Separation Back in the News
Nov. 20th, 2005 09:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
c9*sigh* 1995 was really scary. I don't want that again. But here we go!
For Boisclair to say that he doesn't have to follow the law is amusing (he didn't follow the law on cocaine either, some will point out), annoying (time to grow up, I would say), and quite unfair (imagine if several other provinces in Canada decided to gang up and try to kick Quebec out of confederation, and told Quebec that they had no reason to be involved as it only affected the rest of Canada).
But will Paul Martin be willing to say any of this? Hardly. He moves a very effective separatism fighter to Environment, and hires a founder of the Bloc Quebecois who can't remember how he voted in 1995 as hisIntergovernmental Affairs MinisterQuebec Lieutenant (oops). *Christ*.
Ottawa — The new leader of the Parti Québécois says he will not follow Ottawa's ground rules for any future referendum on separation.The Clarity Act demands a clear question and a clear majority, not a fuzzy question (like in 1980 and 1995) and 50%+1. These are very good requirements, because separation is a big and tumultuous step, so it's important for everyone to be sure of how they feel.
In an interview with the all-news channel RDI to be air Sunday, André Boisclair says independence is up to Quebeckers only and he sees no reason to submit to the federal Clarity Act. (story)
For Boisclair to say that he doesn't have to follow the law is amusing (he didn't follow the law on cocaine either, some will point out), annoying (time to grow up, I would say), and quite unfair (imagine if several other provinces in Canada decided to gang up and try to kick Quebec out of confederation, and told Quebec that they had no reason to be involved as it only affected the rest of Canada).
But will Paul Martin be willing to say any of this? Hardly. He moves a very effective separatism fighter to Environment, and hires a founder of the Bloc Quebecois who can't remember how he voted in 1995 as his
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Date: 2005-11-20 09:02 am (UTC)I lived with a Quebecoise in Amsterdam, and all the Quebecoises in the city were in our flat the night of the referendum. It was crazy.
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Date: 2005-11-20 09:08 am (UTC)Yeah, while the Tories and Reform were busy imploding and merging, re-imploding and re-merging, during the nineties and early 00's, the BQ was Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition due to their strength in Quebec. You should have heard the howls over that in the nineties, since the idea of the Official Opposition is that they could take power if the government fell. Also the "Loyal" bit.
Currently, the Tories hold Official Opposition status. The BQ can never go past 75 seats (# of QC ridings) and practically speaking can never get past 50 at most (due to many large (often urban) English- and immigrant-dominated ridings. So now, until the Tories or Liberals split up and go crazy again, they're back to third-party status. Sucks that the NDP is stuck behind them still.
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Date: 2005-11-20 09:11 am (UTC)My flatmate was female, but I don't know the plural of Quebecois... Quebecoix? Grrr.
All I know is, there was a whole lotta French goin on, and none of it involved me or my tongue. :-P
Do you think they will try for another referendum, this yahoo notwithstanding?
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Date: 2005-11-20 10:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-20 10:10 am (UTC)(Oh, and I think it's "Quebecois et Quebecoises," you have to say both to be strictly correct. Yes, just confirmed with the hubby.)
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Date: 2005-11-20 05:19 pm (UTC)Futurists in the early 1990s did predict a number of interesting events for Canada and the United States over the succeeding decades. The secession of Quebec was one of them, along with US statehood for Puerto Rico. It will be interesting to see if these come to pass.