Opinion: It’s b-a-a-ck. Quebec separatism rears its head again
By Duncan Munn
As if productivity, growth, housing and health care weren’t challenges enough for Canada, an old threat is quietly re-emerging: Quebec separatism. The Parti Québécois (PQ), headed for government, is promising another referendum. The gathering storm demands attention.
In the 2018 Quebec provincial election the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) handed the PQ an historic defeat, reducing it to just 10 seats. The decades-long debate over Quebec’s place in Canada was widely assumed to have been settled, at least for this generation. But six years later the PQ is ahead in polls and its charismatic young leader promises to hold a referendum on sovereignty if elected. If an election were held today, the PQ would likely form a majority government.
That the number of Quebecers who identify as mainly sovereigntist has not changed much over the years is not a huge comfort. As long as an elected PQ is determined to hold a referendum, Canada’s unity is at risk.
Several new factors complicate the situation. A major concern is the potential for foreign interference. In the digital age, external actors can influence public opinion through social media and misinformation. We have already seen election interference in federal elections. A referendum on a single question would be far easier to influence. Nations hostile to western values — and they know who they are — would see the fracturing of a G7 country as a significant geopolitical victory. Canada’s division would also weaken the NATO alliance at a time of conflict. Any hope of Canada getting military spending to two per cent of GDP would be dashed.
Quebec voters have twice rejected sovereignty, in 1980 by 60-40 but in 1995 by barely a percentage point. In both cases, the
Read more on financialpost.com
