Declaration of Support for Quebec's Right to Self-Determination
Signatories: Professors at University of Toronto and York University
Publisher: c/o Robert Albritton, Department of Political Science, York University, Toronto, Canada
Year Published: 1979
Pages: 2pp Resource Type: Article
Cx Number: CX925
This declaration is signed by more than a dozen English-speaking professors in Canadian universities.
Abstract:
This declaration is signed by more than a dozen English-speaking professors in Canadian universities. It calls for public support by English-speaking Canadians of the Quebecois' right to national self-determination. The signatories point out that this right is an essential foundation of democracy and its erosion is also undermining democratic rights in English-speaking Canada. The underline the fact that Quebec is in fact a distinct nation with its own history, language, civil institutions and culture. The survival of the Canadian state in its present form, they emphasize, must not be put ahead of this fundamental right of a nation to determine its own political and economic future. The attempt by Trudeau to place national unity ahead of this right, his threats to use force to stop any unilateral declaration of independence and the threat of an economic boycott of Quebec by English Canadian provincial governments are, according to this declaration, a form of political blackmail.
The declaration points out that polls have demonstrated substantial support by English-speaking Canadians for Quebec's right to self-determination. It points to declarations in this regard to the United Church of Canada, the Committee for a New Constitution and to trade union motions of support such as those passed by C.U.P.E. and the United Steelworkers. It decries the poor coverage of Quebec opinion an English-speaking media and calls for more representative and comprehensive reporting of articles and statements from Quebec.
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