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﻿<title﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, Open Letter in Support of Self-Determination For Quebec﻿</title>﻿

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﻿<b﻿>﻿Open Letter in Support of Self-Determination For Quebec 

﻿<br﻿>﻿</b>﻿</font>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿


﻿<font﻿ ﻿face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"﻿ ﻿size="2"﻿ ﻿color="#000000"﻿>﻿

﻿<i﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, June - July 1998﻿</i>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿</center>﻿


The escalation of the federal government's rhetoric and actions against the people of Quebec is a cause for alarm. Since the narrow defeat of the "yes" side in the 1995 Quebec referendum, the Liberal government has adopted a policy of threats and intimidation towards Quebec and especially the millions of its people who support sovereignty. Most recently, the federal government has launched a Supreme Court challenge to Quebec's right to determine its own future. In addition, the federal government has suggested that Ottawa might refuse to accept a majority yes-vote for sovereignty in Quebec and that it might support partitioning Quebec or changing its borders to allow some anglophone dominated areas to separate from Quebec. This get-tough policy, known in Ottawa as "Plan B", is an affront to all who believe in the democratic right of peoples and societies to determine their own future.

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Aboriginal peoples and the people of Quebec have raised a series of objections to the structure of the federal state in Canada. They have insisted that they -- and they alone -- ought to have the right to determine their own futures. We affirm the democratic right of native peoples and the people of Quebec to self-determination in a context free of coercion. Ottawa's anti-democratic attempt to dispute this right for the people of Quebec must not go unopposed. If the federal government can deny this right of the people of Quebec, they will be in a stronger position to deny the right of self-determination to aboriginal peoples too.

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Ottawa's "Plan B" is especially ominous given the intervention of the Canadian Army in Quebec twice in recent memory -- in October of 1970 (with the imposition of the infamous War Measures Act) and in the summer of 1990 at Oka-Kanehsatake. We ought not to forget that many of those arrested without charges when the federal government imposed the War Measures Act in 1970 were outside Quebec. We seek to prevent a repetition of such attacks on democratic and human rights.

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

We call for a complete end to all threats and intimidation against the right of the Quebec people to determine their own future. At the same time, we affirm the right of aboriginal self-determination both in Quebec and the rest of Canada. To this end, we commit ourselves to an ongoing campaign of public actions -- letters, statements, meetings and events --to prevent the subversion of democratic rights. We will not tolerate, by our silence, any attempt to bully or imprison subordinated peoples in the name of "national unity."

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Initial Signers:

﻿<ul﻿>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Judy Rebick, writer, broadcaster.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Jack Layton, Toronto Councillor.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Barbara Cameron, Department of Political Science, Atkinson College, York University.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿John Clarke, provincial organizer, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Meg Luxton, Professor of Social Science and Women's Studies, York University.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Jackie Larkin, Labour Educator, Vancouver.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Bruce Allen, Second Vice-President of the St. Catharines and District Labour Council*

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Leo Panitch, Professor of Political Science, York University.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Wally Seccombe, Sociology and Equity Studies, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education*

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Darrel Tingley, Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) National President*

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Evert Hoogers, Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) National Union Representative*

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Gary Kinsman, gay activist, New Socialist Group.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Linda Briskin, Professor of Social Science, York University.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Joel Harden, president-elect, Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario*

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿David Livingstone, Professor, Sociology and Equity Studies, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿KikÈ Roach, Law Student, co-author of Politically Speaking.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Steven Maynard, gay historian, Kingston.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Judy Fudge, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Tariq Khan, anti-racist activist.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Gregory Albo, Department of Political Science, York University.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Alan O'Connor, Professor of Cultural Studies, Trent University.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Rev. Brian Burch, Toronto Action for Social Change*

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿James Winter, Professor, publisher and editor of Flipside Web Weekly.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Geoff Bickerton, Director of Research, Canadian Union of Postal Workers*

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Bill Howes, Toronto ﻿&amp;﻿ York Region Labour Council ﻿&amp;﻿ Metro Network for Social Justice*

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Robert Chodos, writer and translator.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Chris Schenk, Research Director, Ontario Federation of Labour*

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Kerry McCuaig, Director, Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care*

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Barry Weisleder, President of Toronto Substitute Teachers, Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) District 15*, Editor of Socialist Action.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Mary Louise Adams, Assistant Professor, Physical and Health Education, Queen's University, and the author of The Trouble With Normal.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Gillian Morton, Director, University of Toronto Women's Centre*

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Mike Burke, Department of Politics and School of Public Administration, Ryerson Polytechnical University.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Henry Heller, Professor of History, University of Manitoba.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Cynthia Wright, Women's Studies Professor and activist.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿David McNally, Executive member, York University Faculty Association*

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Joe Flexer, Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Local 112*, editorial board of Socialist Action.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿John W. Warnock, Department of Sociology, University of Regina.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Debi Brock, sociologist and activist.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Cy Gonick, Professor of Economics, University of Manitoba, editorial collective member, Canadian Dimension*

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Howard Adams, Vice-President, Vancouver Metis Association*

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿Colin Mooers, Department of Politics and School of Public Adminstration, Ryerson Polytechnical University.

﻿</li>﻿</ul>﻿

* organizations listed for identification purposes only.

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿<font﻿ ﻿size="1"﻿>﻿If you are interested in signing this open letter please contact Gary Kinsman at (705) 675-1151 ext. 4221, by email at GKinsman@Nickel.Laurentian.ca or by writing to Gary Kinsman, Sociology and Anthropology Department, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, P3E 2C6.﻿</font>﻿</font>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿


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