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The support for sovereignty is rather low in Quebec right now. The Parti Québécois is trying to rebuild itself, and it’s far from clear that it will be able to avoid the peril of radicalization. That said, anyone who thinks that this is the result of a tough-love approach is deluding himself. My theory is that many Quebecers realize that Canadian federalism, despite its flaws, gives us enough political room to manoeuvre and that is far from clear how full independence would help us solving our problems. Our problems look pretty much like those of fully sovereign nations.

However, it would be very hasty to assert that the sovereignty movement is dead. We can all be tricked by the cunning of history. Political wisdom suggests that an uncompromising and patronizing attitude is the safest way to bolster the support for independence among minority nations, as the current situation in Catalonia testifies.

The greatest threats to unity in the past decades have been the 1982 unilateral patriation and the failure of the Meech and Charlottetown agreements. It seems right now that that historical phase is behind us. Justin Trudeau and the Liberals should not play with matches. Trying to make gains in English Canada by putting Quebec in its place is risky and undignified.

Jocelyn Maclure is Full Professor of Philosophy at Université Laval, Quebec City, and co-author, with Charles Taylor, of Secularism and Freedom of Conscience (Harvard University Press, 2011).