Canada's weekly news magazine has compared Bermuda's Independence debate to the ongoing separation saga in the Province of Quebec.

In the From The Editor section regularly featured on page two of the mass circulation weekly, Maclean's magazine said the recent House of Assembly debate on the Independence Referendum Act "rang with eerily familiar themes''.

"Critics argued that an Independent Bermuda would drive investment away from one of the world's great tax havens, that tourism would suffer, and that, after all, a majority of those polled were against Independence.'' Editor Mr. Robert Lewis said Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan might have borrowed a page from the book of Parti Quebecois Cabinet Minister Ms Louise Beaudoin when he said: "We need something that has a oneness about it -- that doesn't belong to someone else.'' Noting that Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau recently announced the Quebec Independence referendum planned for this summer would be delayed until fall, the magazine said "the means do not always dignify the ends'' when "the spirit of liberation is loose in the world''.

"Until the United Bermuda Party was sure it would muster a two-vote victory on March 24, it toyed with the notion of delaying the (House of Assembly) vote,'' the editorial said.

"In Quebec, Premier Jacques Parizeau also plays a cynical game, trying to convince citizens that, if they like ice cream, fruit, and syrup, then surely they want applie pie a la mode.'' Mr. Parizeau was "clearly...prepared to abandon the referendum for good, so intent is he on avoiding a so-called humiliation for Quebec if the province votes No -- that is to say, for Canada''.

Most Quebeckers were "less concerned about symbols than reality'', the magazine said.

"Like Canadians everywhere, they can see that their lives are being influenced more by events in London, New York City and even Bermuda, which has one of the highest standards of living in the world.'' The main concerns of Quebeckers were "health, family and education'', the magazine said.

"That is why support for separatism is stalled at 45 percent. That is why Parizeau is scheming to avoid asking the people for an answer that he does not want to hear.'' While the date of the Quebec referendum is Mr. Parizeau's call, Bermuda's Independence referendum must be held by the end of this year, under the terms of the act.