Re: Nice people....

[dana tierney]

I am not sure what you think may statement is. I am one of those inbetween people myself. My point is that 47% support sovereignty, which to me means Quebec as a separate country. The numbers drop into the 20s for the English-speaking population, which is only to be expected. The numbers also drop when you stipulate that there is to be no economic partnership, which is also only to be expected. I am not aware of ANY good model for how this would work. Despite the history, I think the population of Quebec is simply pragmatic, and sees that geography alone requires some sort of relationship, not to mention the overlapping language groups like the French-speaking in the Ottawa valley and the English speakers on the south bank of the St Laurent. And Montreal, of course.

Dana

>Dana,
>
>28 to 47 percent of the francophone population do not exactly support your
>statement. To quote from the article you cited in the Globe and Mail:
>--
>"Since the 1995 referendum, support for sovereignty has always hovered
>around 40 per cent to 42 per cent," said Jean-Marc Léger, president of Leger
>Marketing. "Today, support has increased to 47 per cent and it is directly
>related to the level of dissatisfaction towards the Charest government."
>
>With a federal election only a few months away, the poll also sends a signal
>to Ottawa that separatism is not dead and that Quebeckers, especially
>francophones, continue to weigh their options on what Prime Minister Paul
>Martin will offer.
>
>The poll conducted on behalf of The Globe and Mail, Le Devoir and Montreal
>radio station CKAC showed that the majority of francophones -- 53 per cent
>-- support sovereignty while 75 per cent of non-francophones oppose it.
>
>But support for sovereignty remains soft, Mr. Léger said. When voters were
>asked whether they would back sovereignty without an offer of political and
>economic partnership with the rest of Canada, support drops to 28 per cent.
>
>"What this shows is that when Quebeckers are confronted with two radical
>options, sovereignty or status-quo federalism, we find that the majority
>find themselves somewhere in between. They don't want outright sovereignty
>and they are not happy that things remain the same," Mr. Léger said.
>--
>
>So in other words, without all the benefits of being with Canada, without
>the soft separatism advocated by the PQ, support for independece for Quebec
>among francophones drops to 28%. Its been my impression that the Canadian
>government's policy has always been that if Quebec separates, it will a
>sovrienty association that the PQ wants.
>
>So less than a third  of people in Quebec support independence.
>
>Moreover my take on that poll is that its not support for separation, but
>that people are simply pissed off at the provincial Liberal party.
>
>larry
>
>>

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