For decades now Canadian politics has been faced with the issue of Quebec's independence, the province of Quebec
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Introduction
October 02, 2007 Naveen Kashyap Quebec Should it stay or should it go? For decades now Canadian politics has been faced with the issue of Quebec's independence, the province of Quebec has wanted to leave Canada to become a country of its own. Canadian history has debated whether or not Quebec should stay or go? Certain Quebec leaders and citizens main goal is to preserve and protect their culture and language, in order to do so they must form their own government. Quebec does not truly feel "a sense of belonging to the entity called Canada; and it is unlikely they ever will."i They believe they are a distinct society that the French people are a shrinking minority in an English speaking nation, and they do not feel they have a strong political voice in their own province. In a way Quebec is already like a separate country from the rest of Canada, it has a distinct society because of its unique French culture, its language and its history. To the Quebeckers these aspects characterize their province to be a unique province which the rest of Canada should "recognize as a distinct society."ii However in spite of these differences Quebec is actually quite similar to the rest of Canada. ...read more.
Middle
Presently The Canada-Quebec Accord gives Quebec the responsibility for selection, and integration of immigrants to Quebec. "Canada commits itself not to admit any independent immigrant or refugee into Quebec who does not meet Quebec's selection criteria."iv As a result the French speaking people in Quebec are a shrinking minority in an English speaking nation. Moreover, if Quebec becomes its own country and decides to put even stricter laws on immigration in order to protect and maintain their language and culture, the population of Quebec will reduce dramatically. In turn this will cause Quebec's economy to nosedive due to "foreign investors pulling out of Quebec because of fear of economic /political instability."v A solution to Quebec's francophone shrinking minority is to lessen their restrictions on immigration or base their immigration policies on the rest of the Canadian immigration policies that all the other provinces abide to. Historically, the Quebecers have had less powerful political positions federally and provincially and because of this the Quebec government believed that they should be "masters in their own house"vi- Ma�tres chez nous. As the Francophones felt that the Anglophones held more power in politics and businesses a small number of extremist Quebecers, who were called the FLQ, chose violence as a means to bring about independence. ...read more.
Conclusion
Granted, Quebec is a unique province, there is no place like it in the world but it is quite similar to the rest of Canada and for it to prosper, the new generation of Quebecers will need to recognize the importance of a united Canada and not a divided nation. i Francis, Hobson, Smith, Garrod, Smith. Canadian Issues: A Contemporary Perspective. [Excerpt from Blood and the Belonging by Michael Ignatieff] Oxford University Press (Canada): Toronto: 1998. pg. 355 ii Francis, Hobson, Smith, Garrod, Smith. Canadian Issues: A Contemporary Perspective. Oxford University Press (Canada): Toronto: 1998. pg. 296 iii Francis, Hobson, Smith, Garrod, Smith. Canadian Issues: A Contemporary Perspective. [Excerpt from Blood and the Belonging by Michael Ignatieff] Oxford University Press (Canada): Toronto: 1998. pg. 355 iv Immigration - The Canada Quebec Accord (2004). Retrieved September 30, 2007. [On-line] Available: http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/bp252-e.htm#ageneraltxt v Quebec History. Retrieved October 1, 2007. [On-line] Available: http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/ vi Francis, Hobson, Smith, Garrod, Smith. Canadian Issues: A Contemporary Perspective. Oxford University Press (Canada): Toronto: 1998. pg. 137 vii Francis, Hobson, Smith, Garrod, Smith. Canadian Issues: A Contemporary Perspective. Oxford University Press (Canada): Toronto: 1998. pg. 251 viii Francis, Hobson, Smith, Garrod, Smith. Canadian Issues: A Contemporary Perspective. Oxford University Press (Canada): Toronto: 1998. pg. 226 ix Retrieved from notes. The Senate & The Judicial Branch of Government. ?? ?? ?? ?? ...read more.
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