Monday, June 9, 2014

Quebec Sovereignty's Risk to Reward

I've waited a long time to write this piece, probably because I didn't quite know how to frame the argument.
But I came across a television show where a daredevil explained the concept of risk to reward so well, that it inspired me to write this piece which endeavours to explore the potential positive elements of Quebec sovereignty, versus the potential negative effects.

Now please watch this three minute video clip as an expert explains the concept.
The clip is from the National Geographic Channel's television show called "The Number's Game"  hosted by Jake Porway and is an utterly fascinating look into the world of statistics, probabilities and little known human traits.
I highly encourage you to view the show and consider a subscription to the National Geographic Channel, it will amaze you.
At any rate, I hope this little blurb for the NGC, will convince them to let me use this tiny clip about Jeb Corliss and how efficiently he analyses the risk to reward, in relation to any given stunt.


Humans are magnificent risk evaluators and while we all have different ideas about what is acceptable or not, we all do have a threshold beyond where we will not take a certain risk because the chance and consequences of failure is determined to be unacceptable.

Perhaps it's most simple to explain by a hypothetical challenge whereby you are asked to walk across a footbridge over a thousand foot gorge and where there is a possibility that the bridge may give, plunging you to your death, but where on the other side of the gorge is a satchel with a million dollars with your name on it.

Would you walk across the bridge if the chances were one in a million that it would collapse?
......I would.

But, what if the chance was 1/100,000, 1/10,000, or 1/1,000,  1/10 or 1/3?
Those are the types of decisions we all make every day when we get behind the wheel of our car or take an airplane flight, go bungee jumping or play dominos. Some people have a higher level of risk-taking than others, but in the end we all have a limit.

So here I'd like to discuss with devoted sovereigntists the concept of risk/reward of Quebec independence.

Has anybody ever really made a legitimate risk to reward analysis?
So let us consider...........

THE REWARD....
If you are a sovereigntist, the benefits of independence is clear. Bye-bye Canada, hello to Quebec the country.
How will Quebec be different?
Well, obviously the entire purpose of sovereignty is to make Quebec a French nation and that will certainly occur.
There won't be any chance that immigrants assimilate on the English side of the language equation because English will be phased out, there's no other reasonable expectation.
Public English services and education will be phased out and English will generally disappear, perhaps slowly, but ultimately completely.
For most sovereigntists, this is the ideal outcome, the ultimate safeguarding of a French future for Quebec by the elimination of English from all manner of Quebec life.
Additionally Quebec will be freed to explore its own version of society and those differences and compromises that it was forced to make in the past (like the gun registry) with Ottawa.

All this must be weighed against;

THE RISK...
To my mind the biggest risk is the amount of Quebec citizens and companies that will leave Quebec in favour of Canada. There's little doubt that there will be movement, but the question is how much.
The more that leave, the shakier the Quebec economy gets and if too many leave it could trigger a social and economic disaster.

Now to many sovereigntists  getting rid of Anglos who choose not to live in Quebec may seem as a reward but at a certain point, the exodus could make Quebec's situation untenable.

So is that number of people leaving Quebec 10,000 or a million? What say you?

Then there is the question of businesses leaving.
Like the head offices that stampeded out of Quebec during the 1970's, Quebec independence would force companies to make a decision of whether to stay or leave/
Having a Bombardier or CGI, or any of the large employers leave would be a staggering loss, having dozens or hundred or thousands of companies leave would be a disaster.

People and companies will move, but how many remains the issue to be considered.

The wild card in all this is whether Canada will make it easy for these people and these companies to move.
Let us remember the United Empire Loyalists who were British subjects enticed to come over the border from the newly created United States with offers of free land.

Let's look at it from Canada's point of view.
Once the dust has settled and Quebec is independent, Canada can make offers to Quebec businesses to jump to Canada for certain advantages, perhaps a ten or twenty year tax holiday.  Many businesses would jump at the opportunity given the uncertainty of an independent Quebec.
The problem for Quebec is that it will have to match the offers, just to keep what it already has.
I  can't really see Quebec in a position to make the same offer to Canadian companies, because frankly, there's the language barrier and also the fact that it's highly unlikely that any company based in Canada would consider moving to Quebec.

What if Canada makes the same re-location offer to average citizens, that is perhaps, a ten year holiday from federal taxes?
Will Quebecers on the fence be enticed with such an offer?

