I’ve lived in this province my entire life and was raised in a bilingual, bicultural household. The French side of my family has been here since the 1670s at least.

No matter the outcome of Tuesday’s vote, I’m staying here. This is my home.

I’ve lived under ‘separatist’ governments before and feel as though nothing will fundamentally change in my life. I sincerely doubt Marois will call a referendum immediately, if at all. She’s a career politician, and just like Romney she’ll say whatever’s necessary to win. Once in power, she’ll be faced with all the problems Charest had to deal with, possibly new problems as she tries to delicately explain to students her promise of free tuition won’t come to pass.

So I think we can all chill out, and an exodus of Francophones, immigrants and Anglophones must be prevented at all costs. There’s been lots of speculation, aimless talk, that needs to be nipped in the bud.

Anti-separatists come in all forms, mother tongues and cultural backgrounds. Our bond is that we believe Québec is an incredible force for good within Confederation, and that separation is the wrong way to go. Given the high levels of education and multi-lingual proficiency of this broad group, I think we have all the manpower resources necessary to weather any storm. If Marois wins a minority government, even less reason to split. We should endeavour to stay and to make our voices heard within Québec, and to no longer shy away from the vocal minority of hard-core indépendentistes who won’t be happy until Québec is its own country.

We will have to bond together in ways previously unimagined. We will need to form our own charitable organizations, NGOs, non-profits and the like to support our own culture and distinct identity. We may even need to form our own political parties, and break down barriers which will no longer serve our community’s needs. yes, part of this larger group is referred to as Anglophone, but as anyone in Québec and Montréal realizes, this group is heavily integrated into mainstream Québecois culture and society. That said, despite this group’s cultural and linguistic integration, I have no doubt Marois will push draconian measures, such as linguistic competency tests, limitations on CEGEP (and possibly university) enrolment and extensions of Bill 101 in every conceivable fashion. Marois knows local support of another referendum is extremely low, but she also knows she can feed her base through legislation of this kind.

It’s my opinion that such laws are wholly unnecessary and potentially dangerous, but no matter, we as a community must persevere and grow stronger than before.

We need to stay put, unite, and fight to ensure our laws are not trampled upon. We are Québec’s distinct society, and so we must be recognized as such. We must endeavour to raise funds, protect our schools, support our media and develop our own businesses. At the end of the day, money is the greatest insurance against potential political and social instability. I say this as an avowed libertarian social-capitalist, and also as a proud Québecois & Canadian.

We must stand together in the face of ignorance, hatred and the punitive efforts of a new set of local elites.

But I for one will not stand idly by while unenlightened wannabe revolutionaries try to turn the clock back to the days of Duplessis.

We shall overcome.