Can Canadians resolve the crisis in Confederation brought on by the election of the Parti Quebecois in Quebec within the context of a revised federation? What are the options for constitutional change? Will Quebec seek independence and if so, how will it come about? What will be the future relationship between an independent Quebec and the rest of Canada? Must Canada Fail? is a collection of essays by a group of distinguished scholars, based for the most part at Queen's University, which explores these and other questions posed by the current challenge to the federal system. Deeply committed to the renewal of Confederation, the authors recognize the strength of the drive for independence and the deeply rooted nature of the cultural and economic conflicts which have led to the present situation. They believe that there is a vast reservoir of "will to survive" in the country, together with a willingness to contemplate new institutional arrangements and policies-considered here in detail-which might reconcile the political goals of Quebecers with those of other Canadians.
But they acknowledge that the search for accommodation may fail, and in the light of that possibility examine how separation might occur and what its likely results would be. This is not an optimistic book. It offers no blueprint or panacea, no magic solution of the national crisis, but instead equips the reader with an essential guide to thinking through the choices before Canadians in the years immediately ahead. The contributors are John Archer, Edwin R. Black, R. M. Burns, John Claydon, James de Wilde, Frederick J. Fletcher, William P. Irvine, W. R. Lederman, Peter Leslie, John Meisel, Charles Pentland, George Rawlyk, Hugh Thorburn, John Trent, Ronald L. Watts, John Whyte, and Richard Simeon, editor of this collection.