Canada is a federal parliamentary state and member of the Commonwealth covering North America north of conterminous United States and east of Alaska. Area: 9,970,610 sq km (3,849,674 sq mi). Pop. (1996 est.): 29,784,000. Cap.: Ottawa. Monetary unit: Canadian dollar, with (Oct. 11, 1996) a free rate of Can$1.35 to U.S. $1 (Can$2.13 = £1 sterling). Queen, Elizabeth II; governor-general in 1996, Roméo LeBlanc; prime minister, Jean Chrétien.
The threat of the separation of Quebec receded in 1996 as Lucien Bouchard, the leader of the secessionist forces and now installed as premier of Quebec, made it clear that his first priority was the strengthening of Quebec’s economy. Another referendum on Quebec’s future would be delayed until after the next provincial election, not expected before 1998 or 1999. The federal government in Ottawa, led by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, was still recovering from the shock of the near victory of secession in the 1995 referendum and moved cautiously to counter the independence movement among French-speaking Quebeckers.
Bouchard left the Bloc Québécois, the party he had founded to promote secession in the federal arena, to become premier of Quebec on January 29. He replaced Jacques Parizeau, who had resigned after the defeat of the sovereignty option in the referendum. Under Bouchard, Quebec embarked on a program of austerity in public expenditures. Estimates for 1996-97 revealed projected cuts of Can$1,170,000,000, the first real reduction in Quebec’s spending in 25 years. Expenditures on education would be reduced, and hospitals and health care would face a large decline in public grants. The provincial budget, announced on May 9, placed the province on a course to eliminate its deficit by 1999-2000. In so doing, Quebec was following other provinces that had taken similar action. The budget failed to mention the prospect of secession, in contrast to statements made by the previous Parizeau government. Its message was directed to business interests, which were urged to show confidence in the province through investment and job creation.
Bouchard trod carefully around the sensitive issue of language, a symbol of identity for the 80% of Quebec’s 7.3 million people for whom French is the mother tongue. Resisting calls from militant separatists to toughen Quebec’s language laws, he proposed no change in the regulations governing bilingual commercial signs, a stand that added fuel to the debate between nationalists demanding the supremacy of French and anglophones convinced that the observance of bilingualism was essential to their work and survival.
Chrétien’s strategy to counter secession took two forms, labeled Plan A and Plan B. Plan A represented a soft approach: to appease nationalism in Quebec through transferring more powers to the provinces. A looser Canadian federation would prove more attractive to Quebec. Plan B was a firmer stance: to challenge the legality of moves that Quebec might make toward independence and to lay down terms acceptable to Ottawa and the rest of Canada should Quebec decide on secession.
Devolution, a process that the Chrétien government called "rebalancing" the federation, was discussed at a meeting of first ministers (provincial premiers) held in Ottawa on June 20-21. To the surprise of many, Premier Bouchard attended and took part in the discussions. The federal government announced that it was prepared to transfer responsibility for labour-market training, mining, forestry, tourism, recreation, and social housing to the provinces. The withdrawal from job training, a concession long demanded by Quebec, would take place over the next three years and would be accompanied by a grant of $2 billion to the provinces to support their efforts. Although the Chrétien government regarded devolution of authority as a major thrust, it emphasized that it was not prepared to give up its responsibility to manage social programs such as universal medical care. Seen as vital to the quality of life in Canada, single-payer medical insurance was regarded by most Canadians as a defining quality marking the difference between their society and that of the United States.
Chrétien brought two new recruits into his Cabinet to shore up its Quebec wing. Stéphane Dion was a Montreal academic, a well-known spokesman for federalism in Quebec. He assumed the critical post of minister for intergovernmental affairs. Pierre Pettigrew, an experienced political adviser from Quebec, received the minor post of minister for international cooperation in the Cabinet shuffle on January 25. On October 4 he was promoted to the more important portfolio of human resources, with responsibility for managing federal health and welfare policies. The new ministers gained seats in Parliament in by-elections arranged for March 25. Four other new members were also elected on that day. The results left party standings in the House of Commons as follows: Liberals 177; Bloc Québécois (the official opposition) 53; Reform Party 52; New Democratic Party 9; Progressive Conservatives 2; independents 2; total 295.
