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﻿<title﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, Calgary Declaration Assaults the Right to Self Determination - Article﻿</title>﻿

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﻿<b﻿>﻿Calgary Declaration Assaults the Right to Self Determination

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by Harold Lavender﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿<i﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, December 1997 - January 1998﻿</i>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

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The federal and provincial governments and their big business backers are seeking to coercively impose national unity by denying Quebec and First Nations the genuine right to national self-determination. In particular they are seeking to thwart or pre-empt the holding of another Quebec referendum on sovereignty in which the people of Quebec could freely and democratically determine their own destiny.

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

They are attempting to do this by any means necessary- using both the stick and the carrot. The primary focus of the federal government is Plan B -the attempt to deny the legality of Quebec's right to self-determination which in any true meaning of the term includes the right to form an independent national state. However, in September the provincial premiers, minus Lucien Bouchard, met in Calgary and issued the Calgary Declaration. The declaration attempts to give a veil of legitimacy to the national unity process and persuade Quebecers that they should defeat the Parti Quebecois in the next election and reject independence

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

The attempt to impose national unity, either by recycling the dubious notion of "reforming federalism," or through the use of more overt coercion, is in complete contradiction to the idea of working class unity. In a time of labour struggles like the current CUPW strike and with a neo-liberal cutbacks offensive being imposed across the breadth of the Canadian state, we need to be united with sisters and brothers in Quebec more than ever. But genuine working class unity can only be built by supporting an end to all forms of national oppression and respecting the unconditional right of Quebec and First Nations to self-determination. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿<b﻿>﻿Plan B﻿</b>﻿

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

The complacency of Jean Chretien and the federalist forces was shattered by the closeness of the October 1995 referendum in which the yes won over 49% of the vote. Since then the main thrust of federalist policy has been Plan B: a direct attack on the legality of Quebec's right to national self-determination. The federal government has referred the legality of Quebec's right to self-determination to the Supreme Court of Canada in a case which will be heard in the new year. The federal government has asked the Supreme Court to answer three highly loaded questions: 

﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿<ol﻿>﻿

﻿<i﻿>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Can Quebec secede unilaterally from Canada under the terms of the Constitution?﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Does international law give Quebec the right to secede unilaterally on the basis of the right to self-determination?﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Should the Canadian Constitution or international law prevail in the event of a conflict?﻿</li>﻿

﻿</i>﻿</ol>﻿

The federal government hopes the Supreme Court will reject Quebec's unilateral right to declare independence. This would legitimize the federal government's attempt to impose strict conditions on any future referendum process. The federal government is demanding that the Quebec government must renounce the threat of using force, that the question and process must be clear, and that the process must be entirely legal.

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

The federal government court challenge seeks to substitute pseudo-legality for any form of genuine democracy based on the popular will. Their legal challenge is supplemented by threats of imposing hard line conditions in the event of a yes vote. The object of this exercise is to use economic blackmail and warnings of a drastic decline in Quebec's standard of living to dissuade Quebecers from the independence option.

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Moreover if Quebecers vote yes they are being threatened with partition. There is a growth of a reactionary movement that seeks to partition all those areas of Quebec that vote no. This essentially means imposing a "Northern Ireland" solution for predominately anglophone enclaves, including the Island of Montreal. Partition must be carefully distinguished from the legitimate national right of the Inuit and Cree of Northern Quebec to national self-determination to decide whether they wish to be part of an independent Quebec. In short, the entire thrust of the federalist effort is negative and coercive. Given the collapse of Meech Lake and the referendum defeat of the Charlottetown Accord, the emperor clearly has no clothes.

