HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Regional Sections > Canada


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #1  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 5:59 AM
Docere Docere is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 7,364
Should the Maritimes be one province?

I came to this conclusion when I was teaching a university course on provincial politics and had to design a syllabus!

PEI is very charming but I'm not sure they should get to have their own provincial political elites!

But seriously...what do people think? The idea of Maritime Union is not new of course.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #2  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 6:06 AM
mistercorporate's Avatar
mistercorporate mistercorporate is offline
The Fruit of Discipline
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Toronto
Posts: 4,036
Quote:
Originally Posted by Docere View Post
I came to this conclusion when I was teaching a university course on provincial politics and had to design a syllabus!

PEI is very charming but I'm not sure they should get to have their own provincial political elites!

But seriously...what do people think? The idea of Maritime Union is not new of course.
PEI merged into New Brunswick, with Moncton as the new unified capital. Can't be too expensive to "buy" PEI inhabitants out. Say, $2000 per voter.
__________________
MLS: Toronto FC
Canadian Premier League: York 9 FC
NBA: Raptors
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #3  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 6:57 AM
MTLskyline's Avatar
MTLskyline MTLskyline is offline
The good old days are now
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Montreal
Posts: 4,256
If we're talking of all three combining, a somewhat neutral capital would have to be chosen - which would be extremely difficult.. Halifax being the largest would probably get first dibs, but this would likely prove to be quite unpopular in the other two provinces. I agree that Moncton would probably be the least contentious choice - it would not be an existing capital (it would seem less like one province was taking over), is somewhat central in the region, and has both a sizeable francophone and anglophone community.

In PEI, a large portion of people work for the provincial government.. Not sure if anyone there would be in favour of giving up having the provincial capital on the island. I think this would likely result in a economic and demographic decline for PEI - especially for Charlottetown.

In addition, New Brunswick is the only one of the three that is officially bilingual, whereas PEI and NS are not. Acadians would see their demographic and political weight further reduced. There would need to be some guarantee that the new province would be bilingual - which might be controversial in the regions that are almost entirely anglophone...
__________________
Montreal Skyline Photo Group
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #4  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 7:17 AM
Antigonish Antigonish is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Home sweet home
Posts: 758
I think a good compromise would be merging health/education or something, but not a full on merger.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #5  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 2:49 PM
kwoldtimer kwoldtimer is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: La vraie capitale
Posts: 23,446
Quote:
Originally Posted by MTLskyline View Post
If we're talking of all three combining, a somewhat neutral capital would have to be chosen - which would be extremely difficult.. Halifax being the largest would probably get first dibs, but this would likely prove to be quite unpopular in the other two provinces. I agree that Moncton would probably be the least contentious choice - it would not be an existing capital (it would seem less like one province was taking over), is somewhat central in the region, and has both a sizeable francophone and anglophone community.

In PEI, a large portion of people work for the provincial government.. Not sure if anyone there would be in favour of giving up having the provincial capital on the island. I think this would likely result in a economic and demographic decline for PEI - especially for Charlottetown.

In addition, New Brunswick is the only one of the three that is officially bilingual, whereas PEI and NS are not. Acadians would see their demographic and political weight further reduced. There would need to be some guarantee that the new province would be bilingual - which might be controversial in the regions that are almost entirely anglophone...
Moncton would be the only logical choice, imho, given the need for the new consolidate province to be officially bilingual (I take that as a given, others might disagree).
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #6  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 3:06 PM
SaskOttaLoo SaskOttaLoo is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 261
Quote:
Originally Posted by Docere View Post
I came to this conclusion when I was teaching a university course on provincial politics and had to design a syllabus!

PEI is very charming but I'm not sure they should get to have their own provincial political elites!

But seriously...what do people think? The idea of Maritime Union is not new of course.
This is interesting; there was actually a royal commission back in the 1930s that recommended Alberta and Saskatchewan (if i remember correctly) be merged given that they were essentially flat broke and were unable to cover core services any longer. Obviously that never ended up happening.

