QUEBEC CITY (AFP) - More than half of Canadians view Quebec separatism as "dormant, but ready to start up at any moment," according to a new poll published Thursday.

"We found a country that is living an entente," said John Wright, senior vice-president of polling firm Ipsos-Reid. "We coexist by recognizing the volatility and not wanting to disturb it."

The survey of 2,505 French- and English-speaking Canadians was taken June 23 to 26 on the eve of celebrations marking the founding of Quebec City 400 years ago by French explorer Samuel de Champlain.

In the spring of 1608, Champlain crossed the North Atlantic Ocean and headed up the Saint Lawrence River to establish the city with 30 other men.

A decade and a half later, the early fur trading post, once the cradle of French civilization in North America that spanned more than half of what is now Canada and the United States, fell in battle to the British.

Since then, French and English speakers have lived side by side in an often volatile existence that would eventually lead to two failed referendums on Quebec independence in the last three decades. The 1995 plebiscite was won by federalists, but by less than one percent.

Quebec City is now a bustling Canadian (Quebec) metropolis of 700,000 residents and thousands braved pouring rain on Thursday to fete its beginnings.

But in the poll, only one-third agreed with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's description of Quebec City's start as the beginning of the Canadian nation.

All agreed that "separatism embers could still arise tomorrow," said Wright. "It's the piece that holds us together, that's there's an element of volatility."

The poll is considered accurate within plus or minus two percentage points.

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