Big article in the National Post (a Canadian national newspaper...yeah they still exist), where it was disclosed who was and who was not invited to Queen Elizabeth's September 2022 funerals. Obviously, Trudeau and his wife made the cut, but he also invited four ex-prime ministers and a bevy of others (there was only room for 10 "official" Canadians at the ceremony). The big woop is that Sandra Oh was invited (she of Gray's Anatomy, and recipient of the Order of Canada ). The article pointed out that the Prime Minister used his visit to the UK, where so many heads of state were present, to have informal conversations...only natural considering that the events would last only 2 hours and they were there for a few days.
What was fascinating were the commentaries at the end of the article. First, was the comment that Trudeau "fucked-it all up again" not entirely sure how he did that but at one point you have to realize that just hearing or reading about Trudeau is like a dog whistle to some. It doesn't matter what he does or says it's bad. It matters not what he did or didn't do, he's a bad actor! Same story with the design of the new Canadian passport, its entirely possible that he saw a rendering of the thing, but I would be surprised if he had anything to do with its design, yet he was roundly criticized for some reason or other.
We have something very similar in Quebec, and I think it's a huge problem. Two years ago, it was announced that Toronto Transit was looking at replacing some of its aging railcars for its GO network, and there was a discussion as to what that would entail, again this was in the National Post. There was not a single word in that article about Bombardier or anything, but in the comments, there was a raging series of conversations that this was an opportunity for Trudeau to give to his friends in Montreal (e.g. Bombardier) a sweet contract. For fun, I pointed out that Bombardier is no longer in the rail business. I even point out to the commentator that there was no rail car business left in Quebec...it was all gone. Nevertheless, the commentators persisted and said that Quebec would find a devious way to profit from the contracts available in Ontario. It matters not what the subject is, to some in Ontario (and in Alberta too) there is a perception that everything wrong with Canada is Quebec's fault, true or not it matters not.
The reason I raised the issue of the UK, is that the UK had a similar relationship with the rest of Europe. It was always Europe's fault and it was always some devious plot in Bruxel which would somehow disadvantage the UK. The pro-Brexit camp used this tool for years and years especially when the Conservatives were in power. Whenever something bad occurred in the UK it was Europe's fault. Thankfully it has not gotten that bad in Canada (aside from the famous transfer payments) overall there is surprisingly little inter-provincial trade, trade routes are North-South not East-West. You just have to go to Toronto as a "real" French Canadian and the animosity is always surprising. Again, that's not me! I have no accent in English or French. Nevertheless, you can see it in business meetings there.
This is a challenge for the province and its politicians and business people alike, to find a way back into the heart of the rest of Canada (granted Alberta may be difficult) is important. It amazes me how easily Quebec politicians go out of their way to upset their Canadian counterparts. There is no doubt among them a real sense that it is a waste of time and energy to try to have a serious dialog with the rest of the country. Right now it's even worse because most of our senior politicians are successful ex-business people and as such are well aware of the prejudice they face when dealing with the rest of the country.
There is no doubt, that for trade purposes our sights are, as ever, towards our American cousins, rather than our Canadian brothers. Only 15% of Hydro Quebec's exports are to Ontario, it sells almost as much to New Brunswick with a population of less than one million. !Ontario would rather build gas-fired power plants or nuclear power plants than purchase cheap energy from Quebec.
Trade is not the way forward, accommodation, on the other hand, is, when Alberta wanted to reverse the course of a pipeline that took energy from Alberta all the way to the St-Lawrence seaway, it was the current Quebec government that denied the request based on some fake "green" reason. Certainly, oil from oil sand production is far more polluting than other oil but to box in Alberta for no real reason than to be mean has a serious long-term impact.
The question is what should Quebec do? I have no answer to that!
Comments