'TORONTO -- Parliament formally recognized Quebec as a nation within Canada Monday, a symbolic gesture that has led to a Cabinet resignation and ignited concerns over a renewed push for the French-speaking province's independence.
The motion presented by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, which calls Quebec a nation within a united Canada, is largely symbolic in that it requires no constitutional amendment or change of law. The opposition Liberals and New Democrats supported the motion, so it passed easily through the House of Commons.
It was devised by Harper to pre-empt a similar attempt by the Bloc Quebecois, the separatist party in Parliament that represents Quebec, whose members also reluctantly backed the resolution once they realized they had been outflanked by Harper.'
I'm still reading the news on this and scratching my head. A nation with a nation? Is that like the Vatican in Italy? What is Harper going to do next, declare Ontario a nation within a nation just outside of another nation within a nation (Quebec)? Or maybe we can call British Columbia a nation within a nation but far away from another nation within a nation.
Yeah, I get it. In Quebec, the French language is king. And the women are easier. And the men are yard apes with attitudes. I understand the cultural differences. But either let Quebec separate or don't. But just quit wasting tax payer's money on crap like this.
The writing is on the wall for Quebec anyways. I say let em separate, the French make easy targets for the Muslims. They are too oblivious to what is happening outside of the ice rinks and strip bars and they don't even know that their mother country France, has cars burning nightly. Quebec is going to be the first Islamic state in North America soon enough. They will be a Muslim country within a country that will be very nervous. The Jews already can see it, they've been leaving for quite some time, and the Chinese are trying to avoid Quebec too, even though it goes against their plans of taking over Canada.
Amen. This nonsense has gone on long enough. (And to think, my friend just went on vacation to Quebec City...)
ReplyDeleteAmen. You'd think after a couple hundred years or so, they'd give up on this shit and move on.
ReplyDeleteI mean, if one American (who loves Montreal & Q.C.) can pipe in here: last I checked, they don't speak too much English in either of the main cities, and in the countryside, they don't par-lay it at all.
Move on already, your "country within a country" is already as franco-philic & -phonic as it needs to be. Plus, you get to be part of a pretty solid country (with a helluva safety net) even though you do nothing but shit on it.
Blockhead Quebecois.
I don't know what it means, but I wish they'd all STFU! I'm so sick of people in Quebec thinking they're so damn special (one lady was even on the news saying "well, we ARE special" - UGH).
ReplyDeleteNow the people living out there in Nunavut and places like that - THEY are special in my freakin' book. Having a different language doesn't make you special. Because we use American Sign Language in my home, does this make us a "nation"?
I'm really sick of listening to the idiots who want to leave Canada - I say "GO", we'll bill you for the federal buildings, you will get not ONE RED CENT of money from the federal government, you can show your PASSPORT to get to either New Brunswick or Ontario, and you can STFU about it because that's what you wanted.
Whew. You got me fired up this morning.
Can we all say, "The Balkanization of North America?"
ReplyDeleteMichael:
ReplyDeleteWell said.
At this point, though, I think it would be bad for there to be a Quebec state. It is clear that the French Quebec leadership is rotten to the core, and the GOOD Quebequois will suffer.
In any case, I would much rather be associated with Toronto than Montreal. I fail to see what is so superior about their culture, that they feel this desperate need for their own nation.
I am with you on the Jews thing, too. This is a shame, as Quebec has one of the oldest Jewish populations in North America.
If its ok with everybody, I will play the role of Devil's Advocate.
ReplyDelete1. I am absolutely against Quebec seperating simply because it will be a financial nightmare, mostly for Quebec but will hit us as well. A little symbolic appeasement is cheaper than the alternative.
2. As Jews, we are often accused of "racism" because of our desire for Israel to be a Jewish state where Jewish language and culture are protected from aggressively proselitizing religions. As I support Israel, I am sympathetic to Quebec's desire to protect its language and culture.
