The Press TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1964. Canada’s Existence At Stake

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30576, 20 October 1964, Page 16

The Press TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1964. Canada’s Existence At Stake

Its population stretched mainly in a narrow band along the United States border, Canada has been described as a geographical impossibility, kept in being by the wits of its politicians. The national tension that this implies was sadly evident during the Queen’s visit, which was particularly concerned with the unity of Canada. It commemorated the conferences at Charlottetown and Quebec city 100 years ago which led to the passing of the British North America Act in 1867 and the emergence of modern Canada. Chiefly, because of the attitude of Frenchspeaking Quebec, the unity of Canada—even, perhaps, its continued existence —is a subject for anxious debate.

For two centuries the political, economic, religious, and cultural traditions of Quebec remained essentially unchanged. The Duplessis provincial government held Quebec in a stifling grip for 25 years and encouraged French Canadians to carry into the second half of this century their assumption that the world of industry and commerce was not for them. In 1958 the province found new leaders, who revolted against the domination exercised by powerful and corrupt governments, with a sad degree of complicity from the Roman Catholic hierarchy. Quebec, its antiquated educational system untouched by new learning in science, technology, and business administration, had fallen behind the rest of Canada. Most of its industry was controlled and managed either by a few detested old English-speaking families who lived in Montreal, or by Americans. A new generation determined to develop Quebec’s resources and to give French Canadians a greater share in their ownership and management Accompanying this resolve were demands on the Federal Government for more tax assistance for education and other provincial facilities, and for greater provincial autonomy. At the extreme limit are men prepared to settle for nothing less than the complete separation of Quebec from the rest of Canada. A good many English-speaking Canadians, who would not be loath to see the back of a nagging partner, are inclined to call Quebec’s bluff; but the Federal Government wishes to preserve the union. Nevertheless, both the Federal Government and the Quebec Government have set up committees to examine probable consequences of secession.

The ferment is not confined to Quebec, or even to the sizeable French-Canadian minorities in Ontario and elsewhere. Other provinces, notably British Columbia and the Maritime provinces, also demand greater autonomy and more revenue. If Quebec were to secede, the Maritime provinces would probably seek to join the United States; the rest of Canada might then fall apart. As the “ Economist ” observes, “ the world would be much the poorer. Since Canada “ began to play a part on the world’s stage, its con- “ structive activity in both diplomacy and other fields “ has been truly remarkable for a country so geo- “ graphically remote from most of the world’s trouble “ spots, so overshadowed by its great southern “neighbour, and so beset by its own internal com- “ plexities ”. The reconciliation of English-speaking and French-speaking citizens is a critical problem

for Canada, whose efforts to solve it will be watched with sympathy, especially in the Commonwealth.