Monday, September the 12th the Partie Quebecois won an overwhelming ma-

ty.

Even before the votes had all been unted, English Canada’s media was inter- ting the elections to serve it's ends. This was complished by concentrating not on the ac- | political power given to the PQ by the ople of Quebec, but rather through a stream rhetoric about the “popular vote’’?

Why such an interest in the “‘popular te’’? The obvious answer is simple: to ob- ure the truth! The truth being the PQ won, d they won BIG!!

Since then the debate rages on! And at a lively ‘“debate’’, with anger and pas- n from all those invited to participate. How- er, in the ‘debate’ as it has been presented me by the media there seems to be a concen- ation of concern with what are obviously the osen questions.

The chosen questions, or dare I say inions, being (a) Does Quebec have the right’’ to leave Canada? Most often expressed : Quebec does not have the right to separate! nd (b)When should Quebec’s referendum be ld? Or, as it has usually appeared: Quebec ust hold the referendum now; because, the st of Canada is sick of waiting, and, believes at because of the all important **popular te’’ we think they will vote no, which gives S a reason to shut them up!

On the first point I disagree with those ‘ho feel, as they say, that 10% ofthe Canadian opulation should not be allowed ( by whom?) ) decide for the rest of us what they can do ‘ith ‘‘our’’ land! I tend to see it in terms of (00% of the Quebecois deciding what they ‘ant to do with their province.

Let’s face it, we wouldn’t want anyone rom the other provinces coming here to P.E.I. nd telling us what to do with our province, vould we? This being so why should 0% of Juebec be allowed to dictate what they can or annot do? is

On the whole idea of being ‘‘allowed’’ t ‘‘having the right’’ to separate, under the Onstitution and laws of Canada there is no rocedure stated on secession. This means that Juebec(or anybody else) is neither ‘‘allowed’’ or ‘‘forbidden’’ by law to leave.

Actually on the whole idea of the Tight’’ to separate under the constitution erhaps here is where the rest of Canada hould act. Why don’t we holda referendum to mend the constitution making it illegal for a Tovince to leave Canada?

However there are several reasons why Ye won’t do this. The first reason being that his would likely be the encouragement Quebec vould need to decide to leave now, before our eferendum. Secondly and perhaps more im- ortantly is that a referendum denying prov- ices the right to secede would never pass.

Why wouldn’t such a referendum pass? Vell it wouldn’t pass because while the rest of ‘anada is now willing to deny Quebec the right ) leave, the rest of Canada would want to keep \eir options open!

I for one would vote no in such a refer- ndum. I feel that the best thing for Canadians

n the provincial election in Quebec on

would be a Canada without Quebec, in fact I think the maritimes should also separate, as should Ontario, B.C., and every other province.

Why? Because big countries require big governments, and big governments unfortunately serve the interests of big multi-national corpora- tions better than the interests of less powerful groups such as the public. Why? Because the public has less effective lobbying groups, politi- cal clout etc.

With smaller countries and smaller gov- ernments it is easier for the people to control their own affairs. Which is exactly what the PQ, and according to the recent election, the Quebec people want to be able to do.

-- Alex Keaveny

GWMEBEC:

Meparae

oF Not 10

Meparae, hat

question

-ast Monday, something happened to the

L face of Canada. An old government fell,

and a new one rose. A government that

has a single purpose -- to rip a piece out of the

country. Jacques Parizieuand his Parti Quebecois

want to make Quebec into a separate country

from the rest of Canada. I can see disaster waiting in the wings.

At a glance, Quebec would make a decent country. It has established industry, a solid population, and ample resources. But when you look below the surface, Quebec has a massive debt, and would have to take responsibility for a portion of Canada’s debt as well.

All this debt would ruin their credit rating, and a new country must spend lots of money to establish itself; therefore, an inde- pendent Quebec would be penniless, and the quality of life would suffer drastically. Ironi- cally, much of their debt would be owed to Canada.

Not only would Quebec be broke, there is a large portion of Quebec’s popula- tion that is more than content to remain Canadian. It remains to be seen which way a vote on sovereignty would go. But assuming the separatists win, many English-speaking business people from Montreal would pack up and move to Toronto. This would wreak havoc on Quebec’s economy.

Another possible controversy is the conflict between natives and the govern- ment. Quebec wants to preserve only one culture, as evidenced by many language laws that push the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to the limits. Not only are non- French signs restricted, but in some schools children are punished for using other lan- guages on the playground.

It’s hard to say how this government would react to another Oka crisis,, In the North, the Inuit worry that they will be ignored by Quebec City, and their fears are justified. When money gets tight, it’s not hard to guess who’ll get the short end of the stick.

Stop for a moment and look at the rest of Canada. The Atlantic provinces will be isolated, and that will do little to alleviate the quiet resentment of Ontario many Maritimers already have. In the West, BC and Alberta could opt out of Canada as well, and they’d do much better than Quebec.

They could join the United States as another option, and be sure Uncle Sam would welcome two of Canada’s richest provinces with open arms. This would leave central Canada doling out money to the North and East. Somehow, I doubt that Ontario would like the benevolent rich uncle idea.

Maybe they would join the States as well. This would leave a fine Canada, espe- cially if the Prairie Provinces convinced the US to let them in as well. Imagine a Canada consisting of Atlantic Canada, the Yukon, and the North West Territories. Whether or not the States would take the Atlantic Prov- inces remains to be seen. Maybe we could

join Trinidad, or Ireland, or some other coun- try.

I know this is not a likely hypothesis, (or a sane one, for that matter) but it’s hard to tell what will happen if Quebec separates. What I know is that all of Canada will be in for a rough ride if it does. To end, I quote Alberta’s Premier, Ralph Klein: “It’s not a bad country, Mr. Parizieu, you should stick with us.”

— Marko Peric

- \ BARTENDING

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