Sadly, Quebec really does matter to Canada

Was reading Jeffery Simpson’s latest take on the Quebec provincial election and it struck me that Quebec is far more important to Canada than Canada is to Quebec.

Quebec matters to Canada because it talks and thinks about critical issues of identity -- issues that people in the Rest Of Canada (ROC) either can't or won't explore.

For the ROC to indulge in such an exploration of Canadian identity would be to risk finger-wagging accusations of "knee-jerk anti-Americanism" or, even worse, charges of intolerance.  Europe might not approve of our view of ourselves. The U.N. would certainly take us to task.

Because we are nice people who wish to be liked and admired by others, we dare not risk an honest discussion about Canadian values or Canadian culture. In fact, the thought of such talk is almost laughable, despite the fact that we actually have values and culture that are well-worth discussing. 

And thus we depend on Quebec to lead a discussion that we hope will lift us out of our colonial awkwardness.

While I'm reasonably sure an independent Quebec would be able to struggle along without the rest of us, I am less convinced the rest of us have the fortitude, as a people, to survive without them.

What exactly is Canada without Quebec anyway…apart from some maudlin sentimentality involving hockey and beer and taking a 2-4 to camp on the 2-4 long weekend?

There is an answer. But it is an answer that – as they used to say in the old days – dare not speak its name.

So without Quebec, the rest may be silence. And, as a result, the rest of us may be history.