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edition:Paperback
category: Political Science
published: Oct 2008
ISBN:9781553654131
publisher:
Douglas & McIntyre
edition:Paperback
category: Political Science
published: Oct 2008
ISBN:9781553654131
publisher:
Douglas & McIntyre
Description
Fourteen of Quebec's leading thinkers dare to reimagine their province and its role within the Canadian federation.
Reconquering Canada is a breath of fresh air in the ongoing debate over Quebec's status within Canada. Fourteen leading Quebec personalities - politicians, militants, intellectuals, federalists all - invite Quebecers and other Canadians to embrace a new vision that affirms Quebec's autonomy and includes it in building a strong, federal Canada. Among the arguments:
former provincial justice minister Martin Cauchon looks at the evolution of the Constitution and argues that Quebec should sign it
law professor Jean Leclair refutes the claim that nationality is exclusive, urging Quebecers to consider themselves Quebecers and Canadian
UNESCO ambassador Marie Bernard-Meunier critiques the existing Canadian federal structure and makes a case for an elected Senate and a commitment to unity.
Editorial Reviews
"The essayists are rational, but also impassioned. Their purpose is not merely to praise the virtues of Canadian federalism, but to move their fellow francophones from a passive acceptance of the present political situation to a lively engagement and enthusiasm for the federalist idea."
— Montreal Gazette
"Reconquering Canada is an attempt to formulate the contemporary federalist position as seen from Quebec. It is a worthy effort."
— Literary Review of Canada
"Reconquering Canada opens a whole new vista for a neo-federalism in Quebec after almost five decades of unremitting deadlock."
— Globe & Mail
"[In Reconquering Canada] a group of 14 Quebec francophone federalists issued a manifesto to take issue with the province's chip-on-the shoulder approach to Canadian politics. Their common theme, in the words of La Presse's chief-editorialist Andre Pratte, who oversaw the project, was that it was high time Quebec break with its victim mentality and move on to contribute more actively to the federation...the book made an articulate case that Quebecers should move from a predatory to a participatory approach to Canada."
— Toronto Star
