Pearson-Shoyama Institute
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After the Referendum
by John Lobo
November 20, 1995
Living through the recent Quebec referendum was indeed stressful for me, more so since
being a new immigrant to Canada, I was not eligible to vote. One finds it really hard to
believe that Canada, widely considered the best place to live in, could be facing a
situation where 25% of the population could possibly break up the country. But, I guess,
herein lies its greatness. We can have members of Parliament talking about breaking up the
country and actually being allowed to do so.
The Quebec question , now very much at the top of the agenda, has troubled this country
for too long and by the looks of things it seems that it will continue to do so. So what
is the solution? Distinct society status? Decentralization ? The solutions seem as
difficult and complex as the problem itself. And it also remains to be seen whether the
separatists will ever be satisfied. They have grown so demanding in recent years that
nothing that Ottawa has to offer will be deemed sufficient.
Obviously, at the heart of the matter is this sense of being different that Quebecers
feel. Are they justified in feeling this way? I think so. There is no denying the fact
that there are six million French speaking people living among approximately 350 million
English speaking people and despite this they have hung on to their culture and language (
the latter albeit through Oppressive laws ) . I would favor a certain distinctiveness
being granted to Quebec in the Canadian constitution but only to the extent that the
subject clause would be a description of the nature of Quebec society and would not grant
additional powers to Quebec.
Having come from a country where the rights of the majority took precedence over those
of minorities, I would oppose any special status to Quebec whereby my rights as an
individual would be subordinate to those of a particular group. If this exception is made,
then soon we will have to give special status to the Chinese ,Somalis, etc. I believe that
we all have to be unhyphenated Canadians and should be damn proud to be so.
Since I am on a roll as far as opposition goes, I might as well state my opposition to
decentralization. It's a well-known fact that Canada is the most decentralized country in
the world, what with Quebec having control over its own immigration policy and all
provinces maintaining embassy-like, presence's in other countries. This has led to
provincial politicians constantly feuding with their federal counterparts as to who should
have control over what. I think decentralization is just another means of provincial
politicians; gaining more powers for themselves. We need a strong federal government in
order to hold the country, together because otherwise there will be chaos with every
province going off in a different direction, one that, is supposedly beneficial to that
particular province or should I say to that Provincial politician.
In conclusion, maybe the time has come for the people of Canada to speak out as they
did at the massive federalist rally on October 27th 1995 in Montreal. Any steps to
massively decentralize the country should be taker only after the good of the people has
been considered and not at the whims of provincial politicians. I would go a step further;
let the people decide for themselves. After all, it is us who pay -the taxes and Lets not
forget that.
Distinct society status is a more emotional concept than decentralization and,
therefore, more difficult to solve. The time has come to tell Quebecers that they are an
integral part of this country; that they are special in a certain way; but also that
enough is enough. The country cannot be held hostage by a myth propagated by a few
close-minded separatists. Quebecers have as such a right and moral obligation to work for
a better Canada as has any other Canadian. It's time for them to forget the past and
accept this country as their own. It always been and always will be.
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