Thursday, June 5, 2025

Canadian Provincial Separatism

It used to be the province of Quebec that wanted to separate from Canada, now it's Alberta. I have an idea as to why.

Symbolism is a powerful force. We saw how powerful symbolism such as national flags can be in the posting "The Power Of Symbolism", March 2024.

Canada is affected by the U.S. flag. The fifty stars represent the fifty states. The flag was last changed in 1959, when Alaska and Hawaii were added as states. The thirteen stripes represent the thirteen original states, along the east coast. Image from the Wikipedia article "U.S. Flag".

On the Canadian flag there are eleven points on the maple leaf. Image from the Wikipedia article "Flag of Canada".

So there was twelve provinces and territories but only eleven points on the maple leaf. I won't count Nunavut, separated from Northwest Territories, because that is a relatively recent development. The two points at the bottom of the maple leaf would obviously represent the two territories, Yukon and Northwest Territories.

That leaves only nine points for ten provinces. It suggests that one of the provinces should leave. It is like inviting ten people but only providing nine chairs. It implies that one of them should leave.

This Canadian flag was adopted in 1965, and that is about when the modern era of separatism began. The first candidate for separation was Quebec, because it spoke a different language than the rest of Canada. In 1970 there was the FLQ (or October) Crisis. A political party was formed, the Bloc Quebecois, with the goal of independence for Quebec. Referendums were held on separation in 1980 and in 1995.

No sooner had Quebec Separatism died down than Alberta Separatism has taken it's place. It is based on Alberta being more conservative than the rest of Canada. I think there is the powerful force of symbolism driving it, that there are ten provinces but only nine points on the maple leaf.

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