Newfoundland was once a nation. Ergo it can seperate. So thinks BQ leader Gilles Duceppe.
Already Quebec's economic situation is precarious imagine Newfoundland! The poorest (but happiest) of all provinces. I hope to get there soon.
If Quebec wants to go off into the sunset so be it. Provided Quebec once and for all clearly conveys how it intends to operate alone. None of this "we have the right to the passport and transfer payments" nonsense. In addition, what will it do should the city of Montreal and Cree nation decide to secede?
The idea of Canada operating like the EU is sort of misplaced. The EU is highly centralized with little democratic transparency with all powers increasingly funneled into Brussels. I doubt Quebec or Newfoundland would like that.
Canada is already the most decentralized federal state in the world. Federal structures offer flexibility and Quebec has benefitted enormously from it. In fact, one could even say there's little more to be gained by leaving the confederacy. The calculation has to be on a risk reward basis. Do the gains justify the risks?
I don't think it does.
In any event, Newfoundland doesn't have a secessionist movement that I'm aware of so the discussion is moot. If they did, they'll have to change their name to Newlostland.
I'm in favor of secession all the way down to the level of the individual, but that's just me and my anarchist pals, I guess.
ReplyDeleteCould P.E.I. do this too?
ReplyDeletePart of me understands it. Part of me doesn't.
ReplyDeleteZeus, any province, I suppose, can push for it. Heck, Vermont has a secessionist movement so anything is possible.
But one of the prerequisites according to some thinkers is there has to be a "nation" existing to qualify. In this way, Quebec and Newfoundland "qualify" like Catalonia or the Basques and the like.