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France intruded into the Cana–
dian/Quebec squabble in a most
overt manner when Presiden!
Charles de Gaulle shouted
Vive
Quebec libre
(Long live a free Que–
bec) from the balcony of Montreal's
City Ha ll.
Sorne in Canada, such as noted
author Richard Rohmer, believe
that if world support could be as–
sured, the P.Q. might even dare to
proclaim a " UDI"-Unilateral Dec–
laration of Independence-the day
after a successful referendum, and
boldly confront Ottawa with a
Jait
accompli.
Separatlon Inevitable Unless
. ..
In Toronto 1 had the opportunity to
speak with Peter Newman, the dis–
tinguished editor of Canada's lead–
ing newsmagazine,
Maclean's.
Mr.
Newm'an was very sober and direct
about the crisis immediately ahead
for his count ry. He especia lly
viewed the steady exit of the anglo–
phones out of Montreal as an "error
of monumental proportions," noting
that a leading P.Q. minister con–
tero ptuously referred to it as " noth–
ing less than a form of surrender
... as if part of the battlefield is con–
ceded to us before we have even
tried to occupy it."
Time is on the side of the P.Q.,
admitted Newman. When the next
provincial election is held in 1980,
42 percent of the electorate will be
between 18 and 27 years old, and
this group, said Newman, "is almost
entirely separatist. And this is what
Lévesque rea lly means when he
preaches that independence is inevi–
table."
For this reason , the edito r
stressed, Lévesque will keep holding
referendums until he ti nally wins
one, assuming the P.Q. retains
power in Quebec. Newman referred
to a slogan coined by someone else:
" l f a t tirst you don't secede, try, try,
again."
Mr. Newman also stressed how
mu ch of the problem lies with
Engl is h-spea king Canadians. He
gave me a copy of a speech he had
recently delivered at York Univer–
sity in Toronto. In it he said that
"the new government of Quebec is
tough and single-minded, deter–
mined to have its way whatever the
costs, to split up this country, to de-
The
PLAIN TRUTH May 1978
stroy the great Canadian experi–
ment."
Newman continued : "What we
need, and need desperately, is a cul–
tural co-revolution in English Can–
ada which would excite us about
ourselves... . Only in Quebec has
there grown a spirit of self-determi–
nation. As a result, Quebec now has
a national purpose. The rest of Can–
ada seems to have none."
Newman's bureau chief in Ot–
tawa added, in a recent edition of
Maclean's:
"Tbere is, in English
Canada, too li ttle sense of urgency
and a stupefying ignorance of the
historical grievance that fuels the
march of the
Par
ti
Quebécois."
There should be no doubt of the
hurdles that English Canada and
the federalist cause in particular
must surmount. The P.Q. has the
initiative.
lt
will call the referendum
when it wishes, will dictate the
wording of the referendum and es–
tablish all tbe ground rules upon
which it will be debated and held.
The P.Q.'s efficient party organiza–
tion will clearly have the advantage
in " propaganda," a term it uses it–
self.
Dramatlc lmpact on U.S.
Any partition of Canada would
have an immense impact on the
United States. The U.S. and Canada
are so economically interwoven that
the economic fortunes of one auto–
ma.tically affects the other.
U.S.-Canada trade amounted toa
s taggering $60 billion in 1977- a
volume far exceeding, for example,
U.S. trade with Japan. Ca nada sells
over two-thirds of a ll her exports to
the U.S. and receives nearly 70 per–
cent of her imports from the same
partner. One-fifth of all American
exports are shipped north.
The economies of the two North
American giants are virtually one
and the same. A U.S. citizen driving
through Ontario, the industrial
heartland of Canada. sees dozens of
familiar names on factory after fac–
tory, except for the two-word ap–
pendix they have in commo n:
General Electric
ofCanada;
Control
Data
of Canada;
Columbia Records
ofCanada,
to name only a few.
On the human plane, there a re 78
million border crossings a year be–
tween Canada and the United
States. Over eight million Canadian
citizens reside at any given time in
the U.S.
A major article in the October
1977
Foreign A./Jairs
reports: "The
United States would instantly feel
the shock waves of Canada's parti–
tion if it ever happened. ... After
Quebec's departure, what would
then be left of the Canadian union.
its economic strength, its enormous
market, its American-owned indus–
tries and its military coopera–
tion? ...
" A sovereign Quebec nation."
continues this a nalysis, "must divide
Canada not on the perimeter but in
the middle, astride the interna tional
artery of the St. Lawrence. The four
Atlantic provinces of Newfound–
land , Nova Scotia, New Brunswick
and Prince Edward Island would be
separa ted from Onta rio, Manitoba,
Saskatchewan, Alberta and British
Columbia by a consti tutional and
economic dam on the river that car–
ries their goods and those of the
American interior as well. Canada,
in short, would split into a kind
of East and West Pakistan , its
single anatomy fractu red beyond
repair."
Strateglc Reglon
In Toronto, 1 had the privilege of
speaking with a popular Canadian
Broadcast ing Corpo ration com–
mentator, Mr. John F isher, popu–
larly known as "Mr. Canada."
1
found him to be gravely concerned
over the likely rupture of his much
beloved land .
He believed that in the aftermath
of Quebec's independence. and neg–
ative reaction on the part of the rest
of Canada, the economy of Quebec
would take a dramatic plunge; that
there would be widespread social
disruption; that Quebec's newly in–
dependen! government would be
forced to resort to ste rn methods to
get control of the accelerating crisis.
As a result, Quebec might then be
vulnerable to " international med–
dlers" who would be eager to take
advantage of the si tuation.
In his office on Toronto's Bay
Street, Mr. Fisher and 1 looked at a
map of the U.S.-Canadian border.
He pointed out something unique
about Quebec. Among Canada 's
provinces, Quebec alone is con-
33