Update: Of course, I could be totally wrong about all of this. John Ibbitson seems to think so.
(Edited because when I’m in a bad mood I indulge in gratuitous insults)
This is one of the least helpful articles I have read on the topic in a while. It is an op-ed in today’s Globe by Andre Pratte of La Presse, and it is boilerplate English-Canada-needs-to-understand-Quebec. Aside from a rather obtuse interpretation of the last thirty years of Canadian history, Pratte claims that
Whatever its faults, the Charlottetown accord was a masterpiece of give and take, as the British North America Act had been in 1867. By voting against the accord, did Canadians signal their abandonment of compromise?
But he neglects to mention one rather vital piece of information. Quebecers rejected the Charlottetown Accord.
Here are the national results of the referendum. As they make abundantly clear, the “Rest of Canada” was more willing to compromise than were Quebecers.
So who exactly needs to understand whom here?