I guess the main benefit would be a stronger national voice for the region. I sometimes try to imagine the Premier of PEI trying to weigh in on an issue with the Premiers of Ontario and Quebec and have a bit of a chuckle. I think the opportunities for reducing costs, however, are highly overrated. Remember that in Toronto's amalgamation, costs actually went up as wages etc. need to be harmonized and so were harmonized in line with the highest cost/wage jurisdiction (among other issues).

Overall, I think Canada and the Maritimes have much more pressing issues to grapple with, particularly given how much time and energy such a process would soak up from everything else for a very long time. If we instead started with asking what those issues are and which of them are addressed with a merger, I think we'd find lots of other priorities would rise to the fore.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #7  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 3:18 PM
MonctonRad's Avatar
MonctonRad MonctonRad is offline
Wildcats Rule!!
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Moncton NB
Posts: 34,342
Quote:
Originally Posted by kwoldtimer View Post
Moncton would be the only logical choice, imho, given the need for the new consolidate province to be officially bilingual (I take that as a given, others might disagree).
Being from Moncton, I wholeheartedly agree (both due to the central location of the city and the bilingual requirement) but there would be unthinkable opposition to this from the three current capital cities.

Halifax is the regional economic centre, so it doesn't need to be the capital but the denizens of that city are so used to Halifax's primate stature (in every way) in Nova Scotia, it would be absolutely unthinkable for them to even consider the capital being anywhere else.

Both Charlottetown and Fredericton are heavily dependent on being capitals in order to support their economies. It would be nearly as unthinkable for them to lose this status.

The real stumbling block to Maritime union however would be the Acadian population. At 33% of NB, they are constantly battling for their status in our single province. In a larger unified province, they would be 300,000 out of 1.8M, or only 16% of the overall population. At less than 20%, it would be nigh on impossible for them to argue for the full duality of services that they currently aspire to in NB. If there were ever a serious attempt at Maritime union in the future, expect a vigorous constitutional challenge from the Acadian people.

In other words, nope - not ever going t happen...........
__________________
Go 'Cats Go
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #8  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 3:26 PM
kwoldtimer kwoldtimer is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: La vraie capitale
Posts: 23,446
Quote:
Originally Posted by MonctonRad View Post
Being from Moncton, I wholeheartedly agree (both due to the central location of the city and the bilingual requirement) but there would be unthinkable opposition to this from the three current capital cities.

Halifax is the regional economic centre, so it doesn't need to be the capital but the denizens of that city are so used to Halifax's primate stature (in every way) in Nova Scotia, it would be absolutely unthinkable for them to even consider the capital being anywhere else.

Both Charlottetown and Fredericton are heavily dependent on being capitals in order to support their economies. It would be nearly as unthinkable for them to lose this status.

The real stumbling block to Maritime union however would be the Acadian population. At 33% of NB, they are constantly battling for their status in our single province. In a larger unified province, they would be 300,000 out of 1.8M, or only 16% of the overall population. At less than 20%, it would be nigh on impossible for them to argue for the full duality of services that they currently aspire to in NB. If there were ever a serious attempt at Maritime union in the future, expect a vigorous constitutional challenge from the Acadian people.

In other words, nope - not ever going t happen...........
I tend to agree and think that finding areas of cooperation/consolidation would be the more realistic course of action.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #9  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 3:59 PM
Nouvellecosse's Avatar
Nouvellecosse Nouvellecosse is online now
Volatile Pacivist
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 8,968
I'm not sure I see the case for Moncton being the capital. Other than being geographically central, which obviously isn't necessary (Victoria? St. John's?) what are its other qualifications? It doesn't have any existing governmental infrastructure from being a current capital, isn't the centre of any major government operations like military or coast guard, and it also isn't particularly "representative" of the Maritimes in that it isn't a port in a region literally named "Maritime", and isn't comparitively historic in one of the most historic region.

And let's face it. In order for NS to be willing to give up its name and individual identity, it's going to have to be gaining something tangible and compelling in return. Going from hosting the capital with jurisdiction of over half the region's population to having the capital of nothing doesn't sound very persuasive imo.
__________________
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." - George Bernard Shaw
Don't ask people not to debate a topic. Just stop making debatable assertions. Problem solved.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #10  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 4:28 PM
JHikka's Avatar
JHikka JHikka is offline
ハルウララ
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Toronto
Posts: 12,853
Should it happen? Probably.

