It may be politically incorrect to suggest such a radical move, but after years of economy-stalling squabbling, I think it’s about time to once and for all declare Quebec unilingual.
But not unilingual French. Nor English. The lingua franca between us should be the language of money. To enjoy a prosperous future, our talk must be focused on generating wealth. Ici, on parle d’économie.
As crass as it sounds, money changes everything. And money is hardly the root of all evil; with level-headed management, it can be the root of all good. The more we can take in as a society, the more we can have for under-funded elements of it, like education, health care, the environment, infrastructure…I can keep going. It’s the lack of money that forces the hand of cutbacks, layoffs and worst of all, stalling things before the ever get off the ground.
So forget the fist-raised howl of “On veut un pays!”, the new Quebec rallying cry needs to be a levelheaded “On veut une paie!” A big paie.
We also need to change our mindset. “Maîtres chez nous!” is an ol’ chestnut battle cry familiar to anyone over 40; an ingrained inclination for us to think small. These days, as the Internet reduces borders to dust, “Maîtres chez nous!” has shriveled into a defeatist goal for the feeble and insecure. We should strive to be “Maîtres chez eux!” or “Maîtres ailleurs!”.
We need to export our products and services, not our populace. Just ask border-busting pioneers like Cirque du Soleil, Moment Factory, Juste pour rire, Stingray Media, Telesysteme, Sid Lee, Bombardier, Power Corporation just where they aspire to be “maîtres.”
It was audacious, open thinking and bold moves that separated—no pun intended—these companies from the pack, and only by being equally as daring can we strengthen the economy, create new jobs and attract worldwide attention…positive attention, for a change.
The beauty about numbers is that they’re the exact same in every language.
And unlike words, numbers never lie.
