Iffy Proposition

If history were half as good a teacher as it is reputed to be, Quebec politicians would have figured out by now that the fervor with which they support separatism is in inverse proportion to their province’s prospects for economic growth. If Quebec citizens would review the ignored lessons of history, they would realize that their politicians boost for separatism loudest when a distraction from dim economic prospects is most needed.

If not, Mainers, who share a long, generally friendly border and relationship with the province, should expect to hear a lot about Quebec separatism in the coming months. Expect, especially, to hear about all the things that would be better “If Quebec Were Sovereign …”

That is catchphrase of the new campaign, suggested by a separatist writer and adopted by Quebec Premier Bernard Landry. The sentence, Mr. Landry suggested, could be completed with such things as “it would have already signed the Kyoto accord on curbing greenhouse gases, would have a more generous parental-leave program, and would have more lenient youth-justice laws.” Hardly the stirring calls-to-arms of most revolutions, but one has to work with what’s at hand.

One thing this revived separatist movement, which has been on a distinct slide since the high of a one-point loss at the polls in 1995, will have is money. On Saturday, Mr. Landry announced his provincial government would offer tax breaks on contributions to a new pro-independence group, the Council for Sovereignty. This, he said, will create a more level playing field to take on the federal government, which has spent hundreds of millions promoting the “falsehood” of Canadian unity.

This announcement – a reversal of the premier’s opposition until now of publicly funded independence campaigns – comes after a dizzying couple of weeks of reorganization and realignment within the provincial government as Mr. Landry seeks to quiet rumblings from his Parti Quebecois’s separatist wing that he was soft on sovereignty. With elections coming up in just a few months, this new hard-line strategy may be designed to energize PQ supporters. It also could be designed to give Quebec more muscle in the fierce fight shaping up over a proposed makeover of Canada’s national health care system.

True, other surges in separatism have been politically energizing and have resulted in Ottawa granting concessions to Quebec; they also, however, have resulted in investor unease about Quebec, by high interest rates, high taxes, population flight and all the other things that cause Quebec to lag as an economic center. Undaunted by that part of the historical record, Mr. Landry says, the “If Quebec Were Sovereign…” campaign will be different from other political campaigns because “instead of producing propaganda, this will encourage people to take part in an intellectual debate.” If nothing else, that novelty should make this worth watching.