Vive le Québec libre?

Quebec, or at least many québecois, have long wanted to freely separate from Canada and form their own community. They wish to no longer belong to a state that they believe alienates their rights, but they are propoposing a solution to be to create another smaller, French-speaking only state, with economic focus more to the left than the rest of Canada.

Qu’est-ce que vous croyez doit etre le sort du nouveau Québec, doit-il se séparer, rester au Canada, ou choisir plutot l’anarchie?

Your question doesn’t make sense.

Many québecois are fed up with Canadian federal government. This is similar to many libertarians fed up with the American government.

Many québecois are proposing to separate from Canada. My question is, what do you think about this?

First, libertarians are big L (the party) and small "l’ (the philosophy). It is not a nationalistic thing. I am a libertarian Canadian.

Now, I’m not an expert on Quebec, but I see it thus. There are Quebec anarchists and secessionists. But the majority of so-called pro-secession Quebecois are for using the threat of secession as a tool for political power.

That is why the national party, the Bloc Quebecois wins most of the seats in Quebec and nowhere else. They have no real chance of pushing for another referendum on secession, but they can be the important king maker in the Parliament, particularly in the age of minority governments.

So they use that power to bully for special privilege. Quebec is a very large province, but the majority of the french speaking, Quebecois are clustered around the Ontario border, in the southern region. The province as a whole, receives much more than it contributes and enjoys their welfare status.

There are the genuine secessionists and anarchists and I support them wholeheartedly. However I do believe they are in the minority.

Now Ruben, how do you feel about secession? I believe it is a fundamental human right to be able to leave a government that does not serve or represent you, without having to surrender your property.

Yes of course Quebec should secede. Obviously it would be best if they implemented anarchy, but if they seceded and set up a government it would still be a step in the right direction. For example, a QC secession would legitimize other secession movements, promote economic integration, and delegitimize democracy and statism.

As somebody who learned how to speak French much earlier in childhood than English, I sympathize with the québecois struggle for their own identity. I though Canada was a great country with its bilingualism, but if they feel that they want to go their own way and they succeed doing so as some countries in Europe and the exUSSR has done, perhaps they have the right to do so. They always have felt themselves as a colony of the French, of the British, of the AngloCanadians or of the Americans.

The provincial government of Quebec has been persecuting and ethnic cleansing anglo canadians for decades. They are not a model of freedom.

Not that many that the referenda passed :wink: It’s been done enough times that it’s obvious that the majority of Quebec desires to stay in Canada (besides that they are now a “nation” thanks to Stephen Harper). Canada hardly alienates the rights of Quebecers, and secondly, it’s nigh impossible to get something done in Canada without having to make concessions for Quebec (which is one of thirteen provinces and territories). Quebec desires Canadian tax money but without being Canadian

C’est impossible. Ce “nouveau Quebec”. Quebec doit rester au Canada parce que la plupart des Quebecois veut rester au Canada. Si la plupart veut separer et Quebec separe, le Quebec serais exactement la meme (essentiellement comme le Canada). Rien changerais.

Ruben, you didn’t answer my question about secession. Do people have a right to withdraw from a social contract and keep their property?

I am not sure if I understand what you are asking. I guess that if Québec secedes people will still keep their property intact. Which is the social contract you are referring to?

However, I understand Québec right now as a province has enormous holding of real estate and hydrological dams. Perhaps a redifinition of that property would be debated should secession occur.

How many died? Didn’t the UN send humanitarian forces?

J’ai aussi la meme impression, que les québecois au fond désirent rester au Canada, mais je ne sais pas si c’est parce qu’ils prennent avantage des revenus fiscaux provenants du gouvernement fédéral d’Ottawa.

They did it more subtly by outlawing the english language. It wasn’t even necessary to kill anyone to drive the anglos out of the province.

They outlawed the English language there because they did not want Québecois to be assimilated in English as it has already happened to the new generations of French Canadians in Manitoba.

What part of Canada are you from? Do you think your views on the desirability of a Québec secession are purely personal or they are perhaps influenced by the specific culture of your own province?

Do you believe that people have a right to secede, or if they are born into a country, must conform to the social contract of that country?

In other words, do you believe that people who wish to change their government to self rule, do you believe they should be able to do so?

I’ve lived in 3 provinces, across the country. I currently live in South West Ontario.

Whether or not secession is desirable, I support the Quebecers who would wish to secede. I do not believe that a majority referendum removes their fundamental human right to choose a new form of government for themselves, WITHOUT the loss of their property.

I would settle in some sort of a middle ground, where the federal government would grant more power to municipalities, which in a way are closer to self government than a huge, wasteful federal government. Local governments have more active checks and balances from their citizens, and they must compete against neighboring communities for attracting the best citizens.

Oh, so that’s ok then?

There is no middle ground.

Either you believe in freedom or association, or you don’t. Simple.