Impossible Nation

A week before the 1995 referendum on the separation of Quebec, 100,000 Canadians converged on Montreal from across the country in the hope of convincing Quebeckers that they should vote to stay in Canada. The rally created a rare moment of national joy, and engendered hope in English Canada about the future of this country. But after the very narrow victory of the NO side in the referendum, Canadians quickly forgot their desperation and returned to a public hard line on the issue of Quebec. At the same time, analysts in Quebec called the rally's emotion false. What are the roots of these two separate interpretations? How do we share the same land and yet see identical events throught different eyes? An essay on the mutual misunderstandings embedded in Canadian and quebecois cultures.