Conservative Party of Québec leader Éric Duhaime speaks at the unveiling of his campaign platform in Drummondville on Aug. 14, 2022. Quebecers will go to the polls on Oct. 3.
The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes
Where do the Conservative Party of Québec and its leader, Éric Duhaime, a newcomer on the political scene, fit in?
Left to right, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Finance Minister Allan MacEachen and Québec Premier René Lévesque attend the constitutional conference in Ottawa on Nov. 5, 1981 — the morning after eight premiers hastily pieced together a constitutional accord.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ron Poling
The constitutional reform agreement reached in November 1981 has produced a bitterness in national relations that lingers to this day and imposes on Canada a cost that has weakened the nation.
Worried about another 1980s-style constitutional crisis? Don’t be. There may be less than meets the eye to Québec Premier François Legault’s recent constitutional proposals.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Québec Premier François Legault’s recent constitutional proposals have caused alarm. But it’s largely a game aimed at finding common ground between federalist and separatist voters in the province.
Former Gov. Gen. Julie Payette invests Jeanette Corbiere Lavell, from Wikwemikong First Nation, Ont., as a Member of the Order of Canada outside Rideau Hall in Ottawa in September 2018.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Canada’s new governor general will have to fuse the British, French, American and Indigenous elements of Canada that together are the core of the country.
A Scottish Saltire flag hangs in the window of an apartment in Edinburgh, Scotland, next to the EU flag in August 2020. Scotland could vote to separate from the U.K. in 2021.
(AP Photo/David Cheskin)
Scotland’s renewed push for independence is not only similar to Québec’s — there are also lessons for Scottish politicians in Canadian law on the concept of separation.
Pierre Trudeau hosts a meeting at 24 Sussex in Ottawa with the provincial premiers on Sept. 12, 1980.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Pierre Trudeau’s contribution to the remaking of Canada cannot be questioned. Throughout the 1980 to 1982 constitutional debates, he reminded Canadians of their country’s basic values.
When then prime minister Pierre Trudeau brought in the War Measures Act in 1970, it was the first time the controversial law had been invoked during peace time.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Ottawa used the old War Measures Act when it wanted sweeping powers to deal with extraordinary events. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has mused about using the newer Emergencies Act during the pandemic.