3. This really doesn't mean much at all. If it give us a 5 year break from this neverending debate, its worth it.
4. Regarding the "chinease taking over Canada" comment: As Canadians do not have enough children, we NEED immagrants for Canada to grow. China, Hindu India, Africa, and the Islamic world are the main sources. As Chinease integrate quickly, value education and hard work, and stay off the welfare system I say bring it on! I can see in the near future a world where western democracies (specially Europe) abondon Political Correctness for realism and compete with each other for the as many Chinease and Hindu Indian immagrants as they can get.
Regarding Quebec sympathizing with Islamic estremest... oh yeah, no way I can defend that. Seeing Hezbollah flags last summer made me want to puke. And the yearly student strife at Concordia is a forshadow of whats to come in that province.
I do agree with you that Quebec will be the first place to experience hardcore segrigration. If/When that happens, watch how fast my opinion on a united Canada changes :)
One one vacation in Canada, my wife and I spent some time in the Acadian town of Caraquet in New Brunswick. One evening we were sitting on the motel's small stretch of beach front when a local teenager came up to us and told us he and his friends were planning to hang out there and would we mind? I told them of course not, and as the evening grew dark, about ten or so of them showed up with beer and built a campfire.
ReplyDeleteI struck up conversation with some of them and I was impressed about how keenly aware they were of their heritage. They were bilingual French and English and they obliged us by speaking English with us, and I tried to reciprocate a bit with my limited French. I was amused when some of them told me that even they could not stand the Quebecois.
As a bacon-eating Jew, you might possibly be interested in my opus on how atheism is not a religion.
ReplyDeleteMy parents were French-Canadian, born and raised in Montreal. If not for the decision to hop over the border and have me in the US I'd likely be stuck there now.
ReplyDeleteI have to confess..I have not paid a great deal of attention to the issue over the years simply because, doh, I'm an American. It's called assimilation, it works pretty well when one isn't obsessed with "preserving" something artificially.
I'm not ashamed to be of French descent but I don't see any more reason to wave it like a flag than if I were of German or Polish or Irish ancestry.
I turned down an opportunity to move to Canada in my early twenties because it would have placed me square in the middle of this issue courtesy of family ties. No thanks.
Should I ever decide I want to live in Canada, I'll take B.C., I don't really see any point in relegating myself to life on a "reservation" which is essentially where the Quebecois are placing themselves.
Hey Bacon, have you been watching Jimmy Carter's book tour on CNN and CNBC? I can't even bring myself to view it (its on my tivo waiting). I admire the man for his work with the poor so much, thats why his anti-Israeli viewpoint really gets to me.
ReplyDeleteDershawitz has a good point-by-point discussion on the Carter's factual errors. But in the end, Carter seems intent to side with people who are percieved weak, rather than right. It is basic moral relativism 101. The poor are always ritous, and the strong are always evil.
I hope his book doesn't sell well.
I've seen some reports about state that Carter is getting a lot of funding from Arabs. No sane person could be that anti-Israel and that pro-Palestinian unless he is getting paid to be.
ReplyDeleteBeaj- Carter is getting the vast majority of his funding from the Arabs. The Carter center takes millions from them. Conflict of interest? Oh, no! Not Jimmy! He's totally corrupt now. No one should listen to him when he talks about the middle east any more.
ReplyDeleteI wish you were right. But I think this may be a case of Carter having his position first, and the Arabs jumping on it knowing a good thing when they see it.
ReplyDeleteI just don't see the guy who started "Habitat for Humanity" carring about money this late in life.
It should be noted that he explictely said that Israel is NOT an apartheid, just the west bank and blames the settlements for everything. He of course didn't mention Israel's withdraw from Gaza, all the pre-67 violence before the occupation, and of course the Islamic world doing such an excellent job kicking 99% of the Jews from their land.
Two different people, two seperate sets of standards.
Wrong? yes! Curroption? Possible, but I doubt it.
Jordan you should read this.
