Throughout the history of
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, there have been
movements seeking secession from Canada.
Newfoundland
There is a secessionist movement in Newfoundland based on its unique culture. "The root of our trouble is centred in the relationship between the two countries, between Newfoundland as a country and Canada" according to James Halley, a former lawyer involved in negotiating a deal to get Newfoundland into Canada in 1949. According to a July 2003 report, secessionism was on the rise
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2003/07/01/nfld_separatists030701.html In 2004, a "flag flap" occurred when the premier of Newfoundland and Labrador removed all Canadian flags from government buildings and raised provincial flags instead.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2004/12/24/williams041224.html Tensions have since eased, however, and no organized movement has emerged.
Nova Scotia
Shortly after the Confederation of three British colonies (
Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. Its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of...
,
New BrunswickNew Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally bilingual province in the confederation. The provincial capital is Fredericton...
and the
Province of CanadaThe Province of Canada or the United Province of Canada was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of 1837.The Province of...
) to form the
DominionA dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of semi-autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, from the late 19th century. They included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the...
of Canada in 1867, opponents of Confederation in Nova Scotia began promoting the withdrawal of that province from the new confederation. The
Anti-Confederation PartyAnti-Confederation was the name used in what is now Atlantic Canada by several parties opposed to Canadian confederation.-Nova Scotia:In Nova Scotia, the "Anti-Confederates" were led by Joseph Howe. They attempted to reverse the colony's decision to join Confederation, which was initially highly...
won 18 of the 19 Nova Scotia seats in the new
Canadian House of CommonsThe House of Commons is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate.
The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament .
Members are elected by simple...
in the
1867 general electionThe Canadian federal election of 1867, held from August 7 to September 20, was the first election for the new nation of Canada. It was held to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 1st Parliament of Canada....
, and 36 of the 38 seats in the Nova Scotia legislature, but did not succeed in achieving independence for Nova Scotia.
In 1990, just before the failure of the
Meech Lake AccordThe Meech Lake Accord was a set of failed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the provincial premiers, including Premier of Quebec Robert Bourassa. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982...
, then-
premierA premier is a title for the head of government in some countries and states.In many nations, the title "premier" is used interchangeably with "prime minister"...
John BuchananJohn MacLennan Buchanan, PC, QC is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as Premier of Nova Scotia from 1978 to 1990 and as a member of the Senate of Canada from 1990 to 2006....
predicted
Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. Its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of...
would end up as part of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
if the accord failed.
Quebec
The
Quebec sovereignty movementThe Quebec sovereignty movement refers to the history and present status of multiple, multi-lateral political movements aimed at attaining statehood for the Canadian province of Quebec. Supporters of the movement advocate a variety of proposals...
seeks independence from Canada for the province of
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. This movement often seeks what has been termed "sovereignty-association": sovereignty for Quebec within an economic association/union with the rest of Canada. Since the
Quiet RevolutionThe Quiet Revolution was the 1960s period of intense change in Quebec, Canada, characterized by the rapid and effective secularization of society, the creation of a welfare state and a re-alignment of politics into federalist and separatist factions.The provincial government took over the fields...
, the available options – all of which have been somewhat ambiguous – have persistently garnered support from Quebecers.
The sovereignty movement has spawned a variety of organizations, most notably the
Parti QuébécoisThe Parti Québécois is a left-wing political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Québec and secession from Canada. It is a social democratic party and has traditionally had support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social democratic parties, its ties with the...
, a
social democraticSocial democracy is a political ideology of the political left and centre-left on the classic political spectrum. Social democracy emerged in the late 19th century from the socialist movement and continues to exert influence worldwide....
political partyA political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns...
at the provincial level in Quebec that has governed the province for various periods since 1976, and the
Bloc QuébécoisThe Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada that defines itself as devoted to both the protection of Quebec's interests on a federal level as well as the promotion of its sovereignty...
, which currently controls 49 of Quebec's 75 seats in the
Canadian House of CommonsThe House of Commons is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate.
The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament .
Members are elected by simple...
, and which promotes Quebec sovereignty and purports to "defend the interests of Quebec" at the federal level of government.
The
Front de libération du QuébecThe Front de Libération du Québec , commonly known as the FLQ, was a left-wing nationalist and socialist revolutionary group in Quebec, Canada, with at least two terrorist cells. It was responsible for more than 200 bombings, including the bombing of the Montreal Stock Exchange in 1969 and the...
(FLQ), was a terrorist organization in the 1960s and early 1970s that used violence to promote independence for Quebec. Although they both advocated a sovereignist agenda, the FLQ and its violent tactics were thoroughly and summarily denounced by the Parti Québécois.
