Lapierre Jean - The morning after: the 1995 Quebec referendum and the day that almost was

Acceptez-vous que le Qubec devienne souverain, aprs avoir offert formellement au Canada un nouveau partenariat conomique et politique, dans le cadre du projet de loi sure lavenir du Qubec et de lentente signe le 12 juin 1995?

Do you agree that Qubec should become sovereign, after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership, within the scope of the Bill respecting the future of Qubec and of the agreement signed on June 12, 1995?

O n October 30, 1995, the Canadian federation came within 54,288 votes of having to grapple with the issue of its continued existence. More than four and a half million Quebecers participated in the referendum on Quebec sovereignty that was held that day, and when the votes were counted only a bit more than one percent separated the winners from the losers.

On the morning after, the main protagonists of the duelling campaigns believed that it would not take longat most a couple of yearsbefore they crossed swords again. The close result suggested that the vote had settled nothing and bore little promise that Quebec and Canada would live happily ever after. And so, expecting they would soon head back to the battle front, the men and women who had led the Yes and No camps were not immediately inclined to lay down their weapons and reflect.