In throes of a political crisis

Canada is in the throes of its first major political crisis of the new century. And this crisis has many ramifications for this country, including the future of Quebec, writes Gurmukh Singh in Canada Diary.

Canada is in the throes of its first major political crisis of the new century. And this crisis has many ramifications for this country, including the future of Quebec.

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Opposition parties have defeated the minority Liberal government on two motions and sought an immediate no-confidence vote. But Prime Minister Paul Martin is trying to buy time till May 19. The House of Commons (equivalent to our Lok Sabha) has been shut down and parliamentary business brought to a halt.

Of course, the stalemate is all about power as the opposition Conservative party feels it is within striking distance for the first time in 12 years.

However, at the heart of this stalemate lies the province of Quebec which is the only French-speaking province is English-speaking North America and which is three times the size of France and seven times the size of Britain.

This francophone province has twice held referendums whether to secede from Canada. Both the referendums were defeated. The first referendum in 1980 had 60 per cent `no' votes. The second in 1995 was defeated by a narrow margin.

In the wake of the second referendum, the then Prime Minister Jean Chretien launched a programme to sponsor cultural activities and events to raise the profile of the federal government in Quebec. But much of the money of the $250-million sponsorship programme -- now called Adscam -- went to the friends and top leaders of the ruling Liberal party.

When the attorney general's report pointed out these irregularities in 2004, the current Prime Minister Paul Martin (who succeeded Chretien in Dec 2003) ordered an inquiry by Justice John Gomery. The testimonies before this commission have exposed the corruption in the ruling party under the previous Prime Minister (Chretien), revealing how the money was used to bolster the Liberal party, not federalism in the province.

The scandal has helped the cause of separatists in Quebec as people are angry that the federal ruling party created the impression that it could buy their loyalty with money.

The Opposition parties -- the Conservative party and the Bloc Quebecois -- have joined hands to bring down the government on this issue.

With the government is unlikely to survive the May 19 no-trust vote, the next election is just weeks away. Opinion polls indicate the Conservative party will win by a narrow margin.

However, the emerging scenario is worrying many Canadians who fear that this election could be a watershed in the history of their young country.

In all likelihood, Conservative party leader Stephen Harper will become prime minister of a minority government. But the separatist Bloc Quebecois, which is going to sweep most of the seats in Quebec, could try to exploit people's anger by seeking a fresh referendum to secede from Canada.

If Quebeckers vote to secede from Canada, it would become the third -- and first non-English-speaking -- country in North America.

Why Quebec wants to leave Canada?

The answer lies in history. Quebec, which was claimed for France by explorer Jacques Cartier in 1534 who came here search of gold and a route to Asia, was taken over by the British during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) with the French for control of North America and the fur trade.

Since the French were Catholics and followed a different system of laws, the British passed the Quebec Act in 1774 to safeguard their rights.

But in 1783 when the American Revolution threw the British out of the American colonies, British loyalists fled into Quebec. But in Quebec these loyalists didn't want to live under French laws, thus forcing the British government to divide Quebec into Upper Canada (now Ontario) for English speakers and Lower Canada for French speakers.

But when waves of immigrants from England, Ireland and Scotland inundated French-speaking Lower Canada (Montreal and Quebec), French speakers formed a party called the Parti Patriote in 1826 to protect their language and culture.

That was the beginning of the Quebec. The Parti revolted in 1837, but it was crushed. Further, Lower Canada and Upper Canada were united into a single Province of Canada, and English was made the official language. And this single united province was again divided into Ontario and Quebec when it joined Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to form (the Dominion of) Canada in 1867.

After a century, the Quebec issue came to the fore again in the 1960s when many reforms during the Quiet Revolution made people aware of their French identity.

During Canada's centennial in 1967, French president Charles de Gaulle fuelled the Quebec separatist movement with his rallying cry to a crowd in Montreal with these words, `Vive Montreal!Vive le Quebec libre!' (Long live Montreal! Long live free Quebec!). Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson was angry and the French president had leave Canada quickly.

But the deed was done. The government tried to appease Quebec by making French, along with English, as one of the official languages in 1969.

But support for separatism increased, and in 1976 the separatist Parti Qubecois (PQ) came to power in the province. Not surprisingly, the first referendum on secession was held in 1980.

And they are not over with it yet.