Quebec seeks constitutional reform in divisive move
MONTREAL: Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard called Thursday for constitutional reform, raising the spectre of a decades- old and divisive debate over the French- speaking province’s place in Canada.
In a nearly 200-page document, the Quebec government suggested amending the Canadian Constitution to better recognize the cultural specificity of the province.
This was a key demand in two previous rounds of talks in the late 1980s and early 1990s aimed at getting Quebec to sign the constitution after it was repatriated from Britain in 1982.
Animosity between Frenchand majority English- speaking Canada following those failed negotiations nearly led to the country’s breakup.
And several politicians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, roundly dismissed Couillard’s proposal.
“We’re not revisiting constitution,” Trudeau tersely.
Couillard, a staunch federalist, earlier called for a national discussion on his proposal, which rehashes key demands put forward by former Quebec premier Robert Bourassa in 1986, including a seat on the Supreme Court, a veto on constitutional amendments and more control over immigration.
“Quebec has changed, Canada has changed and I think we can reopen dialogue,” he said.
Canada is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.
Quebecers twice rejected splitting from the rest of Canada in referendums in 1980 and 1995.
The Quebec separatist movement now is at its lowest level since its standardbearer, the Parti Quebecois, first sought power in 1970. — AFP the said