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- <text id=90TT1766>
- <link 91TT0279>
- <link 90TT1421>
- <title>
- July 09, 1990: Interview:Robert Bourassa
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1990
- July 09, 1990 Abortion's Most Wrenching Questions
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- WORLD, Page 35
- Looking Around for Ideas
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p>Robert Bourassa ponders what Quebec should do next
- </p>
- <p>By George Russell, James Graff and Robert Bourassa
- </p>
- <p> Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa talked with TIME senior
- editor George Russell and Ottawa bureau chief James Graff in
- Bourassa's 17th-floor offices in Montreal's Quebec Hydro
- building. Excerpts:
- </p>
- <p> Q. Are you angry about the fate of the Meech Lake accord?
- </p>
- <p> A. I fought for it for three years because my judgment was
- that it was a good deal for Quebec. Finally, it did not work.
- I was sad, but I had to turn around and say there is another
- challenge ahead.
- </p>
- <p> Q. The mood in Montreal this week was buoyant. Nobody seemed
- to be mourning the agreement.
- </p>
- <p> A. The silent majority of Quebeckers approved Meech Lake.
- For them it was a chance for constitutional peace, so we could
- tackle more directly problems of international economics,
- demography and the environment. No agreement can be 100%
- satisfactory, but it was a pragmatic approach.
- </p>
- <p> Q. Why did you need the "distinct society" clause in the
- constitution?
- </p>
- <p> A. The distinct society exists de facto, and we thought it
- should be recognized de jure in the constitution. It was
- symbolic to some extent. We were not saying we need additional
- powers.
- </p>
- <p> Q. One thing English Canada seems to hold against you is the
- 1988 law allowing only French wording on outdoor commercial
- signs. Right after it passed, Manitoba pulled back from the
- Meech Lake accord.
- </p>
- <p> A. That's totally different. It has nothing to do with the
- accord.
- </p>
- <p> Q. It has a lot to do with it psychologically.
- </p>
- <p> A. Ah, yes. In Montreal in the next few years, the majority
- of the schoolchildren will be non-Francophone. The attraction
- of English in North America is unlimited. So we needed to send
- new immigrants a message saying this is a French-speaking
- province. We were not enthusiastic about that, but we thought
- it was justified. In English Canada, they overreacted.
- </p>
- <p> Q. Where does Quebec stand now?
- </p>
- <p> A. The Canadian constitution was modified substantially in
- 1982 without the consent of Quebec. The constitution is
- applicable to Quebec, and we have to respect it. But we are not
- part of the constitution. We are not part of the Canadian
- family.
- </p>
- <p> Q. One of your ministers has characterized Canada as a sick
- country. Is that fair?
- </p>
- <p> A. The situation clearly is critical. The constitutional
- process has no more credibility. So now we have to find a new
- model.
- </p>
- <p> Q. How?
- </p>
- <p> A. We want to start the process this fall and involve the
- Quebec people, in a very civilized and peaceful way. The leader
- of the opposition offered me la main tendue, an outstretched
- hand. That alone is exceptional. My own party has to replace
- its constitutional program, which has been rejected by English
- Canada. Work on that has already started, and it will be
- submitted to the party convention in March 1991.
- </p>
- <p> Q. Do you care anymore whether the rest of Canada accepts
- your proposals?
- </p>
- <p> A. As Napoleon said, Each state has the politics of its
- geography. So in our policy we will have to take account of our
- geography: western neighbors, eastern, southern.
- </p>
- <p> Q. Only geography?
- </p>
- <p> A. There will be parameters. The first is that nothing will
- be done to harm our economic stability. Second, the
- English-speaking community in Quebec has a fundamental role to
- play here, an irreplaceable role.
- </p>
- <p> Q. Will your program leave Quebec inside Canada or outside?
- </p>
- <p> A. Well, there are many ideas. But one thing is sure: in no
- way can we accept the present constitutional process. There is
- no way any Quebec premier could go to Ottawa and say, "I will
- agree to have eleven governments involved, as we have had in
- the past three years."
- </p>
- <p> Q. Where will your own new ideas come from?
- </p>
- <p> A. Look at Europe. When I was defeated in 1976, I went to
- Brussels and studied the Common Market. My political idol is
- Jean Monnet [intellectual author of the European Community].
- Now they are talking about political union and a common
- currency.
- </p>
- <p> Q. But the countries of the E.C. are giving up sovereignty,
- not gaining it back.
- </p>
- <p> A. Yes, but they're discussing a common foreign policy. Many
- Quebeckers say they want sovereignty in association with
- Canada, but they would prefer to have members in the Canadian
- Parliament. How could that work? Let's say that [the E.C.] is
- an interesting and probably appropriate reference.
- </p>
- <p> Q. Is a common market of North America part of your
- calculations?
- </p>
- <p> A. The aim of most Quebeckers is to have economic ties with
- the U.S., which we have with free trade. But I don't think
- Quebeckers would choose anything beyond that.
- </p>
- <p> Q. In the long haul, can anybody guarantee the linguistic
- and cultural survival of Quebec? The provincial birthrate is
- very low.
- </p>
- <p> A. We want Quebec to have the necessary powers to address
- our demographic situation. Since we started giving bonuses to
- families for having a third child, things have improved, but
- not enough. We have a substantial number of new immigrants, and
- we will soon have the power to integrate them into the
- French-speaking majority, economically as well as culturally.
- So, we lost Meech Lake, but we are getting a key instrument
- for our cultural security.
- </p>
- <p> Q. What will happen to Canada's official bilingualism?
- </p>
- <p> A. A majority of Canadians, and certainly the intellectual
- establishment, agree that Canada is a unique country because
- it is bilingual.
- </p>
-
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
-
-