Torn between two ldentitics by Samuel Lapalme Remis By the time this issue comes out, the outcome of the Quebec referendum will be decided. As I write this, however, nothing is certain. As a Quebecois, the impact of the decision will hit very close to home for me. My life will be changed forever. It is hard being away when the future of our country is at stake. the best I can do is to state my opinion to those who cannot vote. There is no possible way that I could have voted Yes in the referendum. However, this does not mean that I see myself as more Canadian than Quebecois. French is my first language and my maternal ae Brian Kraus photo by Matthew Subotnick It’s all over. All the posturing and guessing, the political pundits on TV, and the endless stream of radio chat programs, all over. Yea or nea, Oui or Non, we have the answer. As I write this, there are still a few days to go in the Quebec referendum campaign. Jean Chretien has just delivered a national appeal for unity on television. Peter Gzowski, (a man whom some might consider the only Canadian thing about Canada) has spent an entire hour reading letters, faxes, and e-mail from Canadians wailing about the possible break up of the country. The polls show a dead heat between camps. Though I have my speculations as to who will win and who should win, you, dear reader, know considerably more than do at this point. That said, I feel I must address some key issues of the referendum campaign rarely touched upon by the English speaking media outside of Quebec. These issues are still of concern no matter what the outcome is. Issue #1: All the people claiming to be so distraught over the possibility of Quebec leaving that they a) Can’t sleep, b) Can’t eat, c) feel that, basically, if Quebec leaves there will be this great void in their life that nothing will fill, and d) find it imperative to cry, wail, and plead on the radio and television. T am betting that you are collectively breathing ‘a sigh of relief right now. Your precious country has not been rent apart by the evil, power hungry separatists. Ahh, but now are you willing to pay the price of giving your precious Quebec what it desires? In these final days of the campaign, Jean Chretien, in a last ditch effort to swing the tide, has mentioned that there will be great change in Canada if the no side wins. He has claimed this with the full knowledge that none of the Country’s premiers will support ANY family has always played an important part in the politics of Quebec. My grandfather, Georges-Emile Lapalme, was leader of the Quebec Liberal Party in the fifties and later founded the Ministry of Culture. He was one of the fathers of the Quiet Revolution, in which French Quebecers finally took control of, their own, province. Although he remained an ardent federalist until his death, he and my grandmother gave birth to two generations of separatists. Virtually all of my family is seperatist. This includes my mother, though she may surprise me by voting no. My aunt and her husband are heavily involved in the Parti Quebecois and though I can only disagree with their politics, I know them too well to state that they are anything but good and intelligent people. Most of my friends in Quebec are separatist. I know too many of them to write them off as raving loonies, as it is so easy for people here to do. It’s never difficult to despise people for their political beliefs when one does not know them, and I urge British Columbians not to do so. Trust me, most Quebec separatists are decent folk. However, the other side of my family has a very different past and views. My father is the grandson of Jewish immigrants from the Ukraine. They came to Canada in the early part of the twentieth century to seek a better life, and they found it here. Had they remained in Europe, they probably would not have lived through WWII. It would be hard for me to forget the contribution that this country has made to my life. _ I am in-between, a living example of the unity between Quebec and Canada. To see the country torn apart is painful for me from two different perspectives. I am no patriot, but I understand how Canada allowed me to exist. When separatists accuse federalists of promoting the status-quo, I can only wonder what is wrong. Canada turns up year after year at the top of the heap in the United Nation’s rating of the world’s best countries. If Quebec chooses to separate, the result will have more than an emotional consequence on my life. The Quebec economy will suffer tremendously, and my. arrival on the job market in five or ten years will surely result in a life-long position at McDonalds. By staying in Quebec I would in effect be creating professional suicide. My only viable strategy will be to move here, declare my address, and conserve my Canadian citizenship. I am not willing to throw my life away for something I do not believe in. As much as I love it here, my culture is in | Montreal, and I’d rather | not stay away from it for | : too long. If Quebec remains a province, all of Canada will remain accessible to me. Unfortunately, many people in Quebec have a restricted view of the world: they do not consider moving out of the province, since language is a barrier for them. Virtually all of my mother’s close family lives in Quebec. My father’s family is dispersed all over North America. I want to be able to have opportunities in many places, and not necessarily stay in the same place all my life. If new borders surround me, my options in life will be fewer. For me, the only convincing argument that sovereignists make is that French is a threatened language in North America, and an independant Quebec will spare no effort to protect it. The thought of being assimilated is scary, but if Quebec does Brian Kraus photo separate, immigration will surely drop dramatically, and the Quebec population will not renew itself quickly enough to protect the language indefinitely. Surely it is best to encourage immigration