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Quebec is certainly a country. Not an independent country, but a country nonetheless.
country (pluralcountries)
(archaic) An area of land; a district, region. [from 13th c.]
A set region of land having particular human occupation or agreed limits, especially inhabited by members of the same race, language speakers etc., or associated with a given person, occupation, species etc. [from 13th c.]
The territory of a nation, especially an independent nation state or formerly independent nation; a political entity asserting ultimate authority over a geographical area. [from 14th c.]
(usually preceded by “the”) A rural area, as opposed to a town or city; the countryside. [from 16th c.]
Country music. [from 20th c.]
(mining) The rock through which a vein runs.
You're playing with semantics, Quebec is a Canadian Province and not an independent nation.
When Quebec rises up to explore its full potential by actually separating from the motherland then it will become a sovereign country.
You're playing with semantics, Quebec is a Canadian Province and not an independent nation.
When Quebec rises up to explore its full potential by actually separating from the motherland then it will become a sovereign country.
What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.
Well, I do expect, as they say in English, things to "come to a head" eventually.
That's what I hope will happen, but I don't know what would actually spark this. It certainly won't be Philippe Couillard's government. I was kind of hoping that the Wildrose Alliance would win Alberta's next election and start agitating for an end to any sort of bilingualism in Canada, which would force politicians to take sides and maybe discuss a real project for the country. But then we saw what happened with them. I still have some hope that it might be inevitable for English Canada to wish to rid itself of bilingualism.
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So I do expect one of these scenarios to play out eventually. I am not that old but I don't even know if it will be in my lifetime. The status quo, as imperfect and unsatasfying to everyone as it may be, could go on for several decades still.
I'm even younger than you, and yes it could last for a long time, but then other more global issues such as climate change could hit us in the meantime.
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But I also don't expect Quebec to go "gently into that good night" as Dylan Thomas said, and become a Canadian province like all the others. A "Big New Brunswick", a former FLQ guy turned bombastic film-maker Pierre Falardeau once said.
Do you have any evidence that Falardeau was in the FLQ? Because I've never heard this. But yeah, you know that's why I was asking you what young francophone Quebecers think of all this.
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Originally Posted by Acajack
Sounds like what Laforest is proposing is Primary Trudeauism 2.0.
This was the idea of the coming of the so-called three wise men of Quebec, Trudeau, Gérard Pelletier and Jean Marchand, to Ottawa in the 1960s.
But as it turned out what Trudeau managed to build was not a Canadian nation inside of which Quebec would recognise itself. I don't know, I'd have to read Laforest's book but I'm not sure he knows better than any of us what is the right way forward.
Do you have any evidence that Falardeau was in the FLQ? Because I've never heard this. But yeah, you know that's why I was asking you what young francophone Quebecers think of all this.
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I could be totally wrong about this. I've always heard that he was. Can't find any confirmation that he was. Though he was definitely in the RIN. Not the same thing as the FLQ though, of course.
Quebec is certainly a country. Not an independent country, but a country nonetheless.
Don't be daft. It's not a country. If the people of Quebec were to vote for independence, if Quebec were to lawfully separate from Canada, and if Quebec were to be recognized by countries around the world as a country, then Quebec would be a country. To hold that it's a country at this point in time is as absurd as it is factually incorrect.
But as it turned out what Trudeau managed to build was not a Canadian nation inside of which Quebec would recognise itself. I don't know, I'd have to read Laforest's book but I'm not sure he knows better than any of us what is the right way forward.
I know, and you'd think Laforest as a political scientist would know this too.
Well, I do expect, as they say in English, things to "come to a head" eventually. Some day I expect there will either be a sea-change within Canada that will allow for greater autonomy (not necessarily out of generosity, but because people don't care, and also may wish similar autonomy for their own provinces), or Quebec will make the final push for independence. (I am a federalist for sure and do love Canada "warts and all" but as a student of both politics and history, it's sometimes hard not to envisage the hypothesis that Quebec's ultimate destiny might actually be to be an independent country.)
