Canadian Democracy in a North American Assignment

Canadian Democracy in a North American - Assignment Example Quebec being the only province in Canada that speaks French, the two professors try to identify the laws that affect Quebec and how relevant these laws are to the French population. To try and support the province, they analyze ways in which the province can be recognized in the Constitution of Canada without any trouble. This would, however, require amendments that will not only require the expertise of the legislation but will also have to be passed by a majority of votes in the other provinces. Is it necessary for Quebec to have its own language and hence promote their rich French culture? Body Quebec has always had a rich history in French culture and language. However, the other parts of the country speak English and do not have the rich French culture that exists in Quebec. Preserving the French culture has always proved to be a problem and as a result of this, the leaders have come with amendments that will allow each province to be able to determine some issues affecting them without having to affect other provinces. For example in this case, Quebec could be able to change its laws and make French the official language in the province unlike other provinces which have English being their official language. However, it will mean that the constitution will have to be amended to allow each province to choose its respective language without legislative opposition. The bilateral constitution amendments process has to be limited to only a few issues and should not include issues that are critical to the country’s security and economy such as voting periods. At the moment, however, it is not possible for any province to amend its constitution without legislative approval. The process began in 1982 when the country adopted a new constitutional amendment process that ensures that Canada changes its constitution without the inclusion of the British. It has, however, been argued that during this period, the amendments were made without the approval of Quebe c – a major province that had over a quarter of the entire population at that particular period of time. This was ironical since Quebec had played a major role in ensuring that Canada got these amendments. However, the country’s legislature completely ignored the agenda that Quebec had for this particular change. After this, there have been several failed attempts to accept the changes that Quebec proposes to the constitution. The main arguments of the authors are that Quebec has always had a rich French culture that has always been protected by the people all through the years. The people, therefore, need these cultural values that include the French language to be protected by law. This would mean that French becomes the official language of the province. However, currently the law does not recognize the bilateral amendment process. The authors argue that in 1982, Quebec fought for a new constitution that would allow the country to amend its own constitution without Britain’s help. Quebec also proposed the inclusion of bilateral constitution amendment, a system that would allow each province to change some of its laws that did not include controversial statements that were important to the country. However, during the constitutional amendment process, Quebec was not included in the process and some of its needs were not met. Despite the constant complaints by the Quebec leaders, there has not been a consensus on how to promote culture in the area. It is important to