What political, economic and social consequences would have occurred if Quebec had voted "Yes"" in the 1995 referendum?.
1. Background to the idea of a sovereign Quebec, and the referendum.
In this essay I will be discussing what political, economical and social consequence would have occurred if Quebec had voted "YES" in the 1995 referendum. I will being doing so by looking at the meaning of a referendum, and also the reasons behind this particular one. A referendum is defined as "a general vote by the electorate on a single political question which has been referred to them for a direct decision" (Word Reference, 2012). Of chief importance when looking into the 1995 Quebec referendum is to firstly look into the reason behind it, and the cause of it. Starting by looking at the 1960s Quebec was a home for people of a movement attempting to separate Quebec from Canada, and to make Quebec a French-speaking nation. Due to this, in 1969 Canada changed its official language of English to both French and English. Following this in 1977 a controversial law was implemented which changed the Quebec educational system, by limiting the English language in school, and imposing more French teaching. This also affected businesses in Quebec, as advertisements had to be firstly in French and then in English. All theses changes in Quebec stimulated people in believing that Quebec would be better as an independent nation. .
2. Political Consequences.
2.1 Public Service.
The Public Services Canada would be one of many sectors of the governments to have consequences. The federal public service would have to dramatically decrease in the event of a "Yes" vote. The many Quebec workers working in the public service on the Ottawa side of the river would loose their jobs, which would cause great political tension between the Quebec government and the federal government. This would then lead to a decrease in the value of housing on the Ontario side of the river, as of the many Quebecers being forced to move back to the Quebec side, their would be an increase in un-inhabited housings in Ontario.