Definitive argument against "partition" and other fear-mongering

Some, desperate at the prospective rising of the Quebec nation to self-government, free from the "Dominion" of Ottawa, have tried to instill fear into public opinion about the possibility of "partitioning" Quebec.

Obviously, every Western nation's new independance has stayed clear of such idiocy - like Norway and Sweden in 1905, or Iceland gaining independance from Denmark just after WWII. Or the three Baltic republics in 1991 notwithstanding their large Russian-speaking minorities (against national independence at the time).

Except one : Ireland where the process wasn't democratically voted, unlike the other 20th c. examples of Norway, Iceland, and the Baltic Republic.

As the British tories decided to prevent "self-rule" with violence, an insurrection followed and a negociation split Ireland in two, England vowing to keep a small parcel were the Protestant occupiers could be in slight majority.

And whole lot of good that agressive policy brought Britain. Meanwhile, Ireland - the independent Republic of Ireland - has grown to prosper, leaveing the trouble for London to handle.

No matter thus the very documented stupidity of such an attempt - which indicates how little chance it stands at being implemented since it hurts most those who do - not only is it beyond the pale ; one argument puts it definitely beyond the possibilty of any legality whatsoever in any negociation between the Republic of Québec and the Dominion of Canada.

When Newfoundland voted in a referendum to join the Canadian confederation, there was obviously no possibility that counties having voted "No" would remain outside Canada... It obviously made no sense.

It makes no more sense today concerning Quebec. It has no legal basis, and this historic fact sets legal precedent against any such attempts.

Here are Newfoundland historical references :

"In pursuit of a common policy with Canada, London kept pointing Newfoundland towards Canada by repeatedly warning that Britain had no financial help to give. Canada's role was simply to open its arms. When the National Convention urged that Newfoundlanders be asked to choose in a referendum between responsible government and commission government, Britain tacked on a third possibility - confederation with Canada - even though the convention itself had voted down a motion to place confederation on the referendum ballot.

In the referendum of June 3, 1948, 44.6 percent of voters supported the restoration of responsible government, 41.1 percent voted for confederation with Canada, and 14.3 percent opted for the existing system of government by commission. A second referendum was held July 22 to settle the issue, whereupon 52.3 percent voted for confederation, versus 47.7 percent for a return to the pre-1934 system. On March 31, 1949, Newfoundland officially became part of Canada, and on the following day, Smallwood was sworn in as the first premier."  http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~melbaker/confederation1949.htm