I'll tell you one thing readers, everybody will make a selfish decision based on self-interest.
If Quebec became a country tomorrow, I would rent a tiny apartment in Ottawa and declare myself an Ontarian, keeping my present Quebec residence as a 'second' home. A federal tax break from Ottawa would make the whole thing a no brainer, a win/win situation for me and a lose/lose situation for the Quebec tax department.
Every person  and every company will make a decision about the future and the only question is how much Quebec will bleed.

And I'm not even getting into the discussion of whether Quebec pulls out more money out of Canada then it puts in each year.
Dedicated sovereigntists have been trying to convince Quebecers that such is not the case, usually by some sleight of hand and fanciful cyphering, but lately Quebecers have become more and more skeptical of these claims.

So if you are a sovereigntist you really need to consider these risks against the reward, because the risks are real.
For too long the sovereigntist leadership has kept their heads firmly planted in the ground like an ostrich, never daring to play the 'what if' game.

You will recall that Bernard Drainville never sought legal opinions over the Charter of Values, because clearly he anticipated an unacceptable response.
This has been the sovereigntist position for over forty years.....don't ask/don't tell/don't discuss.

The current drop in support for sovereignty has nothing to do with the drop in nationalism. It is more likely because Quebers have performed their own risk/reward analysis in their own minds and have come to the conclusion that the reward of Quebec sovereignty is not worth the risk, most concluding that Quebec gets too good a deal out of Canada to give it up.

That is what the PQ has to reflect upon.
Is the reward of Quebec sovereignty worth the risk? Until now they've been asking Quebecers to bet the house without knowing the odds and it's clear that Quebecers are no longer prepared to do so.

Until they can show Quebecers a sovereignty plan that considers all the risks, they are dead in the water.
What the PQ must really consider during this period of reflection, is whether it is at all feasible.

I think not....

NOTE TO READERS.....
I will be taking it a little easy over the summer and be posting erratically, but keep checking back, I'll be around..


44 comments:

  1. Oh Canada, make me an offer, It will take me three days to pack... I will then devote my life to ending the dubbing of my evil TV shows into French. No more Big Bang Theory for you

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  2. I'm not going to defend Quebec separatists, but sometimes nationalism trumps common sense. I don't think that Algerians are more free or prosperous now that Algeria is an independent country than when it was a part of France. But I also don't think most Algerians would have it any other way because they feel that Algeria is their country, not France. Discuss.

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  3. It's time for Canada to force Quebec nationalists to make a decision on that risk/reward analysis, and not the way things are today either. Sign the constitution as is or go away. Enough of their BS. I'd love for Quebec to separate. Then finally my friends and family might be open to the idea of leaving this place once and for all.

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    1. @Malaka

      Couldn't agree with you more. You're in or you're out. Seppies will tell you that such an ultimatum to quebec will piss off quebecer's and make them vote to go. In my opinion if they couldn't pull off separation in 40 yrs, it won't be an ultimatum from Canada that will procure them a set. This sovereignty idea was very much one-generational. The up and coming generations are acutely aware of how they would be better off, ...and it isn't in the poor little disenfranchized, disconnected and clueless 'nation' of quebec.

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    2. For sure - you're both right. Kick us out or quebec sign the constitution within the next 4 years. Enough is more than enough and it's time to end the misery for all of us. We can't keep up this farce - let the majority of quebecers make the decision at 50+1 and let's end it! Have a referendum to become truly a part of Canada not on separation from Canada and let's see how that wording sits with the seppies. "Should we sign the Canadian Constitution as written"? Let's go!

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  4. Judging from the last few elections in all three levels of Government, the Separatists are a dwindling minority of voters that are no longer in any position to drive policy or debate. They are an aging cohort of voters that are dying off. A lot of what they originally demanded at the inception of their movement has largely been achieved. Quebec is practically a semi autonomous state within a united Canadadian federation and we're stronger because of that. Case in point, we dodged a massive bullet in 2008 while the rest of the developed World was watching their economy teeter on the edge of disaster. Strong banking rules and smart monetary policy allowed Canada and Quebec to emerge from that collapse relatively unscathed. That's something we can all be proud of.

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    1. LD: Quebec did sweet f-all in all this. It was all Ottawa's doing, and it was Jim Flaherty at the helm. Quebec would have found some way to screw it up like everything else. The banks fall under federal jurisdiction and federal jurisdiction only. The caisse populaires surprisingly didn't screw up as badly as they could have, but then again, they have to compete with the banks.

