This country is sleepwalking to disintegration.
The only saving grace is that Quebec will separate on Paul Martin’s watch. At this point, I don’t think there’s any way to stop the process – and if it came to fruition under Conservative government the collective amnesia of the Canadian mentality would forever place blame at the feet of Stephen Harper.
Update Harper response: he scored some very strong hits on Stronach. Saw the writing on the wall that her leadership “aspirations” were unlikely to be realized in the Conservative party, would rather see her gone now than in the middle of a campaign. Good tactic.
“sole ambition in the party was the leadership.. ultimately it will be interesting to watch her progress in the Liberal party.”
He found out from Peter MacKay, this morning. “I think Peter is taking this pretty hard.”
“Belinda called me just moments prior to the press conference.”
More Reaction
Mike Brock feels much like I do;
Belinda, you’re worried what might happen with the Bloc picking up more seats in a spring election? You better be double-worried by the f*cking backlash from Quebec voters when — with your help — the Liberals are returned to power.
You are helping the very party which has put us both in a sovereignty crisis, and in what appears to be amounting to a constitutional crisis in our parliamentary system.
I don’t think your “soul searching” wasn’t very deep. No, I recken it was shallow and plain. Much like you. Face it, all the time you spent contemplating away these past few days was figuring out how you could spin this without appearing like a backstabbing, untrustworthy, sell-out.
I’m an American (married to a Canadian) but just wanted to add my observation. Most Albertans I know are very welcoming to “outsiders”, if they themselves are not expat Ontarians, Maritimers, (especially!) Saskatchewaners, etc. Si vous parle Francais seulement, there are Francophone neighborhoods in every major Western city (a very nice one here in Edmonton based around the Faculte-St-Jean of the U of A), so don’t let English-speaking skills be a hindrance. And don’t worry so much about the winters out here: It gets cold, but the snow isn’t wet and icky like back east, it’s nice and powdery. The humidity stays pretty low and the winds are under 20 kmh unless there’s a front or a storm, so the winter weather doesn’t bite into you the way it can in a warmer climate. My husband moved here after spending his whole life in maritime climes and finds the winters here easier b/c -10C and sunny in Edmonton actually feels warmer than 2C, drizzle and overcast in Vancouver.
I’d be more optimistic about change in Canada if it seemed that the voters were really angry, but people just seem . . . bored. When their longtime ruling party is fully exposed in very dirty dealings, and the gov’t is in perhaps its greatest constitutional crisis. In the States, most recently, we had Pres Clinton’s impeachment (of which he was acquitted), a constitutional process; before that, circa 1992, the check-kiting scandal, which raised voter ire and prepared the way for the 1994 “Republican takeover” of the House of Representatives. This saw many long-time representives (including the very powerful Illinois Democrat, Dan Rostenkowski), dumped out of their seats. Then there was Watergate, which was nothing compared to this whole situation with Martin, yet within two years the President resigned, under threat of impeachment. And similar situations at state levels. I still haven’t figured out if this is b/c so many Canadians are so terribly dependent on their government for everyday things, or if it’s the whole “Americans expect order/Canadians expect good government” argument, or something similar. (Of course, you’re not exactly getting “good government” right now.)