punkboy27

Just bought this comic and the undercover daycare one. I don't know why I waited so long. I had high expectations and certainly wasn't disappointed. All I can ask for is sequels to both stories. I need to know if Nadia and Kim ever make it out of "where-they-are" and in what state they are if/when they do. Thank you for sharing your talent with us!

Funny. Those are my exact feelings, too and those were the feelings I expressed in my OP, only I expressed them from the other point of view. Just like there are two sides (people) to every marriage, there's two point of views here too. You don't like transfer payments? My strongest (and most repeated) argument was to get rid of the federal government, which would effectively rid us of this federalist economy which seems to make no one happy, on either side of the coin. We're basically arguing for the same side, only with a different perspective and different arguments, but in the same school of thought, anyhow. As for the equity of transfer payments, I'm sure you're aware that Canada (and maybe Quebec especially) is a pretty socialist place. Ok, we get 18B$ from transfer payments, I'm not contesting that number, but I never saw you mention how much we contribute to it, nor each other province's benefits from that stupid program, so let's push the exercise deeper and compare transfer payments by capita, according to http://www.fin.gc.ca...fedprov-eng.asp and http://en.wikipedia....phics_of_Canada... Ontario 12,851,821 pop., 19,546M$ xfer pay., 1,520.87$ / capita Quebec 7,903,001 pop., 17,431M$ xfer pay., 2,205.62$ / capita British Columbia 4,479,934 pop., 5,713M$ xfer pay., 1,275.25$ / capita Alberta 3,645,257 pop., 3,677M$ xfer pay., 1,008.71$ / capita Manitoba 1,208,268 pop., 3,390M$ xfer pay., 2,805.67$ / capita Saskatchewan 1,033,381 pop., 1,295M$ xfer pay., 1,253.17$ / capita Nova Scotia 921,727 pop., 2,879M$ xfer pay. 3,123.49$ / capita New Brunswick 751,171 pop., 2,509M$ xfer pay. 2,722.06$ / capita Newfoundland and Labrador 514,536 pop., 656M$ xfer pay., 1,274.94$ / capita Prince Edward Island 140,204 pop., 513M$ xfer pay., 3,658.94$ / capita Northwest Territories 41,462 pop., 1,116M$ xfer pay., 26,916.22$ / capita Yukon 33,897 pop., 810M$ xfer pay., 23,895.92$ / capita Nunavut 31,906 pop., 1,316M$ xfer pay., 41,246.16$ / capita Total 33,476,688 pop., 60,851M$ xfer pay., 1,817.72$ / capita Sure, we're above the national average, but so are Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, P.E.I., and the territories. And now, what are each province's relative benefit? http://en.wikipedia....ities_in_Canada lists the 6 provinces benefiting from that program as follows, per capita... Terriories are somewhy excluded from that graph, but I think we agree that they'd top it, anyways. Ontario: $246 Quebec: $934 Nova Scotia: 1,342$ Manitoba: $1,353 New Brunswick: 1,985$ P.E.I.: 2,350$ So what's the plan? Kick us all so you have more money for yourself? Oh, what a great (and selfish) country would Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia be... Oh, wait, you'd get the newfies too! I bet you were brainwashed by sources such as the following (http://cwf.ca/commen...social-programs) into thinking that your money mostly went into Quebec's pockets, while it's shared with every other province. What will be Alberta's situation, 100 years from now, when the entire country might (or might not, the following is purely theorical) run on clean energy? You guys have the oil, it made you rich, Canada's a socialist state, so you end up sharing the riches with everyone else. Didn't mommy taught you to share when you were a kid? In any case, the politicians aren't playing the "let's separate" card based on getting our way or not, as much as the PQ plays it when it has popular support and a majority of seats. Canada had to change the federal immigration laws to prevent us from winning the last referendum, I can't wait to see the result of next, but considering that oil is already pretty much obsolete and slowly getting phased out for cleaner forms of energy, I'm not worried about Quebec's future, considering our vast wealth and diversity of natural resources, I can't express views for the other provinces, since I don't know what Alberta has for variety as far as natural resources go, outside of oil and other fossil fuels. In any case, I'm glad you toned down your posts and brought actual arguments to the table, so we could have a constructive discussion. Everyone's a winner here, I didn't think the inequity between AB and QC was that big, I'd complain too if I were you. For my part, I'll keep believing that if we had our own country and still be running that kind of deficit, we'd be forced to find better ways to generate money from our resources (which we're already working on, I don't know if you've heard of the "Plan Nord"?), and/or we'd end up spending it better by giving up some programs (I don't like how free our education is or 7$/day daycares either...). Bottom line is Alberta has a stronger economy than Quebec. For now. But everyone knows economy fluctuates with time, so maybe in 10 years or 100 years, tables will be turned, and then, you'll be the ones benefiting from Quebec's riches, will you still be complaining then?

I fail to understand how you can say we're a have not province, since we rank 1st or 2nd (behind Ontario) on pretty much every aspect of the economy, but I'm assuming you're still basing your opinion on unsubstantiated hearsay and that you're anything but willing to have a serious discussion among mature adults, therefore, I apologize to everyone for sharing my thoughts on this thread, which proved to be a waste of my time, and I wish you a happy life, stuck in your close minded little brain. Farewell, I'll go back to lurker mode.

Yup, I saw the "a new message was posted" message as I was proof reading my reply to drynot.

