Transcript of Independence Day Speech by the President of the Quebec First Republic Gilles Duceppe, 2006
Speech delivered in front of a crowd of approximately 350,000. The following is only a transcript
The President delivering his Speech in front of the Quebec Flag
Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, my fellow countrymen!
It is with great joy that I address you today, on the 44th anniversary of the Independence of the Quebec First Republic from Canada. Today is the day that we celebrate our Independence, celebrate our common ancestry, and celebrate the fact that we are Quebecers, proudly, to the world!
I am here today before you to reflect on the past, reflect what the Liberal Party has done for Quebec over these past 9 years, and to discuss the future. First, I wish to end speculation here and now. I will be seeking a third term in office from you, my fellow countrymen, as President of the Quebec First Republic. My work is almost complete, and another 5 years, and then I think it will be time for me to happily retire. The time for campaigning is not upon us, but the direction that I want to take this country will be roughly the same stability, peace, and prosperity. Quebec has been founded upon the principles of equality, democracy, and peace, and those promises I will uphold to the utmost.
Quebec's economy, under the watch of my Party, the Liberal Party, has turned Quebec's economy from where it was 9 years ago, fairly mediocre, into a powerhouse. Our economy, for the size of our nation and our natural resources, is astounding, and that is thanks to our solid economic principles. The economy of Quebec is directly related to the hard-working attitude of Quebecers. Quebecers have built this country into one where prosperity and happiness go hand in hand, and I will not change that.
The Liberal party has been showing Quebec to the World as a safe, stable nation to invest, and do business in. Our Standard of Living is among the highest in the world. Our people are among the highest paid, and that is thanks to our policy of lowering Business Taxes, increasing Business Loans, and encouraging Business to set up shop in our great nation. We will continue to do that. Our message remains to the world Investing Community that Quebec is ready and open for business. We have consistently lowered taxes on Businesses, slowly but surely, over the past 9 years, and have steadily campaigned to encourage more Business to relocate to Quebec, and the effect has been astounding. Our economy is flourishing, and it is all thanks to you. To Quebecers.
But, on to other achievements and promises of the Liberal Party. We have ensured that our Military stays at a consistent level, where we can adequately defend ourselves. We have stayed safe and secure for a long time, and now is the time to slowly build up our Military. Our ships are inadequate to defend our waters. We need more Destroyers, Battleships, and Submarines to defend our coast. We need to increase our Infantry and Tank Divisions and Brigades to ensure that Quebecers are safe from any possible attacker. As we can see in Africa and South America, the world is anything but a stable place, and Quebec must be prepared for the worst. The Liberals will slowly build up our Military to a point where we can feel safe and secure.
Not only our Military must be expanded and improved, but also our Police forces. Currently, we have a mix-matched patchwork of police agencies protecting our hard-working citizens across this nation. We cannot keep this in place. I am going to propose to the National Assembly that we nationalize our Police Agency into one force, La Surete du Quebec. This united Police Force will be able to coordinate its actions, and better protect innocent civilians against those who would do harm against them, like murderers and thiefs. While we shall nationalize the Police in this country, we will work hard to ensure that we maintain local police presence in outlying areas. This move shall be for the good of Quebecers.
Education has long been a subject very dear to the hearts and minds of Quebecers. Our Government has made fixing the Education System in Quebec a priority for a long time, and we have done so successfully. But now it is time for Quebec to focus on Post-Secondary Education, to ensure that our youth have the skills needed to work in their fields once they launch their career. We will address this by creating and opening 2 more large Universities for Quebec, the Nationale Universitie du Quebec and L'Internationale Universitie du Quebec. The fortmer shall be for domestic students only, the latter for both domestic and international students. It is our hope that these 2 new Universities, which we hope can accommodate up to 20,000 students per year each at peak operations, will help alleviate the seat shortage in Quebec's Universities today.
I am sure that all of you are well aware of the problems faced by another subject important to the hearts and minds of Quebecers, and that is our Healthcare System. It is not working properly. It is extremely expensive to fully fund the system as it currently is, and is, frankly, not economically viable. So it is time to fix health care. And fix is not only for today, but also for tomorrow, for our children and our children's children. We are proposing that we have a 2 Tier system of health care, in which Quebecers can choose between the Public System, and possibly having to wait longer, or pay for it out of pocket. We believe that this system will be the best for Quebec, both in financial and medical terms. We will be implementing this new prop0osal next year.
It is now time to turn to Immigration Reform. As you know, Quebec's population, according to StatsQuebec, is shrinking. Quebecers are having less children, and we are aging as a population. Furthermore, our Immigration System is, frankly, a mess. It is convoluted, and full of loopholes that make getting anything done efficiently difficult. It can take up to a year for some immigrants to gain entrance to this nation. Well, that is unacceptable, and the Liberals will be fixing this. We are proposing a new, faster, streamlined process, in which a simple yet effective procedure will be implemented to ensure that those who want to start over in this country can, and those who want to cause harm or be a burden to this country cannot gain access to it. We want to let in those who want to work, and be prosperous, peaceful citizens. Our new system will process applicants in as little as 3 months, which can be fastracked to just one month, if we feel that the applicant is deserving of entrance. This streamlined system will be efficient, and what a proper Immigration System should be.
Finally, I wish to discuss La Francophonie with you tonight. This organization is the brainchild of the Liberal Party, and is a non political cultural association of nations and regions of nations with a percentage of their population that speaks French. Usually 10% francophones and over. Quebec is proposing this to the world, and we are proposing this to enhance and celebrate the French culture and language. We plan to hold Jeux de la Francophonie, have awards for the best French-language films and songs, and have a funding program for French-language festivals and cultural events. In short, this is unifying the French-speaking world in celebrating and enhancing our common culture.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Liberal Party of Quebec has brought you many positive changes, from a booming economy to a healthy and robust education system to military reform and proposed cures for our immigration and health care systems. This is Quebec's finest hour, now is the time to celebrate!
Vive le Republic du Quebec libre!
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