While perusing The Economist recently, I came across a short article about the tiny islands of Saint Pierre & Miquelon off the coast of Newfoundland. The article itself concerned the future economic development of the islands which has been hampered by decline of local fishing stock and the purported efforts to lay claim to some of the undersea oil and gas deposits nearby.
What caused my "Hmmm" was the reminder in the article that these islands are among the last vestiges of French colonialism. The local language is French, they are defended by France, send representatives in the French National Assembly and Senate and use the Euro as currency.
There is some worry in the islands that Canada may dispute France's claim to some of these offshore oil and gas deposits and the islanders are concerned that they could be viewed by France as a commodity or bargaining chip and could possibly even see themselves becoming part of Canada itself.
What caused my "Hmmm" was the reminder in the article that these islands are among the last vestiges of French colonialism. The local language is French, they are defended by France, send representatives in the French National Assembly and Senate and use the Euro as currency.
There is some worry in the islands that Canada may dispute France's claim to some of these offshore oil and gas deposits and the islanders are concerned that they could be viewed by France as a commodity or bargaining chip and could possibly even see themselves becoming part of Canada itself.