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    2. Jim Flaherty (RIP) hailed from Lachine, Quebec.

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    3. Actually Mr S, what the three stooges did, was print even faster than the Americans (on a per capita basis). Our base money went from $200 billion in 2005 to $900 billion 2010. See the chart here:

      OUTRAGEOUS Canadian Base Currency Expansion - Mike Maloney

      The tsunami of inflation heading our way wont be pretty. Note, Harper inherited a banking system that was the envy of the western world.

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    4. DD, when it's all said and done, it almost doesn't matter about the money supply because if and when the other shoe of America's "quantitative easing" drops, we'll be taken for the ride no matter how fiscally responsible we are or are not. How long can America sustain $17 trillion of debt before it comes back to bite them in the ass?

      Since about 75% of our trade is with the Americans, they'll sneeze and we'll get pneumonia. At least Harper is trying to divert some of our trade with the Americans over to the Chinese, and it's 1.3 billion consumers who are getting more affluent by the minute. Same goes for India and its over 750 million people. I won't state all in those countries are benefitting, but enough are to cause the prices of oil, beef and other commodities to increase because their demands for these commodities are heading nowhere but up!

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  5. "Canada can make offers to Quebec businesses to jump to Canada for certain advantages, perhaps a ten or twenty year tax holiday. Many businesses would jump at the opportunity given the uncertainty of an independent Quebec."
    Why would Ottawa or the provinces offer a subsidy to some business to move? Essentially having already Canadian business pay to entice other companies to move? Why would Rogers be okay with Bell having a ten year tax holiday just because it was headquartered in Montreal. Same thing for West Jet and, to a lesser degree, Porter with regards to their competitor Air Canada.There were no business subsidies after Bill 101, why? Because the taxes were lower in Ontario and the other provinces and the less regulations, their was no need to offer subsidies.
    "Let us remember the United Empire Loyalists who were British subjects enticed to come over the border from the newly created United States with offers of free land."
    Not comparable with the reality of today. Then, Many parts of Ontario wasn't even developed. Most farmland had no to little value, and to government needed to just give them up, as long as they were developed. Today of course, Ontario and the Western provinces are all developed and are already facing pressure from emigration.
    "What if Canada makes the same re-location offer to average citizens, that is perhaps, a ten year holiday from federal taxes?"
    No way in hell that will happen. Any federal leader making such a promise will face an angry electorate. Why are some canadians having to pay taxes for others to come? Why not just lower the tax burden on all and then convince the Quebeckers to come with lower taxes?
    "If Quebec became a country tomorrow, I would rent a tiny apartment in Ottawa and declare myself an Ontarian, keeping my present Quebec residence as a 'second' home. A federal tax break from Ottawa would make the whole thing a no brainer, a win/win situation for me and a lose/lose situation for the Quebec tax department."
    No one can declare themselves an Ontarian, Ontario isn't a nation, you'd be a Canadian living in Ontario. Will the federal government even grant Canadian citizenship to Canadian living in Quebec? If Canadian buy property in New York or Massaschussett, the can't declare themselves an American. They would have to go through the process of obtaining a green card.

    I have my doubt that Quebec will honour dual citizenship along with those with those who are Canadian.

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  6. A TAX HOLIDAY FOR LEAVING A GODFORSAKEN PLACE? FUGGEDABOUDIT! JUST FUGGEDABOUDIT!.

    At best, those who choose to relocate can claim moving expenses to move closer to a new job like everybody else, as prescribed in the Income Tax Act. For those who have chosen to endure the absolute crap of the last 40-odd years, feel free to move to the real Canada, but you do it at your own expense with help from the Income Tax Act, and not a penny more. Federal tax holiday, my ass!

    Anyone with less than half a brain knows the costs of separation would far exceed the benefits no matter what your mother tongue, but for those who are "trapped" by and for their lack of English, too damn bad for you! These moronic fascist langugage bills came about because the French speakers wanted it that way. For those who believe in the lies, fantasy and downright absurd fallacies that government made these laws strictly on their own without the desire of the French speakers is either retarded or emotionally disturbed...or both!!!

    I chose to leave at the first opporunity because I was not willing to wait and see if this was a passing phase and just tend to my roses. That would have wasted more than 3/4 of my life to date, and even if the worst of the threat of separation is behind us, I'm still not satisfied.

