Forget Wexit. Let’s get behind Qexit
The case for Quebec secession can be made pretty easily in the West. All we have to do is ask Westerners to think about what we would lose if Quebec were to leave confederation.
We would lose the culture of corruption which dominates Quebec in political and business circles. From the SNC Lavalin scandal to popular leadership of Maurice Duplessis despite his flagrant corruption, Quebecers have always simply taken corruption in stride. It is little wonder that biker gangs and corrupt unions hold such power within Quebec. This culture of corruption infects our federal institutions.
We would lose official bilingualism. No more absurd court cases based on things as ridiculous as water fountains not having the button labeled in French. We would lose the preferential hiring of French-speaking civil servants in regions where French is not even among the top ten languages spoken. French labeling requirements would no longer hassle small businesses. We would have more space for entertaining text on the back of cereal boxes. Even our cigarettes would have more room for cancer warnings and gory pictures.
We would lose a raft of corporate welfare cases such as Bombardier. Quebec is the champion of corporate welfare within Canada. For every $100 generated by its economy, the government spends 86 cents on various forms of subsidies. In Alberta, that number is still high 39 cents. How many federal dollars would be freed up if Quebec's corporations were no longer bleeding so many subsidies from the budget?
Speaking of welfare, we would lose that Equalization drain as well. The federal government would find an extra $13 billion a year in its coffers simply from equalization. Billions more are disproportionately transferred to Quebec from a myriad of other federal programs every year. Our family of confederation would immediately lose its most needy member.
We would lose that wonderful crop of Quebec politicians. Whether municipal such as Coderre, provincial like Legault, or federal like Trudeau and Blanchet, we would lose them all. We would also lose 24 Senators from Quebec. Could you imagine how terrible that political fate would be?