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A long and winding road our constitution sets down the law of the land for most of us, except for Quebec, and that''s a problem. (National Unity--The Constitution).

Article Excerpt
Twenty years ago, the Constitution came home to Canada, but Quebec did not then, and has not since, signed the document. The nationalist Parti Quebecois provincial government was excluded from the final negotiations of the legislation because of its demand for recognition of Quebec's special character and role as the home of a French nation within Canada. (Special status, yes, but not recognition as a separate nation.) So, 25% of the country's people remain outside its constitutional framework, divorced from its fundamental law.

Since the referendum of 1995, there have been efforts to persuade the people of Quebec to come into the constitutional fold--Prime Minister Jean Chretien's offer of constitutional veto to Quebec (and Ontario); the Calgary Declaration on national unity, which acknowledged Quebec's unique role in Canada; the Social Union, which Quebec didn't sign because of concerns that it allowed possible interference in areas of provincial jurisdiction, such as health and education. However, the federal government has taken a hard-line approach to Quebec by passing the Clarity Act in 1999. Prime Minister Chretien said any future referendum had to have a clear question such as "Do you want to separate from Canada? Yes or No." In his own linguistic style, Mr. Chretien put it this way: "They have a democratic referendum, they ask a crooked question, fine. So what? There will be no negotiations."

The Clarity Act came on the heels of the Supreme Court hearings in February 1998 into the legality of Quebec separation. Two years earlier, Ottawa had asked the Court to answer three questions: could Quebec secede unilaterally under Canadian law? Under international law? And in the case of a conflict, which would take precedence? In August 1998, the Court ruled that Quebec could not unilaterally secede under either Canadian or international law, but that if...