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I never understood why the FLQ killed Laporte. Did they think he was a traitor?
Well, they actually did think he was a traitor because he was a Liberal and a federalist, but I am pretty sure he died trying to escape and likely choked himself with the chain they had placed around his neck. When the FLQ guys found his body they promptly dumped it in the trunk of his car.
Well, they actually did think he was a traitor because he was a Liberal and a federalist, but I am pretty sure he died trying to escape and likely choked himself with the chain they had placed around his neck. When the FLQ guys found his body they promptly dumped it in the trunk of his car.
That is certainly true but language is only one of the factors. The major factor, as I see it, was the way children were ripped from their communities and their parents in the effort to 'Christianize' them (and steal their language).
I haven't read every single post on the whole Quebec versus Canada threads, but it seems to me that a lot of them refer to injustices as having happened long ago and say/imply that it's time to move on. I can't address specifically the Anglo-Francophone issues in PQ because I haven't lived there, but I guess what I always wonder when I read stuff like past injustices being past (ie, forgetaboutit), is whether the person voicing them has strong family or community ties that he or she doesn't recognise how deep these feelings go.
I'm reminded of something attributed to Arthur Balfour speaking of the Middle East- "Why can't the Jews and the Arabs just sit down and settle this like good Christians?"
IMO, there is a mindset among Canadians who either are of British descent, or have assimilated to such a degree that they have no strong cultural traditions that subconsciously, assumes the English way the preferred, the better, more civilized way.
Our stories and histories are what make us what we are. And I always feel a little sorry for those who seem to have no community story. I agree to a point that at some point there is no point in harping on the past - but forgetting it is something completely different. It's like forgetting your grandparents, your first love, or the streets (in my case, fields) you walked when you were young. It adds a richness, depth and dimension to life.
I can see many pragmatic reasons why PQ ought to chuck the language laws. Maybe I don't understand all the issues well enough, but I never liked Bill 101 at all, and yep, I do feel Quebec has held itself back with the language laws. And yep, I do feel that threats to separate are a kind of way of holding the rest of the country hostage.
Acajack, I don't have Google Earth downloaded on my 'puter but there must be street views of places like Ste. Anne or St. Pierre-Jolys, Manitoba and I know I've seen businesses with French signs - I just never think twice about it. Thought it might be of interest to you.
I always find you to be a respectful and thoughtful interlocutor.
A few points:
As you probably know I am supportive of the language laws in their current form. I find that it they are the best compromise in the absence of independence (which I do not find is to anyone's advantage) or Swiss-style language territoriality which Canada seems allergic to.
As for signage in St-Pierre-Jolys and Ste-Anne, Manitoba, well as you know signage is not the most or only important thing, although it does carry some symbolism for people. You should note that in a previous career I worked a lot with francophone minorities across the country. I know almost all of them and I know how they are doing. To answer the question directly there are some French signs in these two Manitoba communities but for the most part public life is in English because they are 50-50 between anglophones and francophones or even slight majority anglo these days, and all the francophones are bilingual and almost all of the anglophones are unilingual. So there you go.
Even in eastern Ontario communities near the Quebec border (and where a good chunk of public life still takes place in French), probably a majority of commercial signage is still in English only. Most of the rest is bilingual and a small portion is in French only.
It's really only in certain parts of New Brunswick (Caraquet, Edmundston, Tracadie) where you have predominantly French only or French first/English second signage and virtually nothing in English only.
I thought the rosary was what they strangled him to death with. It wouldn't make sense for them to put a rosary around his neck, the FLQ weren't theocrats they were quasi-communists.
Would you say they were at their best when a new party and have gone downhill since Levesque left the picture?
I would. I don't agree with alot of the things Levesque espoused as a politician, but at least I can respect him as a man of character who had some good ideas. Since him, the PQ has devolved from its initial, somewhat rationale position into a party of blind demagogues who couldn't govern their way out of a paper bag. When your main concern in enacting policy is "will this further the separatist cause" rather than "will this improve the lives of Quebeckers" to me you've lost the moral right to govern, and I truly believe that is what their main concern is when they think up policy. If the two should coincide, fine, but sometimes they don't, like when they won't work with the federal government on things that make perfect sense for everyone because they don't want people to perceive the federal government as being competent. They did a whole lot of that in 90s.
Would you say they were at their best when a new party and have gone downhill since Levesque left the picture?
I would. I don't agree with the things Levesque espoused as a politician, but at least I can respect him as a man of character who had some good ideas. Since him, the PQ has devolved from its initial, somewhat rationale, position into a party of blind demagogues who couldn't govern their way out of a paper bag. When your main concern in enacting policy is "will this further the separatist cause" rather than "will this improve the lives of Quebeckers" to me you've lost the moral right to govern, and I truly believe that is what their main concern is when they think up policy. If the two should coincide, fine, but sometimes they don't, like when they won't work with the federal government on things that make perfect sense for everyone because they don't want people to perceive the federal government as being competent. They did a whole lot of that in 90s. Quebec could do alot to get it's fiscal house in order by just doing away with the duplication of services that arose during PQ administrations. Revenu Quebec anyone? A hugely inefficient waste of money that exists solely so that Quebec would have the institution on hand should it choose to separate. It existed only to help make the case, but it sure as hell isn't a good use of taxpayers money. Every other province sees the wisdom in having one consolidated tax service in Ottawa to service everyones needs, and this should apply doubly to Quebec seeing as half of the national capital region is in Quebec and the department is right nearby geographically.
I would be bit generous and say they weren't too bad up to and including the Lucien Bouchard years. Parizeau wasn't really that bad in spite of his infamous quote (that he got a bit of a bum rap for - even though I was as unimpressed as anybody).
Things have been quite bad for them for almost a decade now, and they are hitting the bottom of the barrel it seems. Kinda weird when you consider they just won an election.
I know that many people here probably always thought they were, but seriously, the PQ if you looked at them with a fair and open mind, weren't always a crackpot party like they appear to be becoming these days.
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