ABSTRACT
Canada is a multicultural and increasingly multiracial country, with a large French-speaking minority which resides mainly in the province of Quebec. The country covers a vast geographical area, made up of regions that are economically and culturally distinct. As a result, voting in federal elections tends to be highly regionalized. National unity is a perennial concern. Quebeckers have twice voted in referenda on Quebec sovereignty, and in 1995 the “no” side won by a razor-thin majority. Meanwhile, residents of Canada’s western provinces often feel alienated from the centers of power. The other perennial concern, at least in English-speaking Canada, relates to Canada’s cultural sovereignty. As former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau famously remarked to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in 1969, living next to the United States is like sleeping with an elephant: there is a risk of being crushed.
