quebec should be removed from canada by extreme force.

[Zoomerang96]

i've consistantly said that quebec should be removed from canada, and then perhaps conquered by force at a later date, by the queen's armed forces. preferably with a little help from a few british armoured divisions just for old time's sake.

McCartney's free Quebec concert ruffles sovereigntists

"Several prominent Quebec artists and sovereigntists are complaining about Paul McCartney's highly anticipated concert this coming weekend, accusing the former Beatle of "Canadianizing" the city's 400th birthday celebration."

and

McCartney tells Quebec nationalists to smoke 'the pipes of peace'

"His sovereigntist critics argue he shouldn't be playing such a prominent show in Quebec City because it would be too reminiscent of the battle between his native Britain and the French in Quebec in the 1750s."

it's funny... when people say they want to keep their british heritage alive and well in english canada, they get called every fucking thing from fascist to, yes, unpatriotic.

i realise not all quebecers share their POV, but when will enough be enough? give them one more vote in two years time, and let it be the final - FINAL vote on the matter. if they vote to leave, help them get the fuck out ASAP. just don't allow them to use our currency, and give them their share of the national debt that they'll owe.

it's comical how canada's head of state wasn't invited to quebec city's 400th anniversary, while the heads of states of every former french colony has been issued an invite.

give them their country that they want, then slap visa/letter of invitation requirements for entering canada. furthermore, economic sanctions must be imposed that make those currently placed against countries such as north korea and iran look like the equivalent of mummy and daddy withholding one week's worth of allowance when you were a child.

[Zoomerang96]

i forgot to mention how glorious it would be to see the queen enter this "celebration" at the front of a great column of tanks, complete with big-ass aviators, and a pack of sandwiches.

[elevated_u2_fan]

BoMac is gonna love the title...

But I agree with you for the most part, as much as they want to make this a "French" event, it's being held in Canada and to complain that McCartney's presence is somehow a reminder of something that happened in the 1750's is ridiculous...

[Zoomerang96]

Originally Posted by elevated_u2_fan

BoMac is gonna love the title...

But I agree with you for the most part, as much as they want to make this a "French" event, it's being held in Canada and to complain that McCartney's presence is somehow a reminder of something that happened in the 1750's is ridiculous...

how can mccartney "canadianise" this event when he's not even canadian? this is another reason why there are too many countries in the world... everyone thinks they deserve their own nation. fuck that. bring back the empires i say... there should be no more than four or five empires at most, subdivided by nations that must report to their own respective motherland.

[financeguy]

I sincerely hope you are drunk.

[Zoomerang96]

financeguy, i assume you can figure out what part of this is a joke and what part isn't.

[financeguy]

I can't, actually. Your entire post reads like imperialist nonsense.

For the benefit of slow learners, can you explain what parts are jokes and what parts aren't?

[martha]

Originally Posted by financeguy

I can't, actually. Your entire post reads like imperialist nonsense.

For the benefit of slow learners, can you explain what parts are jokes and what parts aren't?

If you ever ventured out of FYM, you'd understand.

[financeguy]

Originally Posted by martha

If you ever ventured out of FYM, you'd understand.

How much do you earn?

[unforgettableFOXfire]

The ridiculous part is that the separatists who want Quebec sovereignty are a minority voice, even in Quebec, and yet things like this drum up ridiculous amounts of press coverage and overshadow the whole point of celebrations. It really doesn't help the case of those separatists when they constantly look like assholes; that isn't how you win people over to your cause, imo. Arguments about how British Paul McCartney and his internationally successful non-nationalistic music can be pro-Canada and anti-Quebec simply don't hold water, and yet people are giving these idiots time of day.

Forget giving Quebec their own nation and punishing them; how about we punish the jerkoff reporters who decided this was newsworthy?

[unforgettableFOXfire]

Originally Posted by financeguy

How much do you earn?

Completely irrelevant to the conversation.

