THE VICTORY SPEECH THAT NEVER WAS
by Jacques Parizeau: February 22, 1996

This is the text of a speech that Premier Jacques Parizeau planned to deliver on Oct. 30, 1995, if there had been a Yes victory in the referendum. The speech was never delivered. Instead, Parizeau greeted the No victory with bitterness and acrimony, blaming the Yes side's loss on money and ethnic votes.

Dear friends, Quebec is standing tall. In a majority vote today, the Quebec people has just affirmed to the world that it exists. It is a serene and democratic affirmation, one that no one can ever erase.

A strong and simple decision was made today: Quebec will become sovereign. Let a place be made ready for it at the table of nations. And because Quebec is now standing on its feet, it can first of all extend a hand to its Canadian neighbor through the offer of a new partnership, founded on the principle of equality between peoples.

From this time on, we shall be guided by two words: responsibility and solidarity. There is a third one too, and I want to talk about it now: that word is courage.

For courage was what Quebecers needed to surmount the tremendous obstacles that were put in their path, from the very beginning until today. To adapt and survive in America, while preserving their francophone identity. Over the course of 400 years, to grow and to welcome all the new arrivals, no matter what their language, their race, or their country of origin. To build here a society that is modern, dynamic, and open to the world.

To do all that while our very existence as a people was being denied, while we were being refused the means to flourish. This year, it took courage for the men and women of Quebec to stand up to the fear, to reject the call to renunciation and to a comfortable resignation.

Today, my dear fellow Quebecers, you have surpassed yourselves. You have inscribed your name upon the face of the world.

You have done so in an exemplary manner, through a process that was democratic, transparent, just and enlightened. With passion, yes, but without aggressiveness. With fervor, yes, but in a spirit of peace and fraternity that is a perfect reflection of the kind of society we have, the kind of society we want: a living, expansive society, founded on civility, stability, and the rule of law. A society where ideas abound and jostle together, but that rejects violence and the spirit of revenge. A society that respects the rights of individuals and minorities.

Coming Together and Rights

All of you must know tonight that in the days to come the government of Quebec will proceed with the same clarity, the same serene determination, the same courage and the same openness as the men and women of Quebec have shown today.

The first task for us all tomorrow will be to take off our Yes and No labels so we can come together behind the democratic decision that Quebecers have made. Several influential individuals have already indicated their desire to call for such a coming together. The same thing must be true in every neighborhood and every village. In every cultural and linguistic community. All of us, no matter how we voted, no matter what we said in the course of this campaign, we are all of us Quebecers, equal before the law, and we can all take pride in the only victory that counts: the victory of democracy.

In this spirit of coming together, the government will proceed, as we have indicated, to name new members to the committee that will guide and watch over the partnership negotiations with Canada. Two or three of these new members will be chosen from those who defended the No side these past weeks. I shall be happy to hear suggestions from leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Mr. Daniel Johnson, on this matter.

We also intend, in various forums, economic forums in particular, to call for solidarity between business and labor, so we can implement our social choices: the first of these will be a national strategy for job creation.

I would like to speak specifically to members of Quebec's English-speaking community and reiterate the importance to us of their presence among us, and our commitment to respect and defend their rights and to take all measures necessary to guarantee in Quebec's new constitution, that the identity of their community and their institutions is preserved. Those rights, once they have been inscribed in the constitution, cannot be modified without their agreement.

New immigrants, those with landed immigrant status, and refugees who find themselves today on Quebec territory are wondering about their future. I want them to know they need not fear any change in their status or their present situation. All those waiting for Canadian citizenship will be able, without further delay, to take advantage of their right to Quebec citizenship at the time when sovereignty is declared. We invite them all to share with Quebecers the exhilarating challenge of building a new country here.

The 65,000 native people who are grouped together in eleven nations in Quebec, whose existence as distinct nations we have recognized for 10 years, must also know that we intend to respect their present rights and to see to it that they enjoy a level of governmental autonomy equivalent to or greater than what exists elsewhere on the continent. Their rights will be enshrined in the new constitution of a sovereign Quebec and those rights cannot be modified without their agreement.

The Process of Accession to Sovereignty

And so, today, Quebecers have decided to become sovereign. What will happen in the days to come? The sovereignty of Quebec will not be proclaimed right away. It can be as much as a year before the National Assembly makes that proclamation. This will give us the time we need to make proper preparations for the transition: two public services to be integrated, new economic and social policies with our new tools to be defined. Without undue haste, but with rigor.

At the end of that process, Quebec will be able to vote all its own laws and adapt them to its own priorities and values; collect all its own taxes and administer its budget with the same resolute goal of reducing the deficit, and with the possibility of making its own fiscal and social choices; and to sign all its own treaties with its neighbors and the rest of the world.

In the meantime, we are still a province of Canada. Nothing will change tomorrow in our jobs or in our businesses. We will still pay the GST and send our taxes to Ottawa. We will still be paid benefits of all sorts from the federal government. In Quebec City, we will continue to administer our own affairs and, in particular, to meet our own objectives for deficit reduction. Our federal MPs will continue to represent us. Until we proclaim the sovereignty of Quebec, in as much as a year.

And that's when things are going to change, when things will become more simple. Until then, however, everyone will have time to get ready and see to it that the transition is made harmoniously, without disturbing services to citizens. There will be no upheaval, no legal vacuum.

The Offer of Partnership and Canada

What can proceed much more quickly, in contrast, are negotiations with Canada. Quebec's chief negotiator, Mr. Lucien Bouchard, is ready and willing to begin his work in the days to come. The people of Quebec have given us today the mandate to make a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership.