See also:
- Union Populaire
The Union populaire was a federal political party in Canada that nominated candidates in the 1979 and 1980 federal elections. The party also nominated one candidate in the 4 May 1981 by-election in the riding of Levis, Quebec....
- Parti nationaliste du Québec
The Parti nationaliste du Québec was a fringe Quebec-based federal political party in Canada, that advocated sovereignty of Quebec and was founded by Parti Québécois supporters...
- Ralliement National
Ralliement national was a political party that advocated the political independence of Quebec from Canada in the 1960s.It was led by former créditiste Gilles Grégoire...
- Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale
The Rassemblement pour l'Indépendance Nationale was a political organization dedicated to the promotion of Quebec national independence from Canada.-History:...
- Parti indépendantiste
The Parti indépendantiste was a provincial party which advocated Quebec sovereignty in Québec, Canada in the second half of the 1980s.-Denis Monière:...
- Mouvement Souveraineté-Association
The Mouvement Souveraineté-Association was formed on November 19, 1967 by René Lévesque to promote the concept of sovereignty-association between Quebec and the rest of Canada....
- Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society
The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society is an institution in Quebec dedicated to the protection of Quebec francophone interests and to the promotion of Quebec Sovereignism. Its current President is Mario Beaulieu....
- Mouvement national des Québécois et des Québécoises
- Les Intellectuels pour la souveraineté
Les Intellectuels pour la souveraineté, or IPSO, is a group of intellectuals studying and promoting Quebec independence.It was created on June 21, 1995 by the publication of their manifesto, four months before the second referendum on Quebec sovereignty took place...
- Mouvement de libération nationale du Québec
The Mouvement de Libération Nationale du Québec is a secessionist and reactionary group in Quebec, Canada, founded by Front de Libération du Québec former terrorist and convicted murderer, founder Raymond Villeneuve...
Since the Quiet Revolution, sovereignist sentiments have been stoked somewhat by the
patriation of the Canadian constitution in 1982The Canada Act 1982 is an Act of Parliament passed by the British Parliament that ended all remaining dependence of Canada on the United Kingdom, by a process known as "patriation"...
(without the consent of the
National Assembly of QuebecThe National Assembly of Quebec is the name for the legislative body of the Canadian province of Quebec. The lieutenant governor and the National Assembly compose the Parliament of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other British-style parliamentary systems.Since the...
) and by numerous failed attempts at constitutional reform (which have sought to address Quebec's "
distinct societyDistinct society is a political expression especially used during constitutional debate in Canada, in the second half of the 1980s and in the early 1990s, and present in the two failed constitutional amendments, the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord...
", et al.). Two provincial
referendumA referendum , ballot question, or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal...
s, in 1980 and 1995, rejected proposals for sovereignty, with majorities of 60% and 50.6% respectively. Given the narrow federalist victory in 1995, a reference was made by the
ChrétienJoseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , is a Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003, and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1990 to 2003.-Early life:Chrétien was born on January 11, 1934 in Shawinigan, Quebec, as the 18th of 19...
government to the
Supreme Court of CanadaThe Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeal in the Canadian justice system...
in 1996
regarding the legality of a unilateral secession of QuebecReference re Secession of Quebec, [1998] 2 S.C.R. 217 was an opinion of the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the legality, under both Canadian and international law, of a unilateral secession of Quebec from Canada....
; this resulted in the passage of the
Clarity ActThe Clarity Act is legislation passed by the Parliament of Canada that established the conditions under which the Government of Canada would enter into negotiations that might lead to secession following such a vote by one of the provinces...
in 2000.
Western Canada
The
MétisThe Métis peoples of Canada are descended of marriages of Cree, Ojibway, Algonquin, Saulteaux, Menominee, Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, and other First Nations to Europeans, mainly French. Along with the First Nations and Inuit, the Métis are one of the three officially recognized Aboriginal peoples in Canada...
, under the leadership of
Louis RielLouis David Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government and its first post-Confederation Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald...
staged the
Red River RebellionThe Red River Rebellion or Red River Resistance are names given to the events surrounding the actions of a provisional government established by Métis leader Louis Riel in 1869 at the Red River Settlement in what is now the Canadian province of Manitoba....
in Manitoba against Canada in 1870, and the
North-West RebellionThe North-West Rebellion of 1885 was a brief and unsuccessful uprising by the Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel against the Dominion of Canada, which they believed had failed to address their concerns for the survival of their people...
in Saskatchewan in 1885. At the time, this part of the
WestWestern Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada generally including all parts of Canada west of the province of Ontario. The West is considered by many to be a cultural region with an identity separate from that of the rest of Canada...
was relatively independent, culturally distinct, and facing the stress of dealing with aggressive colonization by
AnglophoneAnglophone may refer to:* An English-speaking person, group, or locality* English-speaking world* Anglosphere...
s from
OntarioOntario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
.
