PERSPECTIVE AND HISTORY
OF QUEBEC NATIONALISM
PERSPECTIVE AND HISTORY
OF QUEBEC NATIONALISM
GET IN TOUCH WITH FRENCH CANADA'S PERSPECTIVE
In 1995, Geoffrey Simpson in a column in the Globe & Mail called the unity crisis the "world's most boring debate." Early in 1996, he retracted the statement. The perspective underlying his statement typifies English Canadian blindness to the viewpoint of French Canadians inside and outside Québec.
It is paramount that Canadians who wish Canada to continue as a country come to understand the different perspectives in the unity debate. It is easy for English Canadians to muster up an arsenal of reasons why Québec should not separate. But the threat imminently looms with us still. The more difficult task is to take a look at the other side of the debate.
The question has traditionally been: what does Quebec want? Too often the answers seem to decode into more powers for politicians in Québec. The constitutional deals of the past 15 years only serve to reinforce that notion. That answer, however, is incorrect.
The powers are only the end-game. What citizens concerned about Canadian unity must understand is what underlies the strategy of the separatists, for it is shared by a vast majority of French Canadians.
The real challenge -- and one that each English Canadian must meet -- is for English Canadians to understand clearly the perspective of French Canadians.
FACTORS UNDERLYING THE PERSPECTIVE
The perspective of French Canadians lies in two factors: 1) the French language and its preservation 2) the French Canadian culture and its protection
A minority in Canada and North America, French Canadians have always feared assimilation. It is a natural impulse, and it flavours many aspects of their society. The perspective, and the fear, manifests itself in a view of Canadian history that is distinctly different from that which English Canadians learn.
French Canadians inside Québec (not Québec itself) are a nation within Canada, plain and simple (see definition, words page). They speak a different language, and as a result, perceive the world differently from English Canadians. And they have always felt their culture is in danger of disappearing. So, the bottom line is protection of the language and culture of Québec.
IT'S ABOUT PROTECTION
If Canada does not protect the language and culture of Québec -- its "distinct society" -- then they will do it themselves.
That's it in a nutshell. Several endeavours, notably those of Prime Ministers Trudeau and Mulroney attempted to achieve the goal of protecting French in North America. Whatever the view of history will be on their efforts, right now one can say with certainty that they have not succeeded.
ENTER THE SEPARATISTS
Separatists have given up on the federal system -- and English Canada -- attempting to protect the French Canadian identity. They tell a very different history of Canada. While it can be objectively said that they take a novel approach to some of the events of the past, it is important to know their story, for in it lies the perspective mentioned above, and the impulse to be protected from assimilation. The events following 1976 immediately follow this history.
It is quite true that most separatists should get to know Canada better. In the meantime, let English Canada get to know Québec better, and head off this historical disaster before the separatists prevail.
A SEPARATIST HISTORY OF QUEBEC TO 1980
1. Nouvelle-France (1534 - 1763)
1534 Jacques Cartier lands in the Gaspé, and takes possession of the land for the French king Francis I
1608 founding of Québec by Samuel de Champlain
1634 founding of Trois-Rivières
1642 founding of Ville Marie, the future Montréal
1755 deportation of Acadians from Nova Scotia by the English Army.
1759 The Conquest: siege of Québec and defeat of French armies. Montcalm and Wolfe killed in battle on the Plains of Abraham, at the foot of the fortress of Québec
2. The English Régime (1763-1840)
1763 Signing of the Treaty of Paris. Nouvelle-France becomes the English colony of Canada. King George III, by royal proclamation, abolishes the free exercise of the Catholic religion and establishes English civil and criminal laws
1774 Québec Act. French civil law re-established, exercise of Catholicism allowed. This measure was passed because the English wanted to loosen its grip on Québec in order to better resist the American movement for independence (which was declared unilaterally by the Americans two years later)
1783 Anglo-American war ended. Many American loyalists settled in the Ontario region.
1791 Constitutional Act passed in England, dividing Canada into Lower Canada (population 150,000) and Upper Canada (population 10, 000), both with identical institutions -- a legislative assembly and Executive Council.
1792 parti canadien démocratique disregards the British parliamentary rules. The English Party applies to London to unite the provinces.
1806 censorship of newspaper Le Canadien. Its proprietors and editors thrown in prison.
