Sovereignty Bill

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The Sovereignty Bill, or "Bill 1: An Act Respecting the Future of Québec", was a motion in the Quebec National Assembly that declared the Canadian province of Quebec's independence from Canada and it's federal government. It was to be ratified in into provinicial legislation following a "Yes" vote in the 1995 Quebec referendum. It was written by a group of prominent Quebecers, including poet-singer Gilles Vigneault, author-playwright Marie Laberge, sociologist Fernand Dumont and constitutional experts Andree Lajoie and Henri Brun.^[1]

The following is an excerpt of the bill's preamble:

Our shared future is in the hands of all those for whom Quebec is homeland. Because we take to heart the need to reinforce established alliances and friendships, we shall safeguard the rights of First Nations and we intend to define with them a new alliance. Likewise, the English-speaking community historically established in Quebec enjoys rights that will be maintained.

Independent and hence fully present in the world, we intend to work for co-operation, humanitarian action, tolerance and peace. We shall subscribe to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to other international instruments for the protection of rights.

While never repudiating our values, we shall devote ourselves to forging, through treaties and agreements, mutually beneficial links with the peoples of the Earth. In particular, we wish to formulate along with the people of Canada, our historic partner, new relations that will allow us to maintain our economic ties and to redefine our political exchanges. And we shall marshal a particular effort to strengthen our ties with the peoples of the United States and France and with those of other countries both in the Americas and in the Francophonie.

To accomplish this design, to maintain the fervor that fills us and impels us, for the time has now come to set in motion this country's vast endeavor.