WHY IS QUEBEC SEPARATISM OFF THE AGENDA

WHY IS QUEBEC SEPARATISM OFF THE AGENDA

For quite a while, the sovereignty of the Quebec region in Canada has off been in question over what has been considered to be one of the pressing issues facing the country. Quebec has been trying to separate from the state. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the region has been under the Quebec Liberal Party, which has taken over the politics of the area and has been in power for a while now. Due to the severe issues that have been facing the region, several kinds of research have been attributed towards the development of the area, which has made it possible for the politics to take shape the way they have been. This paper will talk about why the issues of Quebec have been existing, the reasons for it, and what are some of the problems that have arisen out of it.

Federalism development is one of the issues that started to be active in the early period of the year 2000. Some of the groups within the region have deep motivated by some of the political grievances that they think concerns their area. Some of the motivations that they talk about are overlapping and need a lot of considerations to be in place. Some of the factors are based on the targets. This being one of the issues that can slightly bring stability, federalism has enabled corporations between the national government and the regional government of Quebec to coexist.

Therefore, the problems of separatism have come into immediate play, thus being empowered. Thre are some conditions that have been created between the federal government and the national government, thus making it to at least act on some of the issues that are being raised.  Others believe the issuers should be shared off the political agenda. Therefore, all these theories have not concluded what should be done based on history and the beliefs of Quebec people. One of the driving forces behind the movement of this unending conversation is the demands and actions created by the local communities that are after independence—the generational difference between the people for the separatist agenda and those against it. The majority of the youth in Quebec are depoliticized and do not identify with the idea and project of secession from Canada.

The region of Quebec has been demanding for equal rights for quite a long time and thus based on the relationship that has been created between the national government and the regional governments, some of issues have started to be addressed thus making it possible for their grievances to adhere to some of which have been discussed for years. Therefore, the neoliberalism continues to be helping in terms of governing the region and in the cohesiveness of the Quebec region. Thus, it is a belief that if the federalism in Canada continues the way it is today without any severe misunderstanding, then there is a likelihood that the relationship and the situation in Quebec are likely to stabilize as compared to how the job was in the early 1990s and the year 2000. The initial period of the years the 1990s had experienced a lot of instability within Canada were advocating for their n rights

Being one of the issues that have been debated for decades, the future of Quebec is one of the topics that have never concluded what precisely the future might hold for the region. However, several reasons have been given based on how the area should be administered. Based on the current situation, several theories are driven towards the independent governing of the region of Canada. Others believe the issuers should be shared off the political agenda. Thus, all these theories have not concluded what should be done based on history and the beliefs of Quebec people. One of the driving forces behind the movement of this unending conversation is the demands and actions created by the local communities that are after independence. Some of the groups within the region have deep motivated by some of the political grievances that they think concerns their area. Some of the motivations that they talk about are overlapping and need a lot of considerations to be in place. Some of the factors are based on the targets.

Separatism agenda has been waning in Quebec since the 90s. Parti Québécois (PQ) was one of the parties that spearheaded the separatist movement in 1994-1995. However, its leader Pauline Marois acknowledged the fact that the support has been eroding since the hay days of the change in 1994. This can be seen by the way PQ has lost its influence and stronghold on Quebec politics. In 2007 the PQ suffered its worst defeat ever in 34 years. The PQ tried rebranding and changing the tactic they used to appeal to the constituents of Quebec, but this new approach had slight improvement that could not be understood as resurgent support for the separatist plan.

One of the main reasons that support for separatist agenda has declined is the innovative approach that political parties in the regions like the Bloc Québécois have taken. These parties have shifted the focus from Quebec as a national project to make it a social justice issue that focuses on the challenges faced by Quebecers. These challenges include poverty, injustice, racial profiling, and radical democratic politics. Being some of the reasons that are being used to politics, the issues of Quebec’s social justice has been emphasized for years. Some of the social groups and movements have been on the front line trying to advocate for social justice. Social justice is one of the issues that many people tend to demand and, thus, in the region of Quebec in Canada. Many questions have not been addressed based on some of the injustices that have taken place for a very long time. Quebecers have tried to defend their rights through the formation of various groups, which are highly advocating for the rights. In the separatist movement hay days, labor unions and social movements were at the forefront in the push for secession. However, currently, many of these labor unions and social movements have chosen to focus on civil societies. (772)

The treatment of the region of Quebec by the national government of Canada has been one of the issues that tend to be raising a lot of questions. The author points out that another possible reason for this shift is the way the national government has been treating Quebec and its demands lately. The federal government has met many of the applications that Quebec had to remain as part of Canada. These made the citizens of Quebec feel like their voices were being heard, and thus the separatism plan took a back seat. The generational difference between the people for the separatist agenda and those against it has also raised some issues. The majority of the youth in Quebec are depoliticized and do not identify with the idea and project of secession from Canada. This led to the concept of losing meaning and importance in the youth. The authors point out that many Quebecers love the idea of secession in theory, but not many of them are willing to expend energy to realize this goal.

The purpose of separatism rises when the perceived hostility from English Canada rises and vice versa. Majority of English Canada has been unhappy for quite some time, thus making it possible for them to reignite the issues of trying to secede away. Young people have, for a long time, not been able to decide to see how they would benefit from the nature of leadership that is governing their region. Therefore, since the majority of them do not see any benefit, they have decided to carry for on with the idea of calling for secede. Thus, for the federal government to keep the separatist agenda from reigniting, they have to keep Quebecers as happy as the rest of the country by offering them opportunities. McRoberts, on the other hand, noted that the majority of the people that were calling for the secession of Quebec were voicing their dissatisfaction with the federal government rather than wanting to see Quebec as a country of its own. In conclusion, the fact that many Quebecers no longer wish to secede from Canada should be considered a win for all the parties concerned. This is more so for Quebecers who had dual allegiance to both Canada and Quebec

Bibliography

Changfoot, Nadine, and Blair Cullen. 2011. “Why Is Quebec Separatism Off the Agenda? Reducing National Unity Crisis in the Neoliberal Era”. Canadian Journal of Political Science 44 (4): 769-787.

Weber, Sarah. “Separatism in Quebec: Off the Agenda but Not Off the Minds of Francophones.” PhD diss., Brandeis University, 2015.

Castro-Rea, Julián. “Harper’s Legacy on Federalism[i]: Open Federalism or Hidden Agenda.” Rev. Const. Stud. 21 (2016): 257.

“6. Is Small Size a Stimulus or Obstacle to Separatism?” Why Canadian Unity Matters and Why Americans Care, 2001. doi:10.3138/9781442683471-007.

11 O’Leary, “On the Nature of Nationalism: An Appraisal of Ernest Gellner’s Writings on Nationalism”,

193 12

Ibid., 198 13

Ibid., 192 14

Ibid.,192