Quebec separation and the cfl

With a pq election victory and the remote possibility of Quebec separation on the table again, how would seperation effect the als and the cfl? it is called the Canadian football league after all

I doubt Quebecers would vote for separation if there was a referendum. I've read that just because people voted PQ doesn't mean necessarily they would vote for separation, a certain percentage anyways.

With a minority ,the PQ,S hands are tied. They won't be able to do anything on the separation issue.

What would a seperation have to do with pro sports teams??? We have a seperate country Canada, with a pro Baseball team in the AMERICAN league. We have a Canadian team in the NBA, we have teams on both sides of the border in hockey and soccer too. Why would the CFL be any difference?
I could understand at the Olympics with Quebec having a seperate team and world hockey etc. I think that will happen in the future.

Yes Quebcers voted for a Seperatist party, they are not stupid if they didn’t want to seperate they wouldn’t vote PQ!!
Eventually they will seperate but not until they get a majority. You can’t have a referendum unless you have a majority government. A global media poll this morning said that 57% of Canadians want to see Quebec gone, so maybe we should all be allowed to vote.

As an American I have long examined this matter from the outside with high interest and note that the regionalism is far from unique to Canada, and as we hear in various world news otherwise, any given country that is far less developed.

Also as an Italian I know well the concept of regionalism as is only growing in Italy as well.

Unlike in the modern USA, the bases for such strong regionalism appear to go back and have been re-inforced over centuries and along also linguistic and cultural lines.

Even so here in the supposedly unified US, and those of you who have seen my posts here know already that I have lived or worked in 9 different jurisdictions but make my home in the Tampa Bay area now in Florida and am sticking to it, there is ample regionalism even down to certain states and Metro areas.

The details of places like Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Washington DC Metro, and Atlanta are for another time if not place. The only common threads amongst many of the folks in each area are that they all shop at the same big stores, use the same airports, eat at the same fast food joints (and share the weight gains), have similar accents, and cheer for the same sports teams. Otherwise it's all about where any given person lives in any given town down to the jurisdiction and neighbourhood with most of a sense of "unity" superficial but for some of those working in the public sector.

Here in Florida, there is little unity at the state and even local level. I could care less for example about most of my fellow statesmen, save for perhaps you CFL fans from Florida on here, in places like Jacksonville, Orlando, and Miami.

The population, politics, courts, and ways of doing business supposedly under even the same state law in Florida are heavily fragmented down to the area of each county. Down here in Tampa Bay, folks are so divided between two major counties that they even insist on keeping old telephone area codes and a 7-digit dialing system just for that reason even though the concept and matter with especially cell phones is technologically obsolete!

Florida is also the first state I have lived in where the people each major metro area for the most part hates and dreads most other major metro areas of the state. I know I do and with good reason.

Though historically and culturally there are strong factors at hand of course, people voting for far stronger regional representation, real or imagined, is the norm and not the exception regardless of the strong desire or not for separation.

Looking from the outside, it is interesting to see if the matter will go again to a referendum and also whether perhaps there would remain a unity but with even more autonomy for Quebec just as if it were a different country.

Also I wonder, and I don’t mean to offend and am not taking a side here please understand, if the UK and Crown would have a say in the matter and if anyone would give a damn if the UK and Crown did weigh into the discussion?

It’s not like the military would get involved as the Crown has done historically within the Commonwealth of Nations for peacekeeping and so forth.

First, there probably won’t be a referendum on separation until the PQs have a majority. When there is another referendum (and there will be), if the people of Quebec vote in favour of some sort of referendum, the government of Quebec will then need to negotiate that separation with the federal government. And there are many things to be negotiated, e.g. any outstanding debt either direction, division of assets, whether any parts of Quebec would stay in Canada (much of what is now Quebec was not Quebec before Confederation, so why would it be part of Quebec when the leave confederation? Plus some parts - Gatineau? - might want to stay in Canada and have their own little referendum), management of the St. Lawrence Seaway (where the US would end up getting involved), etc. So we’re talking years, decades down the road.

That said, it might just happen some day. So (back on topic) what would happen to the CFL, and in particular the Alouettes? My guess is that it would continue as it is today, with the import rule being changed to state that players with early football training outside Canada or Quebec would be considered imports. There might be a name change - hard to say.