    I will neither now nor EVER support any part of Canada where English has no official language status, and that includes language legislation in Nunavut where some language law was drafted to make some Eskimo language official. Since there are only maybe 40,000 people who speak that language in an underpopulated and isolated wasteland, they can have it because it has little impact on Canada. They can preserve their language by teaching it to future generations, speaking and writing it between themselves and anyone else interested in communicating in that language, cataloging it to save it from extinction.

    My grandparents spoke Yiddish. My father communicated in Yiddish to his parents and various other relatives of his (and mine too, even though I didn't know them) yet he never taught Yiddish to his children. Why do you suppose that is? Furthermore, who cares? It served a purpose for a particular time era, a few people living within closed communities may opt to continue its use, but for the most part it is not widely spoken in the Jewish community worldwide anymore. We as Jews never imposed it upon anyone else, Jews survived for thousands of years before Yiddish even evolved to become the language it did amongst the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern and Central Europe, and Judaism won't die if Yiddish becomes a catalogued, extinct language. There are over 400 extinct languages known to mankind, but I digress.
    NO

    NO to tax holidays, NO to French as the only official language of Quebec, NO
    NO NO!!!

    Case closed!




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    1.   Yes, it seems unlikely there will be any concessions at this point. People have had forty years to prepare and there will be at minimum another ten years before there can be separation.
        First there will be this Liberal mandate for another four years. Then, and it’s a strange thing to hope for but it’s the position separatists are in, if Quebec fails badly there may be a complete turnaround in the next election in 2018 or 2019 and a PQ majority will be elected.
        Then they will have to spend a few years creating the “winning conditions,” which no one has been able to figure out over the last forty years, but maybe third time’s the charm, so a referendum could pass in 2022 or 2023.
        After that would have to be some negotiations with Canada, but likely by then both sides would be playing hardball. As Liam points out, RBC, TD, Rogers, Telus, Porter and the rest of corporate Canada will be opposed to any gifts to companies that will become considered “international” in an independent Quebec. Remember, as Quebec pursued separating from Canada the slogan in western Canada was, “The West Wants In.” They are unlikely to give up what they fought so hard for over the last forty years.
        The negotiations may end up at the UN, which separatists seem keen to join but that’s a risk, too, because Canada has many friends at the UN. Not just the US and the UK but also China (certainly western Canada and China grow closer every day so by 2022 the relationship will be even stronger - it’s interesting how Quebec is the only big province that doesn’t have Chinese as its second or third most spoken language. In Quebec it’s Arabic, the only province like that. It seems immigration to Quebec is different from immigration to BC, Alberta and Ontario).
        The risks for an independent Quebec will only become greater as the years go by. Canada, and the world, is very different than it was in 1968 and it will continue to change so by 2022 it’s anybody’s guess.
        Nationalism is definitely expensive. One thing we know for sure, the bankers and heads of the corporations won’t pay the price. Just like the World Cup in Brazil, nationalism will be paid for, as the socialists would say, on the backs of the poor. As it always has been.

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    2. Just to clarify, Nunavut as a territory have to recognize english and french as official language. However, the federal government allows the territory to recognize other language, which Nunavut has done with Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun, two Inuit language. English is still an official language and the de facto language of the government.

      http://langcom.nu.ca/nunavuts-official-languages/

      You are right Jay, the risk get bigger as the year go by, and for the separatist it will be critical for the party to spend the next four year to organize and more importantly write a white book on sovereignty. Being evasive will not help them during the next election. After 2022, I feel it will be much harder for the separatist movement in Canada. The province would have moved on and less willing to talk about the issue.

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    3. "If Quebec fails badly there may be a complete turnaround in the next election in 2018 or 2019 and a PQ majority will be elected."

      Nahh, I see the CAQ coming to power way before the PQ ever does again, and by the time the PQ gets wind in its sails again, Canada will have booted quebec out by having its own Referendum. Too many Canadians sick with this provinces's shenanigans. Quebec just better find a way to become less poor cause at this rate, no one wants to be saddled with a risk and a Liability. It just takes a movement to grow in the RoC that it wants quebec out because it has become a bad investment, and sooner rather than later quebec is done for. Things have changed dramatically in the RoC when it comes to this province. The truth is the RoC has nothing to lose by acting...as they say...more money for them and less crap to deal with. Quebec on the other hand will find itself destitute and hungry, do the math people, it ain't rocket science, just when you consider what it takes in, in transfer payments. I am sure some would love to see it self-destruct now so that Montreal can finally get on with the business of a city-state effective immediately.

