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In response to
"alls I know is this election I would've voted for a centrist other party if it had a shot at getting elected, regional or no."
by
mafic
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Right, no one's arguing that it isn't a vote for the "safe" choice vs. the national parties, but Jeffery Simpson's point, one I'm starting to agree...
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...With as I think about it, is that Quebecois have got to want to be a part of Canada as a whole for this relationship to make sense, and there's little sense of engagement from them. Charest was supposed to be the most federalist premier of a lifetime, but he has shown very little conciliation towards working with Ottawa, only demanding more money and more autonomy. The equalization system is completely out of whack, with most of the money going into Quebec. All sorts of programs have to be tailored to "fit" them. (Hell, Harper even adjusted his justice announcement regarding adult court for 14-year old youth offenders to 16 for Quebec alone, and even that was seen as offensive to them.)
Meanwhile, you don't get the sense from the average Quebecois voter that they even consider that it might be a problem for them to receive all this largess without participating in the governing themselves because they know that they can keep electing the lobby group and leave the governing to the rest of Canada who can't bend over backwards far enough for Quebec anyhow.
Simpson suggests, and I agree, this is a problem. At some point, someone in Quebec has got to say, "Wake up people, we need to start contributing to the country as a whole and not just expect Canada to only contribute to us as a one-way street."
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Responses:
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