"Even the most ardent federalists ... are stunned at having been treated as nobodies by Ottawa," Paille told 300 people who turned up in a Montreal hotel Sunday to hear the leadership results. "We sovereigntists are no longer alone ... Canada is being built with its Conservative, majority government without Quebec."
Paille has a good point.
Perhaps because Quebec has clearly rejected the Conservatives, Quebec no longer has much sway in Ottawa. The result of this is an increasing isolation of Quebec from RoC.
That's not good.
That will lead to a rebirth of the sovereigntists as a movement.
http://bit.ly/tel12z
5 comments:
I'm inclined to agree with Daniel Paille here, as well.
Already, in Quebec, the NDP's popularity is starting to slip and the Bloc has started to gain as a result. The media could spin the fact that many BQ members allowed their memberships to lapse, approx 16,000. Given that that the current Quebec membership of the NDP stands at about 5,600, we know they haven't been purchasing NDP memberships.
Paille is definitely out of the starting gate and those will be his and the BQ's campaign themes to come. Plus the fact that he is not in any hurry to campaign for any seat at this time; he appears perfectly happy to run the party from the outside, will give him plenty of time to sell it.
Good point that I think most have not thought of. Even more reason for the rest of Canada to get on board with Quebec against the corporatists.
Liberals and the NDP must join forces to take back what is left of Canada, after the HarperCONS get through with it.
One way is collectively pushing forward on both electoral reform and proportional representation.
It's not difficult to beat these guys if we work together with a common purpose. After all, "the absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously."
Are you talking about the same people who elected a person without even knowing who she was?
Politics in Canada has been dumbed down by the government and the media so much so that the average Canadian has no idea about tit.
The Conservatives still have representation in Quebec. Far more the Chretien ever had in Alberta. I am impressed at how the Prime Minister has helped Quebec, even though it appears he no longer as dependent on them politically.
These are likely the last 10 years Quebec will be within Canada.
If Quebec were to separate, Canada would be more rightist than today, and would vote for the right-wing party in the majority with greater frequency. This election has demonstrated to the Conservatives that they cannot lose regardless of whether their policies go down well in Quebec.
Quebec and Ontario have a joint economic interest. Harper is trying to tie much of Ontario's future development to tar-sands industrial contracting, rather than nuclear, hydro and renewable energies (these happen to be some of Quebec's most important potential industries for growth as well). Ontario can do well by Harper's policies, at least for a while (Quebec can too). But Ontarians' will never be masters of their own house if they allow Harper to limit the growth their nuclear and renewables industries, and rely on oil sands development contracts, and Albertan paychecks, for much of their new economic growth.
Note that Harper has refused a Carbon tax, which would favour Ontario's renewable and nuclear energy industries while still not explictly disfavouring Alberta's oil industry. If anything, Harper's industrial-emissions targets strategy will even cost the oil industry more than an economically efficient tax. Harper has also played a bit of a wrecker in international climate agreements, even though there is much potential in global climate agreements to create international business for Ontario and Quebec's hydro, power grid, and nuclear expertise. Such agreements are unlikely to tie the hands of Alberta's oil industry: the world is going to need oil for some time. Nuclear and Hydro displace coal and, partially, gas, but not oil.
Basically, Harper, in his international and domestic policies, has deliberately chosen to make Canada weaker, in exchange for making Ontario more dependent on Alberta for growth by giving a kick in the teeth to the industrial growth potential Quebec's and Ontario's Renewables, Hydro and Nuclear industries. Why? Because Ontarians will not want to bite the Albertan hands that feed them, and will want to please them in voting for Alberta's prefered political candidates. And if Quebec gets fed up, and leaves, more power to Conservatives in the future.
Canada is, right now, a disfunctional union. It could still solve its problems, but it needs a leader who'll discuss these problems openly. Harper is not that leader: he has created and exacerbated many problems simply in order to give his party political advantage. He's spited Canada to advance his personal political fortunes. The Liberals, I think, are fairly clueless: Ignatieff did not see what was going on: he did not ever mention industrial policy. He didn't defend Ontario economic interests. Dion probably knew, but couldn't properly articulate his understanding of how Canada's industrial policy should move forward. McGuinty may know, but has kept his mouth shut: he can't afford to pick a fight with Harper.
Do you see any Liberal leader in site who'll fight for all of Canada? I don't.
Enjoy your country while it lasts.
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