with a thriving economy and promote French in the immigrant population. Obviously, it’s out of my hands at this point, I have already voted by mail. It’s very frustrating . All I can do at this point is just watch the news and hope for the best. I just hope that, regardless of the outcome, everything will turn out all right in the end. Frankly, it’s just not worth throwing so much away for the sake of something as legal and political as a country. Oh, Canada, For Crying Out Loud! sort of change that will make Quebec any more special, different, or remunerated by the federal government than it already is. You claim that you love, Quebec, that this country NEEDS Quebec. Do you speak French? Do your children study French any more than the required minimum? Do you conduct, or allow business to be conducted in French, the country’s other official language? If you have been successful, as I think is the case, I hope in your euphoria that you remember the true cost of keeping Quebec part of Canada: Currently the province has guaranteed seats in the legislature, its own federally funded television and radio network, and the ability to enact and create law in a manner entirely different from the rest of Canada. They have asked for separation from the country to promote themselves and grow as a culture. Separate they would have shouldered those costs themselves. United we all foot the bill. Issue #2: All of the individuals, pundits, members of the media, businesses, and government officials who swear on their dead grandma Nellie’s grave that “Quebec can’t separate, just think what it’ll do to interest rates and the economy”. I recently spent a wonderful discussion with a very distraught and practically irate person who was incensed about the referendum because of what it might do to his mortgage payments. This has been a common concern by those outside of Quebec. This attitude, this concept, is so selfish it truly disgusts me. We outside of Quebec, (yes, even those who “flocked” to Quebec last weekend to plead for the no side) do not have a say in the matter. Yes, we can try to influence the decision, but the vote is not ours. The vote is Quebec’s, and we should - should have - kept out of it and let them decide their course. Yes, the repercussions may have effects on all our lives, and yes, that may negatively affect some, but this is a confederation, and they have the right as a province to stay or leave. Issue #3: Within all the talk about distinct society status, the failed Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords, and the recent referendum, no one has really looked at the whole confederation issue. As I see it, all the provinces have it in their domain to periodically examine confederation and how it’s working. While there is a fear that without confederation individuals like Premiers Klein and Harris might have no one to stop them from decimating our social system, but how many are examining if the Canadian model works? I could argue that BC is a distinct society from the rest of Canada. Our history, cultural mosaic, landscape, and economic partners are totally different fromthe rest of Canada. We are looking at an impending faculty strike as a result of the federal government shifting education funding responsibility to the provinces, and the province claiming the money should come from the feds. The same thingis happening with the Annacis Island problem, and waste management in the Lower Mainland. The two branches of government keep chasing each other’s tail, saying the problem should be solved by the other. All this leads me to a final conclusion, and Issue #4: BC should separate from Canada. We trade more with Oregon, Washington, and our Pacific rim neighbors than with the rest of the country, and because our main economy, forest products, prices most of its products in U.S. dollars, we do business differently than most of the country. Our #2 industry, tourism, exists and thrives independent of the federal government. How better this industry would be if there was the elimination of the dreaded GST. Much of the fruit of our labours leaves this province for the East, with little return. Am I a paranoid western alienation freak? Should I be a card carrying member of the Reform Party? No. But, as the Quebecois have done, we should look in our hearts, and see whether Canada, as she now is, still truly holds-a place for BC in her heart. We should take a cold look at how we could better preserve what we in BC hold dear as a separate voice from the rest of Canada, less concerned about making deals, and more concerned about getting things done. Unlike the federal government, which has to capitulate to the US in trade negotiations when we try and protect the salmon fishery and they say, “do what we want or we’ll tariff car imports” or something like that, we have a strong position with our southern neighbors because we have what they need: trees, water (to fuel Eee Tere hydroelectric dams), and fish. Then there is the issue of trade. Our major trading partner is to the south and west, not east. I’m certain there would be new opportunities created by allowing our great province, our new nation, to make deals independent of the concerns and issues that Quebec and Ontario hold dear. Now, I know there will not likely be a BC Separatist Party, a Bloc BC, for we have a quieter fire than our fiery Quebecois neighbors. Who will carry the banner and fly the Dogwood high and proud above our beautiful land? Maybe if we could get the CEO of Starbucks (an American company based in Seattle) to provide free lattes and mochas at Bloc Meetings we’d have a chance. Ahh... to dream. On a final note: To all those who voted Yes: I applaud your courage, whatever the outcome has been. In these times of quiet inaction by a vast majority of our society, it is heartening to see people from all walks of life motivated to take such a chance, to risk the waters of great change. It is an example we could all take to heart.