Lisée has been refreshingly unorthodox for a péquiste
As minister responsible for anglo relations, JeanFrançois Lisée can’t seem to catch a break. He’s been ridiculed, accused of undermining Quebec’s interests and not keeping his word. And that’s just from the French side. From the English side, he’s been called a hypocrite, irrelevant and a wolf in sheep’s clothing. But into this froth of nay saying I’d like to add a splash of yea saying: Lisée has been refreshingly unorthodox for a péquiste, or, for that matter, a cabinet minister of a major Quebec provincial party.
I just don’t expect the impossible. Lisée is still a Quebec sovereignist, and one who is not about to begin petitioning for bigger English lettering on store signs. But his outreach is nonetheless a remarkable deviation in PQ anglo policy. I doubt many expected it would go beyond token fakery. This was, after all, the same man who helped concoct the L’actualité poll last spring that helped re-ignite franco-anglo friction. It’s also hard to fathom a PQ cab- inet minister looking to make anglos feel wanted.
Since becoming minister of Quebec anglos, Lisée has been doing the anglo rounds in the name of cultural harmony, touting a vision of an inclusive Quebec built on reciprocal empathy. In interviews, speeches and articles, his message has been unwavering: anglos are fullfledged Quebecers, and a vital component of Quebec’s character and history. He went so far as to help sponsor a bilingual video in support of franco-anglo solidarity. Coming from a PQ cabinet minister, this is no idle stuff.
In my wackiest delusions I can’t imagine such displays of anglo goodwill from a PQ led by Jacques Parizeau or Bernard Landry, or from French-language enforcers Mario Beaulieu and Pierre Curzi, men whose utopian vision of Quebec society makes no pretence of including people like me — i.e., impure laine. In their heavy hands, French becomes a blunt instrument that makes me search for safety.
Anytime the PQ starts tightening the screws on English, anglos’ nerves get rattled. But I also like to think that recent PQ waffling on anglo-centric services — the 50-per-cent municipal bilingual barrier, for example, or the Lachine Hospital — has been partly due to Lisée’s in- fluence. Or is it just fortuitous timing that immediately after Lisée’s public, and controversial, announcement that STM employees could speak English in anglo-dense areas, the STM is suddenly reviewing its language policy? It’s hard to tell. And that’s the thing with Lisée. His friendly overture to anglos is so contrary to what we’ve come to expect from the PQ, none of us seem sure what to make of it.
Even Marois seems a bit baffled by Lisée’s modern model of Péquissing, saying: “He (Lisée) is doing it in a different way than we’re used to. People should be happy our political party is being a bit original.”
In his public comments, both in French or English, Lisée hasn’t had a bad word to say about anglos. He has been respectful, tactful and sensible. He doesn’t lay blame or disparage. He even seems to have a soft spot for English, speaking and writing it frequently, showing you can love your own language without hating the other. Whatever his political convictions, Lisée has been the perfect diplomat.
In the Sept. 4 general election, democracy spoke and Quebec ended up with the PQ government that we have now. But whatever anyone might think of Lisée the péquiste, it needs to be acknowledged and pointed out that Lisée made it okay again for a major Quebec political party to recognize and reach out to the anglo community. In that regard, Jean Charest’s Liberals, for the nine years they held power, came up glaringly short.
To a crowd of PQ delegates, Lisée dared proclaim: “Anglos are here to stay. They are not the enemy.” Out of the mouth of a separatist. Who would have thought?