The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Dear Editor, Now that Quebec has been recognized officially by Parliament as a "Nation within a Nation", it is time to reassess her relationship with the rest of Canada. Separatists will not stop here. All concessions, agreements, grants and privileges given to Quebec are now on the table. There is no political or moral reason for Canada to share political power with Quebec other than as one of ten equal provinces. Quebec has already separated herself from Canada. She has her own police force, her own old age security program, her own Canada Pension Plan, her own social security services and she has her own immigration service for which the rest of Canada contributes $90 million per year. Quebec remains in Canada held by a slim invisible cord. It is time to cut that cord and ask her to leave. Quebecers hate our flag. They hate our monarchy, our system of government, our language and our culture. Quebec has never demonstrated a sense of fraternity or the idea of working together for the good of the nation. The vast majorette of MPs from Quebec are avowed separatists. This is a statement in itself. They work for the benefit of Quebec and that's it. Former Prime Minister Jean Chretien stated publicly he would rather Canada had developed as a French speaking nation, and he would do everything in his power to make it so. English Canada has done much to please Quebec to no avail. Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government passed the Official Languages Act which overruled provisions of Section 133 of the BNA Act of 1867 outlining the use of the French language in Canada. The Federal Government has financed the spread of the French language and culture in every aspect of our national life including the school system, the armed forces, the entertainment world and the entire bureaucracy of the nation. The total cost amounts to over $500 billion causing Canadians to become the highest taxed people among the G7 nations. Over the past 30 years Quebec has received more development funds than all other provinces put together. Equalization grants to Quebec are three times the amount paid to any other province. Little thanks do we get. While the French language is spreading across the nation, Quebecers have virtually outlawed the use of the English language in Quebec. Quebecers have no desire to resolve the constitutional crises. They gain much more by keeping the status quo. The question we must ask ourselves is, "Do we go on forever making concessions to Quebec?" It is time now to cut the cord. It is time to say goodbye. John I. Fisher North Battleford
