The quest for worthy anglophone leadership
Re: “Who is Marois going to call?” (Opinion, Sept. 12)
I agree with the Opinion piece by Reed Scowen. The anglo community needs a strong voice.
Unfortunately, over the past 40 years, many anglos felt discouraged and often discriminated against, and voted with their feet by packing up and leaving.
As result, there is a void in the natural leadership of the community. In the heady days of the 1950s and ’60s, when Montreal was booming, I and many of my young contemporaries were active in civic affairs and government. We felt we could make a difference, and in many cases, we did. Now I see apathy, cynicism, and worse, defeatism.
Anglos in Quebec should be proud of their unique and key contribution to building Quebec and Canada over 200 years. They should not sulk and growl. They should be ready to stick their heads above the parapet and be involved. Having lived abroad for 27 years and having returned three years ago, I appreciate how blessed we are to be Canadian.
The Gazette’s coverage will, I hope, provoke lively debate and encourage some worthy candidates to come forward.
It is time we rallied and made ourselves noticed. There must be some, especially younger, anglos out there willing to participate, to be heard and to be seen, to provide leadership, and to celebrate Quebec, but above all, to celebrate Canada. Andrew Powell
Westmount
Re: “Anglo leaders are long gone” (Aubin, Sept. 11)
Anglo leadership suffered a fatal blow by the withdrawal of federal funding a dozen years ago. Alliance Quebec had advocated forcefully on behalf of English-speaking Quebecers for many years and was a pillar of national unity. While AQ has withered away into the Quebec Community Groups Network, a smaller yet important group for the many rural anglo communities throughout Quebec, there still exist several outstanding and capable individuals who represent sizable English-speaking communities.
Côte St-Luc Mayor Anthony Housefather is a young, dynamic and outspoken rights advocate. As president of AQ, he acquired substantial knowledge of Quebec’s vast anglo communities. Westmount Mayor Peter Trent is an eloquent spokesperson and renowned civic leader. Michael Applebaum is one of the highest-ranking elected officials in the city of Montreal, representing the largest borough and most anglo-populated of districts. These are but three obvious top picks for Pauline Marois to meet with in order to open vital channels of communication.
If governments truly want to develop anglo leaders, they can inject funds to sustain their advocacy organizations.
What’s truly sad is that the Quebec elections demonstrated that there is no interest on the part of federal or prov- incial leaders in supporting Englishspeaking Quebecers. Glenn J. Nashen City Councillor
Cote St-Luc
It seems obvious that what is most needed at this juncture in our history is to, first and foremost, clarify who and what constitute our “anglophone community” in Quebec. I say this not only because it is a fundamental if not critical point of departure, but also because our apparent confusion as to our identity is widespread and somewhat alarming.
Reed Scowen wrote that there are anglo Quebecers and there are “Englishspeaking Quebecers.” The former consist, according to him, of 600,000 mother-tongue anglos, while the latter include well over 2.7 million individuals who simply use English for practical reasons.
Such a view essentially creates a pecking order. Emphasizing that there are two different types of anglophones in Quebec is not only divisive and elitist (in effect if not in intent), but a sure way of further fragmenting an already vulnerable community.
At this juncture, we don’t just need “leaders” for the sake of having a spokesperson whom Madame Marois “can call.”
Rather, what is more urgently needed are people who will help build and advocate for a strong English-speaking community that includes people from different backgrounds who, nevertheless, share a common language and much more.
As we better define who we are and build a more inclusive community, effective leaders will emerge. Dominic D’Abate
St-Leonard
Re: “Anglo leaders are long gone” (Aubin, Sept. 11)
I disagree with Henry Aubin’s assertion that anglo leaders are long gone.
There is someone who would be great for this position, and we don’t have to look too far. He is eloquent, articulate, intelligent, always outspoken and straightforward, a no-nonsense type of individual who always expresses what’s on his mind and makes no bones about it, with just a twinge of measured nastiness to “tell it like it is,” though sometimes, you get the impression that even then, he is still holding back. He is a champion for shining a light on antianglo rhetoric and biased attitudes, and always does everything he can to “set the record straight” where anglos are concerned.
I nominate The Gazette’s very own columnist Don Macpherson as the ideal candidate to represent the anglophone community in the future.
But I wonder, would he even consider the job? Maria Algeri
Pierrefonds