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Federal Politics

Quebec Vote Warms Heart of 'Canada's Most Dangerous Man'

Take a lesson, politicians who would pander.

Rafe Mair 14 Apr 2014TheTyee.ca

Rafe Mair writes a column for The Tyee every other week. Read his previous columns here. He is also a founding contributor to The Common Sense Canadian.

[Editor’s note: We are very pleased to welcome Rafe Mair back to The Tyee's pages after his hiatus due to illness.]

Back in the '70s with no title to back it up, I was MLA in charge of constitutional affairs in B.C. At the time Pierre Trudeau was patriating the Constitution, I went to an unimaginable number of conferences involving politicians and academics right across the country. Then as always the issue was Quebec.

What should we do to make Quebecers happy little campers? My deputy minister Mel Smith Q.C. and I became convinced that we should, in effect, cheerfully do nothing.

That was not to say that there weren't serious changes necessary to the Constitution -- just none that affected only Quebec.

This was not a widely held view, the only obvious support being former prime minister Trudeau. If nothing else, the debates between Trudeau and former Quebec premier René Lévesque were interesting and lively.

Courters of Quebec

As we know, the Constitution was patriated, and Quebec vehemently fought it and lost every round in the courts, including the full court of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Most observers sensed a period of constitutional exhaustion in the country, including Quebec.

Brian Mulroney, in order to win Quebec, reopened the debate promising to "make Canada whole again." This was nonsense which almost led to fatal mischief.

In a political move that would have dazzled Machiavelli, Mulroney conned the provinces into what would become known as the Meech Lake Accord.

The "Establishment" greeted this as if the Nation had been saved!

There were dissenters, including Mel Smith, former Liberal leader Gordon Gibson, the then-current leader Gordon Wilson and a broadcaster named Mair. Through Wilson, then Newfoundland and Labrador premier Clyde Wells made constant and eloquent arguments against this deal, a great many of them on my CKNW morning radio show.

As we know, Meech Lake Accord died in the Manitoba legislature.

Mulroney, undaunted, rejigged this mess and it became the Charlottetown Accord, this time to be voted on in a national referendum.

Those of us opposed were vilified by the entire Canadian Establishment -- the prime minister called me a traitor, threatening to have my taxes audited, while Newfoundland's John Crosbie called me "Canada's most dangerous man."

Throughout the campaign we all maintained that the "yes" vote was doomed. On the day of the election I predicted two thirds of the vote in B.C. would be "no." In fact it was 67 per cent against.

All of us in opposition -- Mel, Gordon Gibson, Gordon Wilson, me and others, were greatly relieved at the result.

Out of steam?

Now to the main point. The late Mel Smith would no doubt feel, as I'm sure my other colleagues do, great satisfaction with the recent Quebec election.

The country had a huge scare in 1995 when the separatists nearly won the referendum. I said at the time how relieved I was, but that this would put the issue behind us for a generation or longer.

Separatism, like poison ivy, will always reoccur. Ethnicity will never die. Just look at Scotland and England, still debating union after 400 years.

What has happened in Quebec, in my view, is that both political and intellectual steam has been taken out of the separatist movement, unlikely to be seen again for many, many years.

Those who voted no in 1992 have every right to feel vindicated by the Quebec election result.  [Tyee]

Read more: Federal Politics

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