From the archives: Debate hasn't changed much in 125 years

This story was first published on June 27, 1992, in the Montreal Gazette.
The debate droned on and on. Confederation is madness, proclaimed some, for it means the death of French-Canadian culture. So what, others retorted: political union means economic and spiritual prosperity, for it opens all of Canada to us. Besides, it prevents those rapacious Americans from gobbling us up.
Montreal at any time since the Meech Lake accord failed two years ago last Tuesday? Perhaps. But it’s also what