I usually stay away from this type of debate but when I read some of the comments made by Lady Lee, Talesin and Mamochan13 I completely understand why Quebec “the shit-stain of Canada” needs laws to protect their language and culture against assimilation. I was born and raised in Montreal and I have been living in Ontario for well over a decade where I am glad not to have to express where I stand on the sovereignty issue daily.
Here are a few comments that really bother me.
Quebec is a dictatorship. If you look at how they control people, lie to them, deprive certain people of basic human rights then they are no different than any totalitarian group. This one happens to be political and I am damned glad to be out of there.
Totally untrue. The very fact that Quebecers can debate and vote in a referendum on separation is the proof that democracy works. In several Eastern European countries the very same issues resulted in wars and ethnic cleansing. I have yet to find anyone being deported from Quebec for voicing diverging political views and I have not found concentration camps for the evil "anglophone". Lady Lee even admits she was free to leave, although some of her basic human rights may have been baffled...I know French-only signage is such an annoyance...almost as bad as Chinese-only signage in Richmond BC or English only signs in the rest of Canada...I am also glad that she has found refuge in a province that uses the same form of government as Quebec.
I would argue that Newfoundlanders have just as distinct a culture as Quebec - including a unique language.
Another well documented comment here… and I guess the language you are referring to is Newfieneese. Along with First Nations and Britain, France is a founding nation of Canada and Quebecers have every right to preserve their distinct identity and language. Without a legal framework the French minority would simply vanish. Acadians had to flee to New Brunswick and as far as New Orleans to avoid religious persecution and save their culture and they have to constantly battle to remain a people. It is no different for Quebec.
It's interesting that Lady Lee has pointed out how the average Quebecer has been kept under control. I thought that was only true of the Duplessis years, but on reflection - it is continuing.
The average Quebecers was kept under control by the Catholic Church which in turn was in bed with Duplessis. For good French-Canadian Catholics sex was for procreation only which explains the very large families and the end result was that, except for one child who may become a priest or doctor, every other child would receive very little instruction. English-Canadian who were in majority protestants had smaller families and children benefited from a better education. With time English-Canadians held most of the managing jobs while less educated French-Canadians were mostly labourers. That slowly started to change in the 1960’s during “La révolution tranquile” of Jean Lesage. The Catholic Church gradually lost its hold on the population and, with smaller families, more of the children were able to pursue their education. Big money was no longer accessible by English-Canadians only. Today government and Church are totally separated and even school boards are non-denominational . The very fact that Quebec wants to attain independence is the evidence of a people fully emancipated.
Thank you jgnat for the charts...Quebec is not such a moocher after all!
