constitutional proposals. This in part reflected the
unpopularity of Mulroney; moreover, the major-
ity of English-speaking Canadians felt that the
concessions to French-speaking Canadians went
too far. Three years later, in October 1995, a ref-
erendum in Quebec failed to gain a majority for
independence by the narrowest of margins.
A political sea change occurred in 1993. The
October election results nearly wiped out the
Progressive Conservative Party, reducing their
representation in Ottawa from 155 to 2; the
Liberal Party won 177 of the 301 seats, the sep-
aratist Bloc Québécois, led by Lucien Bouchard,
54 seats, and the right-wing Reform Party of
Western Canada 52 seats. These elections were
the first to be held on the basis of ‘first past the
post’ in each constituency instead of proportional
representation and so no longer reflected the per-
centage vote cast country-wide. That is why the
Bloc Québécois, whose support was concentrated
in French Canada, gained 54 seats with 14 per
cent of the vote nationally, while the Conserva-
tives, with 16 per cent spread widely, captured
only 2 seats. After the elections Prime Minister
Jean Chrétien, after nine years in opposition,
formed a Liberal government. His administration
set out to cure Canada’s economic ills: at the cost
of unemployment the government cut its spend-
ing and the deficit. The economy revived, though
unemployment remained at 9 per cent in 1997.
The problem of Quebec appeared to have eased
after the issue of separation was addressed in
1995, when a dramatic referendum for inde-
pendence failed by only 50,000 votes.
Canada’s federal future continued to defy any
agreed solution and looms large in national
politics. Earlier attempts to agree on constitu-
tional change at Meech Lake in 1987, or
Charlottetown in 1992, ultimately failed to win
the approval of the English-speaking voters. In
the west, Preston Manning led the Reform Party
opposed to special treatment of Quebec and
recognition of its ‘distinct society’, but he too
wanted to win greater autonomy from the federal
government in Ottawa. The general election
called by Chrétien in June 1997 left the Liberals
as the largest party but also reflected the growing
divisions of Canada.
During the last years of the twentieth century
and early years of the twenty-first the political
issue that had divided Canada for decades – the
demand of francophone Quebec for independ-
ence – began to ease. The federal elections in
June 1997 though reducing the strength of the
Liberal Party, returned Jean Chrétien to the pre-
miership. He was now prepared to take a stronger
line on the issue of Quebec, and was fortified by
a decision of the Supreme Court in the following
year that a unilateral declaration of independence
would not be legal. While the charismatic leader,
Lucien Bouchard, prime minister of Quebec
province, continued to claim that the aim of his
party, the Parti Québécois, was independence,
after having already lost referenda in 1980 and
1995 he was in no mood to attempt a third.
His more flexible attitude and good government
contributed to his continuing in power after
elections in Quebec in 1998, but the opposition
had also found a charismatic leader in Jean
Charest. In Canada there was general satisfac-
tion with Chrétien’s government, the strong
economy in 2000 helping to secure his third vic-
tory in seven years in the November general elec-
tion. Canadians were more concerned with the
economy, unemployment and health care than
with constitutional issues. This was true also of
Quebec where in elections in April 2003 the Parti
Québécois was ousted from office after nine years.
Although 80 per cent of the 7.4 million popula-
tion of Quebec is French-speaking they deserted
their old-style political leadership and voted for
a third party, so helping Charest and his Canadian
liberals to a stunning victory. The uncertainty over
the stability of Canada has lifted, and government
could address the economic issues during a period
of difficult world conditions.