Published in 1992, this book explores the process, problems, and issues related to Quebec's possible accession to sovereign status. The essays in this collection start from the premise that the process of constitutional renewal in Canada had, by 1992, reached an impasse. Since the federal government was unable to make proposals for an asymmetrical federalism acceptable to Quebec, Quebec sovereignty seemed an increasingly likely possibility. The contributors explore the minutiae of the process required to make sovereignty a reality. Written at a time of extreme constitutional stress, the essays in Negotiating with a Sovereign Quebec offer clear-eyed assessments of the possibility of the failure of Canadian federalism.
There is no one-size-fits-all decentralized fix to deeply divided and conflict-ridden states. One of the hotly debated policy prescriptions for states facing self-determination demands is some form of decentralized governance - including regional autonomy arrangements and federalism - which grants minority groups a degree of self-rule. Yet the track record of existing decentralized states suggests that these have widely divergent capacity to contain conflicts within their borders. Through in-depth case studies of Chechnya, Punjab and Québec, as well as a statistical cross-country analysis, this book argues that while policy, fiscal approach, and political decentralization can, indeed, be peace-preserving at times, the effects of these institutions are conditioned by traits of the societies they (are meant to) govern. Decentralization may help preserve peace in one country or in one region, but it may have just the opposite effect in a country or region with different ethnic and economic characteristics.
Robert Young discusses the ways in which Canadians might reconstitute their country after Quebec separates and considers possible political and economic arrangements between Quebec and Canada - the "association" aspect of sovereignty-association - including the breakdown of economic cooperation. Arguing that the long-term future of Canada and the shape of Canada-Quebec relations will depend on how the transition to sovereignty takes place, Young provides a clear and detailed analysis of how the transition is likely to occur. His discussion addresses major issues to be negotiated during the secession - citizenship, national debt, borders, armed forces and public service, commercial and economic relations, currency, First Nations, minority rights, mobility and immigration, and environmental matters. For comparison, Young draws on the experiences of other countries where peaceful secession has occurred, including Czechoslovakia. The second edition includes a new preface and concluding chapter that discuss to what extent the situation has changed since the referendum of 1995.
Based on the premises that Quebecers vote for independence in a referendum and Canada accepts this result, The Secession of Quebec and the Future of Canada is a timely examination of the implications of separation for Quebec and the rest of Canada.
What kind of a country is Canada beyond Quebec? With a referendum on Quebec sovereignty looming on the horizon, this is a question Canadians are being forced to ask. In Beyond Quebec scholars from a wide variety of disciplines examine the current political, cultural, economic, and social situation of Canada outside Quebec and speculate on the nature of a Canada that does not include Quebec on the present terms.
Canada's fifth effort at "mega-constitutional politics" was a period of popular discussion and leadership negotiation, that ran from the defeat in 1990 of the Meech Lake Accord through the Charlottetown Accord and the referendum of 26 October 1992. Constitutional Predicament explores the referendum in relation to the democratic process; nationalism (Canadian, Aboriginal, Québécois) and pluralism; principles of constitutionalism, constitution-making, and popular participation in constitution-making; the role of the Charter and Supreme Court; future constitutional efforts; and worldwide trends. The contributors agree that Canadian voters rejected the Charlottetown proposals because they disapproved of both their content and the procedure by which they were drawn up. They conclude that, while Quebec remains the chief problem for the Canadian constitution, Quebec was not the sole constitutional issue or the sole issue which determined how Canadians voted. The constitutional process did help make it apparent that Canada is multinational and that each of the three major nations has valid claims on the political system. The contributors offer contrasting views on how the Charlottetown Accord came to read as it does, why negotiators at Charlottetown so misjudged public opinion, and the prognosis for further constitution-making. Readers may also see the referendum vote as a preview of the vote in the general election of October 1993, which unseated the Tories one year later, almost to the day. Taken together with the accompanying provocative commentaries, the essays will be of specific interest to students of Canadian politics and constitutional affairs. The complete text of the Charlottetown Accord is included in an appendix. The contributors and commentators are Janet Ajzenstat, Alan C. Cairns, Curtis Cook, Barry Cooper, Peter Emberley, David Hendrickson, Robert J. Jackson, Juan Lindau, F.L. Morton, Alain Noël, and James Tully.
The NDP was close to collapse after its disastrous showing in the 1993 federal election. How did a party that once had significant support among voters fall so badly? What are the prospects for the NDP's return as a major presence in federal politics? Journalist Ian McLeod approaches these questions as a party insider who believes that the NDP continues to have a constructive role to play in Canadian politics. His story of the party's decline has been pieced together from interviews with a wide range of key advisors, strategists, former MPs and party members. First published in 1994, Under Siege is an in-depth account of a significant passage in the history of democratic socialism in Canada.
