Posted on 04/27/2005 12:43:39 PM PDT by nypokerface
OTTAWA (Reuters) - A federal cash-for-favors scandal is spilling over into Canada's French-speaking province of Quebec, where support for sovereignty has reached its highest level in more than seven years, according to an opinion poll released on Wednesday.
A Leger Marketing poll for the Globe and Mail and Quebec's Le Devoir said 54 percent of people in Quebec would back sovereignty in a new referendum on the issue, reflecting deep anger about allegations of corruption in Ottawa.
Separatist sentiment in Quebec is the biggest threat to Canada's unity and Ottawa has tried hard to keep the lid on aspirations for independence since an October 1995 referendum on sovereignty was defeated by a razor-thin margin.
Leger said 49 percent of those surveyed wanted another referendum, while 46 percent did not.
The Liberal government responded to the 1995 referendum by creating a program to increase the federal presence in Quebec, sponsoring public events and plastering the Maple Leaf flag all over the province.
But the program was deeply flawed, and a report last year said C$100 million ($81 million) in public funds was funneled to Liberal-friendly firms, often for little or no work.
A public inquiry into the scandal has heard allegations that Liberals in Quebec demanded kickbacks from firms in return for advertising contracts -- revelations which have crushed support for the Liberals in the province.
"The sponsorship program, which contributed to undermining support for sovereignty between 1997 and 2002, is now having the opposite effect. In fact it is helping rebuild the sovereignty movement," pollster Jean-Marc Leger told the Globe and Mail.
The poll also showed that 76 percent of Quebec voters felt betrayed by federal government actions after the referendum.
But Quebecers are clearly divided over what they mean by sovereignty -- full independence or greater autonomy for the province within Canada.
Asked if a vote for sovereignty still meant that they wanted Quebec to be part of Canada, 56 percent of respondents said yes and 40 percent said no, the Globe said.
Officials from the separatist Parti Quebecois, in government at the time, have said they had been prepared to declare Quebec independent if they had won the 1995 vote.
In 2000 the Liberals passed legislation that said any future referendum on Quebec sovereignty had to be based on a clear question and that a vote for sovereignty required a clear -- but unspecified -- majority.
Almost half -- 49 per cent of voters -- said they believed Quebec would one day become a sovereign country while 41 percent said it would not.
Leger surveyed 1,008 people in Quebec between April 24 and 27 and its poll is considered to be accurate within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
It said the last time support for sovereignty hit 54 percent was in October 1998. Quebec was then weeks away from a provincial election, which was won by Parti Quebecois.
Previous polls over the last year put support for sovereignty at between 44 percent and 49 percent.
the day quebec leave is the begining of the "Dark Age" for them. The only reason why they survive is because of Canada.
Quebec is counting on keeping the hydro election power plants.
The ONLY way Qubec would be able to keep them is if the entire Canadian confederation fell appart.
see: http://www.unitednorthamerica.org
I think this article is trying to head off a total separation for a "separation lite". Quebec being the Puerto Rico or Guam of Canada.
Either way, Alberta should consider joining the USA and become more vocal about the possibility.
Alberta will never join the United States. Those cowboys are smart enough to realize that trading a Federal government in Ottawa for a Federal government in Washington D.C. is a terrible idea.
Please let me know if you want on or off the Adscam ping list.
There are many possibilities if Quebec became less of a part of Canada than it is now. With the French contingent gone, the rest of country might finally be able to come together on a common identity rather than constantly being torn between British and French influences.
"Alberta will never join the United States"
You keep missing the point - Alberta doesn't need to join the US for Canada to collapse,
If Alberta merely becomes an independent country, BC will have to break off from Canada, and if BC and Alberta form seperate country's then Quebec will leave, and then the so will the Maritimes.
But interestingly, there is NO WAY any Province, except Alberta, would even be considered for Application in the Union by the GOP Congress.
At best The Maritimes could hope for is acceptance as US Territories.
Who said anything about Canada collapsing? I was replying to a post that specifically mentioned Alberta joining the United States:
Either way, Alberta should consider joining the USA and become more vocal about the possibility.
Will any province apply to join the USA?
Oh boy, my imagination runs wild, but I suspect that Quebec voters are just posturing.
Please put me on your ping list. Thanks.
I hope some of the "Red" provinces apply for statehood like Alberta. He He give us more electoral votes ;) a guy can dream cant he :)
Quebec can have its sovereignty. Isolate those frogs!
Yes, but we might pick up some more "midwest" states with two Republican congressman each.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
This lame separatist threat is just that....lame and
typical. French Canadians do not want to be on their own.
Separatists want their independence but as you read
in the article they still want a political and economical
association with Canada.
I will translate what that means for you.
It means they want to keep their gov't jobs, the
gov't handouts, their power system, their favoured
status and all the other perks they get from the federal
gov't. I dare say even if they did separate our pathetic
Canadian gov't (I am sure the liberals would) would
continue to babysit these people, spoil them and give
them what they want.
The vote is always close....and people like Cretin give
away the house year after year to appease these people
while they laugh all the way to their cushy gov't jobs,
official bilingualism huts and handout nirvanas.
It truly is a french victory, post battle of Quebec at
the expense of English Canada.....or multicultural Canada....I don't even know what to call it anymore up here. And to top it off we have good jobs disappearing
to India, China and the Third world where people will
work for food and shelter.....not wages.
If the Canadian provinces became US states, then the House and Senate battles get quite interesting, as the Cabinet Ministers and most important MPs start running for the Senate and House of Representatives, knowing there are far fewer seats available...I'm sure you'd see a good mixture of Democrats and Republicans (and perhaps the odd Independent, like Jack Layton in the downtown Toronto House district) in Congress from the former Canadian provinces in the end, especially in the House, even if they all vote Democratic in the Presidential race...
I was hoping Ontario remains as a rump of Canada. We'll gladly take Manitoba, BC, etc.
Well, it should depend on how they vote in key votes, and should only be the Toronto area that remains a rump. Everyone else should be admitted in the Union though...after all, most of the rural areas and smaller communities are indeed conservative.
Then we can line up the Cree Indians for a homeland in the north.
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