Pearson-Shoyama Institute
Place du Canada

A New Canada

I believe that Canada, if it is to survive at all, must change radically. The experiment of the last hundred or so years has shown us that "Canada" is not working. We have twice the unemployment rate of our neighbors to the south. We are constantly trying to appease Quebec to the detriment of the rest of the country. Why is Quebec a have-not province? It doesn't make sense.

The two biggest and oldest provinces with the biggest share of the constitutional pie (Ontario and Quebec) are situated right beside each other and one is thriving while the other falls apart. Figure it out. Canada is spending too much time, money, and energy trying to keep Quebec in a fragile union that it doesn't want. The people of Quebec voted provincially and federally for separatist governments. They want out! Wake up! Let Quebec have what it wants. I have many good friends in Quebec and have lived and worked there. Good luck to them. They are good people.

As for the rest of Canada, let's build a country not a colony. A Republic would be the best choice for a country this vast. We need to get on with nation building instead of being tied down to an archaic decaying system (monarchy). If we do not wake up we will eventually be
absorbed politically by the United States, which would probably be better than the present situation.

Rob Duncan,
B.C.