Will it happen? Never.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MTLskyline View Post
In addition, New Brunswick is the only one of the three that is officially bilingual, whereas PEI and NS are not. Acadians would see their demographic and political weight further reduced. There would need to be some guarantee that the new province would be bilingual - which might be controversial in the regions that are almost entirely anglophone...
Quote:
Originally Posted by kwoldtimer View Post
Moncton would be the only logical choice, imho, given the need for the new consolidate province to be officially bilingual (I take that as a given, others might disagree).
Quote:
Originally Posted by MonctonRad View Post
The real stumbling block to Maritime union however would be the Acadian population. At 33% of NB, they are constantly battling for their status in our single province. In a larger unified province, they would be 300,000 out of 1.8M, or only 16% of the overall population. At less than 20%, it would be nigh on impossible for them to argue for the full duality of services that they currently aspire to in NB. If there were ever a serious attempt at Maritime union in the future, expect a vigorous constitutional challenge from the Acadian people.
Francophone and Acadian demographic size and political weight are reducing with or without a Maritime Union. Francophone-speakers will be seeing large reductions in their overall population in the next 10/20 years due to aging, demographics, and relocation. Provincial ridings in NB have already been reconfigured to show this trend and will continue to do so in the future. There is currently a large population shift occurring in the province as it becomes less rural and francophone and more urban and anglophone. This will only continue and increase in the near future.

Francophones accounted for roughly 30% of the population at the turn of this century and will be around 27% in the 2016 Census, currently dropping roughly 1% every five years. Acajack and I went over this in the Speech Variation thread on this forum a few days back but the aging of the Acadian population, as well as the lack of exogamous passing down of language between Anglo/Frano couples, means that the French language in NB will slowly erode. What is 28% today will be 20% in a relatively short time frame.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Antigonish View Post
I think a good compromise would be merging health/education or something, but not a full on merger.
I agree. I think we should have a regionalized health/education service as well as a regionalized liquor control board. Despite the bureaucratic issues with ALC it still functions well as a regional entity. More of these would be better for the region as a whole IMO.

As a whole there is way too much infighting between the provinces for this to ever work. Maritimers very much identify with local identity more than regional identity. I'm a Saint Johner first, New Brunswicker second. If i'm outside the region i'm a Maritimer. There's enough bickering and infighting and local jealously that I can't imagine we would ever sit down at a table and agree at anything. There's enough infighting within NB itself, and Nova Scotia as well, that it seems logistically impossible in my head. There are a lot of things we can do better as a region but on the whole the idea of a unified province is DOA, I think. You can look around threads on the Atlantic subforum and see people moaning about one city getting something over another or one city having something so another city should have it too. It's exhausting.

The whole capital debate will never really be resolved. Halifax and Haligonians see themselves as the regional centre, deservedly so, and would argue for every service and point of interest governmentally to be centered there. Moncton would disagree, citing central logistics, whilst PEI loses everything and gains relatively little. What's in it for Saint John? Fredericton? Northern New Brunswick? Cape Breton? PEI? South Shore NS? What do those areas gain by decentralizing and recentralizing?

As a Saint Johner what do I get out of moving my capital to Fredericton, where it shouldn't even have been in the first place, to Moncton of all places? Or Halifax? There would have to be a serious regional populist/anti-Canadian, screw everybody else that isn't a Maritimer attitude for this to ever conceivably happen.

In the end, what could trigger more support for this would be a change in the federal electoral voting system which would allow for smaller regional parties to take shape as votes/seats are distributed proportionally or more fairly. With something improved in place a regional Atlantic Canadian party could form, and then you have your first stepping stone towards regional cooperation.

Last edited by JHikka; Jan 8, 2017 at 4:39 PM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #11  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 4:42 PM
Acajack's Avatar
Acajack Acajack is offline
Unapologetic Occidental
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Province 2, Canadian Empire
Posts: 67,664
Quote:
Originally Posted by JHikka View Post




Francophone and Acadian demographic size and political weight are reducing with or without a Maritime Union. Francophone-speakers will be seeing large reductions in their overall population in the next 10/20 years. Provincial ridings in NB have already been reconfigured to show this trend and will continue to do so in the future. There is currently a large population shift occurring in the province as it becomes less rural and francophone and more urban and anglophone. This will only continue and increase in the near future.