Numerous political parties in the western provinces, believing there to be no other solution for stemming apparent "
Western alienationWestern alienation, in Canadian politics, is the concept of the Western provinces, namely British Columbia , Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, being alienated, and in extreme cases excluded, from mainstream political affairs within the greater Canadian system, in favour of especially Ontario and...
" by
Central CanadaCentral Canada is a region consisting of Canada's two largest and most populous provinces: Ontario and Quebec. Due to their high populations, Ontario and Quebec have traditionally held a significant amount of political power in Canada, leading to some amount of resentment from other regions of the...
, have sought independence from Canada. These movements are strongest in
AlbertaAlberta is one of Canada's prairie provinces. It became a province on September 1, 1905.Alberta is located in western Canada, bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U.S. state of Montana to the south....
and
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada.The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the 15th largest metropolitan region in Canada...
; lesser ones exist in
SaskatchewanSaskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of and a population of 1,023,810 , mostly living in the southern half of the province. Of these, 233,923 live in the province's largest city, Saskatoon, while 194,971 live in the provincial capital, Regina...
and
ManitobaManitoba is a prairie province in Canada and has an area of . Manitoba is bordered by the provinces of Ontario to the east and Saskatchewan to the west, the territory of Nunavut to the north, and the U.S. states of North Dakota and Minnesota to the south...
. These movements at times have also assumed that Canada's northern territories —
YukonYukon , or The Yukon, is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River, Yukon meaning "Great River" in Gwich’in....
,
Northwest TerritoriesThe Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada....
, and
NunavutNunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999 via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
— would also be a part of a new Western Canadian union. These parties have achieved only low to modest success; such parties include the
Western Canada ConceptThe Western Canada Concept was a Western Canadian political party founded in 1980 to promote the separation of the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia and the Yukon and Northwest Territories from Canada in order to create a new nation.The party argued that Western...
and the
Western Independence PartyThe Western Independence Party was a Canadian political party that advocated the separation from Canada of the western Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba as well as the Yukon and Northwest Territories to form a new country.The WIP ran 11 candidates in the...
.
The
Alberta Independence PartyThe Alberta Independence Party was a provincial party founded in Alberta, Canada, in 2000/1. It was dedicated to increasing the autonomy of Alberta within the Canadian confederation, in part as a response to the 2000 election, in which the Canadian Alliance, a party with strong western roots, was...
promoted independence for the province of Alberta either on its own, or in union with the other western provinces in the 1990s, but is now defunct. The
Separation Party of AlbertaThe Separation Party of Alberta is a political party that advocates the secession of Alberta from Canada. Its leader is Bruce Hutton.-History:...
nominated candidates in the
2004 Alberta provincial electionThe Alberta general election of 2004 was the twenty-sixth general election for the province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on November 22, 2004 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
.
In the early 1980s, in
SaskatchewanSaskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of and a population of 1,023,810 , mostly living in the southern half of the province. Of these, 233,923 live in the province's largest city, Saskatoon, while 194,971 live in the provincial capital, Regina...
, the
Unionest PartyThe Unionest Party was a provincial political party in Saskatchewan, Canada, in the early 1980s, that advocated union between the four western provinces of Canada and the United States....
advocated the western provinces join the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
On July 12, 2003, the
Western Independence Party of SaskatchewanThe Western Independence Party of Saskatchewan is a centre-right provincial political party in Saskatchewan, Canada. It advocates the separation of Canada's four western provinces , and the formation of a new country. It is a branch of the federal Western Independence Party...
(WIPS) was created
http://www.wipsk.com/ and registered as a Provincial Party, running candidates in 17 ridings in the
Saskatchewan general election, 2003The Saskatchewan general election of 2003 was the twenty-fifth provincial election held in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It was held on November 5, 2003, to elect the 58 members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan...
A poll by the
Western StandardThe Western Standard is a Calgary, Alberta-based libertarian-conservative publication that billed itself as Canada's only conservative national news magazine...
conducted from June 29, 2005, to July 5, 2005, finds 35.6% of residents of the four provinces think "Western Canadians should begin to explore the idea of forming their own country."