The CFL already had teams in a foreign country and there was no problem. In fact, the Baltimore franchise led the CFL in attendance in 1994. As long as the players could travel across the border without restrictions this should not be an issue.

It would be no issue at all. It would simply be an foreign team playing in the CFL. Having said that seperation is a myth. It's not likely to happen, so it's a moot point.

won’t be happening, so no worries to be had.

CFL may not be able to enforce import rules in a separated Quebec.

very true.
CFL USA teams did not incorporate standard CFL import rules, thus unlikely a sovereign Quebec will either.

If Quebec wanted to keep a team (or two), the CFL could enforce any rule they wanted. On the other hand, if the CFL wanted to keep a team (or two) in Quebec, they might have to bend the rules like they did with the American teams.

Why is there music from an old western playing in my head?

Basically, it would come down to a negotiation. Maybe the Quebec team(s) would want to change the import rule to have separate groups of non-imports for Quebec and Canada, so Quebec players would be non-imports only for Quebec teams, with Canadian players being non-imports outside Quebec.

Another related question is what would happen to Quebec universities currently playing in the CIS? Would they still play as one league? Would Quebec teams still compete for the Vanier Cup?

First off Quebec won't separate. We (the rest of Canada) for the vast most part dig them and they dig us. It's our common discontent with federal parliament that gets our tempers flaring at each other and ultimately it will be our common discontent with federal parliament that makes us realize that we actually like each other.

Secondly, even in the wild chance that Quebec were to separate, the Quebec govt would not be able to afford any of the loss in economic drive that the Als/RDS provides, so I can't see any changes to the operations of the CFL or the Alouettes.

“We dig them”?? get serious. Do you think the Seperatists give a damn about digging us?
We know the economic impact but the Seperatists don’t care they feel they are getting ripped off. The strong feelings by Anglos leading up to the 95 referendum have gone. Most Anglos don’t care, the recent poll was 57% outside of Canada want to see them go. Don’t fall into this thing about they only voted PQ for change. The people know what a PQ government stands for and when the time is right and they get a majority they will hold a referendum.

As for the CFL, it is not governed by the Federal government or any Canadian laws. The Import ratio is put in by the CFL and if you are a team in the CFL then you follow the CFL’s rules as simple as that.

Don't fall into this thing about they only voted PQ for change. The people know what a PQ government stands for and when the time is right and they get a majority they will hold a referendum..
Really? And you know how Quebeckers feel how? Do you know how many people voted for the PQ? 31.9% Do you know how many people need to vote for a party for get a majority? 34-35% You wont win a referendum with that kind of support

Yes many people voted for the PQ because they want a change
Many people voted for the PQ because they promised to roll back the tuition fee hike that the liberals implemented.
Many voted for the PQ because they think the liberals are corrupt

I know many many people who voted for the PQ and are die hard federalists.

The liberals have been in power for 3 terms
They want change and will worry about a referendum if and when it happens

The latest polls show that less than 25% of Quebeckers want to seperate…less than 25%

The PQ is not stupid, majority or not, they are not going to hold a referendum…Even Marois said that she will not give a date as to when it happens

I kinda think its just like you say.

The provincial NDP has said in the next election, they will field a full slate of candidates... I wonder if they can be a factor in the next election in Quebec... given that it may be a minority situation, another election could be held sooner rather than later.

As for seperation having a big impact in the CFL... I don't think there is an issue there... the team that could be impacted the most might be the Als themselves... not the rest of the league.

I doubt that Quebec separation will be an issue in the near future. However, I would like to see the federal government and the Quebec government negotiate the terms beforehand, should Quebec ever decide to separate. Any issues that the parties couldn't reach agreement on could be settled by the World Court at the Hague in the Netherlands.
Someone shouldn't be expected to vote on something as important as independence without knowing the specific ramifications of that vote.

The CFL could require Quebec teams to field 20 Quebecois or francophone players instead of Canadians. This would go over big in la belle province. Then French, Guyanan, Tunisian or Haitian rugby players could also qualify as non-imports, mon.