The time has come to call it quits, to ask Quebec to leave Canada, and to forge a new nation without it. Time to Say Goodbye is a powerfully argued challenge to Canadians to accept that Quebec's national aspirations can never be satisfied within the confines of Canadian Confederation, and furthermore, continued efforts to accommodate Quebec damage Canada in ways it can no longer afford.
Canada without Quebec will be a more prosperous, generous, and hospitable nation than the linguistically and politically distorted one that has emerged from the past twenty years — since the first coming-to-power in Quebec of the Parti Quebecois. Reed Scowen, an anglophone Québécker and former member of the Quebec legislature, argues that Quebec's political identity is based on language and ethnicity. Quebec has become an authentic nation-state. The rest of Canada has no comparable political ideology and will never comfortably accommodate Quebec.
While many do not share the caustic view of Quebec Premier Bouchard — that Canada is not a country — many do worry that Canada, without Quebec, will break apart. But Scowen suggests that the breakup of Canada will be more likely the result of the continued, futile manoeuvres to satisfy Quebec's national aspirations. Far better, he argues, to take a positive view: build a country based on the values, traditions, and procedures that the other nine provinces share. "The smartest man on Quebec."Over a period of more than twenty years, Scowen worked at the highest level inside Quebec's corridors of power to make a bilingual, bicultural Quebec work. Only with regret has he come to the conclusion that such efforts are futile. Scowen is the author of A Different Vision: The English in Quebec in the 1990s (1991). He lives in Quebec. The argument of this book can be summarized as follows. Canada is a very successful country that would be even more successful without Quebec. The time has come to ask it to leave. However, Quebec cannot be forced to go against its will, and there is no incentive for it to do so as long as we continue to comply with its demands for privileged treatment. It is Canadians themselves who are perpetuating the Quebec crisis.
The first step towards a solution is for Canadians to see more clearly and confidently who we are and understand that we have the ability to succeed as a country of nine provinces and three territories. Then we must make clear our terms for Quebec's continuing membership in the federation. I believe that when Quebecers understand these conditions, and our determination to maintain them, they will vote to leave. We should encourage and support them in that decision. If Quebecers prefer to stay, we will be happy to have them as a part of our country, on Canada's terms.
