{"id":253264,"date":"2025-10-31T22:45:26","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T22:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/253264\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T22:45:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T22:45:26","slug":"five-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-1995-quebec-referendum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/253264\/","title":{"rendered":"Five things you may not know about the 1995 Quebec referendum"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 1995 referendum on independence took place 30 years ago on Thursday, when a razor-thin majority of Quebecers voted to stay in Canada. After a dramatic campaign during which the sovereigntist side came from behind to take a lead in the polls in the final weeks before the vote, 50.58 per cent of voters chose \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Here are five things you may not know \u2014 or may have forgotten \u2014 about the 1995 referendum.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tYes and No supporters clash on the streets of Montreal, Monday, Oct. 30, 1995, as the No side won a narrow victory in the province\u2019s referendum.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tTHE CANADIAN PRESS\/Robert Galbraith\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Foreign influence<\/p>\n

International leaders played a role in the federalist and sovereigntist campaigns. In February 1995, U.S. President Bill Clinton addressed the Canadian Parliament and signalled clearly that his administration favoured a united Canada.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn a world darkened by ethnic conflicts that literally tear nations apart, Canada has stood for all of us as a model of how people of different cultures can live and work together in peace, prosperity and respect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In the days before the vote, Clinton told reporters that \u201ca strong and united Canada has been a wonderful partner for the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in a coup for the sovereigntist side, in the final days of the campaign, then-French president Jacques Chirac said on CNN\u2019s Larry King Live that he would recognize a vote to separate.<\/p>\n

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Blunders<\/p>\n

Figures on both sides of the campaign made inopportune comments they likely regretted.\u00a0Quebec\u00a0premier Jacques Parizeau, probably best remembered for blaming the referendum defeat on \u201cmoney and ethnic votes,\u201d also stirred up controversy months ahead of the vote. In June 1995, Parizeau reportedly told a group of foreign diplomats that once Quebecers voted \u201cyes\u201d to separation, they would then be trapped like \u201clobsters thrown into boiling water.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tA large Canadian flag is passed through a crowd, as thousands streamed into Montreal from all over Canada on Friday, Oct. 27, 1995, to join Quebecers rallying for national unity, three days before the Oct. 30, 1995, Quebec sovereignty referendum.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tTHE CANADIAN PRESS\/Ryan Remiorz\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois leader Lucien Bouchard, after he became spokesperson for the \u201cyes\u201d campaign in mid-October, came under fire for remarking that Quebecers are \u201cone of the white races that has the fewest children.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But federalist businessman Claude Garcia did his side no favours when he declared in September that the goal of the \u201cno\u201d side should not just be to win the referendum, but to \u201ccrush\u201d sovereigntists.<\/p>\n

Illegal activity?<\/p>\n

The federal government\u2019s involvement in the \u201cno\u201d campaign, which was led by the provincial Liberals, prompted widespread allegations of illegal spending. In 2007, a retired\u00a0Quebec\u00a0judge published a report finding that two federalist organizations, which received millions of dollars in funding from Ottawa, illegally spent about $539,000.<\/p>\n

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The judge, Bernard Grenier, also urged Quebecers to turn the page and move forward, but many sovereigntists continue to express the view that the referendum was stolen. Grenier wrote in his report that he was unable to determine who funded the Oct. 27 unity rally that drew tens of thousands of Canadians to\u00a0Montreal.<\/p>\n

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About that unity rally<\/p>\n

The unity rally \u2014 part of a last-ditch effort by the federalist camp to persuade Quebecers to vote \u201cno\u201d \u2014 saw airlines, bus companies and Via Rail offer discounted tickets to get as many Canadians as possible to\u00a0Montreal.<\/p>\n

But no one could agree on how many people actually showed up. The New York Times reported that 150,000 people were present, while some French-language outlets pegged the number around 35,000.<\/p>\n

In 2015, CBC interviewed the Windsor, Ont., man who brought a giant Canadian flag to the rally, which features prominently in many photos of the event. He said he and his friends brought it to\u00a0Montreal\u00a0in a hockey bag.<\/p>\n

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The day after<\/p>\n

Then-prime minister Jean Chr\u00e9tien has said he would not have accepted a \u201cyes\u201d vote to a referendum question considered unclear. The referendum ballot asked Quebecers for a mandate to \u201cbecome sovereign\u201d only after negotiating a new partnership with the rest of Canada.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview with La Presse, Chr\u00e9tien said he had \u201coptions\u201d in the case of a \u201cyes\u201d victory, including holding a referendum of his own in the province that would simply have asked Quebecers if they wanted to separate.<\/p>\n

However, a 2014 book by journalist Chantal H\u00e9bert and political commentator Jean Lapierre found that the federalist forces were unprepared for a vote in favour of separation. They also found that several major political figures thought Chr\u00e9tien would resign or be forced out if the sovereigntist side won.<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2025.<\/p>\n

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