Thursday, February 18, 2010

I Sure Do Have a Dream!

I read something this morning that really got me going. Lucien Bouchard, the former leader of the Parti Québécois and premier of Quebec, was quoted as saying that the PQ's raison d'être - Quebec independence - is unattainable. It was the response from Bloc Québécois leader Gille Duceppe that caught my eye. He said, "(Bouchard) says sovereignty is a dream. I say we should realize our dreams. ... So we have a dream. Federalists don't even have a dream."

I am a federalist. First off let me say I respect the right of Quebec separatists to have their dream and pursue it. If there was ever a referendum on a clear question that could get the support of a clear majority of Quebecers to leave Canada, I would (sadly) respect that.

But how can Duceppe say that we do not have a dream? And how can he say it this week? We are living our dream every day, and no more so than as we host the world in Vancouver. I live my dream when I look at the scoring plays from the first period alone of last night's women's hockey game against Sweden:

06:58 CAN Meghan Agosta (Cherie Piper, Caroline Ouellette)
09:16 CAN Marie Phlip-Poulin (Meghan Agosta, Hayley Wickenheiser) PP/AN
13:00 CAN Cherie Piper (Hayley Wickenheiser, Colleen Sostorics)
15:27 CAN Sarah Vaillancourt (Rebecca Johnston, Colleen Sostorics)
15:57 CAN Tessa Bonhomme (Meghan Agosta)

I live my dream when I see Marianne St-Gelais celebrate her 20th birthday in style, and when I see Chris Pronger clear the net in front of Martin Brodeur. I don't count how many members of our team are from Quebec and how many are from "the rest of Canada". I cheer for them all because they are all Canadians. This country is the great place it is in large part because we are all in it together.

I have a dream of Quebec as an essential part of my country, and it has been reality for almost 143 years. It's about much, much more than French Canadians helping earn Olympic medals of course, but the ironic timing of Duceppe's display of ignorance of how federalists feel is priceless.

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