This is just annoying.

[velvetpage]

We have a young, vibrant, nationally acceptable, bilingual, racial minority woman as our new Governor General, and what's the first question she has to deal with?

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1123867922693_119277122/?hub=TopStories

For heaven's sake, let it go already. It was ten years ago, and it's ruined enough lives and careers already. Quit letting it divide us and start finding ways to come together.

Comments

[stress-kitten.livejournal.com]

Oh for heaven's sake...

*is really at a loss for words*

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Now, you're a west-coast girl. How do you see this one? All the Canadians I know at the moment are from around here, more or less.

[stress-kitten.livejournal.com]

Oooh... ok... I'll try to not be too long-winded on this.

The original seperation vote attempt: I was very upset that anyone could view Canada as something they wanted to leave. Every reigon in Canada has its issues with the Federal model of Canada, but regardless of those, we are stronger as a whole than as seperate units. There was a very strong current of anger through western canada against Quebec at this point over the feeling that ran along the lines of "what the hell are they complaining about? Ottawa bends over backwards to accomodate them, while ignoring us... and how do they think that they're going to survive on their own? Are they expecting us to accept their demands for priority trade, etc., while we don't get the benefit of having them part of the country?" I got the distinct impression that one of two things was happening... either a)this was a political bargaining ploy to strengthen their position with the rest of Canada - in which case it had a very distinct possibility of backfiring - or b)that it was led by a bunch of raving lunatics who had less understanding of political realities than my 6-year old brother and who were appealing directly to the sense of Quebecoise disaffectation, leading people to react solely with their emotions without thinking about the logisitics of it.

About the attempts to reanimate the Seperatist Cause after the No vote: Anger. Lots of anger towards the leaders of the Bloc for continuing to try and tear the country apart and thus adversely affecting all of Canada, including themselves.

About this current debacle about our possibly-soon-to-be-Governor-General: Sadness at the fact that how she voted is an issue... sadness if she DID vote for seperation... but also the feeling that it matters not at all at this point. People's ideas and understandings change over time, and if she is commited to Canada as a country, whole and undivided, - which I would like to assume she is, given that she accepted the appointment - then her Yes/No vote is irrelevant. Is there ANY choice out there that we can't find issue with? No. A lot of people were ticked with Adrienne Clarkson as a choice, some of them because they disliked her partner. If the choice today had been a different person, would we still be seeing something like this? Most likely. Let's focus on what she brings to the job, for crying out loud.

As for the citizenship thing... *rolls eyes*... I have dual citizenship Canadian/British, and I consider myself incredibly patriotic towards Canada, while also being proud of my roots. I personally feel that that is a defining factor for many Canadians... this isn't the American Melting Pot (a term becoming less and less relevant as time goes on and minorities are gaining greater representation and power and therefore fighting to keep their other culture and a pride in it), it's the Canadian Multicultural Mosaic.

*pant pant pant* /rant

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Re: Referendum - most of the country completely agreed with you. I was angry because I had spent the previous five years developing my bilingualism because I wanted to participate wholly in this country, and I felt like I'd been slapped in the face when I was told I could never understand how the Quebecois felt about this. I lost a friend that night. I called her in Gatineau, asked her to cast her vote for Canada, got hung up on, and have never had a return phone call any time I've left a message (which I did, about four times before giving up.)

In fact, I agree with you on everything you said.

I knew we were going to get along! :)

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

There's also a lot of noise being made about how she still holds French and possibly Haitian citizenship, and how this makes her inappropriate. People are suggesting that she ought to renounce her other citizenships. I'd just as soon ask someone to cut off a limb.

If you're interested in discussing Canadian Politics, you could check out canpolitik. There's a fair mix of left and right wing folks there, so it keeps things interesting. There's a thread there right now about her, actually, started by a right wing fellow who raised both the separatist and citizenship issues, on which I commented.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I did, and it was an interesting discussion. Thanks!