Vive le Quebec. Or save Canada. The choice is stark.
In a referendum Monday that is too close to call, 5 million Quebec voters will decide whether one of the world's richest, most tolerant democracies should be torn in two - with a new, sovereign French-speaking country implanted defiantly in its midst.Canadians outside Quebec are distraught and baffled at the realization their compatriots might leave. Quebec's nationalists are equally frustrated, saying other Canadians fail to understand their desire for a land where their French heritage can flourish unhindered.
The climatic moment has taken most Canadians by surprise, despite decades of fruitless wrangling over constitutional reforms intended to appease the separatists.
The separatists lost an independence referendum in 1980 by a 60-40 margin. Most Canadians had expected a similar result this time - until recent polls showed that this contest could go either way.
"Within the last week, Canadians woke up and said, `My country is at stake,' " said David Cameron, a University of Toronto professor.
Canada faces protracted turmoil no matter who wins. The separatists vow to keep pursuing independence even if they lose, while a separatist victory plunges both Quebec and Canada into a great unknown.
The prospect of losing a vast province of 7.3 million people - a quarter of Canada's population - so appalls the federal government that its leaders have refused to say what they would do if the "Yes" side triumphs.
If the separatists win, independence will not come instantly. The separatists have offered to negotiate for up to a year on a new economic and political partnership between Canada and an independent Quebec.
The federal government could try to fight back with a legal challenge or by calling a second referendum, Canadawide or in Que-bec. But separatist leader Lucien Bouchard says any such attempt to thwart the will of Quebec's French-speaking majority would trigger an unprecedented backlash.
"They have no intention of giving up until they get what they want," said Tom Ackerman, a retired Saskatchewan farmer.
Many Canadians wonder exactly what it is the Quebecers want. They already enjoy varying degrees of autonomy in education, immigration and foreign policy, and have laws making French the province's sole official language.
The Quebec nationalists reply in a chant heard in rally after rally: "We want a country." History is alive here: Quebecers still resent defeats, snubs and repression suffered at the hands of English speakers 200 years ago.