Re: Exodus of Québec
Québec is a key component of Canada.
Québec makes a big deal about the maintenance of Québécois culture—however, I would venture to suggest that Québécois culture would be more threatened should Québec ever become a sovereign state on its own. An integral part of Québec’s character is the French-English relationship, and were Québec to become sovereign, I would venture to guess that the rights of English Québeckers would be dangerously eroded (moreso than Québec has already done).
I think that with Québec, Canada is greater than the sum of its parts—we are an extremely unique and strong nation, and I hope that one day Québeckers can be proud of the nation that they have helped to shape. Canada is as much Québec’s home as it is the other provinces’, and I want to see the society of Québec accept this fact and move forward for a more prosperous Canadian future (inclusive of a strong, and Canadian, Québec).
And, of course, there is the constitutional question of how Québec might secede, even if there were a passed referendum—there is no constitutional mechanism whereby a referendum is law. My interpretation of the Constitution Act, 1982 is that the exodus of a province out of the Confederation would need the consent of seven out of ten of the Legislative Assemblies of the Provinces (out of which the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, the National Assembly of Québec, and the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia would each have an absolute veto), the House of Commons, the Honourable the Senate of Canada (subject to s. 47(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982) and the assent of the Governor General of Canada (subject to the veto of Her Majesty The Queen of Canada).