Test Your Knowledge
Plan B was unveiled by Chrétien’s minister of justice, Allan Rock, on September 27. It did not question the right of Quebeckers to vote for separation but challenged the Quebec government’s claim that it could unilaterally declare independence. The federal government insisted that in any future referendum the question asked be explicit. Sovereignty would have to be plainly defined as independence. There could be no implication that it would automatically involve a partnership with the rest of Canada, as had been held out in the 1995 referendum. Quebeckers had to be made aware that the consequences of secession--sharing the national debt, an acceptable system of currency, the use of passports, the question of borders, the fate of the province’s aboriginal population--would have to be negotiated with the federal government and the provinces before separation could occur. In a future referendum campaign, all Canadians would have to be free to participate. The issue of secession was not one to be decided solely by Quebec.
As a preliminary to the consideration of the terms of divorce, Rock stated that the federal government proposed to ask the Supreme Court of Canada, the country’s highest court, to pronounce on the legality of secession. The court would be asked to decide on three questions: Since Canada’s constitution contains no provision for separation, is it legal for Quebec to declare its independence unilaterally? Does self-determination, affirmed by Quebec as a basis in international law for independence, give the province the right to secede? If domestic and international law were in conflict over Quebec’s secession, which should take precedence?
The referral to the Supreme Court was considered politically risky since it might alienate moderates in Quebec. Daniel Johnson, the leader of the provincial Liberal Party, and Jean Charest, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and a strong Quebec federalist, each held back from endorsing it. They preferred Plan A, reforming the existing federal system, as a more constructive alternative. Bouchard’s Parti Québécois government denounced the reference to the Supreme Court, saying it would not participate in the hearing and would ignore any ruling made by the court. Rock’s intention appeared to be to deter a majority of Quebeckers, moderate in their views on secession, from endorsing a course of action that the Supreme Court might decide was illegal. Quebec’s chances of winning international recognition for its new status would also be jeopardized by an adverse ruling on secession from the court.
A final consideration was the future of Quebec’s Indian and Inuit population. They did not want to become part of an independent Quebec. A Supreme Court ruling questioning the province’s claim to secession would strengthen their case to remain part of Canada. It was expected that a court ruling would not be delivered for at least a year.
Although the economy grew in 1996, the high unemployment rate continued to discourage consumer confidence. Exports mounted to record levels, especially automotive products and lumber to the U.S. Gross domestic product (GDP), seasonally adjusted at market prices, was estimated at midyear to be Can$789.5 billion. Interest rates fell, the Bank of Canada prime rate reaching 4.75% in November, the lowest level since 1956. The Canadian dollar strengthened against the U.S. currency, and inflation continued at a low level. In August the consumer price index stood at 1.4%, well within the Bank of Canada’s target of 1% to 3%. Unemployment, which had remained at more than 9% of the labour force for six years, continued to be a major drag on the economy. In October it rose to 10%, erasing a slight decline earlier.
Finance Minister Paul Martin’s third budget, delivered on March 6, showed steady progress in reducing Canada’s deficit on government operations. Martin had set himself the goal of reducing the deficit in 1996-97 to Can$24.3 billion, or 3% of GDP, when he took over the finance portfolio in 1993. He was on course to realize this goal and predicted a further decrease of the deficit, to $17 billion, or 2% of GDP, for 1997-98. In a statement issued on October 9, Martin promised further progress. By 1998-99 the deficit should fall to $9 billion (1% of GDP), at which time the government would no longer have to use financial markets to borrow new money. Borrowing could instead be handled by rolling over the existing debt. Martin’s task of deficit reduction had been made easier by the fall in interest rates, which reduced the cost of borrowing.
The budget, taking note of a general election likely to be held within about a year, contained a minimum of tax increases and few large cuts in government expenditures. It did, however, announce the end of Canada’s universal old-age security program by 2001. In that year wealthier senior citizens would see their government pensions (since 1951 paid to every resident regardless of income) reduced or eliminated. Single taxpayers would lose their state pensions at an income of Can$52,000; for couples a combined income of Can$78,000 would mean the loss of the pension. For seniors with middle-range incomes, the pension would be proportionately reduced. Lower-income seniors would receive additional support through a new Seniors Benefit to replace their old-age security and guaranteed income supplement. It was estimated that about 75% of retirees would receive the same or higher benefits. Seniors 60 years of age or older at the end of 1995 would not be affected by the changes, but those younger, the so-called baby boomers, would be directly affected.
