The Quebec sovereignty movement (, ) is a political movement advocating for Quebec's independence from Canada. Proponents argue that Quebecers form a distinct nation with a unique culture, language, history, and set of values, and thus should exercise their right to self-determination. This principle includes the possibility of choosing between integration with a third state, political association with another state, or full independence, enabling Quebecers to establish a sovereign state with its own constitution.
Supporters believe that an independent Quebec would be better positioned to promote its economic, social, environmental, and cultural development. They contend that self-governance would allow Quebec to manage its resources, such as its vast renewable natural assets and strategic geographic location, in alignment with its interests. Additionally, sovereignty would enable Quebec to establish its own fiscal policies, participate directly in international forums, and uphold its commitment to the French language and intercultural integration model.
The movement is rooted in Quebec nationalism, emphasizing the province's distinct identity and its desire for political autonomy to achieve its full potential as a sovereign nation.
Overview The goal of Quebec's sovereignist movement is to make Quebec an independent state. In practice, the terms independentist, sovereignist, and separatist are used to describe people adhering to this movement, although the latter term is perceived as pejorative by those concerned as it de-emphasizes that the sovereignty project aims to achieve political independence without severing economic connections with Canada. Most of the prime ministers of Canada's speeches use the term sovereignist in French to moderate remarks made on the Quebec electorate. In English, the term separatist is often used to accentuate negative dimensions of the movement.
The idea of Quebec sovereignty is based on a nationalist vision and interpretation of historical facts and sociological realities in Quebec, which attest to the existence of a Québécois people and a Quebec nation. On November 27, 2006, the House of Commons of Canada adopted, by 266 votes to 16, a motion recognizing that "Québécois form a nation within a united Canada". On November 30, the National Assembly of Quebec unanimously adopted a motion recognizing "the positive character" of the motion adopted by Ottawa and proclaiming that said motion did not diminish "the inalienable rights, the constitutional powers and the privileges of the 'National Assembly and of the Quebec nation'".
Sovereignists believe that the natural final outcome of the Québécois people's collective adventure and development is the achievement of political independence, which is only possible if Quebec becomes a sovereign state and if its inhabitants not only govern themselves through independent democratic political institutions, but are also free to establish external relations and make international treaties without the federal government of Canada being involved.
Through parliamentarism, Québécois currently possess a certain democratic control over the Quebec state. However, within the Canadian federation, Quebec does not have all the constitutional powers that would allow it to act as a true national government. Furthermore, the policies pursued by Quebec and those pursued by the federal government often come into conflict. Various attempts to reform the Canadian federal system have failed (most notably the defunct Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords), due to conflicting interests between the sovereignist and federalist elites of Quebec, as well as with English Canada (see Constitutional Debate in Canada).
Although Quebec's independence movement is a political movement, cultural and social concerns that are much older than the sovereignist movement, as well as Quebecers' national identity, are also at the base for the desire to emancipate Quebec's population. One of the main cultural arguments sovereigntists cite is that if Quebec were independent, Québécois would have a national citizenship, which would solve the problem of Québécois cultural identity in the North American context (ex. who is a Québécois and who is not, what is uniquely Québécois, etc.). Another example is that by establishing an independent Quebec, sovereigntists believe that the culture of Québécois and their collective memory will be adequately protected, in particular against cultural appropriation by other nations, such as the incident with Canada's national anthem, originally a French Canadian patriotic song appropriated by the anglophone majority of Canada. Adherents also believe an independent Quebec would also adequately and definitively resolve the issue of needing to protect the French language in Quebec; French is the language of the majority in Quebec, but since it is the language of a cultural minority in Canada – and since Quebec does not have the legislative powers of an independent state – French is still considered threatened by many Quebecers (see Language demographics of Quebec, OQLF, and Charter of the French Language).
History
Before the 1960s
Sovereignty and sovereignism are terms derived from the modern independence movement, which started during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. However, the roots of Quebecers' desire for political autonomy are much older than that.
Francophone nationalism in North America dates back to 1534, the year Jacques Cartier landed in the Gespe'gewa'gi district of Miꞌkmaꞌki claiming Canada for France, and more particularly to 1608, the year of the founding of Quebec City by Samuel de Champlain, the first permanent settlement for French colonists and their descendants in New France (who were called Canadiens, Canayens or Habitants). Following the British conquest of New France, the movement, which lasted from 1760 to the late 18th century and sought to restore the traditional rights of French Canadians began. During this period, French Canadians began to express an indigenous form of nationalism which emphasized their longstanding residence in North America. The period was briefly interrupted by the Quebec Act of 1774, which granted certain rights to but did not truly satisfy them, and was notably exacerbated by the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ceded parts of the Quebec to the United States, and the Constitutional Act of 1791, which established the Westminster system.
