MYTHS & REALITIES
About Renewing Canada

Prepared by the Victoria Chapter of Dialogue Canada
with contributions from Dialogue Canada's national Internet discussion group.

Myth: Concerns about Canadian unity are all about Quebec.

Reality: Western alienation, aboriginal rights, the national deficit and debt, and the failure of political leaders to respond to citizens' concerns are all important parts of the need to redefine relationships between different groups of Canadians and their governments. In addition, public finances at the provincial and municipal levels, continuing high unemployment and the impact of free trade and globalization place major stresses on our country.

Myth: All Quebeckers are separatists.

Reality: About 75% of Quebeckers feel an affinity for Canada; only 25% see themselves as "Quebeckers only". Another 25% say they are "Quebeckers first, Canadians second"; 30% identify as "Quebeckers and Canadians and 20% as "Canadians only." Two-thirds of Quebeckers would rather have more power within Canada than separate. (CROP-Environics, March 26/96, G&M)

Myth: Quebec wants special status, at a high cost to other Canadians.

Reality: As 5 million people in a sea of 250 million English-speaking North Americans, Quebec first wants exclusive jurisdiction over its language, culture and training for employment and shared jurisdiction over immigration.

Direct control of education and employment training is especially important as Quebec moves towards the new, high-tech economy and away from dependence on natural resources.

The jurisdictions allocated to all the provinces, including Quebec, in Confederation have been eroded by the federal government, especially in the last 50 years. What Quebec wants is little more than what it signed for in 1867. Some other provinces want some of the same responsibilities which Quebec has led the fight to obtain. No great costs are involved.

Myth: The English language is under continuous attack in Quebec.

Reality: Anglophone Quebeckers constitute the largest official-language minority anywhere in Canada. They administer their own schools, universities, hospitals and many social services. They can use English in most dealings with the provincial government, speak English in the Quebec legislature and have trials conducted in English. They have equal or better access to television, radio and other cultural institutions in their own language (bookstores, cinemas, etc.) than francophones outside Quebec. While there is still widespread resentment amongst Quebec anglos about some aspects of Quebec language legislation (signage, immigrant access to English schools), most Quebeckers, whether anglophone or francophone, appear weary of the language debates and want to move on to other things. There are no indications that the Quebec government would get popular support to re-open the debate and attack access to the English language, even if it wanted to. (Contributed by a Montrealer who grew up in both languages and cultures.)

Myth: All provinces should be treated the same; all are equal.

Reality: Each province, some of which were former colonies and other new lands, joined Confederation under different terms - B.C. demanded a railway; P.E.I. bargained for a ferry service; Newfoundland wanted church-related schools. The 1867 agreement was between two founding peoples, two societies, two nations, English-speaking and French-speaking. Special provisions were negotiated for the Quebeckers to have protection for the French language and culture, the Napoleonic legal system and Protestant schools. Since then, millions of immigrants from around the world have enriched our country. Many of the initial arrangements were adjusted later. e.g. Manitoba gained control of its natural resources around 1930. Equality refers only to legislative powers; beyond this it becomes a communications straitjacket. Canada has tried to provide equivalence and equity.

Myth: The Charlottetown Agreement was too generous.

Reality: The main elements in the Agreement were:

• The Canada Clause which recognized the rights of aboriginal peoples to their languages, culture and self-government. It recognized that Quebec is different because of its French language and culture and legal system and may preserve and promote these. It expressed commitment to our official languages, minority language groups, racial and ethnic equality, individual rights and freedoms and provincial equality.

• The Social and Economic Union which committed governments to national standards for medicare, social services, education, workers' rights, environmental protection, the free movement of people, goods, services and capital, the goal of full employment and a good standard of living. " Canadian Common Market to reduce interprovincial trade barriers.

• Regional Development and Equalization

• Parliamentary Reform to revitalize the Senate and reform the House of Commons.

• Justice for Aboriginal Peoples.

• Reducing Government Duplication.

Looking back at the Charlottetown Agreement from our present situation of national disarray, many Canadians now feel it was a mistake to reject it. The No vote was more a rejection of elite leadership than the substance of the proposal.

Myth: Canada doesn't need Quebec.

Reality: How will Canada function if there is a large and resentful independent Quebec, with four Atlantic provinces to the east and the remaining five provinces to the west? Quebec will have the benefit of all the federal institutions built there; no international law will compel it to pay for its share of the national debt. The Canadian dollar may well be worth 50c. Canada as we know it would not exist. (Taken from a speech by Dr. Desmond Morton, "Can we keep Canada together" in Victoria, B.C., April 23, 1996.)

Myth: Most Canadians don't want Quebec to remain in Canada.

Reality: In the recent poll cited above, 80% of people across the country agree that Quebec is an essential component of our Canadian identity. We are a society founded by two nations of two different ethnic origins and we have lived together for a long time "If Canada crumbles, I crumble, because I'm a Canadian. That's who I am", said one Vancouver resident who went to Montreal last October 27th.

Many from across Canada have travelled Quebec and have warm feelings about its traditional values, the Gatineau Hills, old Montreal, the Gaspe, not to mention the great food and brilliant artists.

And we need to recognize some history. The French were the first Europeans to settle continuously in what later became Canada. New France thrived from 1534 until 1763 when it became part of British North America. French coureurs-de-bois developed the fur trade and explored the Rockies, leading the way for English traders and settlers. They fought off the American invasion in 1776 and 1812 alongside English settlers and native warriors.

Laurier, St. Laurent and other French Canadian leaders created the Canada we enjoy today; they have paid their dues.

Myth: The prime minister, the premiers, the constitutional experts and/or the political columnists will provide the solution to the unity crisis.

Reality: These people have so many vested interests and blind spots and so much hardened cynicism that they defeat themselves. They are the chattering class, deafened by their own noise. Thoughtful and concerned Canadians, meeting with open minds through the Internet and in small groups across the country can identify and assemble the components needed to renew Canada. None of us is as smart as all of us. In March, 25 strangers from across the country met for 72 hours at the Millcroft Inn near Toronto, via the CBC, and came up with an impressive statement. There is good reason for hope.

Myth: First Nations are claiming too much.

Reality: Our treatment of our First Nations people is a national disgrace - depriving them of the dignity of self-government, taking away the land base necessary for them to be self-sufficient and imposing the toll of residential schools. Their rights to self-government and a reasonable land base must be restored for justice to be done. In B.C. this means negotiating treaties which are more than a century overdue; in the rest of Canada, it means honouring treaties, revising them where needed and recognizing their native forms of government.