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    4. @Mr. S.

      Can't say I blame you, if I were in your position I would feel the same way.

      We talk about a tax holiday, the truth is that quebec's been on a holiday the lady 40yrs. Doing exactly as it has pleased, taking the RoC for granted, exploiting every single handout and agreement it has had with Canada, always demanding and expecting preferential treatment from Canada and blackmailing it in the process. Canada has been a virtual push-over. At a certain point, one has to wonder how much more disrespect, abuse and exploitation will Canada further endure at the hands of this insatiable province? Une question comme ça...

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    5. "It just takes a movement to grow in the RoC that it wants quebec out..."

      This seems very unlikely. Like separatism in Quebec, anti-Quebec feelings in the ROC do not resonate among younger people.

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    6. @Jay

      Wouldn't be to sure about that...it's young people who have expressed feelings of dissatisfaction, ...the ones I deal with on a daily basis anyway. Perhaps you should find a poll to substantiate your position?

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    7. Well, Jay, I suppose ignorance is bliss, but it's also formidably expensive, and Generation Screwed, i.e., younger people, better beware because it's one among many things they're going to pay for. It's bad enough Generation Screwed won't get the fringe benefits and pension plans that older workers get. Even my large, rich employer 2-3 years ago doesn't allow newcomers after a certain date to participate in the defined benefit pension plan. They have no choice now but to participate in the the defined contributor's plan.

      The diff? The employer takes the risks in a defined benefit plan because they have to ensure the funds are available to pay out the benefits as defined in the plan. The "younger people" as you classify them will take all the risks in the defined contribution plan. If the contributions don't produce a beneficial pension, too bad. The contributors suffer.

      I think "younger people" better take stock of how much they're paying for anything and everything government puts out, coupled with the crippling debt university graduates have to pay looking for jobs that don't exist when they graduate.

      Good luck with that, Jay. They're going to be angry! Uber pissed in my opinion!

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  7. I am not an expert on the effects of a Quebec separation, but I know it will be messy. The separatists have been told a thousand times with facts of what this adventure will cost, and they continue to ignore us. There is nothing we can say that will change their minds. I can understand why they want their own country, but willing to risk everything even future generations is insane. Anger and dream of a homeland has blinded them.
    After the dust has settled and all of Canada has suffered economically, Canadians are not going to be in a conciliatory mood. They will probably go out of their way not to buy anything from Quebec. International trade agreements that now include Canada will not include Quebec. Why would a Quebec company pay high tariffs to deal with the world when they would be better to move to Canada. This is too complex a topic for me to figure out.
    Who knows, maybe someday in the future when there is only one elderly separatist still left alive holed up in his log house somewhere near Lac St Jean. The police and medical officials are outside. He yells from the house " I'm not coming out until I get my own country! ".
    Determined right to the end.

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    1. Bob, very eloquently stated. I myself have stated that if Quebec doesn't pay up for the privilege of separation, they will not be welcome into NAFTA, and any Canadian leader worth his salt (Trudeau, Mulcair and Da Bloc-head are not) would vote against Quebec being a part of any free trade deal; furthermore, there would have to be an easement between the Ontario and the Atlantic provinces. Failure to comply would result in Quebec being refused becoming part of said free trade deal and any future ones.

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  8. I watched the funeral of the 3 RCMP Constables in Moncton, killed in action. Requiescat in Pace.

    My observation: Stephen Harper was there, Thomas Mulcair was there, Justin Trudeau was there. Elizabeth May was there. Where was Jean-Francois Fortin?

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    1. Why would Jean-Francois Fortin be there?

      No proud separatist would cross the Restigouche and Ottawa River (except to collect their paycheque).

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    2. Yes, but this funeral is of a human tragedy beyond politics and language. If Fortin couldn't suck it up and go, then the separatists have sunk to a new low. Whatever happened to common decency.

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    3. What makes it worse I think that there was a rather big contingent consisted of officers from - among others - SPVM, SPVL, SPAL and SQ.

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    4. Bigger ugly question... Who paid for the 3000 or so officers to attend the service today. Local police associations, unions NOT. I suspect the taxpayer. Yes, not a nice question but in fact one with validity.

      We have many military people killed in action abroad ( I will not debate the question of legitimacy) and do we have national services to honor them other than to send the body bags home?

      I am not downplaying the tragedy in Moncton and the useless deaths of three RCMP. The reaction, however, should be questioned.

