CHAPTER 13
A new beginning
"They are us."[109]
-- Jacques Parizeau
Things are good for Quebec as a province of Canada. I
don’t understand why its people would want it to become independent.
If a majority of the Quebec population truly feel that Quebec is a nation then
they should have the boundaries of an independent nation to reflect that
reality.
Nations come into being because the diverse forces existing on a land find some
commonality of purpose and values in the forging of a union. Canadian
Confederation was such an example. The commonality of values contained in
Canada’s first constitution, the British North America Act, reflected the
national will at that time. And the nation has continued to grow and evolve from
those original values.
Today, however, many of those values are no longer shared by all Canadians from
coast to coast. Things have changed…irrevocably so. The two founding peoples
find themselves split on the values that are supposed to structure a nation.
A realignment is in order. Independence, I suggest, is a way to realign those
values so that each entity -- Quebec and what’s left of Canada -- can reflect
their unique values without interference from the other.
I have concluded that independence is the only way for those values to find a
balance that both Quebec and Canada are happy.
Countries come and countries go. Nations change and redefine themselves all the
time. A map of Africa from forty years ago is completely different from one
today. Even Canada’s boundaries have changed since 1949. Reasonable and
responsible people recognize that change and evolution is natural for any given
geographic territory and its peoples. Despite their strong attachment to Canada,
Quebec’s non-Francophones will eventually recognize that it is natural for
Quebec to become a nation.
It is futile to try and keep a nation within a political framework that does not
reflect its reality. Quebec within the context of Canada does not reflect the
reality of the Quebec nation. And it is equally futile to attempt to
artificially create, through culture laws such as Bill 101, the outward
manifestations of a nation.
Although he made the following observation in a different context, I believe
Pierre Trudeau’s words applies here:
Thucyddides wrote that Themistocles’ greatness lay in the fact that he realized Athens was not immortal. I think we have to realize that Canada is not immortal…[110]
How will the new Quebec come into being?
I propose that Quebec’s Francophones and non-Francophones, together, build the
new Quebec. A new beginning for all of us.
But the majority must enter into a new social contract with its linguistic
minority.
The old dynamics and relationships must fall away. New ones will have to take
their place; the new constitution for the new nation will serve as the basis for
a new dynamic between the parties.
I take it that one of these new “dynamics” will be the province of Quebec
West within an independent Quebec
Yes. Quebec West will be one of the cornerstones of the new beginning.
The new relationship between the francophone majority and its minorities can no
longer be the antagonistic and confrontational one that it has been in the past.
We will be equals in a new country in which, yes, the majority will rule but the
minority will have sovereignty over all matters which relate to its individual
rights and freedoms, its language, and its culture. And these guarantees will be
enshrined constitutionally.
Won’t Quebec City be ceding sovereignty by giving the non-Francophone
exclusive control of these matters in Quebec West?
Ceding control over these matters is not a loss of sovereignty because, as we
learned in the chapter entitled “Break the promise, break the deal,”
constitutional control over minorities’ rights, language and culture was
entrenched in the veto power in 1867 when Canada started. The fact that Ottawa
shirked on its responsibilities over the past 35 years and, by default, ceded
control to Quebec City only means a return to what was supposed to be.
What other dynamics will characterize the new arrangement?
A real, genuine protection of the French language and culture in Quebec. One
that neither employs a false sense of security through a Potemkin Village of
language laws nor violates minority and individual rights in order to accomplish
the goal.
The only legitimate way to protect the French language and culture in Quebec is
by the natural protection that the boundaries of an independent nation
automatically provide a nation and a people.
My use of the word “boundaries” is meant to include more than just the mere
geographic delineations of territory. All of those powers that currently fall
under federal jurisdiction -- communications, immigration, defense, trade and
commerce, etc. -- will serve to define the direction, culture, and aspirations
of the people in a new Quebec. Those powers currently under federal jurisdiction
will, once patriated to Quebec, also be used to express nationhood just as much
as the government of Quebec currently employs powers under provincial
jurisdiction. Taken together, they will serve as a mighty force for the
protection of a people, culture and nation. That’s what the other nations of the
world have at their disposal and that’s what the nation of Quebec shall have.
Three powers are required for true sovereignty. They are:
- Full control over all laws;
- The exclusive authority to collect all taxes; and
- The only authority to sign treaties with other nations.[111]
To the extent that any government or state apparatus can, it is these three
elements, not language laws, that will provide protection for the French
language and culture in Quebec.
Won’t it be worse for non-Francophone in an independent Quebec?
To suggest that things are going to be horrible for Anglophones in an
independent Quebec is to suggest that Quebecers are an intolerant people.
Besides being insulting, such a claim does not make sense.
First of all, it couldn’t be any worse for Quebec’s non-Francophones than it is
now living in a Quebec within Canada where rights and freedoms are neither
respected nor protected. We’ve seen how that’s worked out.
Secondly, with the exception of the 1989 general election in which 60-70% of
Anglophones voted for the Equality Party in all the ridings in which they
fielded candidates,[112] non-Francophones
have, for the past 40 years, been voting in massive numbers for a party that has
been shown to be equally, if not more, sovereignist than the PQ. The Liberal
Party of Quebec has also outdone the PQ when it comes to violating individual
and minority rights.
Things will not be more terrible for Anglophones once Quebec becomes
independent; they will be better. Much, much better.
Leon Dion observed[113]:
The more autonomy we have, the more security we’ll have, and the more open we’ll be to Anglophone rights.
…and…
Give us confidence, and we’ll be a lot more open toward you.
…and…
Anglophones should not think it would be the beginning of misery and suffering -- on the contrary, it could be better for them.
What do you suggest Anglophones do?
Join in and participate in the process. A new nation is being created; be a part
of the exciting time when your fellow citizens will be engaged in
nation-building. Become a founding father or mother of that new nation. Be there
when the debates and decisions are made regarding the make-up of the new
nation's constitution and our place in it.
What could be more exhilarating?
Won’t the transition to independence be costly?
Yes. There will be a price to pay during the transition to independence.
Benefits such as equalization and transfer payments to Quebec will cease.
Political uncertainty at least in the short term will manifest as economic
uncertainty. But at the end of the road, Quebecers will have their own country.
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