ReplyDeleteYep, he accepts money from some very questionable people.
ReplyDeleteBut I still honestly believe this is the result of Arabs supporting those who are sympathetic to their interests, rather that Carter being sympathetic for cash. You have no idea how much I wish it was the other way around.
Plus we have to remind ourselves that EVERY president is on the Saudi payroll. Clinton was fair towards Israel, and his library might as well be painted oil-black. Same goes with the Bush family. George Jr. was bailed out of every failed business he started thanks to the Saudis. They really know how to spread money around.
We have got to get off middle-east oil. How the hell do you convince a population to fork out $120/barrol for 10-years to make it happen?
Oh, and did you read Amnidinjad's letter addressing the oppresion Americans face under their government? I am convinced he really does not know what the word "Irony" means :)
Have to agree with Jordan, Carter really is this clueless. Far more dangerous than someone seeking money or personal power is a man who believes in his own good intentions. Be thankful he and Bush cannot mate.
ReplyDeleteApparently it runs in the family too. His son Jack just ran for office here in Nevada and lost by a small landslide.
Now given his fathers legacy and the fact that Nevada isn't known for it's "far-left" politics by any stretch of the imagination, what part of "this is not going to happen" did he not understand?
Carter didn't do a good thing with the Camp David Accord?
ReplyDeleteTo understand the anti-Carter feelings in the US you have to realize that most of the country is still pissed at him over our hostage crises in Lebanon. Add in deregulation, rampant unchecked inflation and sky-high interest rates, the highest unemployment we've ever had in history and just the general misery that was life in the US during the Carter years....
ReplyDeleteWe're still dealing with fallout from his presidency.
He single-handedly set the democratic party back, I dunno, maybe 50 years. Notice how you never see him on the campaign trail...him campaigning for any candidate would be the kiss of death. Kind of like Bush is now doing for the republican party.
Sure, both have managed to do a few good things, even a blind pig occasionally finds an acorn, but it doesn't make up to the US voter for massively mucking up the country in general.
One nation under a nation within a nation to be part of a nation.
ReplyDeleteHey writing gibberish is kind of fun.
Dennis Miller once called Carter "a good man, but not a good president".
ReplyDeleteBut on the other hand, man Dennis Miller's show was painful to watch! I think it is considered a form of torture in some countries.
I saw Rick Mercer's take on the whole nation within a nation BS; it was hilarious - did you catch it?
ReplyDeleteLisa, I'm not sure if I get CBC on my TV:) I missed it.
ReplyDeleteI really liked Mercers special about what Americans think about Canada. That was hilarious.
As an American, I always wonder what it is like to live in a city like Toronto where polar bears roam the streets at night!
ReplyDelete;-)
I like to invite religious people to read my blog -- not so I can debate them, but rather to try to counterbalance some of their negative stereotypes about atheists by presenting a portrait of an ordinary atheist family.
ReplyDeleteYou've posted a whole lot of entertaining and thought-provoking stuff on your blog, so I hope you won't take it the wrong way when I say I think it would be totally pointless for me to debate you on such deep questions as "Do French people make good targets for Muslims?" I think we can just agree to disagree on that one. ;^)
However, I hope you'll permit me to link here to a slightly more nuanced portrait of life in France.
p.s. My comment has nothing to do with the Quebec issue -- which I don't really have an opinion on -- but rather about your comments about France on this blog overall.
Tommy, the polar bears in Toronto are harmless, they only come out at night and they eat all the garbage.
ReplyDeleteC.L., I'm not too sure how many theists I get here as regulars. I understand you are an ex Mormon, which is interesting enough and a little different than most web Atheists, the majority of whom I believe are ex Catholics.
As far as France goes, you have a big PR problem if you aren't really being taken over by Muslims.
Whether the country is being taken over by Muslims is not something I care to comment on. That France has a big PR problem -- particularly in the North American media -- that is 100% certain. ;^)
ReplyDelete