Whew! That was a close one

Jim Withers

Few of us who were there will forget what we were doing all those years ago.

An estimated 100,000 people from Canada’s West Coast, the Arctic, Newfoundland and everywhere in between – including le Plateau-Mont-Royal (like me) – found ourselves shoulder to shoulder under or around a massive Maple Leaf flag in downtown Montréal.

It was Friday, Oct. 27, 1995, and the unity rally came only three days before Québec was to hold a referendum on seceding from Canada. It was a tense time. Families and friendships were torn, and polls showed that the results could go either way. Those on the Oui side denounced the rally because they saw it as outside interference in what should have been a question for Québecers and Québecers only to decide.

Historians debate whether or not the federalist initiative aided or hurt the Non campaign, but I side with those who believe it helped. Sure, the separatists said things like, “Too little, too late,” but deep down, I believe, they were surprised by, and grudgingly admired, the passion displayed by compatriots from across the land who went to such trouble and expense to show how much they valued Québec remaining in Canada. Enduring 20 hours on a bouncy school bus travelling round-trip from Ontario to attend a demo at Montréal's Place du Canada was much more than, say, simply putting an X on a ballot at election time.

It was possibly the most important election in Canadian history, as evidenced by the fact that an astounding 93.5% of registered voters cast a ballot. Canadians never vote in numbers like that for anything. The Non side officially won by a frighteningly close 54,288 votes ¬– 50.6% to 49.4%.

After the traumatic buildup and hard feelings that led up to that vote, I treasure the three decades of relative peace that have prevailed over the last three decades. I can only hope that the rising fortunes of the secessionist Parti québécois and Alberta politicians’ toying with their own variety of separatism never put Canadians through something so divisive as the ’95 Québec Referendum. Once was enough. When we’re now facing an existential threat from a bullying buffoon from south of the border, there’s never been a greater time to push for unity. United we stand, divided we fall (to coin a phrase).