With the Quebec election all wrapped up, and the Parti Quebecois holding minority power in the province, sovereignty is in the air.
Even if a separatist party talks tough, there doesn't appear to be much stomach for a referendum on Quebec's divorce from Canada at this time. There were a lot of questions leading up to the election however, about whether the rest of Canada would care even a little bit about Quebecers wanting out.
Canada is certainly more complete with the primarily francophone province inside its borders, but at some point we have to wonder if it actually is beneficial to keep a province of people here against their will. This country has its share of problems after all, and there are numerous divisions on all kinds of issues across the land.
What's good for Saskatchewan isn't always good policy for B.C., and what they want in Ontario isn't always what is needed in Newfoundland and Labrador. There is plenty of room for disagreement and maybe it would be easier if things were a little more divided.
From what I've read, the PQ party is not going to pursue sovereignty, instead looking to siphon off most of the powers the federal government handles to the provincial level.
In many ways, that's something all the provinces want to be doing. It is important for legislation to come from Ottawa to ensure all Canadians get the same rights, but after that, it's the provinces that know what their people need.
I hear it a lot that this or that prime minister wasn't good for the Prairies. For the most part, it sounds like he wasn't good for this area because of something that could probably be handled at the provincial level.
Devolution of power from the feds to the province would limit how good or bad one prime minister could be for any one province.
Geographically speaking, Canada is incredibly large. There is just a small handful of other countries that can compete with our size. With that kind of diversity, perhaps we do need to rethink how control is delegated across the country.
Canada isn't a hopelessly dysfunctional family. It just has some family suppers that break down into an argument as the food gets cold.
Limiting federal powers is more of an American model that I've never had much care for. There are a number of things that belong at the federal level outside of just defence. Quebec wanting to handle its own immigration may be a stretch of this devolution of power. Immigration law is federal jurisdiction and that's probably how it should stay.
That doesn't mean there aren't powers that can be stripped from Ottawa and given to the provinces. Apparently Quebec may look at foreign-aid spending and copyright laws to be handled by the province as long as Ottawa gives the OK. Those may work as provincial issues.
In the end it would just mean less money going to Ottawa and more decisions made at a more local level. That's something most people are probably in favour of.
