reorient some of the historical perspectives on such events as the 1967 World’s Fair, the civil rights protests in the US, anti-Vietnam war movements, anti-colonial movements and wars of the 1960s, the movement for Quebec independence, and the Sir George Williams University protests.

Racial Secularism as Settler Colonial Sovereignty in Quebec 1

Racial Secularism as Settler Colonial Sovereignty in Quebec 1

Judicial amendment and our constitutional lives: A reply to Emmett Macfarlane

Abstract This short article responds to Emmett Macfarlane’s important piece, “Judicial Amendment of the Constitution,” with questions about how well his theory of judicial amendment maps, and thereby offers guidance about, the realities of constitutional life. I focus on the application of Macfarlane’s theory to one of the Supreme Court of Canada’s most internationally known opinions, the Quebec Secession Reference. I take this approach not merely to stake out an interpretation of the Court’s decision in the Secession Reference that differs from Macfarlane’s, but rather to better see what Macfarlane’s approach exposes and occludes about lived constitutionalism. To this end, this essay first questions whether the Secession Reference is an instance of judicial amendment, as Macfarlane argues it is. It then considers the implications of this questioning beyond the Reference. I argue that Macfarlane’s theory would benefit from a more robust account of structural interpretation and that a future normative account should grapple with how the concept of judicial amendment helps us understand our constitutional lives.

An Imperfect Firewall: Quebec’s Constitutional Right of Secession as a Device Against Domination

The idea of including a right of secession in democratic constitutions has been discussed by different political and legal theorists; however, little has been said on the matter from the point of view of democratic-republican political philosophy. This article undertakes this effort by means of a normative analysis of Quebec’s constitutional right of secession, as outlined in the Quebec Secession Reference. This analysis shows how the non-unilateral nature of this right minimises the risks for republican freedom (as non-domination) and inclusion in the Quebec secession conflict, while the fact that it is limited to a national constitutional framework dampens this achievement.

The State and Canadian Cultural Nationalism: Protecting Canadian Football

In 1974, Canada’s Liberal minority government introduced a bill designed to protect the Canadian Football League (CFL) from competition. It threatened jail for anyone who operated a football team in Canada having any connection with an American team or league. A particular conjuncture of factors prompted the government to act according to the rationale that protecting the CFL was critical to the national interest. Canadian football had become an identity marker that nationalists used to define the country and differentiate it from other nations. In the 1960s, post-war Canadian nationalism heightened concerns about Americanization as well as Quebec separatism. It also brought increasing state intervention, including cultural policies that grew in scope as they became more populist, from a government in a minority position facing a national unity crisis. In this research, the government’s unprecedented intervention is explained, by contextualizing it historically within the cultural, economic, and political conditions of the time. When the Canadian Football League, a national sporting league that represented the nation, began to struggle, the stage was set for the most significant government intervention in the area of Canadian professional sport to date.

Love on the rocks: The causal effects of separatist governments in Quebec

Is separatism economically costly or is the violence associated with separatism to blame? Most separatist movements overlap with violent ethnic tensions and are associated with economically destructive outcomes. In this paper, we consider a (largely) peaceful separatist movement. Specifically, we use the synthetic control method to study the economic consequences of the surprising victory of the Parti Québécois in Quebec in 1976 and the subsequent referendum on Quebec's independence in 1980. We find that, relative to our control, the election of separatists had a small positive effect on economic activity until 1980 after which a small negative effect appears. We find similar results following the 1994 election that returned the Parti Québécois to power. We further find that the size of the provincial government (relative to GDP) constantly and significantly exceeded the counterfactual. We argue that the economic costs of separatist movements may arise from the frequently associated violence and not be intrinsic to any sort of attempted political disintegration.

A night to remember: perspectives on the watershed 2018 Quebec election

This article introduces a special issue that takes a close look at the outcome of the October 2018 Quebec election where a newly created party (the Coalition Avenir Quebec) took power with a majority of seats. The special issue’s five articles collectively examine different factors having played a role in shaping Quebec citizens’ voting behavior in 2018. The extent to which citizens decide to turn out at the district level and their vote choice calculus are both investigated. The latter is analyzed through the lens of long-term factors such as language, attitudes toward Quebec independence, and party identification, as well as more short-term factors such as policy preferences on emerging issues like immigration and the environment. While several contributions point toward an important, perhaps long-lasting, realignment of the Quebec party system, others also highlight some elements of continuity, bringing nuance to an overall explanation of the election’s outcome.

The Canadian Contribution to a Comparative Law of Secession: Legacies of the Quebec Secession Reference

The Canadian Contribution to a Comparative Law of Secession: Legacies of the Quebec Secession Reference

Nationalist and cosmopolitan approaches to the nation: a citizen’s perspective and its electoral impact

Whether it is about Quebec independence, French language or immigration, nationalism is a crucial feature of Quebec politics. The Quebec 2018 election is not an exception. Scholars have developed theories about individual identity, the nation and nationhood, but we lack a citizens’ perspective. We provide the first thorough description of Quebeckers’ nationalism, which reveals a roughly normal (i.e. non-polarized) distribution of ethnic nationalism attitudes. Most importantly, we measure ethnic nationalism with a never tested measure in Quebec and we show that it substantially explains vote choice in the Quebec 2018 election—especially the support for the Coalition Avenir Quebec. Our research builds bridges between debates in political philosophy and political science and deepens our understanding of the Quebec 2018 election.

Exposure to English as a determinant of support for Quebec independence in the 2018 Quebec elections

This paper tests the explanatory power of exposure to English on nationalist attitudes in the 2018 Quebec general elections, during which all major political parties exceptionally excluded holding a referendum on Quebec independence. Data emanate from an exit poll conducted in Quebec City and in Montreal on October 1, 2018 (N = 122). Results from a population-based survey experiment demonstrate that exposure to written English through a bilingual survey is a positive predictor of support for independence for French-speaking Quebecers who encounter spoken English frequently in their daily lives. This suggests that exposure to written English bolsters nationalist attitudes as real-life out-group contact increases. These results reinforce causal claims on the contextual determinants of political attitudes.

An extraordinary election? A longitudinal perspective of the Québec 2018 election

From 1970 to 2018, either the Quebec Liberal Party or the Parti Quebecois won the elections in Quebec. The Coalition Avenir Quebec ended this long period of bipartisan alternation by winning a majority of seats in the 2018 election. Using datasets that cover five elections (2007, 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2018) over a period of 11 years, we provide a unique longitudinal perspective of citizens’ vote choice calculus. More specifically, we analyse long-term factors that are known to be crucial to make sense of electoral outcomes. Do factors such as generations, sex, attitudes towards Quebec sovereignty and party identification have the same weight in voters’ calculus over time? Our results show a relative stability, but also several interesting variations, especially regarding the effect of support for Quebec independence. This perspective deepens our understanding of recent political developments in Quebec politics.