Francophones accounted for roughly 30% of the population at the turn of this century and will be around 27% in the 2016 Census, currently dropping roughly 1% every five years. Acajack and I went over this in the Speech Variation thread on this forum a few days back but the aging of the Acadian population, as well as the lack of exogamous passing down of language between Anglo/Frano couples, means that the French language in NB will slowly erode. What is 28% today will be 20% in a relatively short time frame.

.
All true but there is often a lag in a community's political power which can retain a lot of its punch even if the demographics don't match that anymore.

Acadians in NB in particular are well-organized and feisty. They wouldn't sit still and let this happen (without some strong guarantees), regardless of what their percentage of the population is.

You see a good example of this in Ottawa where the dwindling share of the population that is francophone has succeeded in keeping official bilingualism on the political agenda and in the news. Also, a riding like Ottawa-Vanier is considered "francophone" by most everyone who matters, even if francophones are only 30% of the population there today.

It's not quite like the Jewish oblasts in Russia, but still...
__________________
Amber alerts welcome at any time
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #12  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 4:43 PM
MonctonRad's Avatar
MonctonRad MonctonRad is offline
Wildcats Rule!!
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Moncton NB
Posts: 34,342
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse View Post
I'm not sure I see the case for Moncton being the capital. Other than being geographically central, which obviously isn't necessary (Victoria? St. John's?) what are its other qualifications? It doesn't have any existing governmental infrastructure from being a current capital, isn't the centre of any major government operations like military or coast guard, and it also isn't particularly "representative" of the Maritimes in that it isn't a port in a region literally named "Maritime", and isn't comparitively historic in one of the most historic region.
The main arguments for Moncton being the capital is it's central location and bilingual status.

In terms of government infrastructure, although there is really none, curiously, Moncton has one of the highest (per capita) concentrations of federal civil servants in the country, and is similar in that regard to Kingston ON (also a non governmental town). This is because Moncton has the Gulf Fisheries Centre (Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans), and regional head offices for Transport Canada and Corrections Canada as well as being the home of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. Interprovincially, Moncton is the home of the Atlantic Lottery Corporation. That's a good start!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse View Post
Let's let's face it. In order for NS to be willing to give up its name and individual identity, it's going to have to be gaining something tangible and compelling in return. Going from hosting the capital with jurisdiction of over half the region's population to having the capital of nothing doesn't sound very persuasive imo.
Like I said, Halifax wants to have it all.
__________________
Go 'Cats Go
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #13  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 4:48 PM
JHikka's Avatar
JHikka JHikka is offline
ハルウララ
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Toronto
Posts: 12,853
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack View Post
All true but there is often a lag in a community's political power which can retain a lot of its punch even if the demographics don't match that anymore.

Acadians in NB in particular are well-organized and feisty. They wouldn't sit still and let this happen (without some strong guarantees), regardless of what their percentage of the population is.
In regards to what? A dwindling population or a reduction in provincial seats? Or a Maritime Union? They would certainly object to the latter but as i've indicated they're becoming a smaller and smaller voice in the province.

The French-language is so engrained in provincial and federal law and so protected by numerous legislation and yet it's still decreasing as a population base and as a political force in NB. NB provincial ridings are protected so that large Francophone and Anglophone populations don't share or split ridings and they're drawn accordingly. Francophone ridings have decreased in number and will continue to decrease in number as Anglophone suburbs of major cities grow and the population shifts around. The next provincial riding commission in five years will be another step in confirming the population shifting that we've been witnessing the last twenty years.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MonctonRad View Post
Like I said, Halifax wants to have it all.
Halifax is the regional centre and urban hub of the Maritimes. Any implication otherwise at this point is very wishful thinking.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #14  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 5:09 PM
Acajack's Avatar
Acajack Acajack is offline
Unapologetic Occidental
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Province 2, Canadian Empire
Posts: 67,664
Quote:
Originally Posted by JHikka View Post
In regards to what? A dwindling population or a reduction in provincial seats? Or a Maritime Union? They would certainly object to the latter but as i've indicated they're becoming a smaller and smaller voice in the province.

