Canadian Federalism and Quebec’s Pathological Prism

Abstract

On what basis is Canadian federalism evaluated in Quebec? This is the question that this paper seeks to explore. It argues that while many variables come into play in such an evaluative process, some “reasoning templates” consistently bend this process in a way that tends to yield unfavourable results for Canadian federalism. The central thesis underlying this chapter is that the nationalist agenda that dominates and frames, for all practical purposes, provincial political discourse in Quebec is constitutive of a pathological prism when it comes to evaluating how federalism fares in protecting or accommodating the province’s interests. It is intentional that I have used the word pathological, since the prism in question indeed induces many Quebecers to grasp some legitimate manifestations, expressions, or expectations related to federalism as dysfunctions, if not diseases. This thesis should not be construed as an indictment of Quebec nationalism, but as a study of some epistemological obstacles upon which analyses of federalism elaborated through a nationalist prism may stumble; in this respect, Quebec nationalism arguably fares neither better nor worse than other democratic nationalisms.