CANADA: Quebec Says Non to Separatism

A referendum vote approves reform within the system

"It hurts more deeply than any election defeat. We have to swallow it his time." So said Quebec Premier René Lévesque last week, standing on the same platform in Montreal's Paul Sauvé arena that he had used to declare the upset election victory of his Parti Québecois in 1976. Greeted by 5,000 cheering supporters, Lévesque (pronounced Leh-vek) seemed close to tears as he acknowledged that voters in Canada's largest, predominantly French-speaking province had turned him down by 59.5% to 40.5%. They had voted non in a referendum that would have given him authority to negotiate a new form of "sovereignty association" with the rest of Canada. As the ballots were being counted, Lévesque put off acknowledging defeat for 90 minutes after the result became clear. He was plainly hoping that majority support from French-speaking Quebeckers (who make up 84% of the province's population of 6.3 million) would allow him at least to claim a "moral victory." But even this was denied him, as the nons carried 94 of Quebec's 110 ridings (election districts), including many Parti Québecois strongholds.