Border

Alison’s father today celebrates his 65th birthday so in spite of the fact that today is Québec’s provincial holiday, and also the Grand Prix Formula One, we head to Ottawa.
Everytime we drive to Ottawa, just before we enter Ontario and are warned of the Ontario speeding fines, we pass this strange field. Both sides of the highway move here far apart from eachother, leaving this field in between them, There are a couple of sharp turns in the highway just before this point and I often wondered why they have built the road like this. Now is road building in Québec certainly not a skill that is very developed, but even for Québec standards this is quite odd.

Today, when we passed this spot for the umptied time, it finally dawned to me. The road is constructed this way in anticipation of Québec’s sovereignty!
It’s so obvious, yet so subtle: The day Québec is going to be a real country and not just a province in Canada, the field will be turned into the waiting lanes for the border crossing. And the turns beforehand are there to slow the cars down before they have to stop, show their passports and tell the border control guard what they are smuggling.
Even though in my opinion it will take a while before this field will be covered with asphalt, the promise of separation it still is a good way to attract votes in the elections.
But apparently the road designers were thinking this could happen any moment. And so they created a very subtle landmark celebrating the imminent liberation of Québec from the evil Canadian oppressors.