Introduction / Richard Simeon -- Part I. Background -- The Parti Québécois in power / James de Wilde -- Public attitudes and alternative futures / Frederick J. Fletcher -- Survival or disintegration / Ronald L. Watts -- Part II. Regional opinion -- British Columbia : perceptions of a split personality / R.M. Burns -- The Prairie perspective in 1977 / John Archer -- Québec's separation and the Atlantic Provinces / George Rawlyk -- The view from upper Canada / Ethnic hierarchies and minority consciousness in Québec / Peter Leslie -- Part III. Working it out -- Common ground and disputed territory / John Trent -- What alternatives do we have if any? / Edwin R. Black -- Liberté, egalité, efficacité : respecifying the federal role / William P. Irvine -- Reaching the lifeboat : roles of leaders and citizens / Part IV. The longer run -- Scenarios for separation / Disengagement / Hugh Thorburn -- Association after sovereignty? / Charles Pentland -- The battle of the balance sheets / Peter Leslie and Richard Simeon -- Legal aspects of Québec's claim for independence / John Claydon and John Whyte -- Securing human rights in a renewed confederation / W.R. Lederman -- J'ai le gout du Québec but I like Canada : reflections of an ambivalent man / John Meisel