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Why is Quebec Separatism off the Agenda? Reducing National Unity Crisis in the Neoliberal Era

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2012

Nadine Changfoot  and
Blair Cullen
Nadine Changfoot*
Affiliation:
Trent University
Blair Cullen*
Affiliation:
Trent University
*
Nadine Changfoot, Political Studies, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough ON K9H 7B8, Email: nadinechangfoot@trentu.ca
Blair Cullen, Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough ON K9H 7B8, Email: blaircullen@trentu.ca
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Abstract

Abstract. The development of federalism in the context of the neoliberal era in the 2000s has partly created the conditions for a more stable co-operation between the federal and Quebec governments, contributing to the trend of separatism being sidelined in Quebec. In the context of neoliberalism, federal–provincial agreements have created conditions for just enough asymmetry in the relationship between the federal government and Quebec, something that Quebec has historically demanded, for separatism to remain off the agenda. What separates this relationship from past ones is a significant change in the context whereby the neoliberal orientation is becoming the common currency for co-operation. If Canadian federalism continues its present course under neoliberalism without any major mishaps, for the first time since the divisive period of the 1990s and early 2000s, federal–Quebec relations likely will be stable without national unity crises of the kind that culminated in the 1980 and 1995 Quebec referenda on sovereignty.

Résumé. Le développement du fédéralisme dans le contexte de l'ère néolibérale dans les années 2000 a en partie créé les conditions pour une coopération plus stable entre les gouvernements fédéral et québécois, contribuant ainsi à la tendance du séparatisme au Québec d'être marginalisés. Dans le contexte du néolibéralisme, des ententes fédérales-provinciales ont créé les conditions pour un peu assez de relation asymétrique entre le gouvernement fédéral et du Québec, quelque chose que le Québec a toujours exigé, au séparatisme de rester hors l'ordre du jour. Ce qui sépare cette relation de celles du passé est un changement significatif dans le contexte dans lequel l'orientation néo-libérale devient la monnaie commune pour la coopération. Si le fédéralisme canadien continue son cours actuel sous le néolibéralisme sans encombre majeur, pour la première fois depuis la période de division des années 1990 et début des années 2000, les relations fédérales-Québec probablement seront stable sans crises unité nationale du genre qui a culminé dans les années 1980 et 1995 référendums sur la souveraineté du Québec.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 44 , Issue 4 , December 2011 , pp. 769 - 787
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2011

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