1810-1812 second American military invasion of Canada
1837- 1838 Louis-Joseph Papineau, chief of the parti-patriote, fights for representative government based on popular sovereignty, and for the rights of Canadian nationalism in the face of the British governor. Instigates a rebellion in both provinces. Papineau exiled, 12 patriots hanged in Montréal
1839 Lord Durham’s Report on the state of Canada after the rebellion., He advises the assimilation of the francophones.
1840 Act of Union: English law unites the provinces into one colony. The Chamber is composed of the same number of representatives from Lower Canada (population 650, 000) and for Upper Canada (450,000). Debts are shared per capita across the province, even though Ontario’s were larger. English declared official language.
3. Birth of Canada (1840-1867)
1850-1862 impasse in united Canada. No government is sure of a stable majority.
1851 census indicates that for the first time francophones are less numerous than anglophones
1862 England withdraws troops from Canada
1867 British North America Act. Confederation, the Dominion of Canada. French has status of official language in the Parliaments of Ottawa and Québec, and before Federal and Québec courts.
4. First Years of Confederation
1869 Louis Riel, leading Métis (francophone) Indians, forms a provincial government in western Ontario. Riel flees to the US
1870 New Brunswick abolishes Catholic schools
1885 another Métis revolt. Riel hanged. Violence breaks out in Québec. Quebeckers are preoccupied with struggles for linguistic and educational rights of francophones living outside Québec.
1887 Québec Premier Mercier calls the first First Minister’s Conference in order to resist the centralising tendencies of Ottawa
1889 closing of French schools in Manitoba
5. Québec and the First World War (1910-1920)
1914 declaration of war. Canada offers troops to England. Québec protests: "If they want us to fight for England, we will reply ‘When we have our schools back!’"
1915 restriction of the use of French in Ontario
1917 conscription passed, whereby military service became obligatory
6. Canada on the International Scene (1920-1946)
- government favours massive investment in the Ontario industrial infrastructure and reduces Québec to a state of highly favoured pensioners
1931 Canada becomes independent on passing of Statute of Westminster
1934 Maurice Duplessis, leader of Union nationale, becomes Québec premier
1939-1944 Liberals in power during the Second World War. Take advantage of the war to partially nationalize the hydro-electric system and create Hydro-Québec
7. The Duplessis Reign (1946-1959)
1948 adoption of Québec flag
1949 entry of Newfoundland into the federation, after a referendum
8. The Quiet Revolution (1960-1967)
1960 June: Victory of provincial Liberal party -- then nationalistic -- in Québec. Slogan: "It’s time for a change." Jean Lesage, plunges into a policy of emancipation, under the name of the 'quiet revolution.'
1962 Nov: Québec returns Liberals to power, slogan: 'Masters in our own home.'
1963 March: First bombs by the Québec Liberation Front (FLQ)
1964 Feb: first international agreement signed in Paris by Québec, in the area of education; Oct: visit by the Queen. Police intervene and club separatist demonstrators.
1966 reformed Union nationale wins elections in Québec. Daniel Johnson, nationalist, becomes Premier, slogan 'Equality or Independence.'
1967 May: invited for the Montréal Expo, French President Charles de Gaulle ends a speech with his notorious "Vive le Québec libre!" He cancels his visit to Ottawa, following a protest from the Canadian government; Oct: René Lévesque leaves the Liberal party and founds the Sovereignty-Association Movement
9. Rise of the Parti Québécois
1968 creation of franco-Québec office for youth June: Prime Minister P.E. Trudeau faces rioting crowd on Saint-Jean Baptiste Day; Oct.: Creation of the PQ, which absorbs the small independentist movements; Nov: formation of Ministry of Immigration
1969 July: Increasing number of riots and bombs as politicians adopt an increasing number of anti- democratic measures vis-à-vis francophones; Oct. - Dec.: James Cross, head of the British Trade Commission in Montréal, and subsequently Pierre Laporte, Québec Minister of Labour and Manpower, kidnapped by the FLQ; Oct. 17. Trudeau invokes War Measures Act, imprisoning all those opposing federalist ideas. Pierre Laporte is found, assassinated. Cross is freed Dec. 3.
