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Couillard says now is the right time to resume constitutional discussion

Jun 1, 2017 | 12:30 PM

QUEBEC — Canada’s “historic” 150th birthday is the right moment to resume constitutional discussions, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard told The Canadian Press in an interview.

Couillard, a staunch federalist, committed to reopening constitutional dialogue on Thursday, with the long-term goal of restarting negotiations that could lead to Quebec finally approving the 1982 Constitution.

The premier said while the issue took a backseat to economy, finances and healthcare for the first half of his mandate, he would have been disappointed had his first term finished without tackling the subject of Quebec-Canada relations.

“That’s why we were elected, but also to do things like this, to have proposed to Quebecers and Canadians — but to Quebecers above all — the affirmation of who we are and a path to regain contact with the rest of country, that’s a part of the full job of a premier for me,” Couillard said.

While there is no timeline or definite plan for opening constitutional negotiations, Couillard is hopeful the vast coast-to-coast discussion he is launching will eventually lead there.

On Thursday, Couillard unveiled his government’s official policy on the place of Quebec within Canada. The 200-page document defines Quebec as an inclusive, francophone nation with control over its own institutions and — Couillard believes — a place within Canada.

While Quebecers may not get up every morning questioning the state of the federation, he said it’s false to say such questions don’t interest them.

“In the heart of each Quebecer, this sense of identify and belonging to the Quebec nation is so strong, and it goes through generations and generations,” he said. “So the illusion that this issue will just disappear on its own … is just an illusion.”  

For Canada’s 150th birthday, he said Quebec’s “gift” is to open the door to dialogue — with the other provinces, with social and environmental groups, with chambers of commerce and universities — in order to help the rest of the country better understand Quebec’s claim to nationhood.

While it’s a long process, Couillard said he’s “very confident” the outcome will be positive.

One day the Constitution will be modified, the premier added, and it would be “a great pride, for sure,” for him to have played a part, big or small. 

He said the process actually began over a decade ago in the aftermath of the 1995 Quebec referendum, when government and courts began to recognize Quebec as a distinct society and granted it greater control over immigration and health.

Couillard said he’s encouraged by the attitudes of youth today, who grew up in a globalized world and seem to feel a sense of belonging to both Quebec and Canada.

He’s also hoping to include First Nations in all the future discussions.

In this new context, Couillard believes Quebec’s separatist movement is doomed to failure.

“There won’t be a majority of Quebecers who want to abandon their Canadian citizenship, why would they?” he said. “A G7 country, a citizenship that is envied all over the planet, a free and democratic country. There’s no oppression in Canada, people want to keep their Canadian citizenship. It’s the biggest fundamental weakness in the separatist project.”

Quebec was the only province not to sign the Constitution in 1982 and two subsequent attempts to negotiate new terms for the province ultimately failed.

When another round of negotiations does happen, Couillard believes they will be nothing like the closed-door discussions of the past.

“It couldn’t happen like that anymore,” he said.

“The nature of Canadian democracy … is such that people want to participate. People want to hear, people want to understand and don’t want to be left out of that.”

Caroline Plante, The Canadian Press