Debts to Pay: English Canada and Quebec from the Conquest to the Referendum

Front Cover
James Lorimer & Company, 1. apr 2004 - 360 pages
Since the resignation of Lucien Bouchard and Jean Charest's resounding win in the recent provincial election, many in English Canada have come to believe that Quebec separatism has finally been defeated. But polls show that sovereignty is still strongly supported by many Quebeckers, and by young people in particular.
This new edition of Debts to Pay, a book dealing with Quebec/Canada relations, offers a fresh perspective on the recent changes in Quebec. Saskatchewan-based sociologist and historian John Conway investigates the early days of Jean Charest's government and looks ahead to the effect that Paul Martin's ascension in Ottawa could have on Canada's constitutional struggles.
Conway attempts to understand Quebec's aspirations by understanding its history. Through a discussion of relations between Quebec and Canada in the past and present, he explores the division of power between the two societies and provides insights into the source of Quebec's grievances.
Debts to Pay offers insight into the bitter and longstanding rift that still remains a threat to the integrity of the Canadian nation.
 

Contents

Acknowledgements
4
Dangerous Impasse
11
The Conquest
21
The Reconquest and Isolation of Quebec
31
The Quiet Revolution
57
Lévesque the Referendum and Patriation
91
The Meech Lake Accord
123
The Charlottetown Referendum
139
The 1994 Quebec Election
186
The 1995 Sovereignty Referendum
199
Ottawas Plan B
212
The 1998 Watershed
227
The Fall of Lucien Bouchard and the Rise of Paul Martin
246
Plan B Vindicated?
260
Separation or Special Status?
276
The Reference Questions and the Courts Answers
319

The 1993 Federal Election
166

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2004)

JOHN F. CONWAY teaches sociology at the University of Regina. He is a frequent contributor to editorial pages of many newspapers across Canada. Since 1991, he has been an elected trustee on the Regina Public School Board, the largest school division in Saskatchewan. He is married and has four children.

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