Quebec's got the bomb

The USA and the West in general are constantly concerned with countries getting "the bomb" and threatening them. Over more recent past this has included Libya, Iraq, Iran and North Korea.

The joke is simply that Quebec isn't likely to either develop their own nuclear weapon or indeed threaten anyone. Canadians in general are stereotyped in the USA as noticeably nicer than Americans.

The joke also plays on the fact that Quebec does have a separatist movement wanting to split the province from Canada. Quebec had an independence referendum two years previous to this episode being broadcast, which failed by only 1% (thanks F1Krazy).

The Simpsons episode isn't the first time a joke is made about a state or province that is part of a larger country getting atomic weapons.

The Tom Leher song "Who's Next" in his album "That Was the Year That Was", 1966, is about nuclear proliferation.

It includes the lines:

"we'll try to stay serene and calm / when Alabama gets the bomb."

I just checked out a performance on the internet, and those the lines, even though I remembered them as:

"I'll surely lose all my aplomb / when Alabama gets the bomb."

Just a day or so ago I happened to read something about that episode, "Homer to the Max". According to that, President Clinton was flirting with Marge to create a scandal that would fascinate the press so they would be too preoccupied with it to investigate or report that Clinton was plotting to invade Quebec.

If the writers or producers were steep in history, the reference is not without precedent.

The Front de Liberation du Quebec operated (mostly in Montreal) in the 60s, and its actions included several bombings, including the Montreal Stock Exchange in 1969. Moreover, although Canada has chosen not to develop nuclear weapons, Montreal was the initial site of the Canadian effort in the project Tube Alloy.