Bigthink - Category Features and Ideas Feed

Quebec already is seperate

Bigthink — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:30:27 +0100

I'm sorry, but as far as I'm concerned, Quebec is an entirely different country. People for the most part speak another language. From what I'm told, the attitude and culture is still very similar to that in parts of France.

So really Quebec is Quebec. It just happens to be part of a "Union". Canada really is in essence the same thing as the European Union. We all have the same kind of money. Some laws are different like drinking age and such. We speak differently. Each Province is different and some even pretty big compared to most countries.

I'm proud to be part of Canada because all these provinces, groups of Canadians, can coexist in a very peaceful way yet are totaly different by region. As far as I'm concerned, you start by you're family, then you're neigbourhood, then maybe town or county or region or city then you're province or state, then you're country. Perhaps a Union like the EU. The last BIG step we all have to make is the HUMAN RACE. Once we all see that, we can have our different areas, and regions, and groups, and families.

But the point of Quebec Seperating is what exactly? To say they are a country? Fine. Say they're a country. Make all the Provinces a country and make Canada the Union of Canadian Provincial Countries or something. Think outside the box. Governements and polititians lack that skill and it is for that reason everyone hates the government. So that's my rant. Vive whoever the f**k you want. As far as I'm concerned, I'm Human.

A Canadian Worldview

Bigthink — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:22:02 +0100

Do Americans sufficiently respect Canadians?

Transcript:

Well Canadians and Americans have many similarities and most of us in Canada have family in the US because the families came over from wherever and some went to Canada, some went to the US. So, in a way we are very similar. In a way we are quite different. We live in a big harsh cold climate and our ancestors knew that if we didn’t share, we wouldn't survive. So, we invested more faith in our governments and collective notions and social programs and East-West links than Americans. I always say that our founding model or kind of ethos is sharing for survival whereas in the US it is more survival of the fittest and your founding principles of...

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…ours is peace, order, and good government. We are just kind of boring in comparison. So, we are…we have a different kind of model and sometimes I when…and I do a lot of work here in the US, but when I come here sometimes, I am stunned by the belief that everything is about the market and about even the environment, about entrepreneurship, green entrepreneurship right. Is it [Inaudible] somehow save everything and I was at a water conference in Lubbock, Texas a couple of years ago and nobody would…I mean they said…they put up this great big billboard or this big PowerPoint on the first day and just showed how the demand for water in Texas is going right up and that the water supply is going right down and this is a crisis and what are we going to do [Inaudible] and I said to them, you have got a private system here and the big losers can buy their way out of everything. You have got T. Boone Pickens, as if he isn't rich enough, going around buying up aquifers, water rights and sitting on them. Why don’t you say no to that? Why don’t you limit the amount of water any one person or corporation can own? Oh, well, that would go against you know capitalism and entrepreneurship and the market and they hate government and they don’t trust the government because they never do anything right. So, we kind of struggled for two days. At the end of the second day, I said, well, I don’t think I convinced you, but on the other hand, you didn’t answer the question you put up yesterday morning, which was that x…demand and supply. Lot of people came up to me and said, you really made me think. You really, you really made me think that maybe we have got to start looking differently. So, that was a real clash of two different kinds of thought processes. But I have fun in the US. I was on a call-in show not long ago and this guy called in and he said you are a bleeding heart liberal and I said hey, I am a Canadian. I don’t know what that means. We had some good fun with that.Oh, heavens, you guys don’t know anything about us. I tell you, we could blow up up there and I don’t know. I don’t think it would get first page on the New York Times or anywhere. We are just…it is funny, when I have been doing this book tour here. People at home say well you have been reading about such and such and I say, of course I have and unless they go online, there is no news about Canada here. It is just we know everything. I mean all the … I was in Hollywood. I was in Los Angeles for the first time a couple of weeks ago and every single street vying and all. I mean I know that this is part of our culture in Canada too because all of your networks, all of your magazines, all of your movies come here. I know everything about New York. I know about the St. Patrick's Day Parade. I know everything. It is famous in Canada. Most Americans know just about that about us and we kind of laugh about it. We kind of feel a little inferior sometimes and unloved and all of that, but it is an interesting phenomenon. You are…the US is the big guy on the block and most Americans don’t have to do anything about us except we are where the cold air comes from.

Recorded On: 3/17/08

Quebec's independance?

Bigthink — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:03:00 +0100

: For, against? Why?

does NAFTA benefit Canada?

Bigthink — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:47:03 +0100

recently both Obama and Clinton have both stated that they will renegotiate or pull out of NAFTA. seeing as NAFTA has never been truly followed AND Canada continues to be taxed and are continued to be subject to tariffs while the sates are able to continue on this path without punishment.

if it will happen or not could pulling of of NAFTA or renegotiating it (provided the Canadian government stands up for the Canadian people and doesn't back down like a whimpering dog) benefit Canada?

The CTF doesn't issue tax receipts for donations. Kind of ironic?

Bigthink — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:47:29 +0100

: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation, which is not considered a lobby group, does not issue tax receipts to donating parties.

Re: Is Canadian unity possible?

Bigthink — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 22:14:30 +0100

: we need to all become educated in each others cultures and cater to all of our different needs respectively. We mustn't try to assimilate one another in an American style melting pot. The issue with the french is the seperatists and the federalists don't listen to each other. The seperatists who want to not pay taxes to Canada but want to receive their tax money for programs are off their rockers.

Is Canadian unity possible?

Bigthink — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 06:17:09 +0100

Since the beginning of Canada it has been a large country with a small spread out, multi-ethnic population. The modern Canadian identity is often hyphenated, complex and difficult to define. The "Quebec question" of separation from the rest of Canada is a question that has never been properly answered. With all of this in mind, is a lasting unity of this country of differences possible? If so, what would it look like? If not, how could a broken up Canada work? Would large parts be absorbed into the United States?