Crime A gunman killed one person following the election of a separatist government in Quebec

[Varine]

Well, that's how a federation works (Canada is a federation). Much power is given to the provinces, more so than the individual States in the US for example. The provinces are responsible for their own education, health care, police, etc, though they get help from the Canadian government. The federal government oversees the military and the country's economical stability.

At one point the US was supposed to be like that. Then FDR happened. And for the record there are four or five states on the verge of seceding. The difference is that at this point all the states have become more or less the same, so regardless of where you go, not much changes. So people that support the secession don't necessarily live in those states, and it's mostly being advocated, at least at state levels in itself, by the local/state governments rather than by the residents of said states. And a civil war today would go significantly differently than it would have in the 1800's, and anyone that's seriously thought about it would realize that a revolution now would likely gain far more support and be more successful than it would have then.

 

[Sim]

Though this aggression I feel is also kind of powered by many Quebecois wanting to seperate from Canada. That's a huge difference in the situation. After all there is no attempt by any State to legitimately separate from the United States (at least not to the degree in which it persists in Quebec). Mainly because last time that happened it didn't work out so well...

Especially since there were 2 referendums concerning the issue of separation of Quebec from Canada (one in 1980; the other in 1995), they both failed but the last one failed by a 0.5% margin. 49.42% were in favor of a separation, 50.58% against. 4,757,509 people voted, out of the then 5,087,009 population.​

So, the issue is of very critical matter.

 

[Accname]

Why do they want to separate?
What do they think they will gain?

 

[Sim]

Why did you separate from Great Britain a long time ago? What did you gain?

Seriously though, we don't speak the same language as rest of Canada, we don't have the same religion (Catholics in Quebec, Protestants everywhere else in Canada), and we don't like the fact we are being governed by people who don't speak the same language and don't believe in the same things.

Personally, I speak English very, very well and am fairly atheist (though I like the Christian philosophy and live by it), but I represent a minority of people here.

A language is alienating in itself and thus, it is no strange conception that the people of Quebec are different than the rest of Canada, if only by language alone. Then, cultural differences add to that, coupled with the bitter history between Quebec and Canada (100+ years ago), and you have the necessary conditions for a separative mentality.

 

[Accname]

I am not from america, but i take it as a compliment that you assumed i was xD.

I dont quite understand "cultural differences". Of course i understand the concept behind them but i just cannot sympathise with the idea.
I think it would damage both "countries" economically if they would separate, it would also cause even more tension between the people.
It could even go that far as to increase risk of racism between the neighbors.

people should really learn to get along with each other, fighting for something as trivial as history or language is just going to hurt people and not help anybody.

 

[Sim]

My apologies friend, I misunderstood.

Well, it may seem like we're fighting for something trivial, but they're still the ones majorly governing us, making decisions for us, while they aren't us!

 

[Accname]

Didnt you say the central government doesnt do much other then military and overall economic stability and the federal states have alot of power of their own?

 

[phyrex1an]

Didnt you say the central government doesnt do much other then military and overall economic stability and the federal states have alot of power of their own?

They are perfectly happy with the government except that they speak the wrong language and have the wrong interpretation of some book most of them probably haven't read. Thinking about it, that probably isn't the real reason.

There probably is a real reason hidden somewhere but it's much easier to rally under Religion and Language than complex juridical and economical issues which probably doesn't have a satisfactory solution anyway.

 

[Sim]

The Provinces have a lot of power... except if the Federal government decides otherwise. There has always been some confusion as to who exactly governs what, since it varies from Province to Province. In the end, the Federal's got the last word.

> They are perfectly happy with the government except that they speak the wrong language and have the wrong interpretation of some book most of them probably haven't read.

I wouldn't call French the "wrong" language, but that's your view on the matter. And we can't be perfectly happy of a government we want to separate from, who got elected as government of Canada but received about 20% of votes in Quebec. Since this is a democracy since we're speaking of, which usually represents the majority, we're quite far from it...

Anyhow, this gunman wanted to start something of a revolution, nobody knows exactly why because the debate of English vs French has been quite calm in the last years, but it has kind of failed because the Media have attributed it to a random insanity move.