The Patriote movement was the period lasting from the beginning of the 19th century to the defeat of the Patriotes at the Battle of Saint-Eustache in 1837, the final battle in the Patriotes War. It began with the founding of the Parti Canadien by the . It stands out for its notorious resistance to the influence of the Château Clique, a group of wealthy families in Lower Canada in the early 19th century who were the Lower Canadian equivalent of the Family Compact in Upper Canada.
is the period beginning after the defeat of the Patriotes in the rebellions of 1837–1838 and lasting until the Quiet Revolution. It concerns the survival strategies employment by the French-Canadian nation and the ultramontane of the Catholic Church following the enactment of the Act of Union of 1840 which established a system whose goal was to force the cultural and linguistic assimilation of French Canadians into English-Canadian culture. In addition to , a phlegmatic character was adopted in response to the mass immigration of English-speaking immigrants. Some French Canadians left Quebec during this period in search of job security and protection of their culture. This phenomenon, known as the , is the origin of the Quebec diaspora in New England and Northeastern Ontario among other places. It led to the creation of permanent resistance movements in those new locations. Groups of nationalists outside Quebec have since then promoted Quebec's cultural identity, along with that of the Acadians in the Maritime provinces and in Louisiana, represented by the Société Nationale de l'Acadie since 1881. Louis-Alexandre Taschereau coming to power in 1920 created an upheaval in French-Canadian society for most of the interwar period. The confrontations and divergence of political opinions led to the rise of a new form of nationalism, called clerico-nationalism, promoted by Maurice Duplessis and the Union Nationale party during the Grande Noirceur of 1944 to 1959.
During the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s to 1970s, the modern Québécois sovereignist movement took off, with René Lévesque as one of its most recognizable figures. Various strategies were implemented since its rise, and it constitutes a continuity in French-speaking nationalism in North America. Now the patriotism is Quebec-focused, and the identifier has been changed from French-Canadian nationalism or identity to Québécois nationalism or identity.
Quiet Revolution (1960s–1970s)
The Quiet Revolution in Quebec brought widespread change in the 1960s. Among other changes, support for Quebec independence began to form and grow in some circles. The first organization dedicated to the independence of Quebec was the , founded by Raymond Barbeau on January 25, 1957.
A primary change was an effort by the provincial government to assume greater control over healthcare and education, both of which had previously been under the purview of the Catholic Church. To achieve this, the government established ministries of Health and Education, expanded the public service, made substantial investments in the public education system, and permitted the unionization of the civil service. Additionally, measures were taken to enhance Quebecois control over the province's economy, including the nationalization of electricity production and distribution, the creation of the Canada/Quebec Pension Plan, and the establishment of in an effort to nationalize Quebec's electric utilities. Furthermore, during this period, French Canadians in Quebec adopted the term to distinguish themselves from both the rest of Canada and France, solidifying their identity as a reformed province.
On September 10, 1960, the Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale (RIN) was founded, with Pierre Bourgault quickly becoming its leader. On August 9 of the same year, the (ASIQ) was formed by . The "independence + socialism" project of the ASIQ was a source of political ideas for the (FLQ).
On October 31, 1962, the and, in November of the same year, the were set up. These two groups were formed by RIN members to organize non-violent but illegal actions, such as vandalism and civil disobedience. The most extremist individuals of these groups left to form the FLQ, which, unlike all the other groups, had made the decision to resort to violence in order to reach its goal of independence for Quebec. Shortly after the November 14, 1962, Quebec general election, RIN member Marcel Chaput founded the short-lived .
In February 1963, the (FLQ) was founded by three members who had met each other as part of the . They were Georges Schoeters, Raymond Villeneuve, and Gabriel Hudon.
In 1964, the RIN became a provincial political party. In 1965, the more conservative (RN) also became a party.
During this period, the Estates General of French Canada are organized. The stated objective of these Estates General was to consult the French-Canadian people on their constitutional future.
The historical context of the time was a period when many former European colonies were becoming independent. Some advocates of Quebec independence saw Quebec's situation in a similar light; numerous activists were influenced by the writings of Frantz Fanon, Albert Memmi, and Karl Marx.