Q:
A: Easy: Separatist politics. The only reason that Toronto is the economic capital of Canada instead of Montreal is because of separatists winning the provincial election in the 70s. Toronto should put a statue of Rene Levesque in front of its city hall. Large companies moved their head offices out of Montreal, hoards of people moved away rather than have their kids forcibly removed from english language education. Taxes soared as the PQ government created services that were redundant with the federal government, launched questionable social programmes, and allowed union labour to rule the province. Quebec continues to be the highest-taxed region in North America, however the economy is getting better as separatism becomes less of an issue for younger generations.