Constitutional reform and separatism: lessons from the Canadian experience
| Author | Roger Levy |
| Published date | 01 December 1996 |
| DOI | 10.1177/095207679601100404 |
| Date | 01 December 1996 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
56
Constitutional
reform
and
separatism:
lessons
from
the
Canadian
experience
Roger
Levy
The
Robert
Gordon
University,
Aberdeen
A
shadowy
francophone
organisation,
the
Mouvement
de
Libération
du
Québec,
has
blacklisted
22
companies
it
considers
pro-English.
Anonymous
letters
carrying
a
picture
of
an
armed
French
revolutionary
have
been
sent
to
some
senior
anglophone
businessmen.
A
second
list,
of
’enemies
of
the
people’,
include
the
leaders
of
the
anglophone
Equality
Party
(
The
Times,
April
17
1996)
Introduction
By
most
measures
of
economic,
political
and
social
well-being,
Canada
ranks
among
the
top
nation
states
in
the
world.
Endowed
with
a
huge
natural
resource
base,
an
advanced
industrial
economy
and
an
efficient
financial
system,
GDP
per
capita
and
real
living
standards
are
among
the
highest
anywhere.
Social
welfare
systems
are
generous
and
humane
and
the
quality
of
life
enviably
high.
With
a
long
and
enduring
system
of
parliamentary
democracy,
Canadian
government
is
by
any
comparative
measure
just,
efficient
and
accountable,
with
an
exemplary
record
of
respect
for
individual
liberty
and
human
rights.
There
are
exceptions -
the
conscription
crisis
in
world
war
one
and
the
state
of
emergency
in
Quebec
in
1970
spring
to
mind -
but
they
are
few,
and
perhaps
well
remembered
for
that
reason
(see
Ignatieff,
1993).
On
many
indicators,
the
federal
system
is
the
most
decentralised
in
the
world
(Lijphart,
1979).
With
the
exception
of
the
hideous
climate,
there
is
not
too
much
to
complain
about.
By
any
objective
criteria,
Canadian
citizenship
should
be
a
most
highly
prized
asset.
Yet
here
is
the
paradox.
In
spite
of
all
the
advantages,
many
Canadians
either
do
not
want
to
be
part
of
this
collectivity,
or
are
profoundly
distrustful
of
those
political
leaders
professing
a
desire
to
maintain
the
integrity
of
the
country
(Dobell
and
Berry,
1992).
With
the
origins
of
the
problem
stretching
back
to
the
founding
of
British
North
America
through
the
enforced
incorporation
of
French
Canada
at
the
Plains
of
Abraham
in
1759,
the
legitimacy
of
the
Canadian
federal
system
has
always
been
under
some
challenge;
since
the
1960s
however,
it
has
been
in
a
state
of
continual
political
crisis.
Both
its
structure
and
identity
are
in
dispute,
and
a
resolution
which
maintains
its
integrity
seems
as
far
away
as
ever.
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