November 21, 1996

CSL to declare own referendum if PQ calls one

CSL would hold its own referendum only if Ottawa failed to stage its own national referendum on Quebec separating using a clear question.

Brownstein said one of the main reason's for the CSL motion was to reach those Quebecers who would have second thoughts about voting Yes again, knowing that Quebec municipalities would begin to counter with their own votes.

"Personally, I don't see partition ever happening," he said.  "This is to avoid ever getting to that stage."

Did he see the motion as a provocative gesture that could backfire or only exacerbate the already-strained relations between anglophones and francophones?

"Not at all," he said.  "It's a fallback position.  It shows that there are things federalists can do.  People in our community have been calling for  us to take a stand, and there is an obligation to do it now."

As well, Sheila Finestone and Lawrence Bergman, the respective federal and provincial Liberal representatives for the ridings overlapping CSL, saw the resolution as an expression of the sense of heartfelt, post-referendum frustration felt by anglophones since the last referendum, but demurred from endorsing it outright.

"Whether I agree or disagree with it is irrelevant," Finestone said in an interview.  "I'm a firm believer in grassroots expression.  I think it's a worderful thing.

"It shows that their pulse is on the community, that it refects what people are saying."