2009/01/08

What am I doing here?

I'm curious. I like it when things are balanced. I like being pushed in my convictions. I like to write.

I get most of my news from the Web. I'm sometimes surprised (more often than I'd like) by the shallow analysis and the stereotypes conveyed by English media on Québec related stories. Although I'm oblivious to it, I realize that the same can be said about Québec French media covering other provinces.

I've always liked exchanging political views with people of different backgrounds, but I don't get that chance very often. There aren't enough Canadians who have the opportunity to directly interact with the other solitude; too much of it gets lost in translation. Perhaps, there are Anglos and Allophones out there who share my interests and can appreciate the candid views and reactions of a moderate Québec nationalist on preconceived ideas, stereotypes and current events.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

As an anglophone living in Alberta I don't have much opportunity to exchange views with Québecois, but have long been interested in Québec politics and Québec's place in Canada. Fortunately I am able to take a course this term on Québec politics taught by a Francophone Québecois which has given me a far more nuanced perspective on Québec. I think Hubert Aquin's lament, la Fatigue culturelle du Canada français should be required reading by ALL Canadians. He is a "melancholic nationalist" who probably speaks for many who still suffer from the collective memory of the humiliation of the Conquest and its aftermath. I also think that Québecois should understand that many anglophones see the Bloc Québecois as an affront to their understanding of the good of the whole country. The Bloc presents itself, proudly in fact, as thinking only about and entirely for the benefit of their own nation. As an Albertan I am happy to pay equalization. I just find it somewhat strange that the Bloc never acknowledges the benefits Québec receives from it.

Anonymous said...

"The Bloc presents itself, proudly in fact, as thinking only about and entirely for the benefit of their own nation."

This, sir, is not true. I knew that even when I still lived in Alberta. (And I perceive the Conservatives as pretty much a pro-Alberta special interest party.)

This is the problem... the misrepresentation... and I see it amongst francophones here, they have so many misinformed notions about the rest of Canada.

What can you do? Well, this blog is a step in the right direction. Merci.

How I Finally Got A Job In New Orleans said...

So what is the truth then, if Bloc Quebecois is not a special interest party but the Conservatives are? I'm confused.

jcpomerleau said...

Politic are made of interest, power gauging and effectivity (status).
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The Bloc stand for the interest of Québec as a nation state, although deny by the ROC (Trudeau s legacy).
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Alberta act the same althoug with the mean of the control the central power in Ottawa. The day it they will loose it, and Justin Trudeau will come to impose another NEP type of policy, the reaction will be Alberta first and it gone split. A clear STATEMENT on that matter was made by the P M of ALBERTA and SASKATCHEWAN during the last election when Dion came with his Green Shift proposition:

(..)

" Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach even warned that national unity could become an issue if any federal political parties try to make electoral gains at the “expense” of certain regions. (…) Both Mr. Stelmach and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall are worried that the Liberals’ proposed environmental policies, including a carbon tax, would kill off foreign investment in the energy sector and raise production costs”.

(...)

(www.theglobeandmail.com/.../home