On the 20th anniversary of the 1995 Quebec Referendum, an assistant political science professor at the University of Windsor says politicians would be wise not to discount the sovereignty movement in Quebec.
Cheryl Collier admits the movement to leave Canada isn't as strong as it used to be, but she insists it's far from dead. She cites a poll taken after Pierre-Karl Paladeau won the leadership of the Parti-Quebecois, which suggests 36% of voters support Quebec sovereignty.
On October 30, 1995, federalist forces narrowly won a referendum that would have set the stage for the province to leave the country. A rally in Montreal that drew thousands of Canadians from across the country gets some credit for turning the tide against the "yes" side of the campaign.
Since then, the issue has only come up sparingly, but Collier says it's never far from the surface. She points to the way Quebecers debated the niqab question during this past federal election campaign.
"In that province, there is a worry about protecting the French language and culture and any encroachment on that is seen in a different light," she says.
While some may believe the only way to put the issue finally to bed is for Quebec to leave confederation, Collier says Canada could again attempt to provide the province with special recognition in the Constitution.
"I'm not suggesting that constitutional recognition would be a panacea, but it might be a way forward," she says.
The 1995 vote was the second in Quebec. Sovereigntists under former Premier Rene Levesque's lost a similar vote in 1982.
