This week, Quebec's provincial election campaign began in earnest with separatist Parti Québéois Premier Pauline Marois dredging up tired old fantasy promises about independence and dishing out some new ones.
For instance, she says Quebec would: continue to use the Canadian dollar (as we all know, a true sign of a country's freedom), still have a say in Canadian monetary policy, somehow balance the budget without the $9.3 billion the province gets annually in equalization payments from taxpayers in the rest of Canada, and welcome Canadian tourists who will be just dying to visit an English-less, hijab-less République québécoise after separation.
Let's all help future non-President Marois. Seeing as how Quebec independence will never actually happen, what other policies and promises can she make up this election cycle for a country that will never exist?
Leave your pretend PQ policy suggestions in the comments box below -- please keep them ludicrous and funny. Bigoted, violent or threatening comments will be deleted.
Manteaux en pure laine pour tous et toutes! B'en lo! C'est un bon deal, ça! Sign me up, lo!
Posted by: Terry Levine | 13 March 2014 at 10:25 AM
Ok, first of all, "president" ?
Second, "9.3 billion in equalization" : you know right that equalization is a tiny fraction of all the federal budget income and expense, and that the global picture is WAY more complicated than that. To get something accurate you would have to take the federal budget from the last years, analyse and verify it line by line, select what the federal government spend actually in the province, check the programs and analyze exactly how much of these programs goes in what province, which one aren't relevant in Quebec, which one are, split the debt in function of international treaties who are in place, also check how much Quebec as a province and a part of population of Canada contribute in the income column.
Well, basically, you would need a methodology.
Turns out, some peoples actually did in the last decades, and the most recent one, Stephane Gobeil, (Book : Un gouvernement de trop) found out that Quebec would in fact have saved 2 billion dollars in 2009-2010 without Federal Government. Yes that is after you consider federal debt payment, equalization, and yes it is if you assume that Quebec would maintain exactly every single services offered by the federal government.
(Inb4 : Yes the guy is a separatist. But methodology and numbers (that peoples can all fact check independently) really doesn't care about these things. That's the beauty of it in fact. 1 single well-made study is worth more than an infinite number of biased bullshit assumptions.)
Quebec need Canada to help them maintain their finances ? haha, that is simply bullshit.
3. Yeah right, having rules about standard clothing and religious neutrality when you work for the state = being nazi's who want to destroy every religion in the province.
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You would clearly gain from staying in your field of expertise when you post.
Posted by: BanjoBouchon | 13 March 2014 at 03:18 PM
Ok, first off "President" is a joke. I'm guessing la republique would have a President.
Second, I know what an equalization payment is, thanks. And I think what you described to get something accurate is essentially the methodology the feds do to calculate the redistribution of taxes as equalization payments. For years Quebec has received more from the feds than it gives in taxes. I know separatists like to pretend this is not true and that they are getting the short end of the stick in confederation, but it is simply not true. And I suspect your Gobeil study is like those "studies" that tell us global warming is not happening. You can commission a study to tell you whatever you want. But numbers don't lie. Quebec is already more in debt than any other province and that's because the threat of separation has scared away investment into the province for 4o years.
If Quebec thinks it can get a better deal without Canada, then by all means, go! But if you want your own country, you get everything that comes with that, including a smaller tax base, no say in Canadian economic or monetary policy, etc. Go for it. Have you been to Toronto in the last 20 years and been to Montreal. Montreal is crumbling and suffering because your small-mindedness and closet racism has alienated all the people you should be convincing to stay.
Finally, the values charter is not about "religious neutrality". If it were, the cross would be removed from the National Assembly and provincial institutions. That's not happening. If you're Christian, you can walk around with a cross. If you're anything else, you need "standard clothing." The people who expect others to "respect" their language always seem to turn around and disrespect everyone else. Funny that.
As for my expertise, I've been listening to this separatist propaganda for 4o years. Believe me, I'm a PhD expert by now.
Posted by: Terry Levine | 13 March 2014 at 03:33 PM