[financeguy]

Originally Posted by unforgettableFOXfire

Completely irrelevant to the conversation.

Martha's comment was ok with you?

[unforgettableFOXfire]

I've been here for nearly 7 years, you've been here for nearly 4, if you did venture outside of FYM and knew anything about Zoomer's posting habits, you could easily tell which parts of his post were jokes and which were not. So yes, I'm perfectly okay with it. You were hostile towards him for no reason whatsoever, and then it's somehow not okay for her to be hostile towards you? Even though you troll people as frequently as you're earnest? Give me a break. If you have a problem with what she's said, what does money have to do with you insisting that you've been mistreated? Nothing. Don't be a dick.

[indra]

Originally Posted by Zoomerang96

i forgot to mention how glorious it would be to see the queen enter this "celebration" at the front of a great column of tanks, complete with big-ass aviators, and a pack of sandwiches.

I'm hoping this part at least is serious, because that would be so damned much fun to watch.


...of course I first read "big-ass aviators" as "big-ass vibrators" and although it made me laugh I'm pretty sure I would not want to watch the queen with big-ass vibrators.

[yolland]

I'm pretty sure financeguy is quite familiar with Zoomerang's posting habits.

But, why not just wait and see if Zoomerang wishes to answer the question.

[BoMac]

Originally Posted by Zoomerang96

i've consistantly said that quebec should be removed from canada, and then perhaps conquered by force at a later date, by the queen's armed forces. preferably with a little help from a few british armoured divisions just for old time's sake.

McCartney's free Quebec concert ruffles sovereigntists

"Several prominent Quebec artists and sovereigntists are complaining about Paul McCartney's highly anticipated concert this coming weekend, accusing the former Beatle of "Canadianizing" the city's 400th birthday celebration."

and

McCartney tells Quebec nationalists to smoke 'the pipes of peace'

"His sovereigntist critics argue he shouldn't be playing such a prominent show in Quebec City because it would be too reminiscent of the battle between his native Britain and the French in Quebec in the 1750s."

it's funny... when people say they want to keep their british heritage alive and well in english canada, they get called every fucking thing from fascist to, yes, unpatriotic.

i realise not all quebecers share their POV, but when will enough be enough? give them one more vote in two years time, and let it be the final - FINAL vote on the matter. if they vote to leave, help them get the fuck out ASAP. just don't allow them to use our currency, and give them their share of the national debt that they'll owe.

it's comical how canada's head of state wasn't invited to quebec city's 400th anniversary, while the heads of states of every former french colony has been issued an invite.

give them their country that they want, then slap visa/letter of invitation requirements for entering canada. furthermore, economic sanctions must be imposed that make those currently placed against countries such as north korea and iran look like the equivalent of mummy and daddy withholding one week's worth of allowance when you were a child.

Separatism in Quebec, for the most part, is a declining force. This issue with McCartney is a non-story, really, meant to get a few people's names in the news. A few extremists, sensing the coming media frenzy, decided to speak on the matter, knowing the media storm it would cause.

But remember, these people are in the minority. There are also many separatists who have spoken up in favour of having Paul McCartney (for the record, Coldplay was once said to have signed to play this concert and there were rumblings that U2 was being courted) do this show.

Don't give us the country that we want, because we don't want it. We have a federalist provincial Premier who, thanks to a shift in policy and a much better job in communicating said policy, is more popular than ever and may be elected to a third term in the near future. The people that keep espousing sovereignty are the same ones and popularity for the movement has remained stagnant and has even waned in recent years.

This is much ado about nothing.

All we are saying is give Paul a chance
The Gazette
Friday, July 18, 2008

It can be safely predicted even now that a British knight will take Quebec City by storm on Sunday. That's when Sir Paul McCartney will unleash what promises to be the rockingest show the storied Plains of Abraham have seen since the one staged at the same venue by generals named Wolfe and Montcalm.

That's a joke, OK? But it seems some people take the McCartney-Wolfe connection very seriously indeed.