@Jason: Yes, I do realize that we'll probably never be separate from Canada and I'm fine with that idea, only when someone like drynot pretends that we couldn't make it on our own if we tried, while also proclaiming that Canada would be better off without us anyways, it simply serves to reinforce my separatist opinions. I normally avoid talking politics for a reason and I'm begining to wonder why I bothered talking about it here, since this can't possibly lead to a constructive discussion, although your post has given me back some hope in that regards. You're right, I'm not willing to make any sacrifice for my country, be it Canada or Quebec, but when one talks of Quebec as a province that gets everything it wants by acting like a spoiled child and/or that gets more benefits from being in Canada than other provinces, despite all the oppression that was forced upon us in the past, or as a province without any form of wealth, I feel obligated to "fight back", even if it's not in my nature. As for U.S. history, you're perfectly right, I don't know enough to talk about it and/or compare it with Quebec or Canada's history, so ignore those parts of my first post, I guess, but they weren't meant to be taken literally in the first place, only serving to draw a parallel with a nation which seceded from the English Crown for somewhat similar reasons. Although you're perfectly right that we're represented, how is a ~20%-25% representation going to have any weight in the balance of power, against 75%-80% of people who potentially share drynot's point of views?! That, and we still get taxed twice for conflicting interests, which in itself, is enough reason for me to support the separatist movement, despite not being a hardcore separatist, as, like I've said in my first post, I actually like Canada, despite dreaming of the day Quebec could be a country. Yet, just like many other dreams I have relative to the AB/DL aspects of my life, I keep dreaming despite knowing for a fact that those dreams will most likely never come true. How is that wrong?

@drynot: How would the First Nations issue be any different than what it is within Canada at the moment? Sure, we'd have to re-negotiate with their leaders, and sure, maybe they don't want to be under French rule (under which they were always fairly treated, by the way, as opposed to the oppression they endured under English rule, you might want to open a history book, some day), just the same as maybe Quebecers don't want to be under English rule, and guess what, that's why there's a separatist movement, because we happen to be a majority here, which is not the First Nation's case. That being said, my best friend is part of said First Nations and he doesn't seem to think that separatism is a bad idea, nor that it would affect our friendship in any way, so yes, I thought about it. As for our natural resources, your ignorance is overwhelming, if you don't know anything about Quebec, then avoid talking about it. We have more than enough water, minerals, forests, and everything else we need to sustain our economy. Heck, for that matter, if we compare Quebec with other countries, we rank 4th in Hydro-Electricity production, after China, Brazil and the U.S.A. (compare that with the amount we actually use and try to guess what we do with what's left over...) and among the top ten minerals producers, with vast supplies of gold, iron, copper, zinc, titanium, asbestos, silver, magnesium, nickel and many others... I suggest you read up a bit before you embarrass yourself any further. And maybe open your mind. I thought people in this community were open minded by definition, I see that's not the case, all you're doing is spreading your ignorance and biased opinions, which seem to be based on hearsay and nothing more.

French Canadians were oppressed for so long, we just want to get what was taken from us almost 250 years ago, when we were betrayed by France, to England. See the Treay of Paris, from 1763 and the Seven Years War, for more info. Wouldn't you want your own country too, if you were forced to submit to the Queen? Oh, wait, you did achieve independence from the English Crown in 1776. Why? Because of taxation issues. Why does Quebec wants out of Canada? Because of taxation issues. We pay twice for the same things, at the provincial level, and at the federal level, which opens twice as many opportunities for corruption, and which even makes English Canadians unhappy, based on the very hurtful comment drynot posted above. Heck, even you are complaining about the "vast amount of resources and money" and provincial transfers. Quebec isn't winning anything in that process, every province is losing money to the federal government, which is why we want out. So we can control our destiny. Simply put, what's good for Vancouver or Toronto, isn't necessarily good for Montreal or Quebec City. If you consider that French Canadians represent approximately 20% of Canada's population, while they also represent approximately 80% of Quebec's population, I don't think that the separatist movement is composed of "spoiled child who can't get their way", as much as of proud human beings who'd like to control their own lands, just like Americans did a good while ago... We have two governments, each working in a different direction and spending money on conflicting interests, how much sense does that make to you? Language and culture aren't the issues here. I agree that we're stronger as a whole, and despite being a separatist, I love Canada too, only I could do without the federal government. I don't know what kind of propaganda English Canadians are being fed about Quebec Separatists, but if Canada was ruled a little more like the U.S., ie.: more power to the provinces and less to the Federation, there probably wouldn't be a separatist movement to begin with. That being said, in this day and age, I think countries and borders are obsolete and only remain because of the money and power involved. Nationalism is an outdated concept that never served the people. I wouldn't die for the Canadian flag anymore than I would for Quebec's flag, and, truth be told, I'm wondering why Americans are willing to die for theirs, maybe you guys can explain that to me, since some of you pretend to have such good knowledge of politics... There were 2, the last of which was "lost" to a 50.58% vote for the "No" against 49.42% vote for the "Yes", which represents exactly 54,288 difference in the votes, which means that if 27,145 people who voted "No" had voted "Yes", and had democracy been respected, Quebec would be a country by now. It's not like it was a marginal movement, the population is split half and half on the matter, just like I personally am split between my French heritage (Quebec) and my actual country (Canada). It's not like everything was black&white as much as it is a different shade of grey for everyone involved. And to answer the question in the OP, no, Marois won't push a separtist agenda since, as someone mentionned, she's leading a minority government in which her party holds less than half the votes, so there's very little chance her government will even last through the next year, let alone push for another referendum, although every party except the Quebec Liberal Party (QLP) has strong separatist roots, so it's not impossible either, but every party except the QLP would have to team up, which is unlikely, to some extent. Most politicians and experts agree that there are more pressing issues to be adressed at the moment than the separatist question. Sorry if I come off so defensive, but when I first read the thread, it seemed more like a separatist-bashing thread than an actual open discussion about Quebec's politics.