The morning after had come. Every polling station had reported in and the final votes were tallied. The previous night every household in the nation was glued to their television sets and radios as the numbers were coming. Early in the night the votes for sovereignty soared into the high sixties, but as the night went on votes from further west, not least of all the federalist stronghold of Montreal, started to come and that lead started to fall precipitously. The entire country held its breath. But in the end a strong showing for "oui" across the province created a momentum that Montreal alone could not abet.

Emotionally, the battered federalist campaign felt their fears realized, their country was slipping away from them. The sovereigntist side was buoyed by euphoria and a sense that the dream they've held for so long had finally made real before their eyes.
Quebec had voted for sovereignty - with an ungainly asterisk attached. As the voting signs were torn down and the miniature flags cleaned up, Quebec, Canada and the world wondered what this vote actually meant, what form this sovereignty would actually take, if it would even lead to an independent Quebec at all.
Within hours of the "oui" vote becoming official, the Premier of Quebec Jacques Parizeau released a televised statement. Parizeau sought to allay fears that Quebec would immediately seek a unilateral independence, while sending a strong message that Quebec's vote was final and binding. He expressed a desire for Quebec and the rest of Canada to seek a peaceful and cordial separation, that Quebec would continue to pay taxes and participate normally within Canadian institutions until a settlement was reached, and that Quebec would assume its "fair share" of the national debt. He also spoke directly to Anglophone Canadians and the First Nations people of Quebec, promising that their rights in a independent Quebec would be respected.
However, Parizeau made it clear that Quebec was to be independent within a year, speaking of the day that Quebec would accede to the United Nations. He affirmed that this would happen with or without a favourable exit deal with the federal government in Ottawa.