Quebec separatism: premiers willing to defend Canada
Posted July 22, 2026 12:28 pm.
Premiers from other provinces are reportedly ready to defend Canada in a potential referendum debate on sovereignty in Quebec.
Provincial leaders made a plea for Canadian unity on Wednesday at the summer meeting of the Council of the Federation, which brings together all the country’s premiers in Charlottetown, including Christine Fréchette.
According to polls, the upcoming fall elections could well lead to the formation of a Parti Québécois (PQ) government, which promises to hold a referendum on independence in its first term. This is raising concerns elsewhere in the country, as is the separatist movement currently emerging in Alberta.
In a press scrum Wednesday morning, just before his counterparts’ working session, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew ventured to address this sensitive issue, attempting to avoid accusations of interfering in Quebec’s internal affairs.
“This is our country, this is Canada, we all have a say in this, to tell our fellow citizens that we want to stay together,” he argued.
He would be ready to play a role if Quebecers want him to, the Manitoba premier added, when a journalist pointed out that he also speaks French — unlike most of his counterparts.
“There are many Francophones in Western Canada, and we have good feelings toward Quebecers, and we support them in the challenges they face with minority languages,” he stated, speaking in French.
“But at the same time, we are Canadians and we encourage them to join us.”
When asked directly about participating in the referendum campaign, he replied that it was a “hypothetical question.”
For her part, New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said that the provinces “certainly” had a responsibility to defend Canadian unity.
“Politics in Quebec is politics in Quebec. I already have a lot to deal with in New Brunswick, but we would be there to defend and promote a united Canada,” she assured, recalling that her province was part of the original founding pact of 1867.
It was not possible to ask all the premiers about their potential participation in a referendum campaign, as several of them were already in the meeting room during the press scrums.
In Quebec, it is generally accepted that the debate on independence is the sole prerogative of Quebecers, in accordance with the principle of the right to self-determination of peoples.
However, sovereigntists have often accused the federalist camp of having committed irregularities during the 1980 and 1995 referendum campaigns.
They criticized the federal government, in particular, for not respecting Quebec’s law on public consultations and for interfering with its full weight.
One example is the rally held by the ‘No’ side in Montreal, known as the “Love In,” two days before the vote in October 1995, which was attended by elected officials from across the country.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
