Quebec in Canada, Still

Some years ago, Quebec declared itself officially unilingual, and promptly began a campaign to rid itself of the English language, and as much evidence of Anglophone culture within its borders as possible. Having contemptuously spat upon Canada and Canadians, Francophones then demanded that the rest of Canada arrange its affairs to accommodate Quebecers, in French, across the nation.

And what did Canada do? Canada meekly complied. Canadians did not, does not, have the courage to simply say "No. We don't do business that way." We said "Yes Sir. By all means, Sir."

While millions upon millions of people around the world teach themselves and their children to speak and write the English language, Canadians feverishly teach their children French. While Asians and Australians also teach their children Mandarin, Canadians force their children to learn French.

Canada gives Quebec about $1.3B each month, money that it uses to heavily subsidize electricity, day care, and tuition. While we pay top dollar to educate our children, we also pay Quebec top dollar to teach their children to live and work in a language that is spoken in France, Haiti, and in a cluster of failed states in Africa.

Quebecers migrate down the 417 and the 401 into Ontario where the promptly demand that we provide them full services in French. Ontario kneels and provides the required funding - no questions asked.

The Charbonneau Commission is investigating crime and corruption in Quebec's provincial and municipal governments, unions, and construction industries. La belle Province is under investigation, no one else.

Canada distributes money - Equalization Payments - to the provinces to ensure that each can provide services approximately equal to the national average. Since the program's inception, the federal government has distributed just some $300B. Quebec's haul? $150B - precisely half. Alberta, a major contributor, receives nothing - precisely zero.

Quebec insists that it needs this funding and legislation to avoid being assimilated by the Anglo majority. Hmmm.  If that were the case, one would guess that other cultures, such as the Chinese, who have immigrated to virtually every place on Earth, would similarly lose their language and their culture.  Has that happened? Not at all. The Chinese are resourceful, diligent, intelligent, and, they work hard - at whatever they do.  The Chinese do not need coercive, cumbersome, and incredibly expensive legislation to protect their language and culture.

But Quebecers do. What is wrong with Quebecers? Are they unable to fend for themselves? Apparently not.

If Quebecers were imbued with even a small measure of those traits that characterize the Chinese, they would be partners with Canadians, working with us to build a nation for everyone. But Quebecers don't function that way. Quebecers declare their province to be French only, and then demand that the Rest of Canada arrange its affairs to accommodate them.

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Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair are both avid supporters of Quebec's aspirations. Listen closely to their remarks during this current federal election campaign. –JGP