Harper vs Québec

[Moonbox]

Language police?

Les policiers de la langue? You know what I'm talking about. You do know why it's called Tim Hortons and not Tim Horton's, right?

English Canada (Toronto) has its own methods of protection. Can foreign (American) banks, cellphone companies or airlines operate freely in Canada?

Why not?

Because certain industries are dangerous to have under the control of foreign entities. A country can be crippled by interruptions in any of the above services, so the government makes sure that Canada controls its own essential services.

Moonbox, IMHO, Canada is a civilized society, But it is more complicated than you imagine.

I never said it wasn't a civilized society, or that it wasn't complicated. What I said was that the majority of the blame for the deeply (and increasingly) entrenched regionalism we've seen can be laid squarely at Quebec's feet, and not Harper or the Conservatives. The attack ads against Justin Trudeau that you've cited are less about attacking Quebec itself, and more about tapping into the sense of contempt and exasperation that the rest of Canada has increasingly felt for the province's behavior over the last 20 years. Quebec is not Canada, but you'd never know it from all the complaining we hear.

[August1991]

Define freely. I fly United Airlines out of Canada regularly. I use a foreign bank and a foreign financial services company that operate in Canada. At least one of our "Canadian" cell phone companies is foreign owned.

You cannot fly United within Canada. Your foreign bank in Canada is not first tier, and cannot offer all services. As to cell phones, do you use this "foreign" provider? Why not? (Hint: It is difficult to create an antenna network in English Canada.)

English-Canadian "capitalists" protect their turf.

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Bryan, my simple point is that English Canada is as closed, protectionist as English-Canadians pretend that French Canada is. Indeed, I would argue that English Canada is more closed minded.

Proof? Without his support in Quebec, Mulroney would never have been able to negotiate free trade with the US.

Edited May 26, 2013 by August1991

[August1991]

Because certain industries are dangerous to have under the control of foreign entities. A country can be crippled by interruptions in any of the above services, so the government makes sure that Canada controls its own essential services.

You have a strange definition of "country" and "foreign" and "Canada".

When all our major banks, for example, are centred in Toronto, for someone in Quebec or Alberta, what difference does it make if a bank is based in "Canada", Japan or Texas?

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Moonbox, Canada's federal banking laws, for better or worse, protect a small group of people in Toronto.

Edited May 26, 2013 by August1991

[Moonbox]

You have a strange definition of "country" and "foreign" and "Canada".

What the heck are you talking about? You asked why Canada's financial, communications and transport companies can't be owned by the Americans. I told you exactly why.

When all our major banks, for example, are centred in Toronto, for someone in Quebec or Alberta, what difference does it make if a bank is based in "Canada", Japan or Texas?

Do you know why Banks all locate their headquarters in the same city, August? Do you think that there MIGHT be a really practical reason for this?

Regardless, the fact that you even asked the question raises some doubts as to what country you think you belong to. When I've flown Air Canada, I thought I was flying a domestic Canadian airline, even though it's headquartered in Quebec. Are you suggesting that this was, in fact, a foreign airline, or that National and Laurentian banks are also run by foreigners, and that Desjardins (north america's biggest credit union) is foreign to me too!??

Moonbox, Canada's federal banking laws, for better or worse, protect a small group of people in Toronto.

August, you're talking out of your butt. Canada's banks are some of the most widely held companies in the country, held mostly by major institutional investors and in mutual funds (many of them from Quebec!!). Canada's banking laws ensure that these companies (vital for day-to-day life) are controlled by Canadians (people from Quebec included in that).

This is some of the stupidest, silliest and most unreasonable tripe I've seen on this forum in a while. You're complaining about nothing and giving everyone a very clear idea of why anglo-Canada is tired of listening to Quebec's griping.

Edited May 26, 2013 by Moonbox