Premier bars Patriote flag from flying over National Assembly
‘Flag of our homeland is the Quebec flag, the flag of our country is Canadian flag’
The controversial Patriote flag will not be flying over the National Assembly this holiday weekend because it is too divisive and has been associated with violence, Premier Philippe Couillard says.
In an exchange in the legislature with Parti Québécois Leader Jean-François Lisée, Couillard said while the flag was the symbol for Quebecers of all origins pushing for responsible government in 1837-1838, it has been hijacked by the independence movement.
Today, it is too divisive a symbol, and he, for one, will stick with the Quebec flag. “The trouble is that for years, even decades, the independence movement has tried to milk this rebellion, giving it a separatist connotation, which was never the case,” Couillard said.
He said the history books show the rebellion was in fact a movement of people of all origins, speaking English and French, in favour of responsible and democratic government. Their goal was not to take Quebec out of Canada, then known as Lower Canada.
“I can tell you lots of people contacted us to say: ‘Don’t go in this direction,” Couillard said, answering Lisée’s request the flag be raised over the legislature Monday, known in Quebec as Journée nationale des patriotes and Victoria Day in the rest of the country.
“Unfortunately, it is a symbol that was, in one tragic moment of history, linked to violence, and this we are not going to repeat.”
But Lisée pressed, reminding Couillard that he wrote an essay in 2002 in which he said the Patriotes embodied the liberal values of inclusion and interculturalism, choosing a flag that featured green for the Irish, white for the French and red for the English.
In the essay, he said the flag represented the roots of the Liberal ideal.
“Why does the premier renounce the flag today when he said it was the founding flag of his own party?” Lisée asked.
Couillard was wary, noting the flag represents different things to different people, meaning there is no widespread support for it to be on display in such a significant location as the National Assembly.
The flag, in particular a version that features a soldier, has also became a favourite of hard-line separatists. It was used by the terrorist Front de liberation du Québec (FLQ) in the years 1960-1970.
Lisée, however, said people fly the Canadian and U.S. flags at times even if they disagree with some of the things they represent.
Later, at a news conference, Lisée described the situation as a “dark day for Quebec.”
“If we threw every flag being used by an extreme group in the garbage, I can tell you there would not be many flags flying on the planet,” Lisée said. “The premier has to make a choice, does he accept the history of Quebec, its symbols, its values or is he ashamed?”
Lisée didn’t mention it, but former PQ premier Pauline Marois never flew the Patriote flag at the legislature when she was in power. She also removed the Canadian flag for the red room of the legislature.
It was her predecessor, Bernard Landry, who officially changed the name of the May holiday to honour the Patriotes. For decades, it had been known as the Fête de Dollard. Landry never flew the Patriote flag, either. Couillard wanted nothing to do with Lisée’s idea.
“Mr. Speaker, the flag of our homeland is the Quebec flag, the flag of our country is the Canadian flag and for that we are very happy,” Couillard fired back.
Unfortunately, it is a symbol that was, in one tragic moment of history, linked to violence, and this we are not going to repeat.