We were up and at ‘em this morning. Maggie had an early meeting and after I dropped her off at the big government office, I headed over to Reno Depot to pick up a some things I need for couple of small projects on which I’m working.
Reno Depot is a box store much in the same vein as Home Depot and Lowes. It carries pretty much all the same kind of stuff from tools to lumber, hardware and electrical to gardening supplies, paint, tile and plumbing fixtures and materials. It is Quebec-based and coincidentally a perfect symbol for Quebec.
Reno Depot takes great pride in promoting its custom project service, a service in which they will plan and implement renovation projects for your home or office. The first thing you notice when you walk into the store (which is huge) is that there are a series of large white plastic buckets strewn along the main aisle in front of the cashiers. They are there to catch the water dripping down from the leaks in the ceiling.
Apparently they can handle any project, large or small, for you but are unable to repair their own ceiling. It tends to undermine confidence a wee bit.
Recently Lowes made an offer to buy Reno Depot and the Quebec government immediately responded to indicate that it would move to protect Quebec companies from foreign investment or take over. Almost simultaneously during the recent election, that same government announced it would facilitate Quebec companies investing in or outright purchasing foreign companies in other countries.
And that is the perfect definition of Quebec, a society in serious need of renovations and repairs with a schizophrenic approach to business and investment. It is at the same time protectionist and expansive which means it is pretty much running in circles.
For decades the predominant focus of Quebec politics has been on two things. The first is language and sovereignty (separation from Canada) and the second is lavish entitlements that the province cannot actually afford. While various Quebec governments and special interest have focused on these two primary areas, some serious things have been happening that have gone unattended.
Quebec has the lowest rate of applicants for post secondary education in the country and the highest college/university dropout rate. It has the lowest median income in Canada and the highest debt to GDP ratio. It’s worse even than that of Ontario and you really have to work at it to put yourself in a worse position than what nine years of Ontario Liberal government has done to what was once Canada’s economic powerhouse.
Per capita provincial debt in Quebec is higher than that of Greece and we all know how well that’s been working out for our Mediterranean friends. The only reason Quebec isn’t suffering the way Greece is suffering is because Quebec receives in excess of $17 billion in equalization, health care and other social transfer payments from the federal government. Without that annual infusion from Ottawa, Quebec would make a banana republic look prosperous.
On top of this, Quebec is the highest taxed jurisdiction in North America and the new government is already talking about tax increases.
I don’t say this with any rancor or satisfaction. I live in Quebec and I love living here. The people, for the most part, are a generous and happy people. They are creative and have a joie du vivre you won’t find in places like Toronto.
The French culture has a rich heritage and it is celebrated by French and English alike, when they aren’t squabbling over the size of different languages on signs. I believe Quebec has everything it needs to be one of the world’s great cosmopolitan societies but is being prevented from achieving that opportunity by a small percentage of narrow-minded bigots who focus on restricting the lives and rights of others instead of expanding the society’s potential through the diversity of its people.
The great contradiction of Quebec, however, is not language or culture; it is entitlement. At precisely the same time that governments, particularly former PQ governments have demanded more political independence for Quebec, they have made the province economically dependent on Canada. Many of the social programs, including $7/day day care and the second lowest university tuition in the country would not be possible without the money Quebec receives from Ottawa.
Quebec is not failing because of its people; it is failing because of the weakness of its political leadership.
That was abundantly clear during this last election which should have been about the economy and political corruption but wasn’t. Once again, language and demanding powers from Ottawa became a central theme and once again, the people of Quebec said they are not interested in those issues although they do want change. Once again they refused to give the separatist party a mandate to pursue separation from Canada and once again, the politicians refused to listen.
The rest of Canada, of course, simply dismisses all of Quebec as being the problem but it isn’t. It’s the 30% of the population that are hardcore separatists who cannot accept that their day has come and gone. Most Quebecers have moved on and believe that Quebec belongs to all Quebecers, not just the pur laine French and that the future prosperity and success of the province lies in uniting Quebecers rather than dividing them or suppressing the rights of some over others.
The new government is already talking about demanding more powers from Ottawa when it should be focusing on its debt, corruption and expanding economic opportunity by encouraging investment in Quebec. It has been like this for a very long time. Promise much, demand more from Ottawa and then mislead the people that this is the road to a strong and independent society while blaming the rest of Canada for your own political mistakes.
But there is hope even if one day after the election not much has really changed.
One government has been traded for another which at the end of the day will do pretty much what the former government did, the media will continue their absurd post-election commentary on unity but the people of Quebec have shown they are not fooled by any of it. They voted and they voted as Canadians primarily. They voted for change and if they don’t like the change they are about to get, they voted in a minority government to give themselves an opportunity to vote for change again…….and sooner rather than later……if need be.
It’s time for the politicians to catch up to the people instead of continuing to pretend they are leading them. It's time for politicians in Quebec to stop sowing the seeds of discord and start focusing on the real job for which they were elected. It's time for real political leadership and not this ongoing and destructive nonsense that has been part of our society for too long. (and while we're at it, perhaps the media could start actually covering the real issues instead of droning on and on about a crisis that only exists in their minds.)
The people have spoken!
© 2012 Maggie's Bear
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