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1123588600678_121/?hub=Canada
See also: Alberta separatismAlberta separatism is a movement that advocates the secession of the province of Alberta from Canada either by forming an independent nation, joining the United States, or by creating a new federation with one or more of Canada's other three westernmost provinces.-Foundations:Alberta separatism...
and
Western separatismWestern separatism is the ideology that advances the concept that the Western provinces of Canada -- Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba -- should secede. This position is rooted in the perceived difference by some Westerners in culture and economy in relation to the rest of Canada...
.
Manitoba
In January-February 1868, a small group of settlers declared a
Republic of Caledonia, later the Republic of Manitobah, at Portage-la-Prairie in
Hudson's Bay CompanyThe Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and is one of the oldest in the world...
land that was to be incorporated into Canada. These settlers aimed to use this declaration to obtain favourable terms (for themselves) for the entry of the area into Confederation. The declaration was not recognized by Canadian or British authorities, and the republic soon collapsed.
British Columbia and Yukon
Shortly after joining Confederation, British Columbia threatened to secede due to the initial failure of the transcontinental railway promises which were one of its conditions for joining Canada. During the disputes over what led to the
Columbia River TreatyThe Columbia River Treaty is an international agreement between Canada and the United States of America on the development and operation of dams in the upper Columbia River basin.-Background:...
, BC Premier WAC Bennett threatened to take BC out of Canada - and to take the Yukon as well - if Ottawa and Washington would not accede to his demands.
There is an ongoing informal movement in British Columbia to create a separate country of
CascadiaCascadia is a proposed name for an independent sovereign state advocated by a grassroots environmental movement in the Pacific Northwest of North America. This state would hypothetically be formed by the union of British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington...
. Similar movements exist in Oregon, Washington, and California.
While Yukon lacks a formal separatist movement or party, there is an element of dissatisfaction in the territory as well. However, as anticipation of a Conservative government in Ottawa built, the number of Yukoners that would be in favour of secession (if it included British Columbia and Alberta) has steadily dropped from a high of 18% in August 2005 to a mere 8% by January 2006.
Many First Nations politicians and some First Nations in BC, nearly all claiming and still technically holding
uncededUnceded territory refers to land in North America that was never ceded to a government entity by the indigenous peoples who originally lived on this land, and that has never been set apart, legislated, founded, created or established as a reserve...
sovereignty, want varying degrees of autonomy, with some asserting outright independence.
Republic of Madawaska
The
Republic of Madawaska occupies the northwest corner of
New BrunswickNew Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally bilingual province in the confederation. The provincial capital is Fredericton...
, and lies partially in
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
and the American state of
MaineThe State of Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is the northernmost portion of...
. The origins of the republic lie in the 1783 Treaty of Versailles, which established the border between the United States of America and the British North American colonies. The Madawaska region remained in dispute between Britain and the US until 1842. The "Republic" is now a purely ceremonial entity.
In popular culture
Occasionally regions of Canada have declared themselves to be "independent" in a non-serious, satirical or promotional way. These "movements" are taken for what they are and not considered secessionist.
Republic of Rathnelly
The Rathnelly neighbourhood in
TorontoToronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous municipality in North America...
made headlines in 1967, while celebrating Canada's 100th birthday. During the celebrations, Rathnelly residents playfully declared themselves as a republic independent of Canada. To mark their independence, the "Republic of Rathnelly" elected a queen, organized a parade, and issued Republic of Rathnelly passports to everyone in the neighbourhood. The new nation conscripted all 8-14-year-old citizens to form a militia, known as the Rathnelly Irregulars, and armed them with 1,000 helium balloons (the Rathnelly "air farce"). The "Republic of Rathnelly" continues to hold annual street parties.
Kingdom of L'Anse-Saint-Jean
A
millennialA millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years...
tourist-attracting project involved the town of
L'Anse-Saint-Jean, QuebecL'Anse-Saint-Jean is a small town, population 1269 , in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada.L'Anse-Saint-Jean was founded in 1838 by the Société des Vingt-et-un, a group of lumber prospectors and investors from Charlevoix which was responsible for opening up the Saguenay region to...
, "declaring" itself an independent monarchy. The project, which enjoyed a certain amount of media coverage, was cheerfully admitted to be tongue-in-cheek.
See also
- List of active autonomist and secessionist movements
- Annexationist movements of Canada
From the Independence of the United States of America until today, various annexationist movements in Canada have campaigned in favour of U.S. annexation of parts or all of Canada...
- Western Alienation
Western alienation, in Canadian politics, is the concept of the Western provinces, namely British Columbia , Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, being alienated, and in extreme cases excluded, from mainstream political affairs within the greater Canadian system, in favour of especially Ontario and...
External links