Quebec nationalism has historically been identical to Quebec separatism, the quest for Quebec to become a fully separate and sovereign nation. This seems to be changing, most likely into some set of guarantees and protections for Quebec to exist within Canada as a distinct society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the latter point, as much as there has been controversy attached to that phrase, any honest assessment of the situation has to conclude that Quebec is already a distinct society, with its own unique majority language, legal traditions, religious proclivities, and history. It’s mostly arguing over how (and how much) to acknowledge this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I digress; back to the changing face of Quebec nationalism. The Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois has already announced<\/a> that, if it wins the coming provincial elections, the new PQ government will not hold a sovereignty referendum, at least not so long as Donald Trump remains president of the USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is not hard to understand why. As unpleasant as it is for Canada to have to confront Trump, it would be even worse for Quebec to have to do so alone. A united Canada is larger, more powerful, and more likely to prevail. A bigoted fascist government will have even less respect for Quebec than it does for English-speaking Canada (at least English-speaking Canada shares a common language and legal heritage).<\/p>\n\n\n\n