Sovereign Quebec

It's a pity that we cannot say that Pauline Marois, leader of the Parti Quebecois is one-of-a-kind, because she most certainly is not. That her separatist party has been leading in the polls, up to the September 4 provincial election speaks volumes.  Supporters of the Parti Quebecois appear to be quite comfortable with her anti-Democratic and spurning of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms pronouncements.

Canadian citizens living in any other province, on arrival in Quebec, if they have not mastered French, can expect to be treated quite uniquely in Quebec.  They may not, if Pauline Marois gets her way, run for public office, nor fund political parties or petition the Quebec legislature.  They are, or will be by virtue of their unilingual status, second-class citizens.  A completely new classification for Canada.

Public-sector workers, who wish to wear religiously-distinguishing symbols characteristic of their faith may no longer feel free to do so. It will not be permissible, as an affront to 'secular' Quebec. With the exception of Christians wearing crosses, that kind of innocuous thing, distinctly different and acceptable, as compared to a Jewish kippah, a Sikh kirpan or a Muslim headscarve; the latter group does not represent a heritage moment, the singular former does.

We have, therefore, the citizenship of privilege and the citizenship of tolerance-turned intolerant.  Non-Anglophones can forget about attending English-language CEGEPs for the purpose of preparing themselves to venture out into the wide world of business where English is primarily spoken, not the French imposed upon them by the Government of Quebec.

They will, of course, be free and welcome to remain in Quebec and pursue their careers in their home province, where they will be assured that French will be the language of business and commerce in all but the very smallest of enterprises.  And there they will feel supremely comfortable in their own cultural and language milieu.  

Pauline Marois is so cheerfully confident that she is set to become the next premier of Quebec that she hardly cares how her pronouncements clang on the human-rights ears of her soon-to-be constituents.  First Nations peoples are decidedly not pleased.  Very few of them speak French, they are socially and culturally and politically more attuned to speaking English alongside their own heritage languages.

With the Parti Quebecois back in power, Madam Marois is confident it is but a matter of time before the nation of Quebec will have accomplished its long-wished for goal of separation.  In the matter of the recent student rioting backlash against the Charest government's mandating of a modest increase in university tuition fees, Pauline Marois plans to offer tuition-free classes to Quebec students.

Since some universities have already sent out tuition billings to their students, inclusive of the additional annual $254, Ms. Marois has helpfully recommended that students simply ignore the bills, payable by August 31.  "If I were a student, I would not pay my bill before the election", advised one of her spokespersons, Marie Malavoy.

 So, then, when the Parti Quebecois is returned to power, they will eliminate university tuition, and they will eventually, in the not-too-distant future, achieve sovereignty.  Who will fund the universities, the hospitals, the day-care centres after separation when the federal government will no longer transfer tax money from the rest of Canada to keep Quebec financially feasible?

Um....