Twenty years after the death of the Meech Lake accord, Gilles Duceppe says he is travelling across Canada to gauge attitudes toward sovereignty. More likely, he's looking for ways to fan the flames of the moribund sovereignty movement.
Be that as it may, Mr. Duceppe may be surprised by what he learns during his travels, according to a Leger poll done for the Association for Canadian studies and released to Quebecor Media: "26 per cent of Albertans and 15 per cent of English-speaking Canadians believe Quebec would be better off if it were to separate … with those most likely to agree also the least likely to support bilingual services across the country …. Alberta's 67.9 per cent support was the lowest in English Canada.
In Manitoba and Saskatchewan, 22.3 per cent said Quebec would be better off out of Canada, compared with 73.5 per cent who said it was better off inside Canada.
The lowest support was in New Brunswick at 5.3 per cent, with 92.1 per cent disagreeing, followed by Atlantic Canada at 8 per cent with 83 per cent disagreeing.
Ontario's support for Quebec outside Canada was at 11.1 per cent, compared to 81.6 per cent who felt it was better off in Canada.
In British Columbia, the support was at 14.4 per cent, with 71 per cent preferring to see Quebec in Canada."