Le Deadbeat

L'Illusion Tranquille suggests the Parti Québécois' eternal pursuit of separation has served only to further distract and imperil Quebec's lot. The reaction amongst separatists was quick and predictable. 'These supposedly lucid people preach our ear off, trading in shallow clichés and simplistic truisms,' wrote Louis Cornellier in the nationalist Le Devoir. More surprising, however, was how quickly and earnestly many of Cornellier's colleagues took up L'Illusion's cause. 'This film is to Quebec's finances as Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth is to climate change,' wrote Richard Martineau in the (much bigger) Journal de Montréal. Joanne Marcotte and Denis Julien, the film's husband-and-wife production team, did a positively fawning media tour. For Julien, the film's success is simple: 'Our system has reached its limit,' he said. 'We are overly burdened, and Quebecers are starting to realize it.' Not a moment too soon. Even a cursory glance at decades of data shows Quebec is in deep, deep trouble. For years now, productivity has lagged while debt soared. It is expected to hit $127 billion by the end of next year, or almost $17,000 for every Quebecer. Provincial budgets rely heavily on federal transfer payments, and efforts to reform the economy have been shackled by powerful unions and an unwavering dedication to the province's cherished but expensive social system, wreaking havoc on public finances. As a group of academics and business leaders led by former premier Lucien Bouchard wrote in a 2005 manifesto, 'in financial terms, the Quebec government is like a bulky albatross that is unable to take flight.' Things are so bad that Quebec's GDP ranks 54th out of 60 provinces and states in North America -- behind many with a fraction of its population and resources. It trails Montana and Arkansas, for example, and is only slightly ahead of Mississipi. GDP is routinely 20 per cent below that of Ontario, its closest geographical and economic cousin. 'In Quebec, the wealth of a family of four is $21,028 less than that of a similar family in the state of Maine,' wrote Alain Dubuc in his pro-business tome, Éloge de la Richesse (In Praise of Wealth). 'How is it that an economy such as Quebec's, which is fully capable, doesn't transform into wealth?' http://www.macleans.ca/homepage/magazine/article.jsp?content=20070319_103229_103229 [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on April 18, 2007]

Note: http://www.macleans.ca/...