Anglos must deal with no seat in Legault cabinet

The easy thing to say would be “les absents ont toujours tort” when explaining why there is no anglophone minister in the new Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government.

After all, the cluster of densely anglo ridings on the island of Montreal did not have the good sense to elect at least one of their own to the government side. Indeed, the CAQ managed to elect only two MNAS on the entire island, one of whom, Chantal Rouleau, a former east-end borough mayor, made it into cabinet, as junior transport minister and minister responsible for the entire grande metropôle. (She took her oath in English and French).

Premier François Legault has assigned himself the role of minister responsible for relations with English-speaking Quebecers. This could mean many things, but to pick a nit, it’s unlikely the impact on anglophones of a given policy discussed at the cabinet table would be foremost on the premier’s mind.

On the sunny side, it could be a sincere gesture on Legault’s part that he truly cares about Quebec’s constitutionally protected minority, much as it was a big dose of goodwill and a bit of a risk for him to agree to a televised debate in English.

The premier surely has his mind on the long game as he shapes his ideologically amorphous party into a durable force. Legault knows anglos are still suspicious of him and his sovereignist past, but a harvest of Montreal seats may be there for the wooing four years hence.

Laval-area MNA Christopher Skeete is the premier’s parliamentary secretary for relations with the English-speaking community and responsible for the secretariat set up by the Liberals. Although confessing to not being a self-identifying anglo, he certain talks the talk. He’s a smooth communicator, which will serve him well as the CAQ government moves forward on anglo hot button issues like abolishing elected school boards.

Still, the absence of a genuine English-speaker in the cabinet of a nominally federalist Quebec party will take some getting used to for Quebec’s sensitive anglos. Except for Parti Québecois governments when, for obvious reasons, there were no anglos in cabinet, Englishspeakers have been adequately, if not proportionally, represented in the inner circle of Quebec’s governments over the yea

Under Philippe Couillard, there were three ministers at one time, while Jean Charest, half anglo himself, had four at peak. Robert Bourassa had four in his second government (1985-94), but three of them resigned in the fall of 1988 to protest Bill 178, the sign law. Which goes to show, having a bunch of “blokes” around the table is not a foolproof safeguard against the erosion of rights.

It’s been some time since an anglo has held a major portfolio in a Quebec cabinet. The last anglo finance minister was James Arthur Mathewson, who served from 1936-39. He was the last in a string of English-speaking finance ministers, with names like Duffy, Scott, Mcmaster, Hall and Robertson, dating back to 1867. Even Maurice Duplessis had an English finance minister, then known as treasurer, Martin Fisher. It was the thing to do, apparently, when the English dominated Quebec’s business class.

The one and only Quebec health minister of English descent was the maverick Eric Kierans who served in the portfolio under Liberal premier Jean Lesage in 1965. (He would go on to be a minister in Pierre Trudeau’s federal government in 1968).

If we insist on nominating an anglophone minister in recent history with the highest profile and most serious responsibilities, a leading contender would be the recently departed John Ciaccia. He’s remembered most for when, as native affairs minister, he settled the explosive 1990 Oka Crisis, the deadly showdown between authorities and Mohawk militants.

These are relatively serene times in terms of language relations in the

Tprovince, notwithstanding … whoops, regardless of strong feelings over religious symbols, values tests and school board

The prerogative now is for Quebec’s English-speaking community to develop relations with a regime with which it has few natural connections, but holds the power to advance or set back causes crucial to the community going forward. his last week when my husband and I were in the Barnston West area I decided to take a walk down to the Tomifobia river with our dog. I had often done this walk and could generally be back in a half hour or so . This time was really different. Though the weather was fine, I soon became disoriented because there were so many cedars down after a recent wind storm. Not only that, my cell phone was nearly dead and it was impossible to hear what my husband was saying on his cell phone, so I texted "I am lost." Please sound the horn on the car so I can find my way back by following the sound."

The trouble was that this sound quickly dissipated in the swampy dense cedar forest. I heard nothing. It was also impossible for me to see anything but cedars and more cedars. Hoping to find a way out I walked in the direction of the sunlight. Finally I did end up on a farm a good 4 kilometers away from where my husband was. He had called some friends, Rod and Doug who walked down to the river, could not see me at all and suggested that he call 911.

That was a excellent move.the dispatcher contacted Sergeant Cote who was able to triangulate where I was by locating the signal on my cell phone. Within a few minutes Sergeant Boudreault connected with Mr. Robert Murphy, the farmer, and was able to find me and drive me and our small dog back to our place.

I want to congratulate the team of the local Surete de Quebec on their efficient and kindly work.

Chapeaux Messieurs! Many thanks for your good work.

Happily my adventure ended back at our place.

SINCERELY, MARIE BENVENISTE.

The Record welcomes your letters to the editor. Please limit your letters to 300 words. We reserve the right to edit for length, clarity, legality and taste. Please ensure there is a phone number or email where you can be reached, to confirm authorship and current town/city of residence. Names will not be withheld but the address and phone number of the writer are not published, except by request.

Preference is given to writers from the Eastern Townships.