POLI 211 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Jacques Parizeau, Distinct Society, Robert Bourassa
17 May 2018
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QUEBEC WITHIN THE CANADIAN FEDERATION CONT’D (02.02)
Next Wednesday: CBC documentary on 1995 referendum campaign
- Jean-Francois Lisée: main strategic counsellor of Jacques Parizeau in 1995
- Election of PQ in 1976: 41% popular support
- These last 25 years were very important
- They represent the culmination of all these ideological struggles that we’ve been discussing
- Important to understand this period to get a better sense of QC politics today
- There’s a reason why the PQ is still on the political scene in QC – though it’s struggling a bit
- Idea of QC separation is still around – it somewhat still structures QC political life today
- PQ comes to power in 1976 for the first time – it’s not the first election the PQ competed in
o 1970: 23% popular support
o 1973: 30% popular support
▪ Went from 7 seats to 6 seats (out of 110)
▪ Though there was popular support, PQ wasn’t able to gain enough traction
▪ Disappointing election for PQ: there was hope that the deputation would increase
▪ This led to a change in strategy in 1974
- 1974: adoption of ‘etapisme’
- As proposing independence of QC was not gaining enough traction to win elections, PQ decided to
change strategies, and change its message to Quebecers: “if we get elected, we will not proclaim QC
independence – QC won’t separate from ROC bc the process of separation would be done in
steps” (→ novelty w/ étapisme)
o Step 1: next election, we will form a good gov’t
o Step 2: PQ would also hold a referendum on the issue of separation: if you elect us, don’t
worry, you’ll have another chance to express your opinion on the issue of separation in a
referendum. Not only that: also, this referendum will only be a consultation to ask Quebecers
if they agree that the QC gov’t renegotiate a new partnership w/ the ROC.
▪ First referendum is not about secession itself; it’s about giving the gov’t a mandate to
negotiate a new partnership w/ the ROC.
o Step 3: any outcome of these negotiations would be subject to another referendum.
o This strategy gives Quebecers 2 opportunities to say no to separation
o It helped PQ come to power in 1976 (41% popular support) bc now the issue wasn’t about
separation, it was about which party would form the new gov’t
o Seeing as the PLQ was having issues (especially w/ the language crisis of the early 1970s),
Quebecers decided to give PQ a chance to govern, knowing that they could give their opinion
on separation later on
o Won the election at 41% popular support: far from majority to win the referendum. That’s the
reason it was only held in 1980: they wanted time to prepare the referendum & gain > support
- It was lost: QC gov’t TF didn’t get the mandate by the population to negotiate w/ the federal gov’t
- So there was no second referendum on separation
1980 REFERENDUM QUESTION
The Government of Québec has made public its
proposal to negotiate a new agreement with the rest
of Canada, based on the equality of nations; this
agreement would enable Québec to acquire the
Le Gouvernement du Québec a fait connaître sa
proposition d’en arriver, avec le reste du Canada, à
une nouvelle entente fondée sur le principe de
l’égalité des peuples; cette entente permettrait au
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exclusive power to make its laws, levy its taxes and
establish relations abroad - in other words,
sovereignty - and at the same time to maintain with
Canada an economic association including a
common currency; no change in political status
resulting from these negotiations will be effected
without approval by the people through another
referendum; on these terms, do you give the
Government of Québec the mandate to negotiate the
proposed agreement between Québec and Canada?
Québec d'acquérir le pouvoir exclusif de faire ses
lois, de percevoir ses impôts et d’établir ses relations
extérieures, ce qui est la souveraineté, et, en même
temps, de maintenir avec le Canada une association
économique comportant l’utilisation de la même
monnaie; aucun changement de statut politique
résultant de ces négociations ne sera réalisé sans
l’accord de la population lors d’un autre
référendum; en conséquence, accordez-vous au
Gouvernement du Québec le mandat de négocier
l’entente proposée entre le Québec et le Canada?
- Very long: 119 words in its French version
- “New agreement”: doesn’t mean we want to separate from the ROC, we want an association w/ them
- “ROC” = seen as a monolithic bloc – one nation vs. the Quebecois nation
- Sovereignty for Rene-Levesque: “make its laws, levy its taxes & establish r/s abroad”
- “Maintain an economic association w/ Canada, including a common currency”: association part of
Rene-Levesque’s sovereignty-association idea
o It would be sovereign bc it would be able to accomplish those things by itself
o But there would be some kind of association w/ Canada nonetheless (of an economic nature)
so that the QC sovereign state would keep the Canadian currency
- In the Q of the first referendum, they’re already announcing that there will be a second referendum in
order to reassure the Quebec population: if you’re not happy w/ the sovereignty-association deal,
you’ll have the option to say no to it in a second referendum
- “B/w QC & CA”: again, we see this view of 2 entities (dualist view)
- PQ’s project of the 1970s is a continuation for this push for more equality b/w QC and the ROC
- Results
o 40%: yes
o 86% of registered voters voted
o The non-francophone population massively didn’t support the referendum
▪ 95% of Anglophones voted against
▪ 90% of allophones voted against
o Francophone population: split 50-50
- NN project having been rejected by the QC population very formally, it opened up a window for the
Cité-libristes to come in and propose a new project
o This is what PET did: he took advantage of this defeat of the PQ to propose his own project
o He was very much influenced by the Cité-libristes ideas
o Project would come in the form of the patriation of the Canadian constitution: giving Canada
its full independence from the UK: new Canadian Constitution of 1982
o Cité-libristes are against any recognition of nations
▪ Their message: we need to protect individual rights, that’s the key to a social
democratic liberal society
- PET’s project had social bases & ideologies basses
1. Social bases
o Bilingualism
▪ Recognition of the equality of the 2 official languages
▪ A recognition of linguistic duality
▪ Not a recognition of a duality of nations or peoples
▪ Not what the NN of QC wanted.
o Multiculturalism
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