This is no time to panic
Why you shouldn't worry about another referendum. Maybe.
Recently I was in Florida with a large group that included a few Canadians from out west and sure enough, conversation eventually lumbered into Canada-Quebec politics and one person expressed mild peevishness at how Quebec seems to be getting more out of the Canadian deal than other provinces.
“Sorry for being too smart,” I replied. He took it well, all things considered.
But seriously? In Quebec that kind of talk from ROC-dwellers no longer elicits an angry reaction. We shrug (we’re really good at shrugging), maybe roll a rheumy eye, and just walk away. To channel Marc Miller for a minute, on en a marre de roter du vieux sûr.
Except, I guess, for the government of François Legault. He’d rather suck rotten eggs than contemplate his impending demise. What the hell, let’s float the idea of giving Quebec and her people a shiny new constitution! That’ll take the wind out of the PQ’s sails, yes?
Consultations on said new proposed constitution began earlier this week and you’ll never guess… not everyone agrees it’s needed! And that was before I opened my big yap!
Quebec needs a new constitution like I need a third ear. And frankly, even though I did not single-handedly poll every last Quebecer on the issue, je mettrais ma main au feu that almost virtually nobody wants to bother.
I have said and repeated many times over the last two decades or so that we were done with separation. There are still people in favour of it, of course. The same way there are people who believe we should go back to the gold standard. Serious people don’t need to care.
Most Quebecers have moved on from the debate. And associated fears that without independence, Quebec would become the Louisiana of Canada. I’ll also note that the year-end Spotify statistics show a 20% increase in the amount of French music Quebecers listen to (and an admirable 11% increase throughout the country). You always want to be vigilant about your language and culture. But there is no need to fret unduly about it either. (See? Miller was right!)
Canada is different, too, from what it was in 1995. People don’t even remember Jacques Parizeau’s dentist chair. Jean Chrétien, who was prime minister at the time, is in the news again about his pre-referendum strategy and I’ll bet you nobody cares save for the few cranky anti-Quebec dolts who stepped on the Fleur de lys in Brockville back in the Meech Lake days. Assuming they’re still alive.
Yes, kids, I’ll get to something less ancient.
Despite all the fears and resentment and talk of two solitudes with which I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, I never once felt unwelcome or undervalued anywhere in this country because of where I was born of what official language I first learned. And I’ve roamed this country a lot in the last 30-odd years. My theory is that Quebecers travel a lot more than they did back in the late 20th century, and they see, too, that while the rest of Canada is indeed different from Quebec, there is virtually no animosity anywhere.
So we move on, tolerably happy together. No wonder the federal government of Mark Carney is remaining silent on the issue of the Quebec constitution. Even if the PQ were to win the next election (a likely scenario, as things stand), and get all excited again about the prospect of yet another referendum, I am positive it won’t find a lot of support for it.
I suggest you pull a Carney and let this big show de boucane pass you by.