Talks Bring Accord Closer for Quebec, Rest of Canada
French-speaking Quebec came closer to settling a decades-old separatist dispute with English Canada on Tuesday in the first political negotiations in two years.
The talks chaired by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney were held to bridge differences between smaller provinces seeking a bigger say in running the country and Quebec, which has demanded more autonomy since the 1960s.
The negotiations, attended by premiers of all 10 provinces and leaders of the two Arctic territories and Canada’s half million natives, will continue today.
Provincial leaders said new proposals on Senate reform and aboriginal rights were discussed, and there was enough goodwill to reach an accord this week.
“Tomorrow we might be able to have a consensus,” Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa told a news conference. “We will see whether all that goodwill will be put into concrete terms.”
Bourassa said he needs a deal by next week to present to Quebecers as they prepare to vote on their future with the rest of Canada in a referendum in late October.
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