Shut Up And Listen 139

One In Six Billion
I’ve had Quebec on the mind this week because of my Canadian government class at school. We were continuing our lesson on the constitution and, of course, a lot of it revolved around Quebec. For those who don’t know Canadian history, for the past while Quebec have been major pains in the ass because, well, they want special status because they happen to descend from the French, while the rest of Canada is more British in nature. Quebec was the only province to not sign onto the constitution in 1982 and any efforts to bring them in since has failed (although the most recent one was more the rest of the country’s decision) partly because of the demands they have asked. One demand that kind of bothers me is to be granted the status of a “distinct society” because they speak French and shit.
	I’m not denying that Quebec is different from where I live, but so are the Maritimes, northern Ontario, the Prairies, the West and the territories. And the so-called “distinct society” they (and here I should point out, when I say ‘they’ I am referring to those who actually say this stuff, not everyone from Quebec--always smart to say that at some point to cover your ass officially) claim they are and should be recognised for is one engrained in the constitution. Part of their claim is the fact that they speak French; well, guess what? French is an official language of Canada! New Brunswick also has a large French-speaking population, but they don’t want to have special status for it. I guess what I’m trying to say is: everyone is different in some way, as is every area.
	If Quebec is granted “distinct society” status, where do we stop? If Chinatown in Toronto wants to be officially recognised as a “distinct society” do we do it? Or what about women as a “distinct gender”? I mean, I could argue that I should be granted status as a “distinct person.” I mean, is there really anyone out there like me? I think I rather deserve unique status for being so distinct from everyone else. Even the way I speak English is different than everyone else, so there’s the language. I have my own individual beliefs that are totally unique to me, so there’s religion. The popculture in which I partake in is a pick-and-choosing of the larger one that is unique to just me. Basically, I am one in six billion.
	And you know what? So is the guy who lives next to me, and yet we manage, despite being totally unique, to live with having the same legal rights and same status in society. I really don’t know how we do it. I mean, why should I have the same rights as that guy? He may not swear or watch the same TV shows as me or celebrate the same holidays the same way. How the fuck can I be asked to live in the same country as that guy? We’re two totally different people, for fuck’s sake.
	I can understand Quebec wanting to preserve their culture, but they shouldn’t expect the rest of us to treat them like they're fucking better than us just because they’re different. Honestly, what pisses me off the most is that often we (everyone other than Quebec here) are often willing to show Quebec respect and such, while they aren’t willing to return the favour. That’s just rude.