Francos aren’t ‘just another community’

PM’s comment, Ford’s cuts are collective slaps in the face

I’ve felt a cold, dry anger rise in me twice in the last month. I’m not prone to excessive emotion, but when politicians question who I am at my deepest core, I lose it. Yes, identity matters. I got mad at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement on the passing of former Quebec premier Bernard Landry. It was a good message except for one line: “After leaving politics, he (Landry) remained an active member of his community.” The original must have been written in English, and badly translated. The line puzzled many Québécois: “Après avoir quitté la scène politique, il est resté un membre actif de sa communauté.” I wrote a column in July explaining that “community,” as understood by the English-speaking world, does not have a direct equivalent in French. In Quebec, the word describes religious orders or ethnic, religious or cultural groups. The Greek community, the Sikh community, the Jewish community, etc. Often, it’s a misnomer. Sometimes, it’s a shortcut to intolerance. Being born in Greece or identifying as a Muslim does not guarantee a person will share character traits, opinions or interests with everyone else in that situation. Let’s be honest, when your ancestors were the first Europeans to open up the North American continent and settle it permanently, to be shrunk to a “community,” as a prime minister who should know better has done, is a slap in the face. Les Québécois, and the French Canadians outside Quebec, are a people. A nation. Not an ethnic community, whatever that is. And Landry never left politics. Most francophones believe that Trudeau père saw in multiculturalism an elegant way to rid Canada of those troublesome Québécois’ dreams of nationhood. Blend Quebec’s national aspirations with other ethnic minorities’ claims and you will end up with a post-national country that doesn’t have a core identity other than being diverse. Multiculturalism has taken hold so well that a mere mention of belonging to one of Canada’s two founding nations (three with First Nations, but I find that definition too narrow for them) can bring an accusation of racism. If you find that hard to believe, I can show you my mail. Last week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford abolished the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner, whose mandate and staff will be transferred to the general provincial ombudsman. Savings? About $3 million. How far will that go to repair the $15 billion hole in Ontario’s budget? Despite promises made during the campaign to proceed with a French-language university in Toronto, Ford also cancelled the project. Let’s not forget he downgraded the Ministry of Francophone Affairs to office of francophone affairs soon after his election. Is it me, or is there a pattern? A citizen, Véronique Mortimer, called the premier’s line to complain about the decision and asked Ford about his lack of empathy for the 600,000 Franco-Ontarians whose rights are protected by law. She told TFO (Ontario’s French-language public television station), that Ford responded, “there are 600,000 francophones in Ontario, but there are also 600,000 Chinese and 600,000 Italians.” So, it seems, in Canada’s most populous and richest province, the members of one of Canada’s founding nations are now considered “just another community.” It makes me mad. But it will not, however, inspire me to take it out on Quebec’s anglophones. Since Ford’s announcement, I was stunned to hear some prominent nationalists suggest that Quebec should cut funding to one of the three English-language universities in the province in retaliation, and to remind everyone that Quebec anglos are better off than francophones outside Quebec. Even if it’s true, two wrongs don’t make a right. And, more importantly, as far as I am concerned, the English community has been here for 250 years. Anglos are part of the “nous.” What francophones get, anglos get. Unlike Doug Ford, I can’t imagine it being any other way.