Why Jacques Villeneuve ditched Quebec

[Doc Holliday]

First I heard of BC ever wanting to leave Canada. You have inside onfo?

I agree, Salty. First i've ever heard of this. In the past, i've heard about Alberta & Quebec, but never British Columbia. What would be British Columbia's motive to ever want to leave Canada?? Because they're not happy how the rest of Canada under-appreciates the Vancouver Canucks?

 

[man77777]

You guys are way too subjective... Of course both part of the Canada would suffer from a separation. This discussion show once again who has an equilibrate opinion and who only want to bash Québec, the Canada's Scapegoats ...

You guys only see the economical part of the problem. To exist politically and culturally, you need to differentiate from your neighbour..

It would be a huge loss for you guys to lose Québec. You just see the $ aspects. But you all very happy to sometimes go to Montréal, see some frenchcanadian girls, cause you know and feel they are different, thats exactly what the cultural wealthy is about, to live something different with some different kind of people. Some of you even speak french... It's just priceless. You just wouldnt be exactly the same guys without this part of french culture...

The new English Canada would need a new Scapegoats after Québec left. And it would be the turn of Ontario. Alberta would probably consider that with their ressources, the others provinces steal them, they would say that they dont see why Québec could separate and not them... And without Alberta, byebye money, Just Ontario and BC which feel closer to US West Coast... Byebye Canada...

The individualism of canadian provinces (Québec incl) is the cancer of this country. In Alberta they want to keep their oïl for themselves. In BC they feel closer to West Coast U.S states and want to separate too. IN Québec, they feel different culturally.... I want to keep my culture ! I want to keep my money ! Desunited States of Canada....

 

[Sol Tee Nutz]

Where do you get BC wants to seperate? Until now I have never heard of such a thing. Plus I wish that the separatists would quit with the separation issue, IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN. It was a false threat to get attention and money from Canada and the rest of Canada finally realised this, the gravy train stopped unless the liberals get in power. And please explain the huge loss Canada would have if Quebec separated other than the east coast being stranded, would they banish us from visiting? Quebec does not realise how good they have it in Canada, if Quebec was a part of the US would you still be speaking French? No the PQ would be in jail for treason. And just to comply with the Villenueve thread, he has the right to live where he wants and say what he wants. James Cameron trashed the Alberta oil sands and no one really cared except for a few politicians.

 

[man77777]

Where do you get BC wants to seperate?

I saw that on TV. And heard it a lot when I went to Vancouver. When I was there I talk a lot about Canada with people I met. As I am an european guy, they had the feeling they could speak freely. Here is what I heard :

1/ Some said "We dont really feel canadian, we feel North American, and to be honnest we feel closer to a Californian guy than to an Ontarian or Quebecker one." I said Ok but was surprised...

2/ A lot of them said "People from Alberta are some fucking egoist asshole. They are some Lucky redneck that found some oïl and now they just want to keep it all for themself. With or without money they are still the retarded asshole they were before they found oïl" I was a bit chocked..

3/ They all said "People from the eastern Canada Ontario and Québec are some parasites. THey are economically inexistant and moreover they gat the power. Our Capital is at the frontier of the 2 most unsignificant provinces of the Canada, which is a shame. And they make their laws for themself." Euh Ok...

I heard that a lot of time and from people who are really educated and have very good job etc..

 

[EagerBeaver]

if Quebec was a part of the US would you still be speaking French? No the PQ would be in jail for treason.

If Quebec was part of the USA the PQ leaders would be US citizens and would have to swear allegiance to the USA, so their actions would be considered treason. French would not be an official language nor would English, same as the rest of the states in the northeast USA.

The one positive of Quebec statehood would be no more border, no more border guards and no more border waits.

Frankly I think Quebec would be rejected as a US state strictly for economic reasons because they take in far more in federal income than they return, making them essentially a welfare state. Taxpayers of other USA states would likely object to statehood on these grounds.

 

[man77777]

USA would probably find a way to make the province profitable. Quebeckers just need to feel integrate, and USA is a very good integration machin. Even some minorities have their flags in front of their houses...

 

[EagerBeaver]

Even some minorities have their flags in front of their houses...

Puerto Ricans fly the flag of Puerto Rico but this is not a big deal since Puerto Rico is a commonwealth and unincorporated territory of the USA. If you are born in Puerto Rico you are by law automatically a US citizen. So flying the Puerto Rican flag is almost like flying the US flag.

By the way Connecticut has its own flag and it flies next to the US flag, here it is:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...CJfe4APZkIHwDw&sqi=2&ved=0CC0Q9QEwAA&dur=1227

I would also mention that Key West staged a faux secession from the USA as a protest in order to get certain economic assistance from the federal government and also to stop a federal blockade related to law enforcement against drug trafficking. Key West is also known as the quasi-independent Conch Republic and the flag of the Conch Republic flies at every public building in Key West next to the US flag. I have a T shirt with the flag of the Conch Republic on it.

