Quebec’s quest for a future as it’s own country is a story well-known to substantial sections of the North American population. The province’s referendums on independence in 1980 and 1995 were extensively covered at the time they happened, and individuals who lived in Quebec during those times have frequently stated how well they remember the debates surrounding those referendums. For the Elites, the victories of the “No” vote in both elections was taken as a reinforcement of the narrative that secession in the modern world, especially within “civilized western countries” (to use an Elitist term), was simply not feasible. For believers in Quebec independence, there is talk about how the Elite-backed “No” campaigns engaged in fear-mongering tactics and manipulation of details to scare voters away from exploring the benefits of ruling themselves, which they believe played a large role in bringing about defeat for the independence cause.
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Now, as Canada’s government deteriorates deeper and deeper into despotism, Quebec’s main independence party, the Parti Québécois, is rising in popularity again and looks poised to take power in the next provincial elections. As part of their program, they are proposing a third referendum on independence and have released a detailed plan on how an independent Quebec would function both domestically and within the larger world. While the provincial elections are not expected to happen until 2026, and as such a referendum would be in 2027 at the earliest, these proposals have stirred up a fair amount of buzz and debate within political and commentary circles. Furthermore, an unspoken general feeling one gets out of the conversations which these proposals have sparked is that an independence referendum is far more likely to succeed this time, for Quebecers have far more grievances against Ottawa today then they did during the last two referendums.
In the backdrop of all of this, a piece released by a little-known British magazine called Actual News Magazine recently brought attention to a startling claim about who has really been behind Quebec’s inability to achieve independent statehood.
Few researchers have looked into it since Jean-François Lisée (In the eagle’s eye. Washington versus Quebec, Boréal, 1990)* on the determination of the United States, on a diplomatic, economic and cultural level, to preserve the unity and territorial integrity of Canada. The successive declarations of Clinton or Obama in favor of a “friendly and united” Canada nevertheless regularly remind us of the importance that Uncle Sam gives to the political stability of the continent, especially if he must in the meantime intervene on points otherwise hot elsewhere in the world.
It is therefore clear the role that American power, and in particular the Ottawa-Washington tandem, has historically been able to play so that Quebec nationalism never leads to the creation of a new sovereign state which would immediately have been perceived as a threat to stability in the region.
Source: The national question goes through Washington
*The book title is mistranslated in the article. The true title is “In the Eye of the Eagle.”
DC is well-known for its penchant for interfering in the internal affairs of other nations. It’s support of the protests against a proposed law in the Eurasian state of Georgia is the most recent publicly-known example. It certainly follows logically that, to protect it’s ability to meddle in affairs overseas, a government must ensure it and it’s neighbors remain territorially stable at home. Is there other evidence to back up this claim however? Looking back, the Parti Québécois itself may have provided such evidence.
Within the Independent Quebec blueprint which the Parti Québécois and it’s leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon released last October, they addressed key concerns on how an independent Quebec would handle certain issues such as the financial budget, monetary policy, trade policy and foreign policy. In the section dealing with foreign policy, a reference was made which has led to speculation that it was an attempt to appease powerbrokers on the North American continent so they would not openly oppose Quebec independence.
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(Plamondon) said an independent Quebec will want to be a player in NATO, like other smaller countries such as Norway and the Netherlands. In the past, the PQ has favoured a non-aggression peacekeeping-style army with about 8,000 soldiers;
Source: Independent Quebec would have its own currency and army: PQ
With the Elites in DC being the major movers behind NATO, this concession to attach a newly independent Quebec to the alliance could easily be a subtle gesture to DC rather than Ottawa. It could be interpreted as an acknowledgement of the security concerns DC has over an independent Quebec and an attempt to allay those fears in order to gain DC’s permission to proceed. This further statement from Plamondon would seem to reinforce this theory.
(Plamondon) said an independent Quebec will not try to cut itself off from the North American or Canadian economic context. In fact, he said, an independent Quebec will want the same friendly relations with the rest of Canada that it has as a province.
Source: Independent Quebec would have its own currency and army: PQ
If this is true, and it is the Elite classes of DC which have blocked Quebec from realizing it’s full potential as an independent country, then that adds another local political entity which has a vested interest in the dissolution of Imperial DC. It is well-known that the DC Empire has opposed secession for groups they have disfavored on the geopolitical stage (i.e.: the Serbs of Republika Srspka), but their opinions on such movements within regions directly adjoining their territory has remained largely unknown to the general public until now. What this revelation seems to make clear is that DC is only consistent when it comes to denying the peoples of different parts of the world their right to self-determination. Thus it may be a fair assessment to say that Lincoln’s dastardly war has had repercussions much further beyond the borders of the United States of America then anyone initially dared dream.
Sources:
https://nationalpost.com/news/quebec/independent-quebec-would-have-its-own-currency-and-army-pq/wcm/8cc5d872-3993-41bc-97ba-a858ca12680d
https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/an-independent-quebec-would-be-one-of-worlds-wealthiest-nations-pq
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/quebec/once-moribund-parti-qu-b-cois-is-resurgent-but-support-for-independence-staying-flat/article_f483e324-d9b5-5abc-94e0-6073d1308d9d.html
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/quebec/parti-qu-b-cois-leader-pledges-referendum-claiming-ottawa-poses-existential-threat/article_1d83061c-02d1-5a41-9ad1-fced7d181abe.html
https://keepgovlocal.locals.com/post/5584923/secession-speakeasy-72-national-divorce-fissures-expand-in-canada
https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?author=&title=&lang=en&isbn=9780006376361&submitBtn=Search&new_used=*&destination=us¤cy=USD&mode=basic&st=sr&ac=qr
This originally appeared on The State of Division.
