Quebecers have always feared the other. That fear is understandable. As an island of French culture, Quebers have always feared being subsumed in an Anglo North America. But at times that fear has expressed itself as pure xenophobia. And xenophobia is at the heart of the province's newly elected governments ban on religious symbols. David Olive writes:
Its proposed edict prohibiting Québec government employees from wearing the chador, niqab or burqa and other religious symbols in the workplace is unconstitutional, unenforceable and inadvertently calculated to diminish the future prosperity of Quebecers.
The attack is on Muslims, despite a noncommittal inclusion of crucifixes in the ban, a transparent whitewash of the policy’s true intent. While directed only at the Québec civil service, the policy of course strengthens the hand of any xenophobe Québec employer in the private-sector seeking to impose the same edict on its workers.
And, seen from a purely economic perspective, the policy is an example of how people form a circular firing squad:
Québec’s population has grown by a mere 3.3 per cent between 2011 and 2016, lowest in the country outside of Atlantic Canada and less than a third of Alberta’s growth rate of 11.6 per cent.
Likewise, the Québec economy has grown by just 13.2 per cent over the past decade ending 2017, compared with an average of 20.3 per cent GDP growth for the four Western provinces, and 17 per cent for Ontario.
The revenge of the cradle has long ceased to be part of Quebec culture. There are no longer families like Jean Chretien's. Chretien was one of 19 children -- 10 of whom did not survive infancy.
The new Quebec government is echoing the insanity now taking place south of the border. God help us if it should take root here.
Image: CBC.ca
2 comments:
I don't see in Quebec's modest population and GDP growth any cause for concern. Look at Japan where the economy has been stagnant for two decades and yet study after study shows quality of life quite unimpaired.
Limited growth is no sign of backwardness. This business about religious identity,however, that is a sign of xenophobic retardation.
Quebcers have always been justifiably concerned for the survival of their language, Mound. Unfortunately, throughout the province's history, there has always been the temptation to decend into xenophobia.
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