ipl-logo

Review Of Michel Seymour-Quebec Sovereignty '

606 Words3 Pages

Michel Seymour- Quebec Sovereignty: A Legitimate Goal
Seymour attempts to set out the legitimacy of a sovereignty movement. While Canada is not attacking the rights or physical security of Quebecers, this does not mean that there is no reason for complaints by Quebecers. Quebec has 25% of Canada’s population, and about 80% of them speak French as their first language. In comparison, the rest of Canada (ROC) there are only about a million people who speak French as their first language.
The sovereignty movement has always been about the protection of the French language and Quebec Culture. Outside of Quebec, the levels of assimilation of French speaking Canadians are very high. The federal government’s policies of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism …show more content…

Seymour believed that another referendum was coming and that this one would result in a sovereign Quebec, which was both a legal and justified outcome. Seymour stresses the negative impacts that being part of Canada has had on Quebec: an illegitimate constitution, economic under development, and attempts at assimilation. Pelletier, however, believes that the best place for the Quebec nation is within the Canadian one. The economic issue, that Seymour stresses very hard, Pelletier brushes off as of secondary concern. The constitution that Seymour points to as illegitimate and therefore nonbinding, Pelletier sees as the basis for recognition of Quebec nationalism. One issue that both of the authors do, however, agree on is that of immigration. Seymour obviously has an issue with how immigration has played out, but for him the problem is not immigration itself, but how it works to prioritize English. Pelletier stresses that there is no need for an ethnocentric Quebec identity and that shutting Quebec off from the world would not be a benefit. Ignoring Minority rights is what has led Quebec to be in this position, and therefore Quebec should not repeat this

Show More
Related
879 Words | 4 Pages

During his time as Prime Minster, he accomplished multiple “things” for the country. Some examples are the Canadian pension plan, universal health care system, unified arm force, maple leaf flag. Most importantly however was the influence Pearson had on Canada’s nationalism, such ways as bring the two opposed people of Canada, known as Anglophones and Francophones together, and having a common ground. When Quebec revealed that it did not want to be ran by an English government, Pearson knew this problem could be solved by cooperation. During his first year and a half, Pearson had more meetings than Diefenbaker had in his six year

Read More
755 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout Canadian history, Canada had always been socially divided. Between the English speaking majority and the French speaking majority. One of Trudeau’s main objective was to erase this separation between these two parties. Firstly, in order to ease tension between the French speaking majority, Trudeau placed a “Official Language Act” in 1969 . This was the first act that English and French the

Read More
605 Words | 3 Pages

The new navy would, he argued [Bourassa], draw Canadians into foreign conflicts. They would waste their “gold and blood” on issues that had nothing to do with them.” (Making History 49).Thus Laurier’s trouble kept increasing and the nation got more divided and

Read More
448 Words | 2 Pages

He pushed an ambitious agenda promoting industries, building railways and opening the west to immigrants from Europe. With that Canada started its way to multiculturalism. However, this plan didn’t present equal opportunities for immigrants. British people got jobs before others, and immigration threatened the survival of the natives.

Read More
1139 Words | 5 Pages

The Canadian political system is based entirely on democracy. As a democracy it has the duty “to protect itself against the forces of dissolution as soon as they [appear]” (Pierre Trudeau 133). Few people would disagree with the government’s decision to invoke the act. Surely because of the apprehension, almost everybody in the nation was feeling during the violent insurrection in Quebec. Resulting from “seven years of terrorist assaults in Montreal and Ottawa” (130) in which “resulted in six deaths” (Eric Kierans 181).

Read More
1421 Words | 6 Pages

Canada is now known to be a diverse, multicultural, bilingual and inclusive nation largely as a result of his work. Pierre Elliott Trudeau also believed in an equal Canada for all, he is primarily the one to introduce rights and freedoms to the citizens of Canada. While some view Pierre Trudeau as impulsive, for enforcing the War Measures Act, Trudeau enacted this for the protection of Canadian citizens against radical extremist and his actions were more rational than impulsive for the situation that had suddenly occurred. Pierre Trudeau was one of Canada’s greatest Prime Minister’s, who’s impact fundamentally changed the course of the nation by introducing multiculturalism, for introducing the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and for paradoxically upholding democracy by strong action during the October Crisis.

