The question . . .

Do you agree that Quebec should become sovereign, after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership, within the scope of the bill respecting the future of Quebec and of the agreement signed on June 12, 1995?

. . . and the answers of three eminent Canadians

Yes

Conrad Black, newspaper publisher

"I may be one of the few English-speaking people in this country who finds the referendum campaign in Quebec somewhat exhilirating and is essentially undismayed by the possibility of a Yes vote...[Canada could then abandon] the wreckage of a failed bicultural state with the back-breaking and ultimately corrupt transfer payment system and the mad binge of political correctness that have gone with it."

No

Robertson Davies, author

Quebec sovereignty "would involve the whole country in about five years of very distressing turmoil, economic and governmental. During that time, the people of Quebec will have to recognise precisely what they've done to themselves and to us. It will be a very bad business indeed."

Maybe

Wayne Gretzky, ice

hockey player

"This is a decision the people of Quebec need to make. If they're not happy, if they think they need to leave, they're going to tell us that and there's not much we can do. I just think it needs to get settled once and for all. I don't think it's good for the country to go through this every few years."