Organizing anglo leadership is easier said than done

In his Sept. 6 opinion piece in The Gazette (“Who can speak up for anglos?”), Jonathan Lang laments the absence of someone to speak out on behalf of Quebec anglophones in the aftermath of the election-night shooting death of Denis Blanchette and arrest in connection with it of Richard Henry Bain.

Lang’s concern over the need for an anglophone political voice is based on the false premise that some individual leader of an Englishlanguage organization must denounce the despicable killing so to provide comfort to Quebec francophones.

He contends that “Quebecers and people worldwide are looking to anglophones for a response to Tuesday’s shooting.” He even ominously warns that “the cost of silence is too high.”

In his highly questionable mental state, the shooter said that his actions reflected the “awakening” of Quebec anglophones. A denunciation on the part of some individual purporting to represent anglophones and/or their institutions risks giving credibility to the pathetic mutterings.

It would also imply that his action is somehow associated with the views of Quebec anglophones, and therefore that anglos should feel some degree of collective responsibility.

Anglophone leaders are most certainly not responsible for the acts of anglo- phone individuals. Should ethnic or religious leaders take responsibility for the acts of individuals of their own ethnicity or religion? Would a Roman Catholic leader in Quebec be responsible for a violent act committed by an unstable person purporting to do so in the name of Jesus?

Were the shooter associated with a specific community organization, this might indeed justify intervention on the part of some representative leadership. This does not appear to be the case. Therefore, statements from wider political or community leaders, such as the ones that were made by Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay or Premier-elect Pauline Marois, are perfectly appropriate in representing the views of all Montrealers and of all Quebecers, across all language and ethnic backgrounds.

Lang’s broader question is about the need for a powerful political voice to effectively reflect the values of Quebec anglophones. The Englishspeaking population, however, is regionally, ethnically and institutionally diverse, and therefore it is no simple task to articulate a shared set of values that are unique to the group.

Gazette columnist Henry Aubin (“Anglo leaders are long gone,” Sept. 11) takes up the leadership issue when waxing nostalgic about past anglophone leaders. He contends that growing individualism and consumerism have made community life less attractive, and insists that minority communities can’t afford a leadership void if they aim to stay robust.

However, one practical problem in trying to organize overarching anglophone community leadership is that local and regional organ- izations that provide services directly to anglophones, such as school boards and hospitals, often prefer representing their own issues to government rather than conferring this role to generic experts in advocacy.

In short, those offering the services directly insist they are best positioned to articulate their concerns. This is especially the case for Montreal’s English-language institutions, as opposed to those outside of Montreal, which are often happy to have external advocacy help.

A post-election Léger Marketing poll published in The Gazette revealed that some three in four Quebecers agree that Premier-elect Marois should meet as soon as possible with Quebec’s anglophone community.

Aubin legitimately wonders which leaders Marois might want to meet with, while Reed Scowen (“Who is Marois going to call?” Sept. 12) hints at the related question of which organization(s) can invite Marois to a meeting on behalf of the community.

Paradoxically, a good place for Marois to start engaging with anglophones might be with Aubin’s employer, The Gazette.

Rightly or wrongly, The Gazette, CJAD and other English-language media were the places where the leaders of the Quebec Liberal Party and the Coalition Avenir Québec went in their efforts during the election campaign to reach out to Quebec anglophones. Visits to English-language schools and health-care institutions can follow suit.

Marois doesn’t even need a formal invitation. By taking the first step, she can show some leadership of her own.