Canada maintained two sizable peacekeeping forces abroad in 1996. One was in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where 1,000 Canadian troops were sent early in the year to assist the NATO forces in their task of implementing the peace accord. Their tour of duty, originally intended to last one year, was expected to be lengthened into 1997 as instability persisted in the Balkan region. The second peacekeeping mission was in Haiti, from which U.S. forces were anxious to withdraw. Canada agreed to replace the United States in the UN support mission to the island. In February Canada also promised to provide an additional 750 peacekeepers to Haiti and offered to shoulder their costs. A Canadian general was selected to lead the UN mission. Canada also sent 100 members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to work with the Haitian police in an effort to bring law and order to the country.
Canada’s new minister for foreign affairs, Lloyd Axworthy, named to the post in January, spoke out sharply against the repressive military regime in Nigeria when Commonwealth foreign ministers met in London in late April. He could not, however, persuade the 53-member Commonwealth to adopt comprehensive economic sanctions against Nigeria. Canada, which had little trade with the African country, suspended sales of equipment that could be used by the Nigerian military and cut off development aid. Nigeria was later suspended from the Commonwealth.
Trade disputes were a feature of the Canada-United States relationship in 1996. Canada took strong exception to a U.S. bill that penalized foreign companies that used expropriated Cuban property to undertake business in Cuba. Signed by U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton on July 16, the president waived for six months a provision allowing U.S. corporations to sue in U.S. courts foreign companies active in Cuba. Canada’s objection to the legislation was twofold; it did not believe the bill would do anything to improve human rights in Cuba, and it could not countenance the U.S. attempt to change Canada’s trade policy. Canada had traded with Cuba ever since the revolution led by Fidel Castro, and exports were now valued at about Can$274 million a year. Twenty-five Canadian companies operated within Cuba, while others, such as banks, telephone companies, and airlines, maintained less-direct links. Canada believed that the opening of the Cuban economy through trade and investment was the only long-term policy likely to promote democratic change in Cuba.
Canada also objected to the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act, signed by Clinton on August 5. This bill, by penalizing countries that invested in the two nations, struck at terrorist activity sponsored by them.
Canada’s military forces found themselves deeply mired in controversy in 1996. The troubles stemmed from the misconduct of Canadian peacekeepers in Somalia in 1992-93. Two Somalis were killed around Canadian bases, and there was disturbing evidence of racist sentiment in the Airborne Regiment, one of the units sent to Somalia. The regiment was disbanded in 1995 as courts-martial found a number of its members guilty of dishonourable conduct. The Chrétien government set up a civilian board of inquiry to look into the command and operation of the Somalia mission. It discovered that documents and computer records relating to the mission were missing or had been destroyed. The conduct of the military leadership as it testified before the commission was disquieting. Canada’s top soldier, Gen. Jean Boyle, in nine days of testimony before the commission in late August, acknowledged that he had violated the "spirit," if not the letter, of the federal access-to-information act in dealing with journalists’ questions. General Boyle’s attempt to shift the blame for the cover-up to his subordinates and his refusal to accept personal responsibility aroused widespread criticism of his leadership.
He was, however, loyally supported by the minister of national defense, David Collenette, who had appointed Boyle in January and who publicly praised his conduct, even before the inquiry had reached its conclusions. The matter was terminated unexpectedly when, on October 4, Collenette was obliged to resign his portfolio over an unrelated incident involving a breach of the ethical guidelines applying to Cabinet ministers. Collenette was found to have written to the Immigration and Refugee Board, a quasi-judicial agency, on behalf of a constituent. Five days later Boyle also resigned, stating that the Canadian forces deserved leadership that was not burdened by critical attention and controversy. Chrétien appointed a new defense minister, Douglas Young of New Brunswick, who was shifted from another portfolio. Young’s first task was to find a new chief of defense who could restore confidence in the country’s military command.
Canada in October sent troops to Zaire to help rescue Rwandan Hutu refugees from starvation.