James said:
I too was in Canada for the referendum. It was a pretty close run thing, but I completely agree that it showed that at least half the people in Quebec don't want to leave Canada.
A lot of people don't have a clue about politics. I know a bunch of them. That's especially true for the elders. Back in their time, the priests were the ones who told them how to vote (the sky is blue, the hell is red - these were the colors of the two main political parties before 1960). Others are simply not interested. You know, even if I think that Québec is a damn good place to live, we still have our fair share of imbeciles. Like every other places of the world.
James said:
I'm afraid I don't see how Quebec would survive financially as a nation without assistance - particularly once the car industry left.
You talk like if you believe we live on the back of the rest of Canada. It's totally wrong. If we would cost them all that much, why would they beg us to stay. Yes, you read it correctly : BEG. The amount of (wasted) money the federal government spends in pro-Canada advertisement is ridiculous. Don't take what you heard in the english-speaking media for cash, James.
Besides, FYI, 95% of the canadian car industry is in Ontario. The only car manufacturer that still is in Québec is GM at Boisbriand and they give us practically
0$ because of the special consessions our government gave them the last time they treaten to leave. Their plan is supposed to stop all activities this year. Big deal. Car industry is a drop in the ocean for our economy. We have many other ressources. Don't worry, we would do just fine without the english trying to control (screw) everything in our economy. And since the mid-90s, Québec gives more money to the federal than it receives in return (like most other provinces too because the fed. gov. refuses to share fairly and they use too much of that money in order to cut their overweighted debt, they get all the credit for it too). Nonetheless, we have managed to post positive figures for the last three years anyway. But that's probably just luck to your eyes, we obliously don't know how to count, don't we?
James said:
But it's silly to think that you need to seperate from the rest of Canada in order to maintain your identity. Quebecois certainly aren't the only people in Canada who feel that the government isn't taking care of their special needs - try visiting Newfoundland (or any of Eastern Canada) sometime!
So a few years in the West and you have all figure it out huh? The truth is that there have been endless negociations between our gov. and their gov. to reach an agreement that would let us gain more control on our destiny (not just culture) in the past 20 years, to no avail. Last time I remember, (Lake Meech proposal), our rebel and barbaric government (that's how you see us, isn't it?) was ready to re-enter in the canadian constitution and 8 provinces with the federal government. But two provinces rejected the deal (Manitoba and Newfy land). Blame us again if you wish. IMO, we have done our fair share of effort, but when the other side is stuck, it's time to pass to something else.
BTW, I don't give a shit of the issues that some provinces might have with the federal government. That's their problem, not our. If they agree to live with it, fine for them, but it doesn't mean that we have to bend as low as they do just to be part of their so-beloved Canada. Modern Canada is almost entirely controlled by Ontario and most major politics are made to benefit them at the expense of the others. That's a whole different story though, in which I would prefer not to dive.
In fact, I would rather stop this discussion right here (at least on everything related to Québec). The reason of that additional post from myself in this thread was only to correct points on which I radically disagree. I know it won't change anything in the way you think, but I somehow had to add the above anyway. I believe you would feel the same if I would say things about your country on which you wouldn't agree. And I'm very tired too so some parts of this reply might sound a bit agressive, but I'm just not in the mood to re-write it to make it look softer. I'll leave raw as it went out.
