Conference kaosws::canada

    After leaving my home and watching family and friends scatter to
    other parts of the country, primarily due to his parties' utter
    ruination of the social and economic fabric of Quebec life, I
    personnally cannot say that this man left a great legacy to the 
    Canadian or Quebecois people.  
    
    In his early days, Rene was the champion of the average worker.
    He started as a journalist with a vision of his province and its
    people taking its rightful place in the Canadian "experiment" as
    I believe he called it. Partners. He originally viewed Canada as
    a merger between two companies. He was later to join the provincial
    Liberals and became wholly responsible for the nationalization of
    what is now known as Hydro Quebec. During the period of the "quiet
    revolution", (letter bombs were not so quiet), he became less moderate.
    He spoke openly of a seperate society,  attracting those leftist,
    militant seperatists (who were underground) as well as the average
    young quebecois; 14-25 years old.
    
    Amazingly, just 6 short years after the Laporte murder by militant
    seperatists, Quebecois voted in a government led by Rene whose primary
    platform was GOOD, HONEST GOVERNMENT and secondarily, seperation.
    Pinochio (popular nickname for Bourassa),warned us that if we thought
    things had been  bad under the Liberals,(especially Bill 23),
    just wait until the PQ got in.  He, unfortunately, was right.  All
    that time we that Pinocchio was just another arrogant politician in the
    style of Pierre Trudeau.
    
    At first it seemed like they were passing mostly social reforms.
    Paid presciptions for senior citizens. Improvements in government
    housing programs. Cleanup of much of the graft and corruption that
    decades of Liberal/Union Nationale rule had wrought. Then came Bill
    101 and the Language Police and the dictums that permitted only
    children of Quebec born English parents to attend English schools
    and regulations that prohibited intercompany correspondence from
    being issued in English, etc. Then there was a union strike at United
    Aircraft that resulted in a law preventing employers from hiring
    scab labour during a strike; literally putting management at the
    mercy of the unions. Another strike at Baie James in which workers
    went on a rampage and destroyed over $350 million of equipment,
    etc.  The case was "settled " out of court by the Justice dept.
    for a paltry $300,000.  Finally there were allegations, about the
    graft going on in the various government beauracracies, about Claude
    Charron stealiing a coat from Eatons, about another government minister
    molesting young girls and of course the scandal over the governments'
    video facilities being used to make pornographic films.
    
    By the time of the PQ's demise, so much industry had left the province,
    and so little confidence in the economies ability to sustain itself was
    left. Montreal, once the proud financial capital of Canada, the
    cosmopolitan city teeming with the arts and sports, is now a poor
    reflection of Toronto. 
    
    Am I bitter? Somewhat. I left of my own accord; like most of my
    family and friends, for the greener pastures of Ottawa and Toronto
    and Calgary. I live now in New Jersey and work in New York. I hope 
    one day to return to live in Canada, but I know I can never return 
    to live in Montreal. BTW I was, unlike many others, employed at the
    time of my departure but I didn't see much of a future.    
    
    Carol
    

    Being a misplaced Montrealer living in Toronto, I too have some
    bitter feelings in regards to Rene Levesque. However, these feelings
    fall far short of the respect I have for the man. He tried to make
    Quebec a better place for people who have been placed on the back
    burner in their own province. I may not agree with his politics
    but he tried to make his province a better place, and isn't that
    the job of a premier? He will be missed.
    
    Ron

  
    As a final note of irony, the proud city of Montreal has decide
    to rename Dorchester Blvd to ... can you guess? That's right ...
    Levesque Blvd. BTW Levesque Blvd is home to 
    
          Air CANADA      
          Revenue CANADA (Quebec office)
          CANADIAN National Railroad
          CANADIAN Broadcasting Corp.
          Royal Bank Of CANADA (good thing their letterhead is 1 Place
    Ville Marie).
          
    Jeez they didn't even wait for the Statue to be erected. They probably
    construct a new park in Westmount, just where Dorchester...whoops
    Levesque Blvd begins. 
    
    Nice going Jean Dore, (mayor of Montreal).
    
    Carol
    

        Re. .3:  By the way ... ?!
        
        We all agree that most major streets in Montr�al will have
        a number of companies with names with the word "CANADA" in 
        them, but how is that a problem with you ?

        I know that you're trying to be cynical, but it will
        be hard to belittle anyone with those kind of arguments.
        On the other hand, it's easier to respect reply .2 as a 
        base for positive discussion on the topic.
        

    I can understand the bitterness that Quebec anglophones feel when
    Levesque's name is mentioned, but I can hardly sympathize.  The
    events of the Quiet Revolution and the later rise to power for
    the Parti Quebecois were a result of years of anglophone domination
    of the Quebec economy.  What now exists in Quebec is an economy
    that is powered by thousands of young entrepenuers.  The move of
    the Canadian financial community from Montreal to Toronto had started
    years before Levesque.  With the free trade deal, these new
    entreprenuers will rebuild the economic strength of Quebec.  The
    language laws were too strict, but on the whole, I believe Rene
    Levesque did what had to be done to return Quebec to the majority
    of the province.

    First of all, the anglophone domination that Quebecois resent was
    that of a central government that seemed more responsive to the
    needs of Ontario. In fact there was a great deal of similarity in
    the expressed comments of western Canada with the Quebecois. Quebec
    did not like being told that its natural resources were under the
    control of the Ottawa government when it tried to unilaterally sell
    uranium mining rights to an American consortium.  It also did not
    feel that the various Canadian trade commissions around the world
    were representing the Quebec exporters effectively.
    
    The move of Canadas' financial industry actually got underway in
    the fall of 1975 when it became more apparent that a separatist
    government was more than a possibility. Royal Bank Of Canada, Bank
    of Montreal began to shift more of their central decision making
    to their divisional offices, (including Calgary) and made plans
    to decentralize first as a precautionary measure. In fact, when
    I was with BOM in 1974, our marketing group was concerned that the
    "Montreal" in our name was the reason for declining market share
    in the western provinces.  The conclusion was to bring the title
    "The First Canadian Bank" to greater preeminence. Subsequently new
    products were called "First Canadian xxxxx.
    
    Montreal will never regain her status as Canada's financial capital.
    Additionally, it will take a long time for Montreal to become the
    thriving economy it once was.
    
    Carol
    

    
    re .6
    
    You`re being arrogant.
    
    BTW Quebec economy is expected to grow 4%/year for the next 5 years.  
    Ontario`s is expected to be stable.  And Bill 101 is still there...
    
    I`m not separatist but I didn`t like what you were saying about
    QUEBEC.
    
    EL

    
    Hmm,
        I didn't see any arrogance in .6. All I read was, presumably
    fact and Carol's first-hand experiences in the matter in question?!?
    
    If you don't like facts and/or other people's opinions Monsieur LeDuc, 
    I humbly suggest that you may have a problem!
    
    Don H.
    

    It also seems quite clear that Carol felt her future in any companny
    in Montr�al was quite bleak if her knowledge of french was nil.
    I feel quite offended when I am presented people that have lived
    all thier lives in Montr�al and don't know enough to understand
    more than OUI or NON!
    
    Jean