The rupture

Mon Dieu! Upwards of 300,000 Florida properties are owned by Quebeckers. In fact, the state counts 60,000 people from that province as being residents. They clump together in places like Pompano Beach, Hollywood and Boynton Beach in the SE region.

And now they all have targets on their backs.

Florida’s MAGA boss, Ron DeSantis, is pushing legislation to eliminate property taxes for every Floridian with a house worth less than a quarter million (a majority). “But we’re not cutting taxes for the Canadians,” he said. In fact, even higher property tax will be levied on these folks – another reason (along with a lower dollar, higher insurance premiums and condo fees) citizens of La Belle Province have been trying to bail.

This latest blow comes as Quebec voters head for the polls tomorrow in an election widely expected to put PPSP into power. That’s Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, a firebrand populist who’s been the Parti Quebecois leader for the last six years and probably premier on Tuesday morning.

He’s promised to bring in a Quebec Constitution to overrise the Canadian one. He would declare unilateral independence, and have a separation referendum when Trump expires in two years. For a third time in half a century the people of this unique province would cast a vote to stay or leave the confederation.

Of course, they’ll vote to stay. Again. Polls show 31% support for the PQ and independence, while 69% choose Canada. The Florida property tax grab just reinforces the fact an unanchored single province beside an untrustworthy and unreliable American monolith could be a dangerous place to live or invest. Especially because the Yanks couldn’t care less about French. Just look how they deal with Spanish.

So why would PSPP win government tomorrow?

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon: Quebec premier tomorrow night?

.

Because there are five parties running, and the vote will be split between them, letting the PQ migrate up the middle. When that happens, expect a lot of people to dis Canada, including the secessionist yahoos in Alberta.

And what do the maple-bashers have in common?

They promise more freedom yet with all the benefits of being Canadians (the dollar, the passport, health care transfers, CPP and OAS). They’re anti-immigrant and more than vaguely racist. They discount the foundational status of indigenous peoples. They claim federal overreach has made life worse – that Albertans can pay less and have more wealth and Quebeckers can trash bilingualism and craft a unilingual paradise.

Of course, Canada’s Clarity Act prevents any of this from happening – which is why the rebels in the east and the west say they’d disavow the laws the rest of us obey.

Would Mark Carney send in troops?

Nope. No need. The equity market, the bond market, currency traders and business leaders would do the heavy lifting for him. The exodus of investment capital from an orphaned former Canadian province could be breathtaking. After all, why would you put your new $8 billion data centre in a place of political instability, economic disruption and likely social decline?

Tomorrow will be a challenge for us all. The same in a couple of weeks when Albertans vote on a shameful set of loaded, anti-federal questions including one on separation talks. This is happening during an historic trade war with America and as Canada works hard to pivot in the world towards other trading partners and alliances.

When this sad, misguided process is over, the Dominion will prevail. Half of any pro-separatist vote in either province is strategic – people don’t really want out, they just wish to be pissy and send a message.

But we must be aware. Demagogues are real and can be powerful. Trump’s base of roughly 30% of Americans has done much to upend the entire world. So when barely a third of Quebeckers elect a majority separatist government tomorrow, it’s a serious moment. Hopefully the feds won’t cave to these cultists, or to the isolationist and myopic cowboys.

Remember when Pierre Trudeau was asked what he’d do about the separatists as the FLQ erupted?

“Just watch me.” And we did.

About the picture: “Followed your blog for years,” writes Doug (Old Gringo’),  “and this is Charlie. He passed away at 14 wonderful years. We remember how he loved not how he passed. Sometimes a dog just becomes a person.”

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Source: https://www.greaterfool.ca/2026/10/04/the-rupture-2/