Nation Building - the Good, the Bad

Whispering in the Wind (WITW 34) June 18, 2014

Nation building has gone into reverse gear in a number of countries around the world – let’s make sure the discord and havoc associated with political separation and voiced by the misguided thoughts of extremist wing-dings doesn’t penetrate Canada’s “nation building” pursuits. 

The goings on in the Ukraine, Syria, Nigeria, Iraq, Kenya are extreme examples where political and social governance has all but collapsed, with bandit groups (militia) advocating separation and roaming about creating destruction and bloodshed, without showing any sense of morality, law or civil order.  In other countries where there is a greater sense of law and order, there is still “separation anxiety” where regions and specific cultural groups, within a nation-state, feel that political separation into city-state regions is the only solution for the plight of their region’s constituents.

Referendums in Venice, Scotland and Catalonia

 Last March about two million residents of the Veneto region of Italy voted in a “straw- vote” for separation – 89 percent voted in favor of separation.  Veneto’s president, Luca Zaia – who is in favor of separation from Italy – intends on holding an official referendum in the region.  Italy’s central government in Rome rejects the unofficial, on-line vote as madness and claims Italy as indivisible.   Scotland, as a part of the United Kingdom, will be settled in September, 2014 – a simple majority vote will determine whether Scotland becomes an independent state with the terms already negotiated.  In a previous referendum held in the 1970s the Scottish independence movement won by a very narrow margin but no further action was taken.  Catalonia, Spain will be holding its separation referendum in November, 2014.  The Spanish government is rejecting the Catalonia initiative saying that any separation referendum must be taken throughout the Spanish nation-state and not just in a specific region.

Referendums in Quebec, Canada

In the province of Quebec two referendums have been undertaken over the years related to sovereignty only to be rejected by the voting electorate in Quebec.  In 1980, the Quebec electorate rejected sovereignty association with 58.56 percent of the voting public voting no to sovereignty.  In the 1995 referendum, the Quebec electorate rejected independence on a sovereignty-partnership with a much narrower margin, 50.58 percent rejected a sovereignty partnership.  In the 2014 election the separatist PQ party lost the election in large part because they couldn’t detail how they would negotiate a separatist state with the Canadian government.  In the end the issue of referendums became moot as the PQ lost the election to the Liberals who are cautiously willing to work within the Canadian framework – does that mean Quebec, under Premier Couillard, is now willing to discuss true nationhood and sign onto Canada’s 1967 constitution?  One final thought about Quebec and the separation movement.  During the 2014 election there was a lot of discussion about the terms of separation and even some discussion about the unique status of the Montreal region of Quebec – should the Montreal region become an independent city state?