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Quebec independence losing steam?

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Three quarters of Quebec people rank the chances of their French-speaking province ever splitting from the rest of Canada as low to none, according to a poll published Tuesday.

The Angus-Reid survey for the French-language daily La Presse found 34 percent of the province's residents support Quebec independence, versus 54 percent who oppose a split with Canada.

However, 74 percent felt it was very unlikely or not at all likely to ever occur.

Most Qubeckers responded that they are unhappy with the status quo, but are divided in their wishes for the future. Only 28 percent want outright independence for Quebec while 30 percent want more autonomy. Thirty-two percent are content to have Quebec remain a province of Canada.

Quebec has twice voted in referendums to separate from the rest of Canada, in 1980 and 1995. The 1995 plebiscite was won by federalists, but by less than one percent.

The separatist Parti Quebecois is currently in opposition in the Quebec legislature. For now, it has shelved plans to hold another referendum if it is returned to power.

PQ leader Pauline Marois is meanwhile entertaining the notion of trying to gain more powers from the federal government for Quebec, but only until it deems the time is right for a winning plebiscite.

The Angus-Reid poll of 805 Quebec residents was taken on June 4-5, with a 3.5 percent margin of error.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/2009060...aquebecpoliticsseparatistspoll_20090609164037
 
Don't read too much in that. Right now the independence movement is quiet because Ignatieff and Harper have been somewhat conciliatory, and there hasn't been any Meech-style "snub" lately (although Harper almost pulled one off during the coalition mess).

But on the flip side, when asked whether they defined themselves as Quebecers, Canadians or (hometowners), the answers went (and that was with a 30k sample size):

32% Hometown 51% Québec 17% Canada

And the future looks bleak: broken down by age, you get (broken down as above, eg town/quebec/canada):
60+: 32-40-28
50-59: 30-52-18
40-49: 32-53-15
30-39: 33-53-14
18-29: 33-55-12

So...yeah. Independence is polling low right now because nobody has stepped too hard on Quebec's toes lately. Quebecers are still very, very, very, very, very, very strongly nationalist, and not too attached to Canada.
 
Can I see that study, or a link to the article reporting it? This kind of subject always interests me.
 
Je parle et lis la langue; ce n'est pas tres bon, mais je comprends.
 
Okay, will look up the link where I found that study.

Could have been Québécois-only (eg, French-language Quebecers) as far as studies go; even if it was, that still means a large majority of Quebecers don't have strong feelings for Canada.

(I have it loaded up on my computer, so I need to find where I DLed it from)
 
I dunno, you could look at similar federations and how people from the subnational entities view themselves. Betcha it'd be about the same. I mean, hey, I've got Illinois pride. And look at Texas for example. How many people who live there identify as "Texan" over "American", while their independence movement is nowhere really. Hell, the governor threatened it due to Obama's policies and three minutes later the crowd behind him cheers "USA USA USA".

Though hey, what do I know. Quebec's crazy. There's nothing wrong with being part of a federation, especially if you'd pretty much be forced into the UN immediately afterwards anyway.
 
Well, being part in a federation with a people who speak an entirely different language, when you got into the whole thing with only very suspicious consent at best (and through the direct use of force, depending on what you consider)...yeah.

Regarding the stats, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't get those stats in many parts of the US - local pride is one thing, but only 17% voting "America first"? I don't see that happening.

Also, keep in mind the other poll does still show that 58% of Quebecers are not happy with their current place in Canada, and either want a new place in Canada, or a new place outside Canada.
 
We had vote for or against Quebec independence in Grade 11 Socials class. The higher demographic? Nay. My answer? Nay, for the financial reasons.

My dad said that if they were to gain independence, they would be broke because of how much they owe to the other half of Canada
 
That's a warped way of putting it - it's not "how much we owe the rest of Canada", it's "How much Canada owes the rest of the world", of which Quebec of course should take on a share if it becomes independent.
 
Well, keep in mind, that is technically what happened with Texas. Essentially a bunch of Americans looking for a cashworthy opportunity walked in, declared themselves Texans, agreed with the Mexican government that they were to be part of Mexico happily, and then decided "oh, nope, sorry!" and declared independence. Then they got annexed into the US.

Though that is a bit different, but eh. At least you're represented better than us at the federal level. 21/535 votes in Congress, constantly decreasing, vs 99/413. Even considering the size of Quebec's population, that's massive, since California gets 55/535.

...well, okay. You guys have a severely screwed up electoral representation. It's worse than ours, even, and that's pretty bad in itself. Glad there's no North American Union, though. Make it ten times worse than it already is...
 
TTEchidna said:
Well, keep in mind, that is technically what happened with Texas. Essentially a bunch of Americans looking for a cashworthy opportunity walked in, declared themselves Texans, agreed with the Mexican government that they were to be part of Mexico happily, and then decided "oh, nope, sorry!" and declared independence. Then they got annexed into the US.

Though that is a bit different, but eh. At least you're represented better than us at the federal level. 21/535 votes in Congress, constantly decreasing, vs 99/413. Even considering the size of Quebec's population, that's massive, since California gets 55/535.

...well, okay. You guys have a severely screwed up electoral representation. It's worse than ours, even, and that's pretty bad in itself. Glad there's no North American Union, though. Make it ten times worse than it already is...
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Proportional Representation FTW!
 
Not really even proportional anymore, thanks to these teensy states population-wise out west...

And of course Canada's system won't let it decrease to levels lower than it was in the 70's. Smart plan.
 
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