Paul Wells on Quebec as a nation
I don't always agree with him, but he's often spot on: the Inkless Wells. weblog. The entry on the Quebec as a nation retardery yesterday is definitely spot on, so I'll reproduce some of it here:
In St. John's, last time I was there, it was far easier to buy the flag of the once-sovereign country of Newfoundland than of Canada. In Alberta the quasi-maybe-one-day-separatist Alberta Alliance is buying membership cards for Ted Morton so he can become the next premier of Alberta. In every Mohawk village in Quebec there are people, some occasio[n]ally armed, who do not recognize the sovereignty of any white nation, be it Quebec or Canada. In Montreal it's the easiest thing in the world to find people who feel only Canadian, or who feel no allegiance to any place but their beautiful city. Or to their neighbourhood. Or their children.
So to be delicate, it is not helpful for the prime minister of Canada to reach in among those nested, often competing claims of national allegiance to pluck out one, more or less entirely so he can enjoy a relatively peaceful day at the office.
He is right. Where do we draw the line? I suspect we're all fairly proud Newfoundlanders here, and I'd say our place in Canada is at least as distinct as Quebec's. But, cultures are independent of nations, and the only raison d'etre for this entire Quebec inanity is to lead the way to being a Capital N Nation, independent of Canada. That everyone is pandering to Quebec (and this is one of the few times that the pandering has really been without merit, in my opinion) is just silly. 75 seats in the house be damned.
In St. John's, last time I was there, it was far easier to buy the flag of the once-sovereign country of Newfoundland than of Canada. In Alberta the quasi-maybe-one-day-separatist Alberta Alliance is buying membership cards for Ted Morton so he can become the next premier of Alberta. In every Mohawk village in Quebec there are people, some occasio[n]ally armed, who do not recognize the sovereignty of any white nation, be it Quebec or Canada. In Montreal it's the easiest thing in the world to find people who feel only Canadian, or who feel no allegiance to any place but their beautiful city. Or to their neighbourhood. Or their children.
So to be delicate, it is not helpful for the prime minister of Canada to reach in among those nested, often competing claims of national allegiance to pluck out one, more or less entirely so he can enjoy a relatively peaceful day at the office.
He is right. Where do we draw the line? I suspect we're all fairly proud Newfoundlanders here, and I'd say our place in Canada is at least as distinct as Quebec's. But, cultures are independent of nations, and the only raison d'etre for this entire Quebec inanity is to lead the way to being a Capital N Nation, independent of Canada. That everyone is pandering to Quebec (and this is one of the few times that the pandering has really been without merit, in my opinion) is just silly. 75 seats in the house be damned.
posted by Philip at 1:12 PM
4 Comments:
Astute observations Philip, you are a real politico!
Luke "Invisible Quiton" Sheild
you literally took the words right out of my mouth...... must've been while you were kiiii.... uhh, nevermind.
Nice post, Phil... I think, Wells is right (I share the exact same opinion on his blog, which I read occasionally).
I think I was shocked to even see it as a headline- having not heard any news about the Bloc motion before yesterday.
I mean, Peckford was right during Meech Lake... and the sentiment still stands. I want to protect Quebec's culture and language, but if you're looking for minority, self-nationalist cultures to endorse, as Wells says, there are plenty out there to choose from.
So, how can we "save" Quebec without giving it this special status?
my lame guess:
probably by not trying so hard, for one! Or making les Habitants #1 encore!
What the fuck?!?!?
this is unbelievable to read
Although, ultimately, I think there's good news here:
However, some constitutional law experts say the motion as worded by Harper has no meaning in law.
According to the motion, the Québécois, not Quebec as a province, are to be recognized as a nation within a united Canada. The experts said the people themselves are not a legal entity.
The latest- as of Monday, November twenty-seventh
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