Canadian Disunity Essay, Research Paper

The problem of Canadiam disunity is major one which will cause someserious economic problems for the future. In Canada the culture, religioncombined with geography and history have produced two separate identities.The two separate identities which are the Anglophones and Francofones havealways been aware of their independance and differences. The French haven’tjust recently become dissatisfied with the rest of Canada. Their dissatisfaction started when the country was born. The French were offendedby the English names given to the twenty-one countries which they were dividedinto. It wasn’t until confederation that bilingualism attained full legalstatus. Because of its cultural differences, Quebec has always had the desireto be left to itself. We feel that the French and English will never be trulyone Canada. They will have to understand on anothers problems before there isany progress towards unity. In order for the French to look towards unity they want to impose theirview of democracy on Canada’s fiscal, cultural, constitutional, and nationalpolicies. According to Stanley B. Ryerson, complete democracy unity of Canadian peoples is possible only on the basis of mutual recognition of their respective rights, and of full national unity. If the country separates, Quebec will enter independance with a strongsense of national purpose and a will to survive. If Quebec separates from the rest of Canada the political fabric of the country will be badly damaged. Ottawa will be a desolate city strippedof credibility as the federal capital, separated only by a river from theenthusiastic new republic on the other shore, English Canadians will not accept political duality, fourteen million people can’t equal four million. If Quebec achieves its independance, on who’s gold and silver willthey base their money on? They would have to print their own money and createa new currency. The Canadian national debt will have to be divided betweenQuebec and the rest of Canada. Canada will have to ensure that Quebec assumesits full share of the debt. It is figured that Quebec will recieve 18 to 20percent of the national debt. Without the support from the rest of Canada,Quebec won’t have enough money to support their national debt. Quebec willhave to borrow money from another source to pay for the debt and other things.The rest of Canada would experience additional costs if Quebec introduces a separate currency, because of the costs exchanging the currencies an increasein the interest rates and a reduction in physical and human capital in theeconomy. Right now the federal government spends a large portion of theirbudget on Quebec. A separation of the country would actually save the federalgovernment some money. The initial costs of setting up Quebec’s new currencywould be high. Also, the costs would be high to maintain it. It is expectedthat if Quebec separates, their debt will increase to well over $10 billion.An independant Quebec would have a larger gross public debt than any of theseven largest industrialized countries except for Italy. If Quebec separates from the rest of the country, tariff walls will be raised between the two new countries. Trading with Quebec will become morecostly and time consuming because of the different currencies having to be

exchanged. Not only would trade with Quebec be disrupted, also trade with themaritime provinces would be affected. In order to receive more revenue Quebecwould probably put extra taxes or duty on goods going through or over Quebec.To eliminate the extra costs, goods not being traded with Quebec could go around, but then trade becomes more time consuming. Because the U.S. is Quebec’slargest trading partner outside of Canada, the U.S. would likely finalize a freetrade agreement with Quebec right away. Right now Ontarion receives 64% of allgoods exported from Quebec. If Quebec separates, Ontario woul be the provincehardest hit. If Quebec receives their independance , travel throughout Canada willbe more difficult. Quebec will have to set up their own customs for peopletravelling through Quebec. For example, an individual living in B.C. who wishesto travel to Newfoundland will have to go through Quebec customs. This willincrease the costs of flying in Canada and it will also increase travel time.So more and more people will not travel in Canada. Canada’s strength in industry would be seriously affected by Quebec’sdeparture. The Canadian pulp and paper industries will be virtualy cut in two]because it is export orientated. The remaining industries will have to receive larger subsidies than they are already receiving in order to survive. Also,greater tax relief will have to be given to the industries which remain. If the tariff walls are raised between the two countries our already narrow competitive margin on the world market will become even narrower. If Quebec separates from the rest of the country foreign investorswill shy away from investing in Canada because of the uncertainty. Thisposes a large economic problem. Quebec’s external power would be greatly weakened if they separate. Canada can’t afford to lose any of its foreigninvestors because Canada is largely owned by foreing investors. If Canada loses Quebec, we will no longer be one of the Group of Seven. The G-7 are the top economic producers in the world. If Quebec separates, there will be a dramatic decrease in Canada’spopulation. In order for the government to receive the same amount of taxrevenue, there will have to be a large increase in taxes. This will decreasethe amount of disposable income people have, so consumption and investmentwould decrease. A way to increase Canada’s population so that taxes willremain the same is to expand to the north and arctic regions. If growthand developement occur in these areas it will provide the territorialcounterwieght to the loss o fQuebec. If this occurs it will help bring backthe confidence in the strength of Canada. To keep Canada together the Francophones should recognize some of thevery costly economic consequences should Quebec leave Canada. More Francophones would see the reality of a destroyed Quebec and also we can hopethat Quebec pride will be reestablished over the non-ratification of theMeech Lake Accord. Canada without a Quebec will need both determination and preseverence to survive against American pressure of union, to assure peacefulcoexistance with the new Quebec nation, and to rebuild a strong nationalpresence in the world community. BIBLIOGRAPHY Breton, Raymond, Jeffery G. Reitz and Victor Valentine. Cultrual Boundaries and the Cohesion of Canada. Montreal: Institute for Research, 1980Grady, Patrick. The Economy Consequences of Quebec Sovereignty. Vancouver: Fraser Institute, 1991