Word: quebecs
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Contemporary western society, as does the Prime Minister of Quebec, divides activity into two separate components--work activity and voluntary activity. Work activity in our society tends to be simple, tedious and forced, and is therefore widely regarded as unpleasant and uncreative. Voluntary activities, however, whether sportive or intellectual, are generally regarded as pleasurable and creative. These latter activities, unforced and left to the choice of the individual, are ordinarily the only activities definitely designated as cultural...
...Clearly, Quebec's political status imposes restrictions on the cultural expression of the Quebecois, but to limit the terms of the cultural question to the macro-political arena is to seriously understate what needs to be done. Unfortunately, the particular terms under which Levesque has chosen to do cultural battle are restrictive, and in the context of Canadian federalism, almost meaningless...
Already an exception among modern and federal structures, the Canadian political system is highly decentralized and moving towards further decentralization. Quebec, for instance, already controls all matters relating to the crucial areas of language, education, and natural resource development, and the province effectively exercises a veto power over federal immigration policies. To be sure, Quebec still does not control certain critical jurisdictions like communications, but there are precedents, as in Germany, for the decentralized licensing of communications facilities within a federal system...
THERE ARE FURTHER reasons to question the substance behind the word independence. Most importantly, the reality of independence is already being compromised through a growing dependence on American capital markets. Quebec has already borrowed billions of dollars in New York, and can be expected to continue borrowing in order to complete its massive hydro-electric projects in the north...
Financial dependence on foreign capital markets immediately compromises national sovereignty, as the Chilean example clearly demonstrates. In order to continue borrowing foreign capital at reasonable rates, the Quebec government must assure its investors of domestic policies conducive to the maintenance of a profitable business climate in the province or country. Such an assurance, however, decreases the range of policies which any government, provincial or federal, can implement to protect its workers and its culture...