To the Editor,
Re: History offers dose of oil-wealth irony, Letters, July 21.
I do not find irony in the fact that the fortune and consequently status of a province can, over a certain period of time, change from being a ‘have-not’ province to being a ‘have’ province and vice-versa.
But what I find extremely ironic is that a person who apparently knows diddly-squat about geography and contemporary history of the world, (by declaring that Czechoslovakia was part of the former Soviet Union), can make such an apodictic statement that comparing the separation of Quebec and the dissolution of Czechoslovakia is tantamount to comparing apples and oranges.
On contrary, such comparison is very valid.
While circumstances of separation of any state for whatever reason are inevitably different, separation of Quebec could result, similarly like the separation of Czechs and Slovaks, in a very friendly, fruitful and mutually advantages relation of the two new state entities.
Moreover, where the comparison is very valid, is that the separation of Quebec could be done, as was the case in the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, without any bloodshed.
And if not for any other than for this reason alone such comparison satisfies the requirement of comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges.
George Holecek
Nanaimo