Entente Cordiale

For decades Canadians have been worried that the French-speaking province of Quebec would secede and the country would fall apart. Last week Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and 10 provincial premiers finalized an agreement aimed at keeping the 125-year-old confederation intact. They agreed to constitutional reforms that would provide greater autonomy for Quebec, more political clout for the country’s less populous regions and self-government for aboriginal Canadians.