Art Deco:
I agree with you about the legacy of PET. But “give Quebec its walking papers”? Have you forgotten where Canada started? As a reminder, if you are Catholic, Canada’s primatial see is in Quebec City, with Cardinal Marc Ouellet as the Primate of the Catholic Church for all of Canada.
As a Catholic and a “québécoise” I am proud of the legacy of Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys and Saint Marguerite d’Youville (the Sisters of Charity) who founded Orders that are active from sea to sea; the Ven. François de Montmorency-Laval, Jeanne Mance and so many others; and those explorers who opened roads west to the Rockies and down South to the mouth of the Mississipi…
Charity should trump politics…
Elise B.

Miss Elise:

I think the course of Canadian public policy is partially stymied by the addition of an ethno-national binary to the usual polarities of political life. Mr. Harper is currently presiding over yet another minority government. The language barrier and the conjoining of Upper and Lower Canada as a consequence of one party defeating the other confound the formation of a satisfying national self-conception and common loyalty. Let Quebec have their flag and anthem and language; let English Canada fly the Red Ensign and sing The Maple Leaf Forever and pay their due respects to Her Majesty; let both have within themselves the disputes modern countries have over questions economic and social; and let both understand themselves as something other than not-American.

Now, let’s see if you can get a Bloc Quebebois administration to accept responsibility for a quarter of the central government’s bonded debt and accept revisions to the frontier (the north of Quebec being disproportionately aboriginal and generally federalist). As the man in the mock beer commercial says, “Ah beeleeve in ze distinct zociety, as long a someone elze pays for it.”

Elise, my mom was born in 36. You are quite correct about the three referendums and Joey Smallwood. Newfies were still talking about it as if it were yesterday in the Sixties.

Elaine, now you are making me homesick! Newfoundland has a very unique culture, and I was very pleased that the luck of the draw of birth caused me to experience at first hand how warm-hearted Newfies can be. My great Uncle Bill, who served in WW2 in the Royal Army because, as he said, “Someone had to teach the Limies how to fight!”, used to kiddingly call me a “dirty Yank” and I used to kiddingly call him a “dirty Newf”, but part of me still remains Newfie.

Anyway, when I was in Sea Cadets we used to play this song, accompanied by cannon fire a la 1812 overture.