The French-language is so engrained in provincial and federal law and so protected by numerous legislation and yet it's still decreasing as a population base and as a political force in NB. NB provincial ridings are protected so that large Francophone and Anglophone populations don't share or split ridings and they're drawn accordingly. Francophone ridings have decreased in number and will continue to decrease in number as Anglophone suburbs of major cities grow and the population shifts around. The next provincial riding commission in five years will be another step in confirming the population shifting that we've been witnessing the last twenty years.
.
I guess you didn't read my post fully. Look at what is going on in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario with francophones. This doesn't mean they will win ultimately but they get a lot of "cred" and attention just the same.

The fate and rights of NB Acadians (and Acadians in PEI and NS) in a united Maritimes would be a potentially explosive political issue at the federal level, and likely at the provincial level in Quebec too.

If Maritime union happens the new province would either be officially bilingual, or have a good number of bilingual or francophone districts entrenched here and there across the region.

There are lots of intangibles on files like these. It's not as simple as "you guys aren't as numerous as you used to be, so go suck an egg". Politics doesn't work that way.
__________________
Amber alerts welcome at any time
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #15  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 5:25 PM
JHikka's Avatar
JHikka JHikka is offline
ハルウララ
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Toronto
Posts: 12,853
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack View Post
I guess you didn't read my post fully. Look at what is going on in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario with francophones. This doesn't mean they will win ultimately but they get a lot of "cred" and attention just the same.
Acadians don't need to fight to keep official bilingualism on the political agenda: they won that fight thirty-plus years ago. AFAIK it's legally impossible to remove OB from NB and Federal law without at least decades of appeal hearings and supreme court hearings. NB's Acadians have official equal status in NB when they're nearly 1/4th of the provincial population and no matter how small they get as a % they'll likely always have that right and protection.

The rest of Anglophone NB doesn't admire or acknowledge the cred that Acadians get for fighting publicly. Many Anglophones are still resentful over OB and many, wrongly, accuse the other linguistic group as a reason why this province has been an economic basketcase for the past few generations. I've had people complain to me about the French for literally any problem they have under the sun, from the economy to auto insurance rates to property taxes. We're talking about people that resent Moncton because of the French and refuse to go there or acknowledge its importance as a provincial and regional hub.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack View Post
The fate and rights of NB Acadians (and Acadians in PEI and NS) in a united Maritimes would be a potentially explosive political issue at the federal level, and likely at the provincial level in Quebec too.

If Maritime union happens the new province would either be officially bilingual, or have a good number of bilingual or francophone districts entrenched here and there across the region.
Like i've outlined I think a potential MU is highly unlikely to happen even with the most optimistic circumstances. You would need to have a very populist, very regionalist event to occur for MU to become reality, at which point we likely wouldn't really care how explosive the Francophone issue would be in RoC or Quebec. The entire point of joining forces would be to not be bullied as easily by the larger provinces.

What's in it for people in Cape Breton/Halifax/PEI/South Shore to create MU and entrench Francophone/NB issues in their areas?
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #16  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 5:32 PM
MonctonRad's Avatar
MonctonRad MonctonRad is offline
Wildcats Rule!!
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Moncton NB
Posts: 34,342
Quote:
Originally Posted by JHikka View Post
Like i've outlined I think a potential MU is highly unlikely to happen even with the most optimistic circumstances. You would need to have a very populist, very regionalist event to occur for MU to become reality, at which point we likely wouldn't really care how explosive the Francophone issue would be in RoC or Quebec. The entire point of joining forces would be to not be bullied as easily by the larger provinces.
Agreed.

About the only thing big enough to force Maritime (or Atlantic) political union would be Quebec separation, and the resultant fear of economic dislocation and physical separation from the rest of Canada. For Newfoundland, another fear would be of territorial ambition in the newly independent Republic of Quebec.

