Chretien Proffers Olive Branch to Quebec Separatists : Canada: But opposition says proposal to recognize province’s unique status is ‘no progress at all.’

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien on Monday introduced a series of government initiatives intended to patch up the cracks in national unity exposed by last month’s referendum on Quebec independence, which failed by the slimmest of margins.

The proposals, announced at a hastily called afternoon news conference in Ottawa, the Canadian capital, include legislation recognizing Quebec’s unique status as the country’s only majority French-speaking province. But the measure stops short of writing that recognition into Canada’s constitution, as desired by many Quebec residents.

Chretien’s plan would also give Quebec veto power over the introduction of constitutional amendments in Parliament but would extend the same veto to other regions.

The package represents a delicate balancing act by Chretien, who is seeking to satisfy restive Quebec residents without alienating other Canadians opposed to any concentration of power in Quebec.

“We must all work together to build an even better Canada, in a spirit of partnership and an atmosphere of solidarity, openness and mutual respect,” Chretien said in a nationally televised speech.

The plan, however, was immediately denounced by a spokesman for the Quebec separatists.

“You can’t consider this a step in the right direction; it’s no progress at all,” said Michel Gauthier, deputy chief of the separatists’ opposition party in Parliament.

The legislation grew out of vague promises of “change” made by Chretien to Quebec voters during the campaign leading up to the Oct. 30 referendum. The ballot measure, which would have empowered Quebec’s separatist government to secede from Canada, lost by the tiny margin of 50.6% to 49.4%.

The close vote emboldened the separatists, who have promised another referendum soon. It also led to widespread criticism that Chretien bungled the campaign.

In the weeks after the near-breakup, Chretien had seemed to retreat from his promised changes. He appointed a committee of Cabinet members to deal with the issue and left on a trip to Asia. Upon his return, he sidestepped questions in Parliament on what he had in mind and endured a new round of criticism in the media that he lacks the vision and leadership to keep the nation intact.

On Saturday, a poll of Quebec voters published in the Toronto Globe and Mail and Le Journal de Montreal newspapers showed a new surge in support for separation, with 54.8% of decided voters in favor. On Sunday, Daniel Johnson, Chretien’s close political ally in Quebec and leader of the Liberal Party in that province, publicly called on Chretien to make good on his promises.

“We will not wait passively for change,” Johnson told party officials at a meeting in Montreal. “We will try to provoke it and to direct it.”

After a flurry of activity Monday morning, Chretien introduced a three-point program:

* Quebec would be recognized by Parliament as a “distinct society within Canada that includes a French-speaking majority, a unique culture and a tradition of civil law” different from the rest of the country.

* Quebec would be given veto power over government introduction of constitutional amendments. But this would be part of a complex formula granting similar power to other regions. In addition to Quebec, veto power would be extended to the province of Ontario; a grouping of the four western provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and the combined Atlantic provinces of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

* The federal government would turn over administration of job training and other personnel programs to the provinces, meeting a longtime request of Quebec governments of various political parties.