The dark side of Quebec’s identity crisis

The killing and maiming of Muslim men in prayer in Quebec City Sunday night raises many questions. Some of those questions are extremely uncomfortable for Quebecers.

Over time, we will find out more about the motives of the alleged killer, Alexandre Bissonnette, but such tragedies do not occur in a vacuum.

Knowing why it happened is as important as finding out why the first deadly terrorist attack against Muslims by a non-Muslim in the West happened in Quebec.

My gut reaction to the news was “That’s not us!” I tweeted it. Replies from other commenters came fast and furious. “Oh yes, it is. Quebec is a racist society. Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are rampant.”

It’s sad that many Canadians genuinely believe this; I won’t even begin to try to change their minds here. Uniquely racist Quebec is an alternative fact. Even so, in the aftermath of this tragedy, not asking what role, if any, Quebec society played a role in this tragedy would be doing Quebecers a great disservice.

It may be too soon to start laying the cultural blame for this crime but already, politicians such as Parti Québécois leader Jean-François Lisée, have admitted that they may have gone too far in their criticism of Muslims in Quebec. Premier Couillard is asking for a change of tone. He’s right.

As a conservative columnist at war with religious extremism and political Islam in particular, I will keep myself in check. When denouncing Islamism, I always insist that my comments do not apply to Muslims as a people or to Islam as a faith.

I realized last Sunday that many readers don’t see the difference, some because they can’t. Others because they won’t. Media must take this into consideration. Some are blinded by racism and other by fear. Not so much fear of Muslims the quintessential fear that Quebecers have of disappearing as a nation.

Since 2005, when Muslims started becoming more visible on our city streets, Quebecers have been in the grip of an identity crisis, made worse by the acrimonious debate around “les accommodements raisonnables,” or “reasonable accommodations” requested by some conservative religious minorities, Muslims first and foremost, for things like prayer rooms in public spaces, separate pool hours for men and women, etc. Many Quebecers believed that the government, its hands tied by the Charter of Rights, granted religious minorities privileges at odds with western values and integration into Quebec society.

When Pauline Marois’ PQ took over from the Liberals in 2012, it launched its campaign for a charter of values, based on France’s version of extreme separation of church and state laws, where government employees are forbidden to wear any religious sign, hijab, kippa, turban or large crosses at work in the name of neutrality. The debate grew ugly. The parliamentary commission turned into a circus when a PQ minister allowed ignoramuses to make fun of Muslims because they pray on small rugs. The PQ lost the next election badly, but a majority of Quebecers were in favour of a watered-down version of the charter.

Identity issues, language protection and nationalism will never go away in Quebec. Separation is a dead issue at the moment but those debates work as an alternative to breaking up Canada and an antidote to multiculturalism, which is seen as a threat.

The Québécois will never accept that they are just another ethnic group in Canada. Even more so after Justin Trudeau declared that Canada is a post-national country without a core identity. As a French Canadian whose forebears came to North America hundreds of years ago, I wrote “speak for yourself.”

Like many, Alexandre Bissonnette shared that view, but it appears that in his case, with a vengeance.

But there is more to Quebec’s attitude to immigration and Muslims and Hasidic Jews.

One must understand the historical importance of Quebecers’ rejection of religion in the early ’60s, when the domination of francophone society by the Catholic Church came to an abrupt end. It is hard for those who lived through the Quiet Revolution to feel empathy with people from other lands who take their religion seriously. And let’s face it, in recent years, it has often been too easy to grow jaded about Islam. It’s not a nice thing to admit, but we’re only human. The news from around the world can’t help but harden our hearts, in Quebec or anywhere.

Some also say it is no coincidence that this happened in Quebec City, a closely knit conservative small town that never got used to being a big cosmopolitan city. Strangely, fancy Québec City likes Howard Stern-style, testosterone fuelled, rant-filled radio. Most of it is pretty innocuous these days but some celebrity hosts are obsessed with immigration.

These people, reflecting the political mood in Quebec City, federalist and right-leaning, do not support sovereignty. Which means that Alexandre Bissonnette, reportedly a separatist, probably did not listen to these stations. Nevertheless, they poisoned the atmosphere, and that impacts everyone.

Still, today, after this atrocious crime, we see encouraging signs. A lot of Quebecers are waking up to the fact that Muslims are people first, not standard-bearers for a religion some are uncomfortable with. People who are not opposed to Quebec and its unique culture, people who love living here, people who are already extending the hand of forgiveness.

They are part of us, and as such, they don’t want to disappear either.