opinion
If you believe the results of a CBC poll conducted in Quebec last February, what most Quebecers want is an amicable, no-fault divorce from the rest of Canada while continuing to share the family house.
The poll shows clearly that when Quebec residents cast their votes in the coming referendum on separation, they will be overwhelmingly guided by their expectation of how Canada would treat an independent Quebec.
And that makes it essential for Canada’s political leaders to bluntly describe how they would deal with a “yes” result in the referendum on separation. Quebec voters should not be left under any illusions, in either direction, about what the vote means.
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When asked if they would vote for separation if they were “fairly sure” the rest of Canada would keep an economic association with an independent Quebec, 55 percent said yes.
But 66 percent said they would vote “no” if they thought the rest of Canada would refuse to maintain such an economic association.
The same split ran through other sets of questions based on similar opposing assumptions:
- 54 percent said they would vote for separation if they thought the rest of Canada would recognize Quebec’s current boundaries.
- But 66 percent would vote against separation if they thought the rest of Canada would not recognize those boundaries.
- 56 percent said they would vote for separation if they believed people in an independent Quebec could somehow keep Canadian citizenship and Canadian passports.
- But 63 percent would vote against separation if they believed people in an independent Quebec would not keep Canadian citizenship and Canadian passports.
- 54 percent would vote for separation if they believed “the situation of the French language” would be better in an independent Quebec.
- But 66 percent would vote against separation if they believed the language situation would not be better with independence.
What these responses indicate is that people in Quebec place considerable value on economic partnership with other Canadians, and see real benefits in Canadian citizenship.
It would be tragic if any significant number of Quebecers cast referendum ballots while under the delusion that they would continue to enjoy such benefits in an independent Quebec. Canada’s political and economic health needs as large a “no” vote as possible.
The separatist leaders are doing their best to mislead voters. Pro-Confederation political leaders have a duty to speak out clearly to contradict the separatist snake oil.