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

The PQ plans to seek reelection as the provincial government. It may then hold another referendum on sovereignty in its next term, if it believes the conditions are right. The lack of any plan to "reform federalism" could be the undoing of the federalist side. Some federalist forces want to rally the people of Canada outside Quebec to support a new national unity plan to be presented to Quebecers at the appropriate moment. Groups such as the Business Council on National Issues, which helped spearhead the campaign for Canada-US Free Trade and NAFTA are backing new national unity efforts. These new efforts are being pushed by the provincial premiers in an attempt to give a fresh face to a tired and discredited process which has a 30-year track record of failure. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿<b﻿>﻿The Calgary Declaration﻿</b>﻿

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

In Calgary, the premiers produced a seven-point declaration which seeks to portray Canada in the most idyllic possible terms. This rose-coloured picture of the world is accompanied by the absolute refusal to entertain the notion that Canada is a multi-national state historically rooted in the national oppression of the First Nations, the Acadians, the Quebecois, etc. The declaration has two main thrusts. The first argues "In Canada's federal system where respect for diversity and equality underlies unity, the unique character of Quebec society including the French speaking majority, the culture and its tradition of civil law is fundamental to the well being of Canada." In a blatant denial of the right of national self-determination, the document then defines the role of the legislature and government of Quebec as "to protect and develop the unique character of Quebec society within Canada."

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

In a second thrust, all the premiers, including the NDP premiers, essentially buy into the Reform Party line that Canada is a federation based on the equality of the provinces. The declaration argues "if any further constitutional amendment confers powers on one province, these must be available to all provinces."

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

The only possible model for change in the Calgary Declaration is that of decentralization to the provinces. This agenda is fine for corporations. With the cutbacks in federal transfer payments, corporations increasingly wage their cutbacks war through the likes of Mike Harris and Ralph Klein.

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

The Calgary Declaration in practice repudiates any notion of asymmetrical federalism which would maintain a strong role for the federal government, including social programs with real national standards, but recognize a high degree of autonomy for Quebec and First Nations. Ideas previously advanced by progressive organizations like the National Action Committee on the Status of Women are being totally excluded from the mainstream debate. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿<b﻿>﻿Timed to Elect Daniel Johnson﻿</b>﻿

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

The premiers aim is to hold consultations ﻿on the Calgary Declaration in all provinces outside of Quebec and pass motions through the legislatures by the spring. In the House of Commons, the Liberals and Reform have joined forces to support a motion that Ottawa will consult Quebecers on the Calgary Declaration.

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

The Chretien government believes the best way to avoid the dangers of another Quebec referendum is to make sure it doesn't happen in the first place. The PQ government could be vulnerable in the next provincial election. In office, Bouchard has implemented neo-liberal, anti-worker policies. This agenda risks alienating labour and popular base of Quebec's independence movement, which sees independence as linked to creating a different form of society. So far, the PQ has been able to use the sovereignty issue to maintain its hold over labour, but its electoral base is potentially at risk.

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

The Calgary Declaration is meant to arm Quebec Liberal Leader Daniel Johnson for the next provincial election. But if the PQ wins, the Calgary Declaration will be worth less than the paper it is written on. It will be consigned to history's dustbin unless it is revived by the federal government to organize a counter-referendum in opposition to a Quebec sovereignty referendum. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿<b﻿>﻿To Ignore or Oppose﻿</b>﻿

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

In many ways the Calgary Declaration is nothing but a charade. Its fiction of consultation is already being met with massive public indifference. Of course, some groups want to be included. Francophones were upset that they were not consulted or included in BC's unity commission. Moderate leaders of the Assembly of First Nations have objected to being excluded from the initial Calgary conference. They are now seeking to amend the Calgary Declaration or win a separate agreement that will recognize their inherent right to self-government. But overall there is little interest in national unity discussions.

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

On the positive side, people are preoccupied with issues that directly affect them. Clearly the fightback against Mike Harris and his gutting of education, health and public services is far more pressing than phony national unity. But on the downside, there is a strategic failure to link the fightbacks against austerity with a campaign for self-determination and thereby build unity with working people and progressive movements in Quebec.

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

This failure leaves the field wide open to national chauvinist propaganda. The people of Canada outside Quebec will be asked to support the premiers of Canada who purport to defend the sacred cause of national unity, and against the people of Quebec who want to separate. Currently, the national unity question is on the back burner in the minds of the vast majority of Canadians outside Quebec. But the full force of national chauvinist hysteria will again be felt if Quebecers appear poised to exercise their right to self-determination and vote yes in the next sovereignty referendum.

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

If the left, the labour and other social movements have not laid a foundation by waging a real campaign against Plan B and for Quebec's unconditional right to self-determination, we risk being totally disarmed and totally marginalized when the crisis of the Canadian state intensifies.

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