
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 2, 1995                   TAG: 9507030076
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A15   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: TORONTO                                 LENGTH: Medium

CONFLICT IN QUEBEC SPOILS CANADA'S PARTY

Canada celebrated its 128th birthday Saturday, but the holiday was clouded by the maneuverings of political foes girding for a referendum in Quebec that could pull the nation apart.

Parades, fireworks and concerts coast-to-coast commemorated the 1867 fusion of English-speaking colonies and French-speaking Quebec into the federation of Canada.

But an opinion poll released on the eve of Canada Day showed surging sentiment in Quebec in favor of sovereignty. It was the strongest signal yet that separatist leaders in the province might succeed when they hold a planned referendum on sovereignty sometime this fall.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien, attending the main Canada Day ceremony at the federal capital in Ottawa, insisted that most people in Quebec prefer remaining part of Canada.

``I'm sure there will be a great Canada Day a year from now, and Quebeckers will be celebrating with us,'' he said.

In Montreal, federalist supporters staged a Canada Day parade that doubled as a show of opposition to a breakaway. Separatist leaders stayed away from the ceremony, having chosen instead to participate in Quebec's own provincial holiday a week earlier.

The separatist cause has improved in the polls since its chief proponents, the Parti Quebecois and the Bloc Quebecois, agreed last month that they would propose a formal relationship with Canada if sovereignty was obtained.

Chretien, visiting Montreal Friday, challenged the separatists to be clear about their aims.

``I just want them to be honest with people,'' Chretien said. ``They want to get divorced and remarried at the same time.''

The latest poll, published in Montreal's La Presse, indicated that 45 percent of Quebec voters would support sovereignty that entailed a link with Canada. Forty-one percent said they would vote no and 14 percent didn't know or wouldn't say.

The polling firm CROP said the survey of 1,509 people had a margin of error of 2.5 percent.

``If the Yes side wins, the consequences will be immense for all Canadians,'' the Montreal Gazette said in an editorial. ``But even if the No side wins, this country cannot continue running its national affairs the way it has been. For Canada to work better, it has to be able to accommodate our differences in a more efficient way.''

by CNB