2014/04/06

A bird in the hand

I work in a completely bilingual environment. Anglos and Francos working together speaking whichever of the two languages feels the most comfortable or is best suited for the occasion. Truly a great working experience.

I was having a casual conversation on the current Québec elections with one of my Anglo colleagues this week. He was whining about the general state of political instability the province has been in for so long, putting forward that it was detrimental to the economy of both the country and the province; I agree. When I replied that he was right and added that the only party with a proposal to solve this instability is the Parti Québécois, he looked at me puzzled.

I explained that, although support for sovereignty has been under the 40% mark for a while, the vast majority of Québécois is against the constitutional status quo. Polls found that seven out of 10 believe the Québec government should try to initiate constitutional change in Canada. I stressed that proponents of the federalist option mostly look away, sweeping the issue under the rug, pretending that Canada is a united country. "This is the cause of the instability", I added. "Maintaining a fertile ground for the sovereignty movement." He was not sure what to think.

He then confessed he voted for the PLQ through early vote. "I understand that you would not vote for the PQ, but why not CAQ?" I asked. He replied he voted strategically for the option with the most chance of preventing a PQ victory... I recently rationalized his decision.

Faced with the decision between:
  1. a party that will perhaps hold a referendum that will perhaps be victorious that will perhaps be detrimental to Anglos; and
  2. a party that saw the provincial debt increase from G$125 to G$175 in the nine years it was in power and did everything it could to prevent the Charbonneau Commission.
... he chose the latter.

I gather this gives a whole new meaning to the old saying: "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

3 comments:

Unknown said...

The PQ were far from Progressive themselves during the minority, and with PKP were set to be even worse. And I'd add the Couillard has not ignored the constitutional issue he want to negoitate for distinct society within the constitution, and then sign it. Not to say I'm a fan of Couillard. I hope by the next election there will be a QNDP.

toddsschneider said...

'Sixty-nine per cent of Quebecers polled think Canada should give Quebec more powers.'
What powers? When? How? Why? The devil is in the details.

rww said...

"toddsschneider said...

'Sixty-nine per cent of Quebecers polled think Canada should give Quebec more powers.'"

I bet if you polled Albertans they'd say the same thing. More is always better.

In Quebec the federal government is those damn anglos and in Alberta it's those damn easterners.
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