Read More
1098 Words | 5 Pages

Canada is often regarded as multicultural country with a high human development, great education, high life expectancy and extraordinary healthcare, proving it is an over all exceptional place to live. Although this might be the case, a fraction of Canadians who are “Indians” believe their native culture is being compromised and quality of life does not reflect that of the over all population. In the Globe and Mail article , To be Indian in Canada Today… by Richard Wagamese’s the author argues the pros and cons to granting Métis and non-status Indians status under the Constitution Act. As well as, when it comes to nationalism how are Indians regarded and what role do the first nations play in the construction of Canadian culture (Wagamese,

Read More
3614 Words | 15 Pages

The text mentions ethnic conflict and rebellion taking place within Quebec and explains the solution for this brought up by Lord Durham within his famed Durham Report. It then mentions the passing of Lord Durham’s proposal, and questions if its passing was a good thing or not. The essay proceeds

Read More
1574 Words | 7 Pages

For a long time the debates had been going about how was the better prime minister of Canada. On the the top of most lists of best prime ministers are Mackenzie King and Sir John A. Macdonald. For example, according to the Expert Survey that was made in 2013 “Laurier came first, Macdonald second, and King third, but the difference in their overall scores was negligible”. Both prime ministers had a strong vision of the country that helped shaped Canada to become the country it is today(in 2015). Thesis: Sir John A.Macdonald was one of the founding fathers, but William Lyon Mackenzie King had to lead the country through the part of Depression and WWII, and they both have made different positive contributions to Canada and are highly respected

Read More
1515 Words | 7 Pages

Institutional and historical analysis often portray the motives of governments, especially in the cases of Quebec separatism and Aboriginal mistreatment. History describes attempts at compromise to rectify the problems by altering political institutions to provide more autonomy to the provinces, witness in various accords and the methods described previously. However, in regards to Aboriginals a historical relationship of exploitation and eradication sheds on the systemic issues that Aboriginals cope with and the institutions that caused them. As scholars of Canadian politics, it is important to consider historical and institutional analyses when looking at any issue, as it reveals the underlying motives of actors in regards to the cleavages that comprise a state.

Read More
108 Words | 1 Pages

The French-Canadians in Lower Canada did not trust the British, they didn’t speak English, and they found British rule without democracy difficult to accept. Control of the colony was in the hands of an oligarchy of merchants and ex-army officers. English seemed to have most of the advantages which made the French feel like their culture was being attacked. Discrimination against the French, unequal taxation and lack of power within the government became the main focus of reform in Lower Canada. The French-Canadians preferred a democratic government.

Read More
1122 Words | 5 Pages

In many countries, conflict between different groups of people is inevitable. In Canada, the divide between English-speaking and French-speaking regions has been a prominent political and cultural topic since the birth of the nation. The most well known of these conflicts goes to Quebec. The province has sprouted several movements and parties supporting the autonomy and independence of Quebec. One of those parties is the Bloc Quebecois.

Read More
441 Words | 2 Pages

Any and all Colonist trade and land from the Aboriginal territory south of Quebec was halted and handed to Quebec. However the King is too cruel the man to stop there. He granted them the religious freedom we have been yearning for since 1607. Intolerable is too generous a word. Our once great Mother land has betrayed us too deeply to simply forgive.

Read More
821 Words | 4 Pages

To call this era of drastic change the ‘Quiet Revolution’ is a vivid, and yet, paradoxical description. The Quiet Revolution was a time of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in Quebec, which extended beyond Quebec’s borders because of its influence on contemporary Canadian politics. As a result of the effects of the changes that occurred during this Quiet Revolution, most Quebec provincial governments since the early 1960s have maintained political and social orientations based on the core concepts developed and implemented during the Quiet Revolution. As such, there is no doubt that the Quiet Revolution had a significant impact in Canadian History. This impact can be characterized by the prelude to the Quiet Revolution; the demographic evolution of Quebec; the social educational reforms that were put in place; the economic reforms and their impact; the rise of nationalism; and finally, the cultural changes that occurred.

Read More
719 Words | 3 Pages

The improvement of the rights of the Canadian Immigrants Canada, as one of the biggest immigration countries, welcomes people from all over the the world and forms a representative multicultural atmosphere in today’s society. Over these few decays, the country has always been consummating the laws to provide immigrants equal rights and freedoms, and better treatments they could receive. However, Canadian immigration laws were not unprejudiced and it eventually caused a “legal discrimination” before 1976. The legal rights of the immigrant groups have improved significantly because of the demands of developing the country, the influences of the wars, and the globalization of the world. Since 1880s, more immigrants and foreigners came to Canada because of the railway construction project.

Read More

More about Review Of Michel Seymour-Quebec Sovereignty '

Related Topics

Open Document