Halifax Grammar School - Grammarian Yearbook (Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada)

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THE QUEBEC SEPARATIST MOVEMENT The Quebec Separatist Movement can be said to be another Montreal ' fad ' - an idea that grew up in one of the larger cities of- the world. But the movement cannot be easily dismissed as short-lived or localized, for the idea has been taken up in various other Quebec regions and, often as not, the Separatists have allied themselves with a group of long-standing - the New Canadian Flag Movement. In the city of Montreal you can see fairly easily where the idea of separatism comes from: - the Cote des Neiges, the generally poorer and more ' arty ' part of the city. Along Sherbrooke Street, the main shopping centre, the separatist signs (if any) are small, few and far between. In the former district one can see ' A Bas Canada ' , ' Vive Quebec ' , ' Vive les Separatistes ' scrawled in point letters a foot high on walls - and surprisingly, on top of them, ' Vive le Canada ' - which shows that the separatists are not too strong even in the Cote des Neiges » But have these separatist feelings had roots in early Canadian history? One can be sure they have. Between 1600 and I763 the ' habitants ' of New France carved out large farm holdings for themselves (which them a sense of independent thought), but were largely dependent upon France, as its colony in America was rich only in ' fish, furs - firewater ' - the latter product being brought in from France o Around I8I4.O, L . J . Papineau started a Quebec Separatist Movement which found faults with the British Government after I763 . This movement culminated in the defeat of the Revolution of 1837. Have any of the Acts passed in Parliament between 1774 and I8I4.O caused some of this separatism? Yes, one can believe so . In 1774 was passed the Quebec Act which gave Quebec extensive territories to the south of the Great Lakes. This gave the habitants a sense of power over the hemmed-in English colonists to the south which was rudely shuttered by the War of Independence that led to the loss of these areas. The French naturally, were indignant about the English.

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Then, in 1791) came the Constitutional Act, which divided Canada into two parts , Upper - Lower - Lower Canada being Quebec. Each region ruled itself, and the habitants got the feel of ruling themselves. They might have dreamed of eventually- making Lower Canada an independent French Canadian nation. They were interrupted in their dreaming after the Lower Canada Rebellion - for the Canada Act of ISi+O was passed and Quebec and Ontario melded into one state. Then in 186? Canadian Confederation came about - the ' Dominion from sea to sea ' which made it almost hopeless for Quebec to secede. However, in June, I96I , this sudden yen for secession and a Laurentian Republic came to a head Now one cannot dismiss separatists any longer. Says Halifax - Born Novelist Hugh MacLennan, who has spent most of his life observing Quebec: Most dangerous and very serious. It ' s come extremely suddenly, which means that it has been brewing underground for a long time. - Alastair Saunders, RESTORATION Menstrie Castle ...... it was almost transported to Nova Scotia stone by stone, That was the caption that caught my eye under the picture of a restored sixteenth century Scots castle, Menstrie Castle in Clackmannarshire was in 1567, the birthplace of Sir William Alexander, the founder of Nova Scotia. Over the years the castle had become derelict. In 1956 there was talk of its being torn down stone by stone and shipped across the Atlantic to be rebuilt as a national shrine in Nova Scotia.