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    5. Well, Westerner, I don't know the whole story but I can tell you this: my brother spent 40 years in the RCMP in New Brunswick, mostly in Moncton, and retired a few years ago. Four of the Mounties who attended the funerals (including my brother's son) took vacation days, drove from Ottawa and stayed at my brother's house where he fed them.

      Of course, Stephen Harper travels with the largest security detail and entourage of any Canadian politician in history, so that you pay for, yes.

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    6. If one thinks that law enforcement officers attending the funeral are arriving in comfort, think again. One of the officers was interviewed and said that the Montreal contingent took an overnight bus to Moncton, straight to the venue and would leave as soon as the ceremony was over. Besides, I think it is a tradition across Canadian and American law enforcement agencies that they would attend - in big number - the funeral of fellow officers killed in the line of duty. Just remember the ones killed in Toronto, in Laval, in Edmonton and many other places.

      Back to the question about the absence of the party representatives, it turns out that those dignitaries from Ottawa, including the GG and members of the opposition (including Mulcair and Trudeau) caught a ride on Harper's version of Air Force One. Therefore, for the party leaders of the House, there was really not a good enough excuse not to attend.

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    7. Yes, for funeral member of the opposition travel with the Prime Minister on Canada version of Air Force One, 412 Transport Squadron.

      My separatist neighbour, who worked for a advertisement firm in Gatineau, job moved to Ottawa, in the downtown core, near the a frequent bus route and with convenient underground parking. Even though commuting wasn't a problem, he refused to take the job because he would have to take cross the Ottawa River. The story is too explain the mindset of the separatist, more precisely the Us versus Them mentality.

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    8. "Bigger ugly question... Who paid for the 3000 or so officers to attend the service today. Local police associations, unions NOT. I suspect the taxpayer. Yes, not a nice question but in fact one with validity. "

      You raise a valid point, but (and I am strictly speaking for myself), if I can pay for popo prancing off to Scotland for no good reason, for meetings she scheduled with heads of state who wouldn't even receive her, and blowing how much $$$ in the process? I have no prob paying for the Mounties who went and honored these 3 men.

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    9. I'm with you again AnecTOTE - Government waste is nothing new but at least this went for a good purpose.

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  9. There are two problems with the dilemma posed by the author: the reward at the end and the assessment of risk.

    Separatists perceive both far, far differently than federalists do.

    Separatists have spent 40 years looking at the bridge and seeing a solid, well-built structure leading to a land of milk and honey.
    Federalists see a rickety rope bridge with missing slats leading to a bombed-out war zone.

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  10. From The Gazette, on the budget and Education:

    http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Opinion+budget+education/9925408/story.html

    "The teaching profession in Quebec is also in crisis. Quebec’s teachers are the lowest paid in Canada, with arguably the most difficult working conditions. In the 12 years prior to the current collective agreement, we saw our real wages reduced by 10.5 per cent. Meanwhile, the burnout rate and the use of long-term disability by teachers has been steadily rising. As a result, Quebec’s teachers are younger and less experienced than teachers in other provinces.

    Continuing to degrade the teaching profession may seem like a means of saving money, but in fact it is transferring costs to students. Ultimately, it is an entire generation of Quebec’s youth that will pay for this austerity, by having to cope with an education system incapable of attracting and retaining the best and brightest teachers."

    More bad news for this province, not that it surprises anyone. In 40yrs they have completely run it into the ground, Education just another token casualty. Bravo quebec politicos...so much to be proud if.

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    1. Read the Gazette article, loved it!

      Why? Because it's mostly the English and Hebrew parochial school students who benefit from this while the French kids continue to sink like anvils in quick sand!

      QUÉBEC KNOWS HOW! ...to continue to alienate their own.

      QUÉBEC KNOWS HOW! ...to divest in its future by failing coming generations in the classroom.

      QUÉBEC KNOWS HOW! ...to reward the bad and punish the good, esp. the Keystone Cops known as the Montreal Police who wanted to go after the fellow who pursued the careless school bus driver who weaved through lanes and was speeding.

      QUÉBEC KNOWS HOW! ...to allow the most criminal of criminal elements to live quiet lives and welcome such people...like murderer Paul Rose, and Karla Homolka and others who should be thrown out, but are treated like royalty instead.

      QUÉBEC KNOWS HOW! ...to repel investment with labour laws that allow the employees to antagonize employers who take all business risk and work hard to maintain their businesses.

