Don't Bogart that joint, mon ami .....

Now it’s all starting to make sense. A few days ago, I posted an item related to Quebec’s productivity gap with the rest of Canada. In it I quoted a newspaper article by a Quebec-based writer who talked about the economic impacts arising from the fact that the average Quebecer works fewer hours and has more vacation days than most Canadians, but the writer didn’t go into much detail about why that should be.

Today it all becomes clear. According to an article in the Montreal Gazette, “marijuana use in Quebec is running 12 per cent higher than the national average”. This gives Quebec the dubious honor of being first among industrialized nations in marijuana use. No wonder their productivity is lagging.

Perhaps Jim Flaherty should send some munchies along with those fat equalization checks.