The national dish of Key West is conch fritters, often served with conch chowder.

Other than Las Vegas, Key West is the only place I know of or have visited in the USA which openly condones prostitution in tourist areas.

 

[Techman]

The US would love to have Quebec for our hydro power and fresh water supply but you could kiss French dominance here goodbye. You could also kiss French dominance goodbye if Quebec was to ever separate. The only way that Quebec can keep it's discriminatory language laws is as part of Canada. This is not an opinion, it is a fact. Because of that fact, I do not believe that Quebec will ever separate from Canada and will continue to use the threat of doing so to blackmail the rest of Canada as it has been doing so for decades now. Canada is just too chickenshit to call their bluff.

As for Villeneuve, he can say whatever he wants just like any other Canadian and some people will like his honesty and candor and others will hate him for it. And others will envy him because he has the means to live wherever the hell he wants to while they are stuck here.

It would be a huge loss for you guys to lose Québec. You just see the $ aspects. But you all very happy to sometimes go to Montréal, see some frenchcanadian girls, cause you know and feel they are different, thats exactly what the cultural wealthy is about, to live something different with some different kind of people. Some of you even speak french... It's just priceless. You just wouldnt be exactly the same guys without this part of french culture...

This comment is meaningless. In fact a separate Quebec would probably drive the Canadian dollar so far down that Americans would be paying the equivalent of about $50 US/hour for an escort. What do you think would happen? Would a wall suddenly pop up around Quebec preventing Americans from coming here to hobby? Not quite. Quebec might end up being the number one place for sex tourism after separation. And it would even be more friendly for Americans because there would be more English visible in public with every passing year due to the loss of the language laws.

 

[man77777]

the loss of the language laws.

Im the worst englishspeaker guy I know in Montréal. Im one of the best englishspeaker guy I know in Paris.

Montréal is a bilingual city. No matter what say the stupid laws, people are bilingual here and we all love the English culture. And all the englishspeaker I know feel very good in Montréal and can live here even if they dont speak french... On the contrary, all the frenchspeaker I know had to learn English to live in TO. And they anyway suffer from a huge amount of discrimination.

Youd better be an englishspeaker in Montréal than a frenchspeaker in any other city in Canada. I never hear an englishcanadianguy who wasnt agree with that...

 

[man77777]

This is not an opinion, it is a fact.

Here we go again... You guys will never change... Im not surprised you cant accept the language difference with the intolerant and pretentious way you debate and think...

 

[Techman]

You just seem to be totally unable to get the point. First of all, I'm not English, I'm French Quebecois born and raised. My home was totally bilingual with no preference shown to either language. There is nothing pretentious in saying that all people are equal no matter what language they speak, pretentious is believing that French has some inherent right to be placed above all other languages. That's being pretentious. Having laws against the English language is being intolerant, not believing that both English and French should be of equal standing in a province that was built by both communities. I'm so tired of these lame comparisons between how English people are treated here in Quebec and French are elsewhere. English people are not dogs, they are not slaves. They deserve no special treatment, they just deserve EQUAL treatment.

By the way...I have a number of customers from Paris and everyone of them speaks perfect English, better in fact than some English people I know.

As for the 'French difference', well I don't see any difference between English and French people here in Quebec, I just see people.

Stop being afraid of your shadow. Stop believing the politicians who want you to believe your entire identity will be wiped out so that they can stay in power. You have a brain, try thinking for yourself for a change.

Grow the fuck up, stop living in the past and move into the 21st century with the rest of us.

 

[Halloween Mike]

Well the province that could be the first to want to separate is Alberta because of the ... how is it call in english? Bref le petrol... Economically this is the most wealthy province of the country...

Now tough i do think quebec could survive on its own because of electricity and some other financial sources. Not saying it wouldn't be hard at first, but its doable. Canada itself for a long time has always been seen as the cheap twin of the US and thats something, personally, i never like... I mean when i game online and they see im canadian, even if they don't pick on the accent and see im from quebec, i have been insulted simply for being canadian, and being a "cheap pale knock off of the usa" as they put it. The fact that ENGLISH canada was more or less colonize mainly by loosers of the independant war, by the british loyalist does not help either...

And then as french in quebec we should be seen as "lesser canadian" by people from our own countries ... that are already seen as a cheap version of americans(true stories, heard many times too, not just once) ... At some point yeah i think its perfectly legitimate we want to separate and turn our back against both the US and the english canada...

Oh and france ain't better too, multiple times been insulted by them too as being "lesser french" , so when we mean independance, we mean it to everybody and we want to be OURSELVES plain and simple.

