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Thursday, March 22, 2007

The Case for a Separate Quebec

Mark Steyn reviews a book that makes what he calls the most "rational case" for separation of Quebec that he's come across.... here's an excerpt below,

"If Quebec is (as Mr Harper insists) a nation, then it could use a nationalist movement. It's a poor reflection on the eternally non-separating separatists that the best case for a Quebecois nation is that made by Reed Scowen in his book Time To Say Goodbye, a new edition of which has just been released to coincide with the election. Mr Scowen is not a "Westmount Rhodesian" or an angryphone, but a genial bilingual public official who's served his province at home and abroad. Back when he was Quebec's Agent-General in London, I happened to find myself seated next to him at an expatriates' luncheon. Scowen was a very relaxed and affable fellow, which is a sadly rare quality among Canadian and Quebecois diplomatic figures, who often seem somewhat twitchy and oddly insecure. Between the soup and entrée, he delivered a lovely evocative paean to his backyard and the lie of its land – the Townships and the Beauce and the old bootlegging country of the North-East Kingdom of Vermont and New Hampshire's Indian Stream Republic. And sometime between the entrée and dessert, he casually mentioned that he thought it would be better for all concerned if Quebec and Canada went their separate ways."

Read the whole review here.  Pay particular attention to the last couple of paragraphs where he talks about what the Frenchification of the ROC has meant. Personally, I find it, Quebec progressivism, very destructive towards folks who have a more 'traditional' viewpoint.

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