Chantal Hébert

This was an interesting exercise, discussing what the various players in the Quebec sovereignty referendum of 1995 thought might have happened or were prepared to have happen if the referendum had been in favour of Quebec separating. This was a key moment in Canadian politics for me, one that I was really aware of (thanks primarily to CBC sketch comedy shows), so a lot of familiar faces here. Interesting to hear from Western Canada in this book and to learn about the divisions in the Yes camp (Bouchard and Dumont vs Parizeau). I also liked the last chapter, in which Hébert and Lapierre talk about how they first met each of the people they interviewed. It's a short, breezy read. Recommended if you're interested in Canadian political history.… (more)

What if the sovereigntists had won the 1995 referendum? This is the question put to 17 leaders involved in either the Yes or the No campaigns. The author has largely allowed former leaders (prime minister, premiers, other federal and provincial ministers) to speak for themselves. In this way, the book is missing some background and analysis. We are reading about perceptions, with the inevitable lapses in memory and personal biases. But it is good reading...fascinating to learn the motivation behind certain strategies (or lack thereof) and to allow readers to contemplate their own "what if" scenarios.… (more)

This book is divided into chapters with each chapter depicting a Canadian political figure who was involved in the Quebec referendum of 1995. The first three chapters deal with the Yes side: Parizeau, Bouchard, DuPont. The next with the No side and so on. It is a very interesting story but in some ways I found it to be a little light on analysis and detail. The biggest surprise for me was that had the Yes side prevailed, the federal government was totally unprepared with a plan to address the issues the next day. The Prime Minister at the time, Jean Chrétien seemed to be oblivious to the possibility of a Yes victory and kept many of his closest advisors, such as the finance minister Paul Martin, out of the his thoughts. Raymond Chretien the PM's nephew and ambassador to the USA was better informed and prepared than his uncle. Some characters had very well thought out contingency plans for the aftermath such as Roy Romanow and Frank McKenna.
The biggest concern for all was the size of the majority required to deal with a separate Quebec. It seemed that 50% + 1 was enough for ardent nationalists while for federalists it had to be at least 60%. Good book but you would need to be really interested in Canadian politics to appreciate it.… (more)