I wish this thing would be put on the table once more to be resolved - different Canadian structure or Quebec becomes independent. The problem with the former is that as much as you think or hope it will happen, there is currently, as far as I can tell, no impetus for change in terms of thinking on the Anglo side. It is not impossible entirely that things will change but it would involve a huge effort to sway both the hearts and minds that a structural change is optimal for Canada. And there doesn't seem to be any pervasive force permeating. There needs to be a force that permeates over time to change thinking of the populace in the long run, if you want draw analogies to civil rights movements.
Most of the media in English Canada about Quebec talks about threats to separate, transfer payments, student protests over massively subsidized tuition, tough language laws. etc. If I think about it, nothing I see in the media really builds bridges and may in fact do quite the opposite. It is very hard to imagine that Canada will change it's current structure to become a multinational administrator anytime soon. I understand that Canada was more of an "arrangement" in its origins in response to the amalgamation of states, but the country has come a long way since then and the current vision is to build a successful cohesive nation, not what will be seen as a fragmented one. I'm not sure if there is a middle ground for both sides to be happy but there is a very fundamental difference on both sides. Without any bridges to be understand each other, and I can't think of any, I don't see how one can expect changes to come.
Last edited by johnathanc; 02-24-2015 at 11:47 AM..
I wish this thing would be put on the table once more to be resolved - different Canadian structure or Quebec becomes independent. The problem with the former is that as much as you think or hope it will happen, there is currently, as far as I can tell, no impetus for change in terms of thinking on the Anglo side. It is not impossible entirely that things will change but it would involve a huge effort to sway both the hearts and minds that a structural change is optimal for Canada. And there doesn't seem to be any pervasive force permeating. There needs to be a force that permeates over time to change thinking of the populace in the long run, if you want draw analogies to civil rights movements.
Most of the media in English Canada about Quebec talks about threats to separate, transfer payments, student protests over massively subsidized tuition, tough language laws. etc. If I think about it, nothing I see in the media really builds bridges and may in fact do quite the opposite. It is very hard to imagine that Canada will change it's current structure to become a multinational administrator anytime soon. I understand that Canada was more of an "arrangement" in its origins in response to the amalgamation of states, but the country has come a long way since then and the current vision is to build a successful cohesive nation, not what will be seen as a fragmented one. I'm not sure if there is a middle ground for both sides to be happy but there is a very fundamental difference on both sides. Without any bridges to be understand each other, and I can't think of any, I don't see how one can expect changes to come.
This is exactly why Quebec needs to become independent. The only other course is the status quo which most Quebecois are unhappy with, yet they continually support it, just like with the relatively recent election of Couillard. Acajack, Migratory Chicken, perhaps you can help me understand your perspective. There are only two options on the table:
Option #1: Independence
Option #2: Status Quo
That's it. Yet you guys are pinning your hopes on a third option. Option #3: Devolution of Canada. The problem is that option #3 isn't even on the table. Aside from a few fringe individuals, no one outside of Quebec is even remotely considering this. There is nothing at all to suggest that this kind of change is realistic. It is about as realistic as me pinning my hopes on the US becoming a constitutional monarchy. There is no impetus for it to happen. It's just not going to happen.
Acajack/Migratory Chicken, since you are both clearly federalists, and clearly quite intelligent people. Yet I am unable to follow your logic when it comes to the independence question. Can you help me to understand why you support the status quo over independence? I ask because you both sound like you both have strong opinions about making dramatic changes to the status quo, yet you are against the only realistic option that will change it: independence. Is it that you are against independence at all costs? Acajack, in your case you are even willing to admit that something has to happen in the future, and admit that independence may be the ultimate destiny of Quebec, so why would you support the status quo over independence? I am genuinely curious to know how you guys perceive this issue.
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