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The 1995 Quebec referendum was the second referendum to ask voters in the Canadian province of Quebec whether Quebec should proclaim national sovereignty and become an independent state, with the condition precedent of offering a political and economic agreement to Canada. The culmination of multiple years of debate and planning after the failure of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown constitutional accords, the referendum was launched solely by the provincial Parti Québécois government of Jacques Parizeau. Despite initial predictions of a heavy sovereignist defeat, an eventful and complex campaign followed, with the "Yes" side flourishing after being taken over by charismatic Bloc Québécois leader Lucien Bouchard. The fast rise of the "Yes" campaign and apparent inability of the personalities of the "No" campaign to counter their message created an atmosphere of great uncertainty, both in the Federal government and across Canada. Voting took place on October 30, 1995, and featured the largest voter turnout in Quebec's history (93.52%). The "No" option carried by 54,228 votes (50.58%).〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/quebec-referendum-1995/ )〕 Parizeau, who retired the following day, would later state that he would have aggressively proceeded with a unilateral declaration of independence had the result been affirmative and negotiations failed or been refused, the latter of which was later revealed as the Federal position in the event of a narrow "Yes" victory. Controversies over both the provincial vote counting and direct federal financial involvement in the final days of the campaign would reverberate in Canadian politics for over a decade after the referendum took place. In the aftermath of the close result, the Federal government, after unilaterally recognizing Quebec as a distinct society and amending the Federal constitutional veto procedure, would refer the issue to the Supreme Court of Canada, which stated that the unilateral secession contemplated in the referendum was illegal. == Background == (詳細はprovince in Canada since its foundation in 1867, has always been the sole majority French-speaking province. Long ruled by forces (such as the Union Nationale) that focused on affirmation of the province's French and Catholic identity within Canada, the Quiet Revolution of the early 1960s prompted a surge in civic and economic nationalism, as well as voices calling for the separation of the province and the establishment of a nation state. Among these was René Lévesque, who would eventually found the Parti Québécois with like-minded groups seeking independence from Canada. After arriving in power in 1976, the PQ government held a referendum in 1980 seeking a mandate to negotiate "sovereignty-association" with Canada that was decisively defeated. In response to the referendum result, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau declared that he would seek to "patriate" the Canadian Constitution and bring about what would eventually become the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. During tense negotiations in November 1981, an agreement was reached between Trudeau and nine of the ten premiers by Trudeau, but not Lévesque. The Constitution Act of 1982 was enacted without the Quebec National Assembly's symbolic approval.〔(Patriation: The Constitution Comes Home ). ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. Retrieved on June 1, 2007.〕 Trudeau's successor as Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney, and Quebec Liberal premier Robert Bourassa sought a series of Constitutional amendments designed to address Quebec's concerns. In what became known as the Meech Lake Accord, the Federal government and all provincial premiers agreed to a series of amendments that decentralized some powers and recognized Quebec as forming a distinct society. The Accord, after fierce debate in English Canada, fell apart in dramatic fashion in the summer of 1990, prompting outrage in Quebec and a surge in support for sovereignty. While the Accord was collapsing, Lucien Bouchard, a cabinet minister in Mulroney's government, led a coalition of Progressive Conservative and Liberal members of parliament from Quebec to form a new federal party devoted to Quebec sovereignty, the ''Bloc Québécois''. Following these events, Bourassa proclaimed that a referendum would occur in 1992, with either sovereignty or a new Constitutional agreement as the subject. This prompted a national referendum on the Charlottetown Accord of 1992, a series of amendments that included the proposals of Meech Lake as well as concerns of the broader Canadian federation. The Accord failed in Quebec and English Canada. In the 1993 federal election, as the Liberals returned to power with a majority government under Jean Chrétien, who had been Minister of Justice during the 1980-81 constitutional discussions. The Bloc Québécois won 54 seats, and prophetically, 49.3% of Quebec's vote. The result made the Bloc the second largest party in the House of Commons, giving it the role of Official Opposition and allowing Bouchard to be able to confront Chrétien in Question Period on a daily basis. In Quebec, the 1994 provincial election brought the sovereigntist Parti Québécois back to power, led by Jacques Parizeau. The party's platform promised to hold a referendum on sovereignty during his term in office as premier.〔Benesh, Peter. "As Quebec goes, so goes Canada". ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. September 12, 1994.〕 The PQ won a majority government with 44.75% of the popular vote. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Quebec referendum, 1995」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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