By the way...
I've got French Canadian blood, British blood, and native blood, and can say that just by looking at history that the natives have a stronger historical claim than Quebec, as much as many Quebecois might not like to hear this, with the Quebec nation of a few hundred years being but a baby in comparison to the 30 to 50 thousand years the natives have been in Canada. So while the French and English elephants are fighting for territory, many forget that the indian mice are being trampled underfoot in the process. So while I'm indifferent to whether or not Quebec separates, I'm still a strong believer in respect for Canada's natives, either by the federal government or the Quebec government, either way. The only thing that would concern me with a sovereign Quebec is that, while it might help fight English language hegemony in the world, which certainly is a big concern, it risks bringing with it French langauge hegemony on Quebec's indian reservations.
In that respect, perhaps a united canada could be to the natives' advantage if they play their cards right by playing their two ex-colonial peoples against each other. But then again, that also risks leading back to the elephant and mice scenario. So it seems the natives lose either way.
I've got French Canadian blood, British blood, and native blood, and can say that just by looking at history that the natives have a stronger historical claim than Quebec, as much as many Quebecois might not like to hear this, with the Quebec nation of a few hundred years being but a baby in comparison to the 30 to 50 thousand years the natives have been in Canada. So while the French and English elephants are fighting for territory, many forget that the indian mice are being trampled underfoot in the process. So while I'm indifferent to whether or not Quebec separates, I'm still a strong believer in respect for Canada's natives, either by the federal government or the Quebec government, either way. The only thing that would concern me with a sovereign Quebec is that, while it might help fight English language hegemony in the world, which certainly is a big concern, it risks bringing with it French langauge hegemony on Quebec's indian reservations.
In that respect, perhaps a united canada could be to the natives' advantage if they play their cards right by playing their two ex-colonial peoples against each other. But then again, that also risks leading back to the elephant and mice scenario. So it seems the natives lose either way.
