Badyouken said:
English Canada is definitely not a homogeneous place. But you are all united by the same language, which many Quebecers don't understand perfectly or speak fluently. It creates this great rift between Québec and the ROC. A Newfoundlander and an Albertan will both watch Rick Mercer on CBC, understand and laugh. But in Québec, most people don't even know who the guy is. "Two solitudes".
I don't think this motion is relevant - we have much more important things to deal with.
There is a kind of tribalism that's still around in Québec unfortunately, and many people are left out of the tribe.
Even I, sometimes, feel out of place in there. I live in Québec but study in Ottawa. I speak English with no accent and have many "English Canadian" friends. For some reason, some people say I'm not a "real" Québécois (I don't have the French accent in English) or say that I sold out (how dare I hang out with both French and English Canadians?). It's only a small minority who feels this way, but it's still there.
I think Québec and the ROC are both out of touch with each other. And until we all have a common way of communicating (i.e. until you all learn French or we all learn English properly), then this whole thing will remain.
I can definately relate to your situation, and I totally agree with everything you said. For the record I am a francophone Québécoise, fully raised in a 100% French environment until I wandered on the English side in my late teens and ended up studying at an anglophone university. I am personally tired of the independance debate and if there were a referendum to separate from Canada tomorrow I would vote 'no'. That being said in 1995 although I was too young to vote if I could have I would have voted 'yes' and I was really sad the next day when it didn't pass.
But in my mind Québec is a nation and there is no doubt about that, so it's about time that the rest of Canada recognise it and stop living in denial. The majority of Québécois, and more particularly the vast majority of francophone Québécois, do not consider themselves Canadian at all, and have completely different cultural references to the rest of the country, myself included.
Of course Canada is a country of great diversity, and you will find people in each province (more so in places like Newfoundland) that consider themselves different enough that they would maybe like to be their own country too. But it's on a completely different scale. I am sorry but we are far from a situation where, if there was a referendum to separate tomorrow in Newfoundland, no one could predict the result. Of course things were different in 1949 when they joined, but i am talking about today.
And THE fundamental difference is the language. Language is the most important element of culture and identity. The Rick Mercer example is perfect because it illustrates how much we have different cultural references. People in Québec watch TV that is about 95% created and produced in Québec. Francophones never watch The National at night and barely know of its existence. People read a totally different set of newspapers. Talk about Rick Mercer or ANY other popular TV character in Québec and people will have no idea what you are talking about. If I walk up to pretty much any franchone Québécois of my generation and I throw out references to Passe-Partout, it's almost garantee that the person will relate because we ALL grew up watching the same kid's show. We have our own 'star system' of actors, musicians, TV people, with TV programs and magazines entirely devoted to it. These people could walk in the streets of Toronto or Vancouver without anyone recognising them. We have a different set of jokes, songs, values, and so on.
Now because the crux of the difference is language, is makes defining what is a Québécois a very delicate task. I know for a fact that anglophone Québécois find themselves in a very unique position (I used to date one), where they generally have a greater attachment to Canada than their francophone counterparts, but they also have some level of Québécois identity. Same with Native people and immigrants. Still Québec is politically, culturally and demographically dominated by francophones, so it's bound to have a big influence on this whole constitutional and national debate.
I have travelled more in the "rest of Canada" than most Québécois, I am completely fluent in English, and my life is now separed almost 50-50 between English and French. I find most of my fellow Québécois to be quite close minded towards Canada, and that they like to focus more on the differences than on our many similarities. I totally agree with everyone who said that there are more important issues to deal with. But that doesn't change that fact that Québécois and Canadians are as different, if not more, than Canadians and Americans, or Québécois and French. You can't force a national identity on people, and it's something that is mostly based on intangible, subjective and emotional factors. Personally I feel more Québécoise than Canadian, there is absolutely no doubt about that, but that doesn't mean i think we should have our own separate country.
The rest of Canada can keep denying how most Québécois feel all they want, but it doesn't change the reality. There is indeed a great misunderstanding in this country.
I have friends from France as well, and the culture there is of course different than North America. Intitally, when I was getting to know people from Quebec, it was disconcerting because subconsciously (for me anyways) when I am speaking French I'm expecting to be dealing with someone who "acts" French. And I've not found that to be the case at all with Quebecois. They're not French, but they're not quite like Canadians (anglophone) either. Again, these are just my personal experiences and not at all objective or quantifiable. Any time you start making generalizations about people in a group, you're bound to use stereotypes and people by definition are individuals, so I hope I haven't offended anyone. 
