Quebec is the best-known case study for separatism in North America. But there's a few Atlantic Canadians and northern New Englanders who could easily pull off a sovereignty controversy.

If Quebec secedes from Canada, the Atlantic Provinces – Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland – would be geographically isolated from Ontario and the West. This would be every reason for them to try striking out on their own. On the other hand, the Canadian Alliance rides on the coattails of the old Reform Party – Canada's right-wing abomination, a party which succeeded in the West by painting the Atlantic provinces as money sinkholes full of lazy drunken hicks and fishermen. The Canadian Alliance still has some whiffs of this really un-Canadian attitude, and if they, or any party with a similar attitude, were ever to come into power, the Atlantic provinces would again have a very good reason to leave Confederation. (It would be the perfect opportunity to show the Alliance that the Maritimes was not wracked by a "defeatist" attitude.)

Be that as it may, our affairs aren't particularly stable even under the status quo. Which is why I appreciated an article that appeared in the Guardian, Charlottetown's local newspaper, entitled "Do Atlantic Canadians share with us a common destiny?" and written by a certain Dr Thomas Naylor, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Duke University. In it, Dr Naylor proposed the union of the Atlantic provinces with the Northern New England states (Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont), to form a new republic. This republic would have a population of about 5.4 million, or roughly the same as that of Denmark.

We have the English in three dialects (New Englander, Maritimer, and Newfie), and we have the French in the Acadian dialect. We also have the Mi'cmagh, Malecite, Penobscot, Passamasquoddy, and Abenakis. Although Northern New England, the Maritimes, and Newfoundland can all be considered three completely different regions, we all share quite a lot in terms of culture and way of life. We are agrarian societies. "Tourism, fishing, farming, food processing, forest products and mining" (to use Naylor's list) drive our economies. We value "freedom, independence, self-sufficiency, hard work, thrift, respect for individual rights, environmental integrity and loyalty to family and community."

Here's a few paragraphs from Naylor's article:

If Quebec splits with Canada, the Atlantic provinces will be completely separated from the rest of Canada. But whether Quebec secedes or not, the Atlantic provinces will still be dominated by Toronto's size and financial clout, Alberta's oil, Vancouver's Pacific connection and Ottawa's bureaucracy. So too are Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont virtually powerless to challenge the will of California, New York, and Texas. What big states and big cities want is what they get.

...

Isn't it high time for us to tell the United States and Canada to bug off? Shouldn't we seriously consider forming an Atlantic Republic combining our two regions into a new independent confederation? Our role model, Denmark, has the fifth-highest per-capita income in the world. Of the world's 10 richest nations, Luxembourg, Norway, Singapore and Iceland are all smaller than Denmark.

Although the Atlantic Republic's income will be below that of Canada and the United States, the quality of life will be considerably higher. The new nation will have less traffic congestion, less urban sprawl, less crime, less pollution and less urban decay than most places in the world.

We are too small and unimportant to the United States and Canada to expect either of them to appreciate or celebrate our uniqueness. If we want to take control of our destiny in the 21st century, we must act now.

I, of course, can only write from the Maritimer perspective. Any New Englanders in the three aforementioned states want to jump in with some thoughts?