Partition of Quebec

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Partition in Quebec politics refers to the secession of regions of the province of Quebec. It is usually discussed as a possibility in the event of Quebec secession from Canada. It became an issue in the 1995 Referendum on Quebec Sovereignty and has resurfaced as in issue in the 2007 provincial election.

1 Geography
2 Proponents
3 Opponents
4 Provincial Election of 2007

[edit] Geography

The geographical areas of Quebec that have been mentioned by partitionists include English-speaking municipalities on the Island of Montreal, Northern Quebec, the Eastern Townships, and the Pontiac region in the Outaouais. Also there have been suggestions of creating an Ontario-New Brunswick land bridge should Quebec separate.

[edit] Proponents

The Grand Council of the Cree and the Inuit of Nunavik in Northern Quebec have both expressed that they will keep their lands in Canada should Quebec secede, invoking international laws that guarantee their right to self-determination. In 1995, a Cree referendum voted 95% in favour of staying in Canada should Quebec secede.

Some English-speaking Quebecers in Alliance Quebec also maintained the slogan that "if Canada is divisible, so is Quebec". The municipalities in western Montreal such as Cote-Saint-Luc, Montreal West, and Beaconsfield have all passed resolutions expressing their will to stay in Canada.

[edit] Opponents

Quebec sovereigntists and federalist Quebec nationalists generally oppose partition. Raymond Villeneuve, a former member of the FLQ and leader of the Mouvement de Libération nationale du Québec (MLNQ), describes this position: "They're always threatening us, always, always. Whether it's Brent Tyler, Stephen Scott, William Johnson, William Shaw or whoever. And they're very subtle about it. They say that if we want to divide Canada, then they'll divide Quebec. And they make it sound as though people will accept it. Their real objective is to scare people, but they say, 'We don't want violence. We just won't pay our taxes. We'll use civil disobedience.' "

[edit] Provincial Election of 2007

During the Quebec provincial election of 2007, Liberal Premier Jean Charest stated that while opposed to partition, it would emerge as an issue if Quebec voted to secede from Canada. Political rivals Mario Dumont (Action démocratique du Québec) and Andre Boisclair (Parti Québécois) criticized this.