I'm sure many of you have heard the big debate about whether Quebec is distinctly different from Canada or whether it's not, perhaps you've pondered if Quebec should be treated better then many other provinces. I'd like to say absolutely not and Quebec is definitely not a "distinct society".
You might be shocked to hear this, A Liberal advocating treating Quebec as any other province? Well I do, I know I'm going to take flack for my views but so be it. Quebec is a great province, let me be clear, I don't hate Quebec. But I believe that despite certain cultural differences. Quebec is just another province in Canada, and the sad truth is Separatism would not be alive today had Mulroney not coddled people like Lucien Bouchard when he was Prime Minister.
The problem is in my opinion is that provinces need to get the same deal as everyone else, no special priveliges whatsoever, You may have heard of the old argument "if i did this for you I'd have to do it for everyone." That is true, for example, I believe if you give Quebec a say over Judicial Nominees, I believe that the respective provinces should also have a say over their nominees. If Quebec can take itself out of any program, so should Alberta or Saskatchewan. Same thing with Natural Resources if Alberta wants to keep its oil so should Newfoundland and Labrador.
I want to point out im not ignorant, I know there are political and cultural differences all over the provinces. But, I would like to point out that we cannot favor a province over another. The provinces are like Children, my advice is that we have individual representatives from each Provincial Parliamentry Caucus in the House of Commons that will form a kind of council to the Prime Minister in regards to what they believe is needed in certain provinces and territories for that matter. I think that the Arctic has been treated unfairly by many parties over the years and they are often ignored. These are all good ideas, that have been passed around but I'd like to here what you have to say.
2 comments:
I understand where you are coming from, but while Quebec in most ways is just another province, it'signifcantly different, or dostinct, for a number of very obvious reasons.
That being said, the place to recognize and foster that uniqueness is within the federation and within Canadian institutions, not on the international stage. The minute the federal government no longer speaks for all of us, it no longer speaks for any of us.
Recognizing Quebec's distinctness does not and should not contradict the notion of having a unified presence on the international stage.
Harper is dead wrong.
excuse the typos above. I'm on a different keyboard. it's all weird and so I can't spell.
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