Doc, Eager and all the others, you should really get on xbox live here and there, and see what people truly think... Cause the real opinions of people dosen't come trough media and official sources, where dialogue is always filtered, but trough the mind of the middle peoples, the ones that can totally express what they think.

 

[man77777]

I don't see any difference between English and French people here in Quebec,.

Agree, they are treated the same way by the population. No matter what the stupid laws say.

And as I said Youd better be an englishspeaker in Montréal than a frenchspeaker in any other city in Canada.

 

[man77777]

Halloween Mike, the fact you feel different doesnt mean you need to separate. Its a kind of communitarianism and intolerance. Québec needs to be open to the world and at first to the rest of the North America.

 

[THEHITMAN]

Halloween Mike I agree with you about the whole xbox live thing especially the americans think were backwards compared to them and the stuff they say about french people is horrible.When you play with french candadians or french from france there comments about anglophone in general are horrible as well.So much hate...

 

[Red Paul]

... We had a thread about who the most famous Quebec resident was and there was an absurd and almost fanatical disagreement, and this is because the perception of those within Quebec is skewed as to who is viewed as popular outside Quebec.

They don't share your opinion, so their perception is "skewed." Eager, that's not a good way to think. Now if somebody had proved that Shatner was more popular around the world than Celine, and if Quebecois merbites still insisted that he wasn't, then you'd have some grounds for dismissing their view. But nobody has proved that. All that's happened is that you've run into a viewpoint different than your own. And, reflexively, you've decided that the reason must be that the other people are confused.

 

[EagerBeaver]

They don't share your opinion, so their perception is "skewed." Eager, that's not a good way to think. Now if somebody had proved that Shatner was more popular around the world than Celine, and if Quebecois merbites still insisted that he wasn't, then you'd have some grounds for dismissing their view. But nobody has proved that. All that's happened is that you've run into a viewpoint different than your own. And, reflexively, you've decided that the reason must be that the other people are confused.

This is not really correct. It was proved. Techman started a poll on an American board and randomly asked the question and the response was about 40-3 in favor of Shatner. He posted the results. So that was the proof that the views were skewed. I understand why they were skewed and I explained that. The people that Techman polled were people like me that had the same life experience.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I saw that on TV. And heard it a lot when I went to Vancouver. When I was there I talk a lot about Canada with people I met. As I am an european guy, they had the feeling they could speak freely. Here is what I heard.......

Man777777777, there is nothing in your post that indicates BC would ever want to separate from Canada. It's normal for any BC resident to say that they feel as close to California than they do to any eastern Canada province. It'd also be normal for any BC resident to say they feel closer to the states of Washington & Oregon. Why? Because they're closer to them & are literally next door. Which is why any Ontarian might say he feels closer to New York state or the state of Michigan, for example, than Alberta or BC.

The same about people from BC who resent Alberta. Why?? Because they're next door & Albert is possibly viewed as a wealthier province. But nothing indicated BC would want to separate from Canada for those reasons alone. It's actually normal to resent other provinces and/or fellow Canadians. Don't you think many Canadians resent Quebec and some Quebecers at times?? It doesn't mean they want Quebec to leave Canada.

And regarding your final statement in that post, who cares of a few people have derogatory/negative things to say about other provinces? In this country, people are entititled to their opinions. It doesn't mean that they want to leave Canada. Far from it, actually. What it shows me is that they love their country so much that it infuriates them that some fellow countrymen (and provinces) are not up to their personal standards.

So, anyone going to the Grand Prix next weekend? Anyone hoping to get to meet Jacques Villeneuve & to thank him for his honesty?

 

[man77777]

Doc, about the "closer to" feeling, I never met an american living near Canada sayin that he feels closer (culturally) to Canada States than to the other States of America...

I dont think it's normal to so much bash on other provinces. When I met American guys they dont bitch one others States.. They tell me that Mexican are crazy, Canadian are suckers, french are arrogant, chinese are hypocritical... Well it's not better but at least are they patriotics... Lol

Yeah that's what is surprising me the most in Canada, the lack of patriotism and solidarity between provinces... I think that one of the biggest strengh of US is that they manage to give to their inhab the feeling that they are living in a great country. No matter if you are in a poor or rich State they have the feeling to be a part of IT. Too bad this feeling doesnt exist in the Desunited States of Canada...

 

[Techman]

When one particular province has been crying for decades over everything under the sun and has tried everything possible to leave Canada including asking a bullshit question in the last referendum, I think it's entirely normal to find a lot of people outside of Quebec who are simply tired of this crap. I'm sure you would find a lot of solidarity in the rest of Canada if you asked them what they thought of Quebec. I doubt that you'd like their answer however.