STRICTLY PERSONAL SO HERE we go into a Quebec election with the sep- aratists leading by a margin of 51% to 42% among decid- ed Queber voters. Looks like we’re doomed to keep on living in interesting times. Sometimes ! think the rest of us should all just stick our heads in the sand. The strategy of the ostrich, by the way, is to render itself as indis- tinguishable from the landscape as possible, and, contrary to the myth that this is a stupid rnove, has sur- vived in its ecological niche quite well by doing so. Apart from their perpetual cul- tural angst, our Quebec cousins are struggling with an important ques- tion that few other Canadian politi- cians are considering, except, of course, for Rafe Mair, Gordon Wilson and Gordon Gibson Jr., and that’s the question of whether a huge, cumbersome, over-bureaucra- tized federated nation-state is the smartest way to go any longer. Quebecers have at least one rational economic argument going for them. As Parti Quebecois leader Jacques Parizeau put it, agreements to reduce interprovincial trade bar- riers are “virtually meaningless,” since, as a sovercign nation, Quebec would have even greater access to markets in other provinces under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Basically, the PQ is trying to transform its increasingly regional- ized economy into 4 national econ- omy, one in which it will have suc- ceeded in wrestling control of the international instruments currently used by Ottawa on behalf of alt Canadians. It is not as though there aren't other, smaller industrialized coun- tries with robust economies and sta- ble currencies that get by quite nicely without having the burden of a centralized continent straddling political infrastructure on their backs, When Ireland, which has half the population of Quebec, decided to join the European Monetary System in 1979, its new currency — the punt —- dropped briefly rela- tive to the British pound, but then swiftly rose in value. These things aller constantly, but ups and downs in exchange rates aren't an unhappy phenome- non, if they are allowed to work their feedback magic. Fluctuations in currency can be extremely helpful between trading partners. When one country runs a deficit, paying out more to other countries than it is taking in, its partners have an oversupply of its money, and its exchange value drops. Automatically, its exports become cheaper, which helps small countries to boost export trade and diversify just at atime when this kind of activity is needed, Unfortunately, within Canada, currency fluctuations don’t work that way. One region may need to boost exports ata time when trade sur- pluses in the country as a whole are pushing the value of the Canadian currency upwards. This leaves a given region pay- ing more for imports, getting less for exports. Thus, the value of Canada’s cur- rency may be good for Ontario at any particular moment but harmful to British Columbia, or good for Quebec and bad for Nova Scotia or Saskatchewan, The harsh truth is that Canada was built along a major economic fault line. The dilemma isn’t just a question of conflicting “founding” cultures, or even ancient resent- ments over battles lost. Ours is a clumsy economic union, at best. The ditemma is really that since all of Canada’s regions depend heavily on the export of resources to import manufactured goods, they are perpetually exposed to the risk of exchange fluctuations being out of sync with the valuc of the Canadian currency. The fluctuations are needed to correct trade imbalances. A drop in the exchange value means imports become cestlicr, which can stimu- late consumers to replace some for- eign imports with locally made goods, while at the same time with natives exports carn more money. The PQ believes that us an inde- pendent state Quehee would enjoy certain built-in economic advan- tages, like smaller countries such as Norway or Sweden. At the very least, an independent Quebec, they argue, won't be hand- icapped by the existence of a Canadian currency whose fluctua- tions frequently serve no corrective purposes for the regions, including Quebec, or don't do it at the right time. {t is strange that environmental- ists have so little to say about the Quebec issue, since F.F. Schumacker's Small ls Beautiful thesis sits squarely at the centre of most steady-state economic theo- ries. Of course, neither Parizeau nor Bloc Quebec leader Lucien Bouchard are talking about any no- growth scenarios. Au contraire, they want to spur economic growth in Quebec by turning it into Quebec Inc., even more so than it already is. Don’t forget that France herself is a much more state-controlled society than anything here in North America. The Quebec separatists appear to have a vision of blending elements of French republicanism and Japanese cronyism. While pay- ing lip service (to sustainable devel- opment, the PQ would love nothing more than to build as many hydro dams around James Bay as possi- ble, the better to fire up industrial expansion — and hang the ecologi- cal consequences, or the conse- quences for the Cree, who would be swept from their homelands. Js it fair to say that the PQ is on the opposite side from the Indians and the environmentalists? - Most assuredly. Arsonists hit N. Van landmark A HERITAGE house pur- chased by North Vancou- ver District’s Maplewood Farm and waiting to be set on its foundation was destroyed by arsonists Saturday, July 23, at 4:30 am. By Kate Zimmerman News Reporter The District of North Vancouver Fire Services responded to the call. Waddell House had been razed to its steel beam base supports. Chief fire prevention offi- cer Brian Stegavig said there were no witnesses to the set- ting of the fire, but it looked as if it were the result of “kids partying.” No value had been affixed to the damage as of Tuesday morning. But, as Stegavig pointed out, “You can’t replace something like that.” Staff at Maplewood Farm could not be reached for com- ment. Another recent arson has been blamed on young people “partying.” At 6:49 a.m. on Sunday, the fire department attended a fire behind Canyon Heights elementary school. A play structure had been set on fire. The same structure was burned by arsonists on July 11. 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