William Bothwell is mistaken when he says that a seceding Quebec would be obliged to leave the Ungava region behind in Canada.

An act governing the conditions of secession was passed by the federal Liberal government of J Chrétien in the late 1990s. It requires a clear referendum majority and question, and specifies that a separating Quebec would take with it all the territory now designated as the Province of Quebec. That would include Ungava and the land and water bridges between Ontario and the Maritimes. The St Lawrence Seaway would be controlled by Quebec, not Canada.

The Maritime provinces might then decide to join the USA rather than remain isolated by a separate Quebec. Canada would be fragmented forever.

Before we decide that a province or ethnic group can be a "nation," we should first define a "nation" and its attendant political authority.

The consequences might otherwise be disastrous.

Charles Hooker

Orangeville