1973 Oct: Bourassa increases his majority as the Union nationale collapses. The PQ, with 6 seats, becomes the official opposition
1976 Nov 15: PQ wins election and forms Québec’s government
1980 Québec referendum announced, and lost -- only 40% vote oui.
November 15, 1976
Parti Québécois led by René Lévesque wins Québec provincial election, promises to hold a referendum on sovereignty-association.August 26, 1977
Bill 101 becomes Québec law. It restricts attendance at English-language schools and bans the use of any language other than French on commercial signs.May 22, 1979
Liberal Party led by Pierre Trudeau wins federal election.May 20, 1980
Québec referendum, federalists win with 60% of vote. René Lévesque adopts constitutional strategy known as the beau risque based on the idea that a political reconciliation with the rest of Canada is possible.April 13, 1981
Parti Québécois led by René Lévesque is re-elected in Québec provincial election.November 5, 1981
The federal government and nine of ten provincial premiers agree to a new constitution. Québec does not approve the deal.April 17, 1982
Constitution Act is proclaimed in Ottawa.September 4, 1984
Progressive Conservative Party led by Brian Mulroney wins federal election.January 20, 1985
At a Parti Québécois policy convention in Montréal, a majority of delegates vote not to fight the next provincial election on the issue of sovereignty. Dissident PQ hardliners walk out of the meeting in protest.June 20, 1985
René Lévesque announces his resignation as Québec premier and leader of the Parti Québécois. He is succeeded by Pierre-Marc Johnson.December 2, 1985
Liberal Party led by Robert Bourassa wins Québec provincial election.June 3, 1987
Meech Lake Accord is finalized by the federal government and ten provincial premiers.March 19, 1988
Jacques Parizeau becomes Parti Québécois leader.December 18, 1988
Québec government introduces Bill 178 after the Supreme Court of Canada rules that a section of the province's language law is unconstitutional. Québec invokes the notwithstanding clause to override the Supreme Court.November 21, 1988
Progressive Conservative Party led by Brian Mulroney is re-elected in federal election.September 25, 1989
Liberal Party led by Robert Bourassa is re-elected in Québec provincial election.May 21, 1990
Lucien Bouchard resigns from the federal cabinet and the Progressive Conservative party.June 22, 1990
Meech Lake Accord on constitutional reform fails to gain the necessary approvals in both the Manitoba and Newfoundland provincial legislatures.July - September 1990
Oka-Khanawake crisis in Québec, one Sûreté du Québec (provincial police) officer is killed. Road and bridge barricades come down after 78 days.July 25, 1990
Bloc Québécois is formed by a group of six Québec MPs who elect Lucien Bouchard as their leader.August 13, 1990
In federal by-election, Gilles Duceppe becomes the first MP to be elected as a member of the Bloc Québécois.January 29, 1991
Québec Liberal Party adopts the Allaire Report recommending greater autonomy for the province.March 27, 1991
Québec's Bélanger-Campeau Commission condemns the constitutional status quo as ‘unacceptable’.August 22, 1992
Ottawa, the provinces and Native representatives agree to a package of constitutional reforms known as the Charlottetown Accord.October 26, 1992
The Charlottetown Accord is rejected in a federal referendum. More than 54% vote against the deal. Only New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Ontario and the Northwest Territories approve it.October 25, 1993
Liberal Party led by Jean Chrétien wins federal election, Bloc Québécois becomes the Official Opposition.September 18, 1994
Parti Québécois led by Jacques Parizeau wins Québec provincial election, promises to hold a referendum on sovereignty.June 12, 1995
Jacques Parizeau, Lucien Bouchard and Action Démocratique leader Mario Dumont agree "to propose to Canada a treaty on a new economic and political partnership... "October 24, 1995
In their own referendum, Cree Indians in northern Québec vote 96% in favour of staying in Canada if Quebeckers vote yes on October 30th.October 26, 1995
In separate referendum, Inuit living in northern Québec vote 95% in favour of staying in Canada.October 30, 1995
Québec referendum, federalists win with 51% of vote. Jacques Parizeau blames the sovereignist defeat on "money and the ethnic vote" and declares that "we will have our country and we will get our revenge".October 31, 1996
Jacques Parizeau announces his resignation as Québec premier and PQ leader.January 29, 1996
Lucien Bouchard is officially sworn in as premier of Québec.Quebec's Curriculum on Canadian History follows the above reading of history.