‘Cocoon’ isn’t the right word

Re: “Feeling constrained in Quebec’s ‘cocoon’ society” (Opinion, Nov. 21)

Kudos to Clifford Lincoln for his intelligent, spot-on analysis of life in Quebec under the increasingly coercive and oppressive thumb of the Parti Québécois government. That this analysis comes from one of the only politicians in recent history who had the courage of his convictions and whose principles were never for sale to the highest bidder — or, in the case of too many of our politicians of all parties, the lowest common denominator — gives it greater validity.

I must take issue, however, with Lincoln’s use of the word “cocoon” to describe Quebec society. Cocoon is a warm and fuzzy term that implies envelopment, comfort and security. For anyone who does not share the political and cultural elite’s endless obsession with language, culture and narrowly defined “values,” Quebec is not a cocoon — it is a grey, drab, stifling prison.