By some people we mean the few dozen separatists, including two Parti Québécois front- benchers, Pierre Curzi and Daniel Turp, who have worked themselves into a froth of indignation over the former Beatle's big show.

These zealots even cranked up a petition alleging that Quebec's 400th-anniversary celebration, of which the McCartney show is a towering highlight, is being blighted by the prominence being accorded to what they call an "Anglo-Saxon idol."

"We can never erase that we were conquered by the British," said sculptor Luc Archambault, the petition instigator. So much, we guess, for Paul's old bandmate's sentiment, "Give peace a chance."

The protest certainly hasn't put McCartney and his band on the run, nor do we suspect it's likely to discourage many of the expected crowd of up to 200,000.

Paul's mission, he said in a Radio-Canada interview, is strictly friendly. "I want to give those people the best night of their lives."

As for General Wolfe, McCartney claimed to have remembered him from history-exam questions, but said still hasn't quite figured out exactly who he was. And Sir Paul assured the interviewer that of course he would speak some French. (He would not, however, promise to sing Michelle (ma belle). Still, it wouldn't surprise us if he did.

Even more reassuring was the overwhelming ridicule heaped on this stillborn protest in francophone quarters. "Would they ban Shakespeare because he's English?" wondered leading Quebec songwriter (and avowed sovereignist) Stéphane Venne. He went on to lecture the petition people, noting that McCartney is an artist whose appeal and influence transcend borders and ethnic lines. Venne added that he and many prominent Quebec musicians have drawn inspiration from him.

Philippe Navarro, a former PQ political staffer and now a full-time musician, pointed out that what really decided the fate of Quebec was not the Battle of the Plains in 1759, but France's decision four years later to give up Quebec in a trade for Guadeloupe - an outcome that would probably have been the same had Montcalm won the battle.

The only thing being tarnished here is the image of the PQ and the sovereignist movement when prominent figures in its ranks indulge in such ludicrous displays of nationalist pique. Curzi and Turp really should know better than to stoop to this. They're making it bad, mostly for themselves.

Originally Posted by elevated_u2_fan

BoMac is gonna love the title...

It certainly is amusing.

[Knuckle]

Interesting to see anything Canadian stirring up emotion in anyone. Is anyone here actually Canadian?

[Badyouken]

Good lord.

This whole ordeal was caused by a handful of people, and does not represent Quebec at all. It's a shame that this non-story was amplified by the media to this extent. Believe me, it will be nearly impossible to get into that show tomorrow, for there will be tens of thousands of people lining up to see one of the greatest songwriters in pop music history.

The independance movement is indeed a declining force - a great majority of Quebecers don't want independance. However, I wouldn't even equate this non-event with the independance movement, rather with the sheer narrow-mindedness of a bunch of very vocal people.

[melon]

Originally Posted by Badyouken

The independance movement is indeed a declining force - a great majority of Quebecers don't want independance.

I think English Canada will find it hard to believe this, as long as the PQ keeps on getting elected. They are, by definition, a separatist party, yes?

And, sure, I do understand it's a bit more complicated than that, with issues of protest votes and questions as to whether the other three viable parties at the federal level can represent Québec's interests. Hell, I question whether they can viably represent English Canadian interests!

[Badyouken]

I should say "considerable majority" rather than "great majority". According to recent polls, if a referendum were held today, Québec would remain within Canada by a 10-12% margin, give or take.

Polls in the last 3-4 years give 30-35% of the vote to the PQ.
In the last election, the PQ ranked 3rd, with 25% of the vote (roughly).

They will probably fare much better in the next election, however, due to their new leader.

Nevertheless, one thing must not be forgotten: a vote for the PQ is not necessarily a vote for independence. I know loads of people who vote for the PQ since it is the only major left-leaning party in Québec. These same people also reject independence.

Conversely, a vote for the right-wing ADQ is not necessarily a federalist vote.

But all in all, I really doubt that separatism will go anywhere.