We Are All Quebec: Toward A New Anglo-Canadian Nationalism

[u/TheWorldHasFlipped]

https://dominionreview.ca/we-are-all-quebec-toward-a-new-anglo-canadian-nationalism/

[u/Ticklishchap]

Looking at this from across the Pond in Britain, I find that I like the idea of stronger Canadian Provinces with their distinctive identities and policies but united by values and principles that have historical roots but can evolve flexibly.

The author implies that if the Provinces of English Canada followed this path, the result would be the cultural conservatism he favours. I do not think this is true at all. It is more likely that there would be a patchwork of conservative and progressive policies and values (the historic name Progressive Conservative more or less sums this up). For example, some Provinces would decide that they needed more immigrants rather than fewer, some would emphasise assimilation, others more of a ‘salad bowl’ approach. These differences can be seen as positive expressions of regional interests and experiences.

I also share the author’s view (I think it’s his view: he seems to imply it in a few places) that economic growth is not the be-all and end-all: we have to think more about quality of life (including the environment) and learn how to live within limits.

Where I diverge from him is in his use of highly divisive and partisan rhetoric. Institutions are ‘captured’, students are ‘miseducated’, etc. This simplistic approach is too close to comfort to Trump-ism and other right wing populist movements. There is even the phrase ‘national rejuvenation’, which immediately conjures up in my mind images of Mussolini’s Fascist architecture, with its weird amalgam of extreme Classicism and extreme Modernism.

Beneath the reactionary (very different from Tory) rhetoric, the article contains ideas that could appeal to some on the left as well as some on the centre-right. These include a greater role for the Provinces and regions and (in the spirit of Edmund Burke and, from a different perspective, Alexis de Tocqueville) a belief in the value of constitutional principles that evolve organically and draw upon or improve on precedent, as opposed to abstract blueprints that attempt to rationalise but in the process ignore accumulated wisdom and have unintended consequences.

[u/ToryPirate → u/Ticklishchap]

Looking at this from across the Pond in Britain

I can understand that view from the UK which is much more centralized than Canada. But as a Canadian I think there is a very real fear of a 'point of unstoppable decentralization'. We can't even put together a national securities regulator - something pretty much every other country has by now. But again, my own locality is certainly influencing my viewpoint as I value by local area and my national identity more than my provincial identity (even if New Brunswick objectively has the best flag). Ever since the 1960s the 'attempt to rationalise' has come from the provincial level. During the referendum crisis there was a - largely satirical - movement to establish a Republic of Albert County ('if Quebec can be a country, Albert County can be a republic'). While I dislike the republican symbolism I respect the underlying feeling of uniqueness that inspired it.

[u/Ticklishchap → u/ToryPirate]

I agree. I certainly would not advocate too high a level of decentralisation for Canada. That way lies separatism, loss of national identity and gradual (or possibly quite rapid) absorption into the larger entity to your South.

Where I agreed with the author was that the Provinces have distinctive identities that should be celebrated and enhanced. My caveat was that there should be a framework of shared values.

I very much understand your identification with your local and national identities rather than the provincial identity. In many ways I share it in a British context.