A Separate Quebec - An Economic Success According to the PQ

[NikiShiz]

This whole Quebec wanting to separate is a little confusing to me. They want to separate themselves from Canada but from what I understand they want to still use the Canadian Currency, have protection from the Canadian military, use/benefit from Canadian diplomacy (in terms of trade agreements, passport/immigration) etc...? What kind of a separation is that?

[Wetcoaster]

"According to Conrad Black "

convicted felon says what?

[Wetcoaster]

Think of how much better off the West would be if it didn't lose generations worth of wealth to transfer payments and other unfair policies to Quebec's benefit.

Quebecers see the Western provinces as a backwater filled with culturally inferior hillbillies, and while there may be some truth to that, it never occurs to them that they're the ones largely responsible for the West being held back.

[Wetcoaster]

This whole Quebec wanting to separate is a little confusing to me. They want to separate themselves from Canada but from what I understand they want to still use the Canadian Currency, have protection from the Canadian military, use/benefit from Canadian diplomacy (in terms of trade agreements, passport/immigration) etc...? What kind of a separation is that?

[Jester13]

I highly recommend not paying too much attention to Marois, she's merely saying hello to her base.

Economically the PQ's vision of an independent QC actually has some legs. There are many countries with even smaller populations than QC with heavy government interference and thriving economies. If QC were to one day become a country they would IMO eventually make it work and even continue to have their 'gold plated' social programs.

However, it just isn't going to happen. The PQ's best chances of this ever happening died 18 years ago. The same obstacles still apply, more so now than ever: what happens to Montreal (where I now live), what about the First Nations communities that want to remain part of Canada, what about QC's share of the national debt? etc etc etc.

Marois knows it's a pipe dream and nothing more. But, her party has a base and every once in a while she knows that she needs to stir the ashes to keep the fire going. Rest assured, the fire is slowly dying out.

[Lillooet_Hillbilly]

the newfies would be happy, think of the drive time it would only take to go to Onatrio if Quebec left Canada

[Electro Rock]

The basic problem is that Canada has always rewarded and empowered the undeserving, in the name of staving off real discontent.

Canada's traditional Anglo elite are largely descended from folks who lost and fled to what would later become Canada in the wake of the America Revolution, and their abiding concern has always been to avoid another revolution at all costs, so they basically try to buy off sh*t stirrers, and when those sh*t stirrers are 25% of the population and have enormous leverage, the bribes are cut with a blank cheque.