Reaction
According to an opinion poll conducted by Angus Reid in November 1997, 62% of Canadians supported the Declaration's principles (39% "moderately," 23% "strongly"). 30% were opposed and 7% had no opinion. These numbers were similar to Quebec's, which found 23% "strongly" in favour and 36% "moderately" in favour (59% overall), and 30% opposed. Radio-Canada also found that in Quebec, 80% of the province's residents would classify the Declaration as "acceptable"; 18% were opposed.
Quebec Liberal Jean Charest voiced some support for the Calgary Declaration. However, a Parti Québécois minister Guy Chevrette said a referendum should take place before Quebec should adopt the Declaration, and sovereignty should be an option in such a referendum. In 2006, the eventually successful candidate for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada Stéphane Dion recalled the Declaration as being unsuccessful. "Few people remember" the Declaration, he writes, and in Quebec the Declaration was quickly dismissed by politicians because it "had no teeth."
Journalist Paul Wells highlighted items he thought were missing from the Declaration, saying "The Calgary declaration says nothing about health care, good schools, the return of prosperity, the slow rebirth of a thoughtful Canadian foreign policy, or the possibility of sharing good ideas and ennobling projects with fellow citizens who don't speak the same language but who share the same values."
Read more about this topic: Calgary Declaration
Famous quotes containing the word reaction:
“An actor must communicate his author’s given message—comedy, tragedy, serio- comedy; then comes his unique moment, as he is confronted by the looked-for, yet at times unexpected, reaction of the audience. This split second is his; he is in command of his medium; the effect vanishes into thin air; but that moment has a power all its own and, like power in any form, is stimulating and alluring.”
—Eleanor Robson Belmont (1878–1979)
“In contrast to revenge, which is the natural, automatic reaction to transgression and which, because of the irreversibility of the action process can be expected and even calculated, the act of forgiving can never be predicted; it is the only reaction that acts in an unexpected way and thus retains, though being a reaction, something of the original character of action.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)
“Christianity was only a very strong and singularly well-timed Salvation Army movement that happened to receive help from an unusual and highly dramatic incident. It was a Puritan reaction in an age when, no doubt, a Puritan reaction was much wanted; but like all sudden violent reactions, it soon wanted reacting against.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)