Curiously, the Acadians suddenly would no longer be a roadblock to political union in the face of an independent Quebec. Quebec is Acadie's protective big brother. If they are removed from the equation, I imagine that it would become suddenly very easy to remove the constitutional guarantees given to the Acadian population.
__________________
Go 'Cats Go
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #17  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 5:34 PM
Acajack's Avatar
Acajack Acajack is offline
Unapologetic Occidental
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Province 2, Canadian Empire
Posts: 67,664
Quote:
Originally Posted by JHikka View Post
Acadians don't need to fight to keep official bilingualism on the political agenda: they won that fight thirty-plus years ago. AFAIK it's legally impossible to remove OB from NB and Federal law without at least decades of appeal hearings and supreme court hearings. NB's Acadians have official equal status in NB when they're nearly 1/4th of the provincial population and no matter how small they get as a % they'll likely always have that right and protection.

The rest of Anglophone NB doesn't admire or acknowledge the cred that Acadians get for fighting publicly. Many Anglophones are still resentful over OB and many, wrongly, accuse the other linguistic group as a reason why this province has been an economic basketcase for the past few generations. I've had people complain to me about the French for literally any problem they have under the sun, from the economy to auto insurance rates to property taxes. We're talking about people that resent Moncton because of the French and refuse to go there or acknowledge its importance as a provincial and regional hub.



Like i've outlined I think a potential MU is highly unlikely to happen even with the most optimistic circumstances. You would need to have a very populist, very regionalist event to occur for MU to become reality, at which point we likely wouldn't really care how explosive the Francophone issue would be in RoC or Quebec. The entire point of joining forces would be to not be bullied as easily by the larger provinces.

What's in it for people in Cape Breton/Halifax/PEI/South Shore to create MU and entrench Francophone/NB issues in their areas?
Well, I don't nor does anyone else think that the main reason for MU is to extend francophone rights across the region...
__________________
Amber alerts welcome at any time
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #18  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 5:35 PM
Acajack's Avatar
Acajack Acajack is offline
Unapologetic Occidental
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Province 2, Canadian Empire
Posts: 67,664
Quote:
Originally Posted by MonctonRad View Post
Agreed.

About the only thing big enough to force Maritime (or Atlantic) political union would be Quebec separation, and the resultant fear of economic dislocation and physical separation from the rest of Canada. For Newfoundland, another fear would be of territorial ambition in the newly independent Republic of Quebec.

Curiously, the Acadians suddenly would no longer be a roadblock to political union in the face of an independent Quebec. Quebec is Acadie's protective big brother. If they are removed from the equation, I imagine that it would become suddenly very easy to remove the constitutional guarantees given to the Acadian population.
Depends on how Canada-sans-Quebec wants to make it a priority to support anglophone rights in an independent Quebec, no?
__________________
Amber alerts welcome at any time
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #19  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 5:36 PM
JHikka's Avatar
JHikka JHikka is offline
ハルウララ
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Toronto
Posts: 12,853
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack View Post
Well, I don't I nor does anyone else think that the main reason for MU is to extend francophone rights across the region...
Your posts have implied that an MU would exist with entrenched Francophone rights and protection across all the Maritimes which by definition would be extending those rights from just NB to across the region:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
If Maritime union happens the new province would either be officially bilingual, or have a good number of bilingual or francophone districts entrenched here and there across the region.

I'm fairly certain Francophone rights get zero traction in PEI/NS. I could be wrong. I know they don't get much traction in most Anglophone parts of NB.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack View Post
There are lots of intangibles on files like these. It's not as simple as "you guys aren't as numerous as you used to be, so go suck an egg". Politics doesn't work that way.
All it takes is one issue and in NB that issue generally revolves around linguistic divide.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #20  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2017, 5:40 PM
Acajack's Avatar
Acajack Acajack is offline
Unapologetic Occidental
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Province 2, Canadian Empire
Posts: 67,664
Quote:
Originally Posted by JHikka View Post
Your posts have implied that an MU would exist with entrenched Francophone rights and protection across all the Maritimes which by definition would be extending those rights from just NB to across the region.





.
But I don't think that it would be the *main raison* that justifies MU. Just that it is a likely side-effect if MU were to happen.

Status quo in NB

Likely increased bilingualism or francophone services in areas like Clare, Ile Madame, Chéticamp, Abram-Village and Mont-Carmel

Status quo most everywhere else
__________________
Amber alerts welcome at any time
Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Regional Sections > Canada
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 5:36 AM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.