I understand separatists. Francophones were treated as second class citizens in Quebec until recently. At one time, if you wanted to get ahead in Quebec you had to speak English. But that's not true anymore. Quebec culture and language is under seige by English North America, but separation wouldn't change that. Most Canadians including Anglophones want to preserve Quebec's French culture. Vive la difference!
That's the thing.... every province has it's own culture, way of life, history, etc.... just because one speaks a different language or has a different history, doesn't make them anymore special then the other.
Some places have more scottish heritage, Irish, German, Indian, Native, Asian, Direct British, etc.... We all have our differences and that's what makes us all equal.
For Quebec to act the way it continually does..... well that just reminds me of our own little Israel we have to pamper all the time.... and if we talk ill will towards anything they do.... look out.
If Quebec was not part of Canada, the rest of Canada would become more like the US.
:-? See that's the thing that pisses me off about some people here in Canada.... they don't seem to relate to any of their own culture, heritage or history....... they seem to think we got nothing else except to mooch off of whatever the US feed us.
Don't forget a good chunk of their own media has Canadian actors or voice overs in them, using Canadian technology, techniques...... sure it goes back and forth, but for people to say we have no identity without Quebec is shorting their own culture surrouding them.
Saying people in Galgary have no identity of their own is like saying people in Boston don't. People in the highlands of Cape Breton to some off the shores of Scotland or Ireland.
Hell, the Acadiens of Nova Scotia have been around for a hell of a lot longer then those in Quebec and although the English had their ways in the past of expulsions etc..... they still live here today, still have their french culture, still wave their acadien flags, and are doing just fine compared to most...... and I sure as hell don't hear them talking about seperating from Nova Scotia and joining Maine or becoming their own province to eventually become their own little nation.
That is why I am in the position I am in over this. I know many french, I have family from Quebec I see regularly..... and I have been through Quebec on a couple of occasions myself in my younger years, and I honestly don't see why the hell Quebec has to be the big babies of the nation.
If it wasn't for Quebec, Harper would have won a majority. It it wasn't for Chretien, Canada would have helped the US commit war crimes in Iraq. If it wasn't for English Canada, Quebec would have a lower standard of living.
All of those are of course unprovable and could have gone many other ways other then the black and white expressed above.
If it wasn't for Jean Chretien, someone else would have been in his place. Only Harper was the one moaning to join the war in Iraq, and that is because he was opposition.... and it seems that in our government, the opposition's job is to argue with every single thing that passes them and oppose every decision the party in power makes..... even if your choice is more stupid..... ie: Carbon Tax.
if it wasn't for Quebec voting for the Bloc and were not even a part of the equation, as it shown in the Atlantic Proviences beforehand, the Liberals would have been the minority..... which would also be unfortunate. Not only that, if Quebec was out of the equation, then central Canada wouldn't have as much of a strangle hold on the rest of the nation as it currently does, west and north included, not just the Atlantics.
And if I wasn't here shooting my mouth off, I'm pretty sure someone else would be here to take my place in some fashion or another..... that's life. There are no sure fire "What could have beens" because they will never be.
Face it, we need each other and that's been reaffirmed by two votes now. Our French-English union is like a marriage. Separation would be like a divorce. In a divorce, only the lawyers come out ahead.
Naw, eventually after about a year or two, you get to s*ut it up with all kinds of chicks who think you're rich and successful.
But in seriousness, my parents divorced, much like millions of other couples, they have new relationships and they're all much more happier now then during their forced marriage due to religious beliefs in the family...... sorta like this example we're talking about.