DCHP-3

separation

DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
1n. — Politics, French relations

the secession of the province of Quebec from Confederation.

Type: 3. Semantic Change — In Canada, the term has come to be most associated with the possibility that Quebec will choose sovereignty over Confederation, especially since the 1980 referendum on the issue (see Canadian Encyclopedia, s.v. "Québec Referendum (1980)"). A second separation referendum in 1995 failed, like the first, but by a very narrow majority of 0.58 percent (see Canadian Encyclopedia, s.v. "Québec Referendum (1995)").
See the 1980 quotation for the terminology used and for the preferred Anglophone term separatism over sovereignty or the Quebec neologism sovereignty-association.

Quotations

1918
Arthur Sauve, leader of the Opposition, said that the secession of Quebec would result in the absorption of the French-Canadian minorities in the other Provinces. Separation, he said, was against the national interests of the French-Canadians, and against their economic interests as well.
1977
He [GERARD LEVESQUE] accused the Parti Quebecois Government of deceit because it had promised to set aside the question of independence before the election, but then made it a first priority after. He mocked the Premier [RENE LEVESQUE] for his speeches in New York and Paris. He mocked him for his semantic changes, from separation to independence to sovereignty-association to a real Confederation.
1980
An aspect of yesterday's vote on sovereignty-association that must not be lost sight of in the days ahead is the fact that more than 85 per cent of the people of Quebec went to the polls. [...] A clear majority of the voters of Quebec refused to give Mr. Levesque and his party power to seek negotiations leading to separation. The word separation was rarely used in the referendum campaign, but that is what it was all about - the right of Quebec to make its own laws, conduct its own external affairs, raise its own army, and submit to no taxes other than those levied in Quebec City. In the beginning Mr. Levesque called separation sovereignty. He made the word sweet by hyphenating it with association.
1989
By upgrading his objections to deal-breaking status now, he is simply taking advantage of the impasse in Manitoba and New Brunswick. Ironically, Mr. Vander Zalm, who once said he would not lose any sleep over Quebec's separation, is now the lone defender of an accord that would help to cement Quebec's place in Confederation. The NDP's new position on creation of wealth states the obvious: "you just can't redistribute a shrinking pie."
1995
Canada has another chance. The dream of national unity lives, but so does the dream of Quebec separation. The threadbare Quebec referendum margin Monday reveals deep wounds that need healing in a country brought to the brink of fracture. Only a few thousand votes prevented a Yes victory that could have moved Quebec out of Confederation. There is little solace in the No win, only pressure to fix the fissure.
1999
He's given Quebec a safety-valve: Quebec now knows that the Canadian Confederation is not a trap, which should relieve some of Quebec's frustration. At the same time Mr. Chretien has made it clear that the next referendum, if there is one, needs to be taken seriously by all concerned. Too many people used the previous referenda to register partisan protest votes, not separation votes.
2012
In 1995, Quebecers rejected separation in a referendum that went down to the wire. The federalist side enjoyed substantial support in opinion polls early in the campaign, but the sovereigntists made huge gains when Bloc Quebecois Leader Lucien Bouchard replaced Premier Jacques Parizeau as the front man for independence. Days after a mammoth rally in Montreal drew thousands of Canadians from across the country, the "No" side won 50.6 per cent to 49.4 per cent for the "Yes" side. Parizeau blamed "money and the ethnic vote" for the loss. The next day, he announced his intention to resign. He was later replaced as premier by Bouchard.
2016
All polls show that about 20 per cent of Quebecers are outright separatists, adieu to Canada and the hell with it; and about 40 per cent, including practically all the non-French, are outright federalists - they might like some concessions from Ottawa but they think separation would be insane. This group includes many of the immigrants Quebec has attracted from supposedly French-speaking places such as Haiti, Morocco and Lebanon, to replace the unborn created by the province's collapsed post-Catholic birthrate.
2n. — Politics

the act of a province withdrawing from Confederation.

Type: 3. Semantic Change — Although separation is most associated with Quebec, groups in other provinces, most notably Alberta (see Canadian Encylopedia, s.v. "Separatism") and Newfoundland (see CBC reference), have advocated for withdrawal from Confederation.
See also ITP-Nelson, s.v. "separation"(2), which is marked "Canadian".

Quotations

1924
Another motion, to remind Parliament that unless the West had relief in the matters of resources, tariffs and freight rates it would demand separation from Confederation, had little more support.
1938
The Mackenzie government in Ottawa did not seem to wish to build the promised railway and British Columbia threatened secession. De Cosmos in the House of Commons in 1879 moved for the peaceful separation of British Columbia from the Dominion of Canada, but failed to secure a seconder.
2005
Maybe they just see us as the dim-witted cousins of confederation who have always cheerfully contributed more than their fair share with barely a whimper of complaint and never a demand for retribution. Maybe it is because they simply don't consider western separation to be a real threat.
2009
In fact a bloc-from-the-Rock party already exists. The Newfoundland and Labrador First Party contested three seats in the last federal election, but won only a few hundred votes in each riding. Its leader, Wayne Bennett, says separation isn't the party's immediate goal, although he doesn't rule it out either. The party is mainly interested in defending Newfoundlanders interests in Ottawa.
2016
Alberta separatism, thought to be dead for decades, again pokes its head above the parapet. The Flintstone Federation is on the rise. In letters to the editor, online comments and talk shows, many people are making the point that if no pipelines can be built because Montreal objects, or Burnaby objects, or premiers demand highwayman payoffs, what's the point of Canada anyway - especially when Alberta's crippled economy still sends cash down the equalization pipeline, and nobody seems to demonstrate against that one. [...] But the old western separation pitch can be incredibly powerful and damaging during a crisis seen as abetted by Ottawa, either by action or the lack of it.
3n. — historical, Politics

the act of the colony of Canada separating from Britain.

Type: 3. Semantic Change — The term was used to refer to the potential for Canada to sever ties with Britain. The possibility of separation continued to be expressed post-Confederation (see, e.g. the 1883 quotation).

Quotations

1826
It is certainly gratifying to those who, like ourselves, from habit and early association, have been accustomed to look towards the mother country with eyes of affection, and to consider a separation from it as an evil which can only be contemplated with painful sensations [...]
1836
Such assertions were a libel upon the reformers of Upper Canada: and if a separation was desired by any in this country, it was by the hon. and learned gentleman's party.
1858
We must be prepared to meet the chance of a separation from Britain, ere we decide on a Protectionist policy. But if there is (as we believe there is,) a hope of attaining advantages equal to those of a Protectionist policy, without weakening, but rather by strengthening the bonds which unites us to our fatherland, we hope and believe that there is no man in Canada who would not prefer it, nay, who would not sacrifice some pecuniary advantage, in order that he might remain a subject of VICTORIA, retain the proud sirname of BRITON [...]
1867
You cannot engraft this mongrel system upon monarchical institutions, -- when you change you must become a Republic, and the game played by the American Government in Mexico will be played over again here. I look upon this scheme as the first step towards a separation from the Mother Country, and I prophecy that ten years will not pass before this new nationality will drift into the United States.
1883
It is evident that the spread of a national sentiment in the Dominion (by which we do not imply separation from the Mother Country, but rather the growth of a spirit binding one Province to another, and the whole to the Parent Land) is to be from Manitoba, the most central Province, to the sea on east, north and west.
1939
No wonder the commercial interests, along with a lot of other interests, presently got out at Montreal an Annexation Manifesto (1849) in favour of "friendly and peaceful separation".

References