This offer, which is contained in the Draft Bill on the Future of Quebec and in the agreement of June 12, we intend to table very shortly.

Now I want to tell the citizens of Canada who are listening to us tonight that the act Quebecers have performed today was not done against Canada or against the Canadian people. Of course, we can't put ourselves in your shoes tonight and experience your own very strong emotions. But I want to say on behalf of all Quebecers that we maintain high regard, friendship, and often family ties with many Canadian citizens. We want to preserve those ties. We have a particular affinity with Canada's French-speaking communities and we have an unshakable obligation of solidarity towards them.

We believe in the existence of the Canadian people, in their strength, and in their destiny in North America. We believe that as of tonight, we can stop wasting our energy on quarrels that divide us and concentrate our efforts instead on all those matters where our interests converge.

I invite you to seize the opportunity we have been given to forge a new partnership between two peoples. And let me assure you here and now: when Quebec proclaims its sovereignty, it will mean that not one of your tax dollars will be paid to Quebec. No transfer payments will be made to Quebec. On the contrary, because we in Quebec will have recovered all the taxes paid by Quebecers, we are the ones who will be sending cheques to Canada, to assume our fair share of the burden of Canada's debt.

But we need to agree on a certain number of things. We shall not do anything that is liable to hinder the current free circulation of goods, individuals, capital, and services between Quebec and Canada, nor do we want to hinder free circulation between the Atlantic provinces and Ontario.

We have resolved to keep the Canadian dollar as our currency. That decision is final and irrevocable. There is no question of Canadians travelling through Quebec having to convert their money to a new currency. For that matter, we have no intention of putting up customs stations at the borders of Quebec. If the European countries no longer have customs stations, why should we?

At the present time, hundreds of thousands of jobs in Canada and in Quebec depend on trade between us, to the tune of $67 billion per year. We have a shared responsibility to see to it that our joint economic space will be as profitable tomorrow as it is today.

Quebec in the World

Tonight the Quebec people are taking the measure of their political strength. It must appreciate its economic strength as well. Of the 185 members of the United Nations, on the day Quebec becomes sovereign it will be the 16th largest economic power. We have built here a diversified economy based on the entrepreneurial spirit and the free market, on a high level of education, and on numerous and sound financial institutions. We export roughly half of everything we produce - which explains in part why, in all of North America, Quebec is the place whose population is by far the most bilingual.

Our weight in the North American economy is considerable. We are the eighth largest economic partner of the United States, and in both Washington and New York, it is well known that without Quebec there would have been no Canada-U.S. free-trade accord, and thus no NAFTA either.

It is well known, too, that Quebec has both the will and the ability to honor all of its financial obligations and all of its political, economic and strategic responsibilities.

Quebec firmly intends to remain an active and constructive partner within the World Trade Organization and within NAFTA. We salute in passing Ottawa's will, as expressed two weeks ago by the Canadian Finance Minister Mr. Paul Martin, to support Quebec's presence in NAFTA. We also salute the will that was expressed in Miami last December by U.S. President Mr. Bill Clinton and other North and South American heads of state, to forge within the next 10 years a free-trade zone that will include all the countries in the Americas. We intend to give our support to that great initiative.

Our partners in the Francophonie and most particularly the great nation of France can expect a newly vigorous participation by Quebec in our joint undertakings. Our place in Europe will be more tangible as well; and for both historic and personal reasons, I cannot neglect to emphasize to the people and authorities of Great Britain the attachment we still hold for the practices and the institutions they have passed on to us, which we have adapted to our French heritage, to our needs and to our culture.

In conclusion, you will allow me to thank all those who have invested their intelligence and their faith, their energy and their ingenuity, their youth and their experience, to make this day a historic date.

There are millions of them, and their names are spread over a calendar of the centuries, in particular that of the past 30 years. One name springs immediately to mind - and how we wish that he were at our side today: René Lévesque.

I will have the opportunity shortly to speak to Yes supporters, but I want to emphasize at this time the exceptional contributions of two Quebecers from different perspectives who have contributed decisively to today's coming together: Mr. Lucien Bouchard, leader of the Bloc Québécois and Mr. Mario Dumont, leader of the Action Démocratique du Québec.

I wish to underscore as well the energetic performance of the leader of the No camp, Mr. Daniel Johnson, who has presented forcefully it seems to me, his vision of the future of Quebec, by emphasizing always his devotion to the democratic principles that govern us. I have heard him in particular these past weeks, call for a new solidarity the morning after the vote, and for that I congratulate him.

All of us can comprehend that the Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Jean Chrétien, has a heavy responsibility tonight. Several times during the campaign he told Quebecers that their choice today was one of capital importance. In Quebec City on Oct. 18, he declared that the referendum was "the definitive and irrevocable choice of a country." In his address to the nation last week, he pointed out that it was "a definitive and irreversible decision."

We agree with him. And so we can turn the page, respect the democratic verdict, and move on to the new dialogue that must now be opened between Canada and Quebec, in the interest of all our citizens and in the interest of stability.

The Quebec that is beginning today must mobilize our energies, it must call on our imaginations. Whichever way we voted, we want to and we can launch a new Quiet Revolution. We want to and we can roll up our sleeves and build a better future. And we all want, we will all be able, a few years from now, to tell one of our children or grandchildren: "Look at this renewed Quebec, this Quebec that is more responsible and more just, more peaceful and more prosperous: I contributed to its birth, I'm proud of it, and now I'm giving it to you!"

Thank you.