From: nadeau@bnr.ca (Rheal Nadeau)
Subject: Re: rep by pop
Organization: Bell-Northern Research Ltd., Ottawa, Canada
Distribution: can
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 06:02:31 GMT

In article <BuDswF.J8C@watdragon.uwaterloo.ca> pasward@maytag.uwaterloo.ca (Paul A.S. Ward) writes:
>In article <1992Sep10.183650.28754@pandora.matrox.com> thood@corvus.matrox.com (Thomas Hood) writes:
>
>>You assert the principles of rep-by-province and rep-by-pop, but ignore
>>what is most important to nationalist Quebecers, rep-by-nation.  It is
>
>Except Quebec is a province not a nation.  They are not the "French nation"
>either - they are 1/6 anglophone, and there are many, many francophones
>outside of Quebec.

Let's see - what does Webster's have to say?

Nation 1 a (1) : NATIONALITY
           (2) : a politically organized nationality
           (3) : a non-Jewish nationality < why do the nations conspire,
                 Ps 2.1 (RSV)>
         b : a community of people composed of one of more nationalities
             and possessing a more or less defined territory and
             government
         c : a territorial division containing a body of people of
             one or more nationalities and usu. characterized by
             relatively large size and independent status
       2 archaic : GROUP, AGGREGATION
       3 : a tribe or federation of tribes (as of American Indians)

Nationality 1 : national character
            2 : NATIONALISM
            3 a : national status; specif : a legal relationship
                  involving allegiance on the part of an individual
                  and usu. protection on the part of the state
              b : membership in a particular nation
            4 : political independence or existence as a separate
                nation
            5 a : a people having a common origin, tradition, and
                  language and capable of forming or actually
                  constituting a nation-state
              b : an ethnic group constituting one element of a larger
                  unit (as a nation)

Can you deny that Quebec satisfies several of the definitions above?

But leaving aside dictionary games, Quebec forms a nation because MOST
OF ITS MEMBERS VIEW THEMSELVES AS A NATION!

And, by either the dictionary of my own definition, I don't see any
other province that can claim "national" status.

For the record, I'm not a big fan of ardent nationalism, especially
when it turns into adversarial relationships.  So please don't think of
me as a defender of all actions of Quebec nationalists - I've certainly
voiced my objections to some of those actions very cleary.

Nevertheless, Quebec nationalism is a political fact in Canada, and
cannot be whisked away.  The difficulty in the current constitutional
discussions is that different people have different (and often
uncompromising views) of how Canada should be organized, how the
interests of various groups are to be best represented.  At the
extreme, this leads us to the attitude:  "Well, if you can't do it my
way, then I don't want to be a member".  The problem with that attitude
is that it is divisive - after all, if Canada is broken up into
independent provinces, the arguments won't stop there, since regions
will still fight it out.  At the extreme, this attitude leads to a
wasteland populated by 28 million people, each fiercely defending HIS
sacred interests and principles.  How far will we get that way?

The Rhealist - Rheal Nadeau - nadeau@bnr.ca - Speaking only for myself