By: Elisha-Kim Desmangles
At a press conference in Quebec City on October 20th, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government was severely criticized by Quebec separatist and federalist supporters as Harper decided to intervene in the fight against Bill 99, a law that details Quebec’s right to unilaterally separate from Canada. By recently affirming its support of a court case that hopes to nullify Bill 99, the federal government has stirred much controversy amongst independence-seeking Quebecers.
In fact, in an article published in the Huffington Post, the Parti Quebecois’ minister of intergovernmental affairs, Alexandre Cloutier, was quoted at the conference saying, “They want to make sure we’ll never get our country.” According to the article, Cloutier added that the federal government’s decision to block efforts for an independent Quebec were “direct” and “devious” attacks against Quebec as a nation.
Passed in 2000 by Lucien Bouchard’s PQ government, Bill 99 was a response to the federal government’s Clarity Act, which was a motion that outlined the circumstances in which Parliament would discuss secession with Quebec, such as a majority vote on the referendum in order to negotiate secession. Bill 99 counters the Clarity Act by asserting that Quebecers have a right to decide the conditions of their secession, not to mention that only a 50 percent vote plus one referendum vote would be enough to trigger negotiations.
These conflicts and contradictions between the Quebec provincial government and the federal government lead to a legal challenge filed shortly after the bill’s passing by supporters of a Quebec Anglophone rights activist group, who felt that the law was unconstitutional. Now after 13 years, the challenge will finally see its fruition in an upcoming December 2014 court case supported by Harper’s government.
Even though Harper’s decision has been met with praise from certain groups, it has also seen criticism from groups other than the PQ, and rightfully so. New Democratic Party (NDP) leader, Thomas Mulcair, has stated that the federal government has succeeded in reviving a debate that had gone dormant for the past 13 years, a debate that the PQ will use to provoke opponents of separatism.
The federal government’s intervention in the invalidation of Bill 99 has proved to divert the provincial government’s attention once again from what is crucial, adding fuel to what may become an uncontrollable fire. Despite the fact that support for separatism amongst Quebecers is low, according to the Huffington Post, the PQ could use this federal opposition towards Bill 99 to rally support in an election, seeing as it is currently a minority party in the legislature. A Bill 99 debate will only end up in headaches in both Ottawa and Quebec.
It has been widely reported in the news that the province of Quebec is experiencing some turmoil right now. It is both one of the most corrupt and least economically stable provinces in the country. In fact, Quebec’s dire financial situation boasts a lower rate of employment, productivity growth, and smaller GDP than all the other provinces in Canada. In addition, the province’s economy suffers even more as the government’s attention is diverted by issues such as the 2012 student protests over university tuition, the fight against the use of the English language in Quebec, and the recent introduction of the Charter of Values have all tainted the province’s image. There are vital issues that the provincial government needs to make sure are taken care of, more important than the issue of independence.
According to the data published in a Toronto Sun article, Quebec has historically been the largest beneficiary of equalization payments from the federal government, amounting at about $7.4 billion this past year. These are the kinds of issues that the Harper government needs to make Quebec aware of, not handing them an opportunity to fight a fight that’s not worth fighting. Quebec’s economic future is up in the air, and it doesn’t need any help from anyone letting them forget that, especially not from the federal government.
Editors’ Note: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of Her Campus McGill or Her Campus.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2…
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/…
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/…
http://www.montrealgazette.com…
http://www.torontosun.com/2012…
http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/0…
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