The Canadian Press  |  October 31, 1995

QUEBEC CLIFFHANGER

Province narrowly votes against sovereignty in divisive 1995 referendum

By Eric Siblin

Quebecers said No to sovereignty yesterday in a paper-thin referendum victory that resolved nothing and doomed Canada to a resurgent nationalist movement that reckons history is on its side.      It was the narrow result — 50.6 per cent versus 49.4 — that few wanted and everyone feared, a messy margin of victory that saw a majority of francophones opt for independence.      Premier Jacques Parizeau shrouded the referendum aftermath with ominous words about Quebec independence being thwarted by non-francophone voters. “We were beaten it is true, but by what?” asked Parizeau in a speech to devastated Yes supporters.      “By money and the ethnic vote. All it means is that we were 60 per cent this time; we'll just have to be 63 per cent next time.”      While the Quebec premier was speaking, riot police poured out of three buses to stop about 1,000 brawling Yes and No partisans on Ste-Catherine St. near St-Laurent Blvd., the traditional dividing line between east and west — French and English — Montreal.      Prime Minister Jean Chretien extended an olive branch to disappointed sovereigntists, appealing to Parizeau to put aside political differences and rebuild the country. “Mr. Premier, I offer you my hand,” Chretien said in a conciliatory speech televised nationally from his Parliament Hill office.      Ottawa has heard the desire for change expressed by voters in Monday's referendum, added Chretien. The federal and provincial governments must respond to the “real and pressing needs of Quebec citizens.”      But Parizeau and Bloc Quebecois Leader Lucien Bouchard served notice that they believe Quebec separation is just around the corner. “We will wait a bit, but not for long,” said Parizeau in a speech that sounded more like a call to arms than a sovereigntist swan song.”We won't wait 15 years this time.”      In a sombre address at Yes camp headquarters, Bouchard sounded a more pressing note than did former premier Rene Levesque, who promised “until the next time” following the 1980 separatist referendum defeat.      “Keep hope, keep hope,” said Bouchard. “Because the next time it will be it — and the next time could come sooner than we think.      “Fifteen years after Quebec's referendum on sovereignty- association, the separatist option has drawn substantially more francophones to their cause — and on a harder question than in 1980, which only asked for a “mandate to negotiate” sovereignty with economic ties to the rest of Canada.      This time around, it was harder to imagine a tighter contest. The number of ballots rejected on Monday — 86,675 — was larger than the differential between the No and Yes final tallies.      The Canadian dollar and bonds were perhaps the only real winners in the referendum squeaker. The loonie broke through 75 cents US to hit 75.24 cents — its highest level in nearly a month. It had ended the trading day in North America at 73.58 cents US.      “The market loves the idea of a No victory,” said Dunnery Best, a director of Richardson Greenshields. “The dollar's up very strongly.”      But a rejection of Canada by a clear majority of francophones is a colossal reality that now looms large on the country's landscape, a pistol pointed at 128 years of Canadian history. Federalists can only be sobered by the trajectory of separatist gains between 1980 and 1995, progress that could take them over the top next time.      Taking control of a faltering Yes campaign after its first week, Bouchard awakened the sleeping dragon of Quebec nationalism, a dragon which will not be slayed by a slim No victory.      Bouchard's momentum, however, was fuelled not by pure separation — an option backed by only about 40 per cent of Quebecers — but by desire for change. The country's most electrifying orator convinced many that a Yes vote would provide Quebec with bargaining power to negotiate a better deal with English Canada. “Equal-to-equal,” was Bouchard's emotional mantra, hobbling through crowds like a healer who managed to heal himself just one year ago from a deadly flesh-eating virus.      The No side, ahead in the polls by about ten points at the start of the campaign, was counting on the lion's share of the province's undecided voters, who traditionally tilt towards federalism when push comes to shove in the ballot box. In that sense it was their campaign to lose, and they lost it. Although the No camp captured the necessary votes, it failed to capture the imagination of voters.      To truly win back the population that holds one-quarter of its citizens, Ottawa must either negotiate the landmines of constitutional change or devolve powers to Quebec — or both. The rest of the country, however, has shown no stomach for constitutional change.