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Essay on The Secession of Quebec
In October 1995, the Party Quebecois presented a referendum to the citizens of Quebec. That referendum, which contemplated the secession of Quebec from the rest of Canada, gained 49.5% support. The very narrowness by which the referendum was defeated indicates that the issues related to secession are not clearly defined nor understood. Indeed, the question of secession itself is currently being scrutinized by the Canadian Supreme Court to determine whether secession by a province is constitutional.
It seems that much of the debate about the secession or independence of Quebec has been highly political and emotional with very few of the citizens actually looking at the economic impact of secession to both Quebec and the rest of Canada. To date, most of the debate has been about nationalism, patriotism, and discrimination. Only a few commentators have discussed the economic impact of secession, probably because it is perceived as a secondary issue which does not induce the same passion as the nationalistic issues. After all, who but economists actually understand how and why the economy works, much less the impact that secession of a part of the country might have on that economy (Rioux, 130). However, in order to make a decision which is best for both the province of Quebec and the rest of Canada, citizens of Quebec must consider the economic issues discussed in this article. The citizens of Quebec face three choices. They can
- Refuse to secede and continue as part of a unified Canada,
- Secede entirely and form a completely new nation, or
- Form a new nation but remain part of a Canadian federation.
The first issue to clarify is what exactly Quebec means when it speaks of “secession.” Is it speaking of a complete break from the rest of the Canadian Union to form a completely new and independent state? Or is it considering what has been called sovereignty-association.......
