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BILL C-20 DENIES RIGHTS OF QUEBEC
Statement by the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada, Jan. 10/2000
(This article is from the Jan. 16-31/2000 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.)
The Chrétien government's so-called "clarity" legislation has been hailed by many in English-speaking Canada as a way to preserve Canadian unity by "getting tough" with separatism. But in reality, this new bill would use Ottawa's federal authority to run roughshod over the rights of the people of Quebec, and to deny their national right of self-determination. As a result, it is much more likely to backfire on its authors, with the potential of tragic consequences for working people in all parts of the country. The Communist Party of Canada urges the labour movement and all other progressive and democratic forces outside Quebec to actively oppose this legislation, and to make their views known to the people of Quebec.
In the event of any future referendum on sovereignty, the proposed act would give the House of Commons the final right to determine whether or not a "clear question" had been asked, and a "clear majority" achieved, before agreeing to negotiate Quebec's secession from Canada. It also stipulates that "any such negotiations must address the division of assets and liabilities, any changes to the borders of the province, the rights, interests and territorial claims of the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada, and the protection of minority rights."
Just like their earlier use of the Supreme Court, this is a crude attempt by the Chretien Liberals to resort to legal and administrative means to bully the people of Quebec into submission and to snuff out the pro-independence movement once and for all.
This aggressive and confrontational tactic, a continuation of the Liberals' Plan B get-tough approach, will only stir up indignation in Quebec, feed the fires of both narrow nationalism in Quebec and big-nation chauvinism in the rest of the country, and deepen the long-festering crisis of Confederation.
This move by the Chrétien government is not so surprising, given its determination to maintain the current constitutional status quo by all possible means. Nor is it surprising that Preston Manning and his chauvinist Reform Party have jumped on this bandwagon, even speculating about carving up Quebec as the partitionists are demanding.
However, the stand taken by NDP premiers Roy Romanow and Gary Doer, and the federal NDP caucus, who have also come out in support of this provocation, is especially deplorable. This violation of the official policy of the NDP on the Quebec national question is one more indication of the growing trend towards a pro-corporate and right-wing agenda within that party.
Meanwhile, Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard must be quite happy. He is betting that this new hard line promoted by Ottawa will create the "winning conditions" for a future referendum bid. The Parti Quebecois has already introduced 'counter-legislation' into the National Assembly, and has launched a mass media campaign designed to whip up indignation among the people of Quebec and bolster sagging public support for the independence option.
These developments open the door for greater divisions over the Quebec national question and represent a major setback for democracy in Canada. But they also create an important opportunity for the labour movement and all other progressive forces in the country to stand up, voice their strong disapproval of Ottawa's decision, and take the lead in the fight for a democratic and correct solution.
Over many years, the Canadian Labour Congress as well as other organizations like NAC have developed an independent, democratic policy towards the Quebec national question. This is the time for labour and other progressive forces to unite across the country in opposition to the way major political parties have been handling this issue. This is the time to say "enough is enough" and to reaffirm the need for a democratic solution to the Quebec national question as well as to all other national questions in this country.
For its part, the Communist Party will continue to demand the full recognition of Quebec's right to self-determination, will oppose both narrow nationalism in Quebec and anti-Quebec chauvinism in English-speaking Canada, and will promote unity between Quebec workers and their sisters and brothers in the rest of Canada to their common struggle to defend and advance the interests of working people in both nations, and for a new democratic Canadian constitution, based on the equal and voluntary partnership of Quebec, English-speaking Canada, and the aboriginal peoples of this country.
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