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 Ricky Blue  Ricky Blue was born in Liverpool, England, but raised in Maine, New Jersey, and Toronto. He has an MA in English from Concordia University. He has been involved in bands and media music in Montreal for over twenty years. In 1981 he won an international 'Clio' award for excellence in advertising. He once appeared on television naked. His life had no real meaning, however, until he began to play with Bowser and Blue. Rick plays guitar, mandolin, and harmonica, and sings in a rather pleasant baritone when George will let him. His columns are archived here |
Posted 03.27.06 The Quebec Liberal: Disappointed and in Despair
The Quebec Liberal: Disappointed and in Despair
The standard definition of liberal is: "Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry." That is why I consider myself a liberal.
Liberals are politically unfettered. We will take a good idea from anywhere; the left or the right. But a little trolling on the net reveals that in the United States, the home of liberal democracy, "liberal" has become a dirty word.
T-shirts are available with slogans like, "liberal: a person so open minded their brains have fallen out" and, "liberals: hard on fetuses, soft on terrorists."
Christian conservatives even quote the Bible. Isaiah, chapter 32, begins: "The vile person shall be no more called liberal . . ." which is interpreted as, "God was speaking of a time to come when vile people will no longer be allowed to hide behind the label of liberal."
And the word liberal is associated with being vile up here in Canada.
Our federal Liberals were booted out because of the sponsorship scandal. And every overtaxed West Islander would like to have a free kick at Jean Charest's derri&eagrave;re because of the way his Quebec Liberals handled the de-merger issue.
Has anyone seen a West Island Liberal lately? Are they feeling the bad vibes? Are they just laying low and hoping it will all blow over? Are they afraid some teed off Beaconsfield resident is going to leap out of the bushes and rub a tax bill in their face? They know how we will vote next election.
The West Island must be one of the most consistently Liberal jurisdictions in Canada, both federally and provincially. So you would think the Liberals would treasure us; that they would care for us. Isn't that a big part of Liberal modus operandi, to favour your friends? Can you say Mount Orford?
But for us the loyalty of the Quebec Liberal party only goes one way. We are the doormat spouse: the taken-for-granted, dinner-on-the-table, never-say-no, faithful-and-true but always treated-like-dirt home companion, trapped in an abusive relationship.
How bad would the Liberals have to get before we voted Parti Québécois?
Our local Liberal candidate could ride around the West Island in a limousine, drunk, with a lady of the night on each arm, yelling up at our windows: "Hey suckers, get down here and give me all your votes!" And as we reach into our pockets to give him the votes, we would say: "OK. Here you go, baby. Have a good time."
We put up with it because of one word: Referendum. But it is getting so bad that as the Quebec commission on electoral reform sits in Dorval to hear how our votes are devalued because we have fewer representatives by population than other Quebec ridings, many of us have started to ask how much better off would we really be with more Liberals in Quebec City?
Oh yes, we all imagine how great it would be if our West Island MNAs actually stood up for us in Quebec. How great it would be if they formed a small but solid Bloc to speak up for us. How we might even begin to respect them once again. And once again feel good about being Liberals ourselves. But until then we live in a state of constant disappointment and despair.
Maybe that's the real definition of liberal. |
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