Time To Say Goodbye: The Case For Getting Quebec Out of Canada (Reed Scowen)

Published in 1999, Time To Say Goodbye is far from current. Reed Scowen writes from a time when the Liberals were still the "natural governing party" and the financial crisis and recession of 2008 were still far in the future. The 1995 Quebec referendum was still fresh in people's minds and experts said Canada was in the midst of a constitutional crisis. Like many writers of the 1990's, Scowen lets his imagination run wild and sets out to explain some of the "what ifs" of Quebec separation. 

In 1995, Quebecers voted "No" to separation, but Scowen (an anglophone Quebecer who spent much time outside the province, as well as in it) argues, not for Quebec to take the initiative and leave the federation, but rather for the rest of Canada to give Quebec the boot. 

Scowen argues that Quebec's political vision is incompatible with Canada's political vision as a whole. Quebec's demands for special status and the continuing soap opera for separation (my paraphrase of his description) only serve as divisive and distracting poisons to the other nine provinces (and the territories, although he fails to mention them). If Canadians were to vote for divestiture--the compulsory transfer of title or interest--Scowen argues that Canada would be economically and politically better off in the long run. 

Perhaps I only laugh at him because I'm fifteen years from his time, but I find it somewhat Utopian when he suggests that the divestment movement must start as grassroots in a single province and then gain traction through a provincial party and then an opposition federal party. I find it hard to believe that any of our white-collar, tie-choked politicians would embrace any movement that would jeopardize their hold on power, economic stability (especially in this post-2008 world), or cause massive conflict within their party. I laughed even harder when Scowen suggested that after a referendum, divestment (including amendment of the Constitution to exclude Quebec and arrangements for the allocation of debt and military equipment) could be completed in 18 months. Even more unrealistically, he casually mentions that perhaps France might take responsibility for Quebec, if it weren't for objections from the United States and from Quebecers themselves. As if France even gives Quebec a fleeting thought?

Regardless of the plausibility of Scowen's plans, the book was an interesting read. For instance, I learned that Newfoundland was divested by the United Kingdom to Canada.