Why is Quebec Separatism off the Agenda? Reducing National Unity Crisis in the Neoliberal Era.

The development of federalism in the context of the neoliberal era in the 2000s has partly created the conditions for a more stable co-operation between the federal and Quebec governments, contributing to the trend of separatism being sidelined in Quebec. In the context of neoliberalism, federal–provincial agreements have created conditions for just enough asymmetry in the relationship between the federal government and Quebec, something that Quebec has historically demanded, for separatism to remain off the agenda. What separates this relationship from past ones is a significant change in the context whereby the neoliberal orientation is becoming the common currency for co-operation. If Canadian federalism continues its present course under neoliberalism without any major mishaps, for the first time since the divisive period of the 1990s and early 2000s, federal–Quebec relations likely will be stable without national unity crises of the kind that culminated in the 1980 and 1995 Quebec referenda on sovereignty. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]