      QUÉBEC KNOWS HOW!

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    2. lets see now, years of mismanagement, corruption, language laws, and high taxes are all coming back to bite Quebecers in the rear end. Crumbling bridges, infrastructure. Mass exodus of anglo and some francophone tax payers, and most big business head offices. A general atmosphere that discourages investment and entrepreneurship. Charter of values, the language police, hateful separatists, worldwide laughingstock and high francophone high school drop out rate. Highest debt rate in Canada. This just names a few. Now correct me if I'm wrong, I mean what do I know, but I have a strange feeling that this not quite the proper way to run a province, or who knows, future country.
      But wait. Canada to the rescue (cue heroic music, vision of Captain Canada with cape flapping in wind). We'll gladly send them more money and help, with a smile on our face. Go ahead separatists, curse at us, hate us, but we're still smiling. After all, we're Canadians. (cut to giant Canadian flag behind Captain Canada).

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    3. @Mr Sauga:

      Just checked. Paul Rose died last year. Not soon enough. I had forgotten. He, and all the other dead separatists are now down in hell driving Satan crazy. They want him to speak french only to them, plus they want a part of hell as their own country.

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  11. More delay for Vaudreuil Regional Hospital

    http://www.gazettevaudreuilsoulanges.com/2014/06/11/hospital-by-2020-blame-the-pq-say-mnas/

    "The Marois Government cost the Vaudreuil-Soulanges regional hospital two years, the region’s Liberal MNAs estimated last week."
    So typical of the PQ. They have no plan, just guessing what to do. Just have the patient go to Hawkesbury in Ontario.

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  12. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE FRANKFORTWednesday, June 11, 2014 at 7:57:00 PM EDT

    Election day in Ontario...
    I see the Libs winning this one. Again. Why? Easy: Ontarians are naive and manipulated like the quebecois. Of course besides their common love of socialism, the mere difference is that Ontario may survive bankruptcy but barely as they will actually exploit their natural resources to avoid poverty for the generations to come.

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    1. If the Ontario Conservatives could have found a decent leader they would have won a majority easily. Ontario is a very conservative place. I've been here almost twenty years and I can't find any of this socialism you talk about. Maybe some of the crumbs tossed to the poor are a bit bigger than other places but there's no shortage of people buying multi-million dollar houses or half a million dollar tiny condos.

      Unless you mean the government-protected businesses like banking and telecoms? That could certainly be called socialism for some.

      Anyway, it will likely be another Liberal minority but it's not like the Liberals will win, it's just that the conservatives can't help but defeat themselves.

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    2. They have to get rid of Hudak - no personality.

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  13. Hey Saugy, My old friend. Ed back from the grave here. Something you said in a piece a while back about Jews communicating.with Yiddish brought to mind that during and after the war many of the houses in Verdun were purchased by the ones who emigrated with some money. Because they were old shacks they were cheap. As the Jews moved out they rented mostly to francophones having improved the properties considerably. They kept rents low and were much appreciated in Verdun (my hometown) I remember around 1946 the other tenant above us who was worried about being three months behind due tio his wife's serious illness came to my Father and said,"Cliff would you believe he forgave me the whole thing and said if I need help call him."
    The same man, Mr. B. Macklovitch sold needed goods such as winter flanel underwear that most could not afford. he collected 50 cents per week.
    The Jews were not organized into grroups like B'nai brith back then. It weemed a natural lifestyle. is there somehing in the chicken soup we should know about.
    I'm in Mtl.General recovering from a form of Leukemia which has decimated my body but I'm told the immense amount of Antibiotice
    in I.V. are winning., Ed Brown

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  14. FROM ED AGAIN
    The same story.. Francos ended up buying the houses which were sold at a very low price. They the became the landlords and raised rents for the English. This caused my Father to buy a lot across the street and build his own house. The houses we built new were better than the much older properties the French lived in. But English were building whole communities like Crawford Park which is now part of Verdun. Mostly for soldeirs and immigrants from Europe. Ed

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    1. Incidentally, Canada welcomed Jewish immigrants. It was only the French didn't, guess who was behind that? The jews that came to Verdun spoke no French or English. They all had a transalator along. My Mother bought goods and paid one dollard per week to clothe the family. My Father of course complained the prices were too high.

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  15. I hope the Editor is ready to pick up the pen if Mario gets selected to head up the Bloc on Saturday. What a laugh!

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