Blog about politics (mideast and pro-Israel, Canadian and local Montreal), world events, and random thoughts.

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The World I Know is updated on a semi-regular basis by segacs.

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11:45 AM
Federalist campaign brainstorming

So it looks like there's going to be another referendum in a few years. And with the federalist forces in complete disarray, the result could be disastrous. Even if most Quebeckers don't really want to separate, they may be persuaded to vote yes if the yes side runs a much better campaign. We all know that there will be no more federal government-funded sponsorship programs. And the provincial Liberals will need someone in opposition better equipped to fight than Jean Charest, that's for sure.

But mostly, what is sorely lacking is vision. Though the vision of a sovereign Quebec is an unrealistic pipe dream, many Quebeckers buy into it because people prefer vision to pessimism. The brightly-coloured posters advertising that a "yes" vote would "make it possible" didn't really need to get into the details of what exactly would be possible; it was a vision. A sharp contrast to the the "no" campaign in 1995, whcih was a negative, fear-based campaign focused mainly on dispelling the "yes" campaign's lies.

In that spirit, here are some things that the federalist side can do to campaign for Canadian unity:

• "Federalists Come Home" campaign

Invite as many former Quebeckers who have moved to the Rest of Canada to move back home for the minimum period required in order to be eligible to vote in the next referendum. Open the floodgates and welcome back our expats from Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary just in time to give the federalist side the needed numbers at the polls to deliver a resounding defeat to the sovereignty forces.


• "Birthright Canada" trips

Hey, it's a big success for Israel. Send groups of Quebec college students on free 10-day trips to some of the most beautiful parts of Canada. Air Canada could provide free flights in exchange for their government subsidies. After 10 days of partying in Whistler or Banff, my bet is most young Quebeckers will think twice before giving up being Canadian.


• Colour War

So Gerald Larose wants a colour war? Fine, we'll give him one. Let's show our Canadian colours by celebratating the "anniversaries" of all dates relevant to Canada with "pro-Federalism signs on balconies, marches, conferences and cultural events" of our own - but more, bigger, and louder. Canada Day, Flag Day, Law Day, the anniversary of the 1972 Canada-Russia hockey summit... there's no shortage of opportunities.


• Switch the Question lifeline

"Yes" sounds so much nicer than "No", doesn't it? Since the question of the next referendum is sure to be just as confusing as the last one, let's lobby to get a question written that would make "Yes" a vote for federalism. Not only do we get the nicer, more positive campaign term, but the 40% of Quebeckers who don't have a clue what the vote means might accidentally vote "Yes" thinking it's a vote for sovereignty. Which would be ok, because most of them want to stay in Canada anyway. So really, we'd be doing them a favour.


• Secret Weapons

How much money do you think it would take to bribe Gilles Duceppe into working as a secret agent for the Federalist side?

Feel free to tack on your own.

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11:42 PM
Groan

As if living through the referendums wasn't bad enough, now we have to suffer through referendum anniversary celebrations???

Quebecers can expect to see pro-sovereignty signs on balconies again, as well as marches, conferences and cultural events over the next six months as the sovereignist movement prepares to mark the 25th and 10th anniversaries of the referendums on Quebec independence.

The Conseil de la souverainete du Quebec has organized several activities designed to prove to Quebecers that the referendums were not failures for the sovereignist movement, but rather important steps in the right direction.

"These two events were significant democratic exercises which advanced the Quebec people toward independence, and the third exercise will be the final one, because we will achieve our goal," said Gerald Larose, who heads the two-year-old Conseil.

In other words: "we'll keep asking the question until we get the answer we want".

Here we go again...

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11:23 PM
Which is weirder?

Let's play which photo of the week is weirder.

This one?

U.S. President George W. Bush walks arm in arm with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah at Bush's ranch in Texas. Source: Reuters.

Or this one?

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem on the first trip ever by a Kremlin leader to Israel. Source: AP.

Shall we put it to a vote?

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5:15 PM
Sovereignty's back...

Who else dared to hope the separation issue was passé?

New poll results suggest that sovereignty support is at a 7-year high here in La Belle Province... but as usual, most Quebeckers want their Quebec and their Canada too:

When asked whether they would support sovereignty based on an economic and political partnership with the rest of Canada -- the same question asked in the Oct. 30, 1995, referendum that spurred the now-defunct sponsorship program -- 54 per cent said they would.

[ . . . ]

When asked whether a vote for sovereignty still meant that they wanted Quebec to be part of Canada, 56 per cent of respondents said yes while 40 per cent said no.

This was the same confusion back in 1995 that led to the Clarity Act.

Needless to say, this is not good news. With Bloc support spiking in light of the Liberal scandal, and Charest about as likely to win re-election as a monkey is to win Miss America, it looks like we're in for another referendum.

And with nobody in Quebec strong enough to lead the "no" fight, and with a large part of the rest of Canada wishing us good riddance, the referendum has a frighteningly real possibility of leading to separation - whether the voters understand that or not.

