According to the globe and mail this morning, some people believe now is the time for Quebec to sever ties with Canada. Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois said that “Quebec would handle the economic crisis better without Ottawa”. She also said that “Sovereignty is a pressing need,” when speaking to a gathering of 500(they say) people in Quebec city. Spoken like a true patriot, and obviously she has a firm grasp of economics and international law as well.
If Quebec were to separate I would think that the following would have to happen immediately before, or very shortly afterwards. Canadian currency is no longer available for distribution in Quebec. The armed Forces bases will be closed and all assets transferred back to Canada. Secured Borders and guards will need to be put in place. People living in Quebec and working in Canada will be terminated, and the same for people living in Canada and work across the pond. After all, you can not live in a different Country from the one you work at, especially in the Gov’t. The Bloc will be thrown out of Parliament. Hurray!
That is by no means a complete list, and many more things will need to happen. I am not a constitutional expert, but I think that is just common sense. It would also put an end to the forced bilingual policy that has been shoved down our throat. Of course, businesses will be free to offer service in any language they CHOSE to, which is the way it should be.
The question remains, can Quebec do it? Can they survive without the billions of dollars from us Canadian taxpayers in hush money, I mean transfer payments, to keep them here? Opinions vary across the Country, and it is a very serious topic. We cannot argue the fact that it has been almost 15 years since the last vote, and Quebec did not vote re-soundly to stay, it was very close. And we are still talking about it. When will it end? Is it time to let them do it? Or is it time for us to stand up and say ENOUGH! GO already, and we will keep our money, we will work to nurture and support the people that WANT to be here. And yes, that does include a overhaul and tightening of ALL Canadian policies, border crossings, and immigration.
I invite people to comment and discuss the issue, but please be respectful and mature. Any abusive or foul language will be moderated. I know it’s a hot topic, but reasonable discussion and sharing of ideas is more productive than bashing and insults. I know that people can get very emotional about this. It is a very personal thing. Some people are very proud of Canada, proud to be Canadian, and see this as a personal attack of sort. People on both sides of the border.
I have written many articles on this topic, here and on my personal blog and I would be the first to admit that I occasionally use the power of media to vent my anger and frustration. But in the end that does no good and defeats the purpose. The purpose being, the best thing for everyone.
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1 user commented in " Quebec Pressing Separation "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackFood for thought:
Quebec is a market for Ontario. Quebec buys food, financial services and manufactured goods. Quebec is a VERY important market to Ontario and the rest of Canada. Canada has to pray that after separation, Quebec keeps buying canadian goods. Food growers in Ontario rely on access to Quebec market for economic survival. Manufactured goods can be imported from anywhere but canada. Quebec does not use canadian petroleum and there are now petroleum discoveries in Quebec. Wheat and other winter food stuff pretty much come from the United States which subsidies its agricultural sector heavily. The US does not like competition in that sector and would be to happy to engage in commerce with quebec in that sector without having Canada as a competitor. Quebec has natural resources Canada and the United States cant really do without. Access to NAFTA by Quebec does not require Canada’s permission. And besides, the US likes Canada but does not really care about its opinion when a country has resources they need.Its very compleasant on the part of Canada that it would have a veto on Quebec admission to NAFTA. Also, american think tank advisors qualified the separation of Quebec as being a non event. Meaning it would not change much to the US. After all Quebec is not leaving planet earth. It will still be there geographically. So the issue here is that Quebec is a market, do you still want to have access to it? And New Bruswick is very dependent on access to the Quebec market as well. Lack of access would be deadly to New Brunswick.
Alignement of planets:
What are the conditions for succesfull separation?
1) That Ontario starts receiving perequation payments.
2) That Quebec stops receiving perequation payments.
Once this happens its the start of the end for Canada, since it was pretty much the only argument from the no side in 1995: Perequation payment.
Finally why move military Equipement out of Quebec in case of separation? Think about it: Quebec Pays for a quarter of the army minus perequation payment. That will give you one fith of the army at least. thats one fifth of the navy, of the air force or (30 F-18, 1 c17, 6 C-130, etc) and one fifth of the ground armored forces. (you can keep the leopard tanks there too old).
An economist once said the only difference between the Ontario economy and the Quebec Economy is the car industry. If i was in Ontario these days i would make sure i can still have access to Quebec market whatever happens.
Quebec is a market that Canada needs no matter the political status. And access goes both ways. Canada does not make anything Quebec cannot get elsewhere. Nowadays canadian financial services in Quebec can be fulfilled by Quebec finacial institutions. Access to the mortgage loan market in quebec can be prohibited to Canadian lenders, removing the second largest loan market in canada to canadian financial instituions, weakening them and strengthening Quebec instutions. Moving financial jobs away from Ontario to Quebec.
As per economic viability, remember switzerland with a population equal to that of Quebec has a greater GDP per Capita then Canada. The only difference between Switzerland and Quebec is that Switzerland is not in Canada.
Food for thought….
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