Canada Leader Vows to Defeat Separatists

In his first speech since the election of a separatist government in the province of Quebec, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien vowed Sunday to defeat the separatists in an upcoming referendum battle and “put the issue (of Quebec independence) behind us.”

“The first responsibility of a prime minister of Canada is to ensure the unity of the country. Let there be absolutely no doubt: This I will do,” Chretien said in a nationally televised address to the annual meeting of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Quebec City.

But Chretien also sought to reassure those who fear that the pressures of the Quebec situation will divert him from tough decisions on the economic front.

“I will make the case for Canada by concentrating on providing good government, on providing jobs and economic growth, on getting our fiscal house in order and on modernizing the roles and responsibilities of the federal government,” he said.

Specifically, he said his government this fall will encourage national debate on a “discussion paper” of proposed social service program reforms aimed at cost-cutting, increased efficiency and removing disincentives to work. He also reiterated a pledge to reduce the federal deficit from the 6% of gross domestic product it was when he took office last year to 3% by the end of 1996.

Proposals to change social services and reduce the deficit are certain to be controversial and may place greater financial burdens on the provinces. Thus, they could give Quebec separatists ammunition in their campaign to leave Canada. But Chretien must balance those concerns against protests elsewhere in the country that Quebec has dominated the national agenda for too long, forcing aside more important issues.

The prime minister’s speech came six days after the Parti Quebecois, dedicated to Quebec independence, won 77 of 125 seats in the provincial Parliament. Parti Quebecois leader Jacques Parizeau, who will be the new Quebec premier, has promised a referendum to ask the province’s voters if they want to establish their own country.

Chretien said the vote was for a change of government, not for separatism. He also gently mocked Parizeau’s oft-repeated statement that it is “normal” for Quebeckers to want a “normal” country of their own.

He said Quebeckers should ask themselves if it is “normal” to break up such a successful nation as Canada. And, drawing a standing ovation, Chretien asserted that Canada is no “normal country,” but an exceptional one, the finest in the world.

Except for that remark, and a spirited “Vive le Canada” at the end, Chretien’s speech was lacking in emotion.

Speaking alternately in English and French, as is typical of political speeches in Canada, Chretien said he will share leadership in opposing the referendum with Daniel Johnson, the outgoing Quebec premier. Johnson, head of the province’s Liberal Party, was defeated in the election but impressed many with a stronger-than-predicted showing. The Parti Quebecois and the Liberals split the popular vote almost evenly, but the PQ won more seats because of its popularity in the more numerous French-speaking districts.

Chretien is a veteran of the 30-year struggle between federalists and separatists and played a key role in the campaign that defeated the previous referendum on Quebec sovereignty, in 1980. His hometown is Shawinigan, a pulp- and aluminum-manufacturing center about 80 miles northeast of Montreal.