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8:22 PM
Martin deals with Layton

Once again demonstrating his perpetual spinelessness and willingness to do anything to hang onto power, Paul Martin struck a deal with Jack Layton, making "concessions" in exchange for an NDP promise to vote for the budget.

What sort of "concessions"? The usual NDP mixed bag. Deferring corporate tax cuts in favour of $4.6 billion in additional social spending for things like Aboriginal housing, the environment, foreign aid and the like.

That's all besides the point, though. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the changes, the main thing here is that we have the party who came in dead last among the four major parties in the last election essentially dictating the federal budget. What's wrong with this picture?

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12:47 AM
Meanwhile in Lebanon...

The miracle is happening quietly: Syrian troops are withdrawing from Lebanon after 29 years of occupation.

Analysis is as varied as Mideast political opinions tend to be. And as of right now, there are more questions than answers: Is this a genuine move by Syria to recognize Lebanon's independence, or simply a media move designed to mask the fact that Assad still plans to pull Lebanon's political strings from afar? Will Lebanon - a country with a rocky history, to put it mildly - elect a free and democratic government? Or will competing factions pit against one another, resulting in more bloodshed? Will a democratic Lebanon be claimed by the Bush team as a victory for its policy of spreading democracy in the Mideast? Or will an unholy mess result? Where does Hezbollah fit in with all of this?

And what about Israel? Even as the Lebanon Daily Star reports that Israelis are eyeing a peace deal with Lebanon, more realistic analysis from Ha'aretz puts the prospects for this at dim to nonexistent - at least for now:

Nevertheless, Lebanon is still committed to a common policy with Syria when it comes to the regional peace process. Lebanese opposition leaders have also declared that they have no intention of dismantling either the political or the economic cooperation between the countries, and they certainly have no plans to be seen to be in a hurry to sign a peace deal with Israel.

Of the zillion different competing factions in Lebanon, the one thing they have in common is their hatred of Israel. In fact, it might be the only common base on which they will be able to work to mend and re-forge a national identity. It's easy to see, in the context of a story like Lebanon's, why it's so convenient for people to unite around their one commonality: hatred with Israel. It's either that or destroy one another. (And they've done plenty of both over the years).

A lot will depend on what happens in the coming months. But regardless, I don't think Israelis will be taking shopping trips to Beirut anytime soon.

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11:20 PM
Putin: Soviet breakup was "greatest geopolitical catastrophe"

People in the know have been watching Vladimir Putin with a wary eye for quite some time now. His State of the Union today, in which he described the collapse of the Soviet Union as the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the last century", is likely to make many more people take notice:

The former KGB agent said the break-up of the USSR in 1991 had left tens of millions of Russians living in new states outside the Russian Federation.

Speaking the week after Condoleezza Rice, the United States Secretary of State, said he had accumulated too much personal power, the president insisted he remained committed to reform and a strong state.

However, if actions speak louder than words, then the warning bells ought to be going off all over the place. Much of what Putin has done during his reign - er - leadership has been designed to suppress any political opponents and set himself up to be the de facto perpetual leader of a Russia that's looking more and more like the Soviet Union he so laments each day:

He also rounded on the recent "Orange" revolution in Ukraine and similar protests in Kyrgyzstan, both former Russian allies, warning that they would not be permitted in Russia.

"Any unlawful methods of struggle ... for ethnic, religious and other interests contradict the principles of democracy," he said. Mr Putin warned that such upheavals would not be tolerated in Moscow. "The state will react [to such attempts] with legal, but tough, means."

Putin is gaining nerve every day. The Soviet Union may be gone, but it's not forgotten.

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5:36 PM
Martin caves to NDP bribery

Is it just me, or are our politicians holding a contest these days for "most spineless"?

Martin may succumb to Layton's blackmail by agreeing to defer corporate tax cuts in the federal budget in exchange for a promise for the NDP to support the budget:

The apparent concession came just hours after Prime Minister Paul Martin appeared to shut the door to NDP Leader Jack Layton's demand that the cuts be scrapped. "We are prepared to discuss the possible deferral of the corporate tax measures," the source said.

Martin's fighting for his political life, so it's obvious why he's doing this. But the NDP doesn't hold enough seats to prop up the Liberals if everyone else votes against. Martin will probably learn the hard way that Layton's life raft is made of lead.

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12:48 PM
All sedered out

Whew, what a weekend! Three seders - yep, count 'em, three. Dozens of relatives. More food than some small countries consume in a year. I'm exhausted, and all I had to do was show up. I honestly don't know how my Mom manages to do all that cooking, planning and organizing and still have time left over to bake me a sponge cake. Thanks, Mom!

Meryl has some reflections on the joys and hassles of her seders. I agree with her on the cakes - much better this year - and also on the wine. I can't stand that cream concord stuff either. It tastes like cough syrup. We drank it on the first night, and I could barely get through the first cup. The kosher Italian dry white that we had last night wasn't half bad, though.

Imshin shares some seder musings as well, including thoughts about the massive quantities of food. If there's one thing that Jewish people all over the world have in common, it's that we all cook and eat way too much on holidays.

Now that the seders are over, we can all get back to our daily Passover lives: eating leftovers and complaining about the food.

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