Future of Canada's Boundaries

[W. K. Lis]

There still is a Labrador-Quebec border dispute. See link.

Line A: the boundary decided by the Privy Council; the current legal boundary. Line B: the boundary as it is sometimes portrayed by Quebec today.

The border between Labrador and Canada was set March 2, 1927, after a tortuous five-year trial. In 1809 Labrador had been transferred from Lower Canada to Newfoundland, but the landward boundary of Labrador had never been precisely stated. Newfoundland argued it extended to the height of land, but Canada, stressing the historical use of the term "Coasts of Labrador", argued the boundary was 1 statute mile (1.6 km) inland from the high-tide mark. As Canada and Newfoundland were separate Dominions, but both members of the British Empire, the matter was referred to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council(in London), which set the Labrador boundary mostly along the coastal watershed, with part being defined by the 52nd parallel north. One of Newfoundland's conditions for joining Confederation in 1949 was that this boundary be entrenched in the Canadian constitution. While this border has not been formally accepted by the Quebec government, the Henri Dorion Commission (Commission d'étude sur l'intégrité du territoire du Québec) concluded in the early 1970s that Quebec no longer has a legal claim to Labrador.

Prior to the 1995 Quebec sovereignty referendum, Parti Québécois Premier Jacques Parizeau indicated that in the event of a "yes" vote, a sovereign Quebec under his leadership would have recognised the 1927 border. However, in 2001, Québec Natural Resources Minister and Québec Intergovernmental Affairs Minister reasserted that Québec has never recognised the 1927 border:

"Les ministres rappellent qu'aucun gouvernement québécois n'a reconnu formellement le tracé de la frontière entre le Québec et Terre-Neuve dans la péninsule du Labrador selon l'avis rendu par le comité judiciaire du Conseil privé de Londres en 1927. Pour le Québec, cette frontière n'a donc jamais été définitivement arrêtée."


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(The ministers reiterate that no Quebec government has ever formally recognized the drawing of the border between Quebec and Newfoundland in the Labrador peninsula according to the opinion rendered by the privy council in 1927. For Quebec, this border has thus never been definitively defined.)
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[JasonParis]

I find the low-population proposed provinces of Keewatin and Ungava most interesting along with the Champlain "connecting land" to Acadia...

Would the "connecting land" not make more sense along the St. Lawrence Seaway though?

 

[gweed123]

Would the "connecting land" not make more sense along the St. Lawrence Seaway though?

It would from a Canadian point of view, but the end result of it along the Seaway would be Quebec would be divided by a thin strip of Canada (north and south of the Seaway).

 

[dunkalunk]

Another interesting scenario here: Quebec's independence comes as a reaction to Montreal's bid to become a semi-autonomous city-state within Quebec as a result of the Quebec government's ever-more restrictive language and culture laws.

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/03/05/jonathan-kay-if-quebec-separates-we-keep-montreal/

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Celine+Cooper+Montreal+city+state/9536579/story.html

 

[JasonParis]

Although, as of Monday, this may be on the back-burner for a very long time, if not forever.
http://www.threehundredeight.com/p/quebec.html

 

[dunkalunk]

Although, as of Monday, this may be on the back-burner for a very long time, if not forever.
http://www.threehundredeight.com/p/quebec.html

Perhaps, but the rift in culture and economic priorities between the island of Montreal and the rest of Quebec are still wide and aren't going anywhere. Something will break eventually.

 

[MisterF]

Canada, along with other former British colonies like the US and Australia, are outliers with how our provinces/states are set up. In most of the world the major cities have their own province or state. This ensures that cities and rural areas can meet their own needs much more effectively. In an era where over half the population of the country lives in only 10 cities, our system of governance is highly outdated. But I guess that's the nature of a decentralized federation of provinces - each one would never willingly shrink its own boundaries. The best that our big cities can hope for is more autonomy within their own provinces.

 

[bgrimsle]

There seems to be a lack of awareness of how impossible leaving the United States is. It was tried in the 1860's and we fought a horrible war to stop it. The current procedure requires a state leaving the union to get approval from EVERY OTHER STATE. All 49 of them. Good luck with that. It's never going to happen. Speculation about states leaving to join Canada or whatever is naive and pointless.

 

[Videodrome]

 

[Yunemus]

 

[Towered]

View attachment 307755

What is the point of this map?

 

[DSC]

What is the point of this map?

To make a Post so that s/he can start threads?

 

[lenaitch]

I just did a quick review of this thread back to its beginning. Wow, some pretty interesting drugs must have been going around back then even for a fantasy thread.

 

[Towered]

To make a Post so that s/he can start threads?

Ok fine, but there was zero context given, nor any explanation for the downright ridiculous border changes displayed.