Whistling Past the Graveyard: Constitutional Abeyances, Québec, and the Future of CanadaIn this volume, David Thomas interprets Canada's ongoing constitutional crisis from a new and unusual perspective. Maintaining that 'constitutions conceal as well as reveal', he explores the notion of constitutional abeyances developed by British scholar Michael Foley. Canada's abeyances - deliberately murky areas of irresolution, unsettlement, and ambiguity - were long buried under the Constitution Act of 1867. This Act avoided clear statements on many of the new country's most intractable issues, in particular, the status of Quebec. The author traces how and why an acceptable 'settled unsettlement' of this and other key abeyances lasted for almost a century. He analyses when, why, and how the abeyance of Quebec's status finally surfaced in the face of rising Quebec nationalism. |
Contents
The World of Abeyances | 1 |
The Term and the Temperament | 19 |
Settled Unsettlements | 51 |
Copyright | |
6 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
abeyances accept agreement Alain-G Alan Cairns American André Laurendeau approach argued argument avoid Bernard Crick bilingualism British Canadian Confederation Canadian Constitutional Canadian Federalism Canadian Political Canadian Studies Charlottetown Accord Charter Citizenship claims compromise Constitution Act constitutional change Constitutionalism conventions Court David Cameron deal debate discussion distinct society dualism economic Edmund Burke élites English Canada equality federal government federal-provincial fictions Foley Foley's French Canadians Gagnon Heintzman Ibid idea identity important institutions issues Journal of Canadian language Laurendeau Liberal Macdonald major matters Meech Lake Accord Michael Montreal and Kingston myths noted Ontario Ottawa Parliament parties patronage Pepin Pepin-Robarts Pierre Trudeau political culture Political Science principles problems provinces Quebec nationalism Québécois questions recognition referendum Report rhetoric Robarts Robertson Roger Gibbins role Royal Commission Scotland Senate settlement Simeon social sovereignty Task Force things tion Toronto Press traditions Tremblay University of Toronto vision