[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[Neil]

I think it's unfair to Berlusconi to compare him to a francophone politician.  Sure, Berlusconi is gifted when it comes to corruption, but it's in the blood of francophones.

That said, wouldn't a billionaire lose tons of money in an indepedent Quebec?

[viper37]

Your very own Berlusconi   

Thankfully not a clown like the other.  But from many accounts, an iron grip in a steel gauntlet.  Viper should be pleased since I predict, come a PQ majority, that he will lead the slim cure badly needed in the bureaucracy.  And then there are the rumors about his ambitions to replace Marois as leader of the party and Prime Minister when the time comes.  At last the PQ is reforming a coalition to drive the separatist project.  As the man said himself: "the road to independance is neither left or right but forward."
G.

What will happen is this:
- PQ gets his majority
- Immediatly, they start pushing for a 3rd losing referendum.
- During that year, just as it was in 1994, they will mismanage, no, rather, they won't manage the province at all, all their efforts being directed toward a referendum campaign.  They have proven time and again they can't walk and chew gum at the same time.
- June 22nd 2015: We have our referendum.  Situation #1: PQ lose again.  PKP is disillusioned, he leaves the PQ.  Situation #2: Marois is elected President for life in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Pekistan.  PKP is disullisoned, he returns where he is best at: making money.

In either cases, no reform.  Even if he was elected chief of the PQ, he'll suffer a vote of no-confidence as soon as he starts making changes to the so loved status quo by PQ allies.

[viper37]

That said, wouldn't a billionaire lose tons of money in an indepedent Quebec?

Depends of the business.  #1 Media in business in Quebec that can only be challenged by foreigners? Not really.  All he has to do is pull up a few strings and the government of Quebec will have restrictions on "Quebec content" for medias that no one can meet.  Same model as the actual canadian model, actually.

[Neil]

That said, wouldn't a billionaire lose tons of money in an indepedent Quebec?

Depends of the business.  #1 Media in business in Quebec that can only be challenged by foreigners? Not really.  All he has to do is pull up a few strings and the government of Quebec will have restrictions on "Quebec content" for medias that no one can meet.  Same model as the actual canadian model, actually.

But wouldn't he lose a lot of money to the sanctions?

[crazy canuck]

Then given the hypothetical world which you asked me to consider in which a citizen of the world may only speak one language, why did you disagree with my choice?

You either genuilely misunderstand my question, or you are willingly misunderstanding.

Can you conceive someone speaking only English in Quebec?
Can you do the same for someone elsewhere in Canada, albeit with French?

I think it was you who has genuinely misunderstood what I was saying.  Either that you are purposefully changing the goal posts to make a political point.  Either way I see now what you are trying to do we have been around and around and around this before.  It is tiresome to continue playing that game.

[HVC]

Being a kid of immigrants I know plenty of people who get by in English Canada speaking no English, i imagine it would be as easy for a French speaker as it is for a Portuguese speaker.

As for being an Anglo is quebec, it doesn't seem that easy outside of Montreal (and maybe Quebec City).

[viper37]

But wouldn't he lose a lot of money to the sanctions?

He can still offset any losses by his properties outside of Quebec, you know.

Quebecor media owns Sun Media and a buch of magazines in Quebec and Canada, but Quebecor is also involved elsewhere.

[Neil]

But wouldn't he lose a lot of money to the sanctions?

He can still offset any losses by his properties outside of Quebec, you know.

Quebecor media owns Sun Media and a buch of magazines in Quebec and Canada, but Quebecor is also involved elsewhere.

I'm assuming that would be seized.

[crazy canuck]

Seems the PQ separatist dream is long on passion and a bit short on economic reality.

Pauline Marois, the Leader of the Parti Québécois, is fanciful in trying to minimize how much would change if Quebec became a sovereign country. At least she is right that it would "not change the landscape, we will be able to go to see the Rockies," but she sounded almost delusional when she said, "There will be no borders, no customs house."

No, Ottawa could not prevent an independent Quebec from using the Canadian dollar. Any country on Earth can choose to use the loonie. But the government of a sovereign Quebec would severely impede itself if it made the Canadian dollar its currency. It would become a country without its own monetary policy.

The misfortunes of southern Europe's euro-zone countries, such as Greece, vividly demonstrate this point. When crisis hit, they could not use interest or exchange rates to cushion the blow, since they controlled neither. Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England and former governor of the Bank of Canada, has warned Scotland about the disadvantages of continuing to use the British pound, if it votes for independence in September.

Similarly, pegging one country's currency to another's can be disastrous, as happened to Argentina in the 1990s, when it effectively adopted the U.S. dollar. Argentinian exports became crippingly overpriced. A massive default and economic crisis followed.

What's more, Ms. Marois' notion of an independent Quebec having a seat on the Bank of Canada's governing council is ludicrous. The loonie won't be cut in half, and the Bank of Canada won't be diced up. The Premier of Quebec is telling fairy tales.

[Jacob]

Warren Kinsella supports Olivia Chow, and here's why: http://warrenkinsella.com/2014/03/why-i-want-olivia-chow-to-be-torontos-next-mayor/

... in case you care about the upcoming Toronto election.

[crazy canuck]

OK, now for the real reason that is readily apparent without having to read the article. Kinsella is a long time Liberal hack and backroom operator.  The opposition to Chow in this election will be a Conservative aptly named Tory.  The Liberals have no candidate they can run for Mayor that can win.  The Liberal's greatest fear is a return of the days when Conservatives dominated the electorate in Toronto and Ontario - if you are interested look up the Big Blue Machine of yesteryear.  As a result they would much rather have Chow win then give the Conservatives any toe hold from which they can rebuild their electoral chances in urban Toronto.

Without reading the article I am willing to make a gentlemen's  bet that Kinsella wrote an article waxing peotic about Chow and how the City needs her to take out the cancer that is Ford rather than the real reason.

[Jacob]

OK, now for the real reason that is readily apparent without having to read the article. Kinsella is a long time Liberal hack and backroom operator.  The opposition to Chow in this election will be a Conservative aptly named Tory.  The Liberals have no candidate they can run for Mayor that can win.  The Liberal's greatest fear is a return of the days when Conservatives dominated the electorate in Toronto and Ontario - if you are interested look up the Big Blue Machine of yesteryear.  As a result they would much rather have Chow win then give the Conservatives any toe hold from which they can rebuild their electoral chances in urban Toronto.

Without reading the article I am willing to make a gentlemen's  bet that Kinsella wrote an article waxing peotic about Chow and how the City needs her to take out the cancer that is Ford rather than the real reason.

Yes

[Josephus]

How do we know you didn't read the article?

[crazy canuck]

How do we know you didn't read the article?

I am curious what you think about it though.

[Josephus]

How do we know you didn't read the article?

I am curious what you think about it though.

Well it's pretty much what you said. I'm no fan of Kinsella really, but I agree with much of what he says. She CAN win. And she CAN get things done. She's got politcal experience, yet lacks the taint of city hall. I don't want another conservtive in office.

That said, it should be said I don't live directly in the city,and so am largely uneffected by the outcome of any municpal election in Toronto. Because I commute, though, I would be effected by transit and infrastructure development. Not sure what her thoughts on all that is.