Quebec blunts canada’s sword

With United States President-elect Barrack Obama’s plan to withdraw troops from Iraq to lend further aid to the war in Afghanistan, the conflict has the potential to be seen in a new light. The question here in Canada is how this will affect the deployment of our troops in Afghanistan. And while the overall approval rating for the war is starting to indicate skepticism amongst Canadians, the heaviest opposition is in Quebec.
Quebec’s opposition to Canada’s wars has included a string of protests going back as far as the second Boer War and the War of 1812. Quebec had even gone so far as to support Philippe Pétain and the Vichy regime during World War II, who were Nazi collaborators. It seems as if stagnating Canada’s foreign policy progress is in La Belle Province’s blood.
Almost in sync with the voting control the Bloc Québécois currently holds in Quebec, this history of disapproval makes Quebecers seem dead-set on increasing any divide and squandering approval in order to weaken any possible Canadian unity. Not only can the English and French not get along with each another, but we can’t seem to hate or defend the same people either.
It seems as though Quebec has been scrambling for a voice on the international stage; proving its status as a nation-within-a-nation by having opposite opinions on global affairs.
Is this healthy for Canada? No. Can it be stopped? Probably not, but Canada has a history of being able to persevere through internal strife. So steering this warship is done through choppier waters than necessary, but straight it will surf on to Asia Minor, continuing its effort to help rebuild a torn nation in need of international aid.
And the only hand to be lent right now is from Obama. With the new president hoping to shift numbers from Iraq to Afghanistan, approval ratings will most likely soar, as a presidential condemnation of the Iraq War will position Afghanistan as a lesser of two evils. And support for a war without an ideological focal point has a lot more swing than one supporting the installation of democracy and liberty.
Obama’s democratic administration will see backing from both Canada and Quebec, albeit separately. So hopefully Canada will be able to loosen the phlegm in its throat and speak with a clearer voice with the added approval of a President-elect and his 60 million supporters. Quebec will hopefully see the forest for the trees and realize this is not about its own turmoils as a nation, but a mission to help re-establish Afghanistan which needs help now more than ever.