Quebec and rest of Canada are ignoring each other
Following the tabling of Bill 96 reforming the Quebec government’s language policy, some commentators in English Canada were indignant. And, falling back into their old rut, Quebec commentators were outraged by the outrage of their English-speaking counterparts.
In doing so, they focused all their attention on the trees, missing the forest. For what is most striking when reading the major national newspapers is that there is so little interest in Bill 96. Another bill, federal Bill C-10 on web regulation, is getting as much — if not more — comment from opinion leaders.
If one had to summarize the attitude of English-Canadian opinion leaders, I would say it consists of a big shrug. English-Canadians are so tired of hearing Quebec complain! At the time of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords, they reacted by speaking out energetically against the proposed changes.
Today, when Quebec claims to be inserting into a constitution it rejects concepts that the rest of the country has always opposed, English Canada merely sighs.
Although Quebecers are not aware of it, there was once a great openness to French-Canadians in English Canada, at least among the intelligentsia. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was finally realized that they had been treated unfairly because of the language they spoke and that it was time for reparations. Unfortunately, the dream of constitutional reconciliation was never achieved. Rather than entering Canada on a level-playing field, Quebec began to move away from it in slow steps.
One morning, Quebecers and Canadians will wake up so far apart that they can only see the obvious
In 2006, when then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper decided, without consulting his MPs, to recognize Quebecers as a nation, the move was met with widespread indifference. In Canada, people almost didn’t care. In Quebec, we accepted this as part of our “spoils,” without gratitude.
The end of a dream
Seventy-five years ago, the great writer Hugh MacLennan popularized the idea of “two solitudes,” of the two founding nations that lived side by side without knowing each other. Despite the Herculean efforts of a few leaders, the two solitudes still hardly know each other today.
French-speaking Quebecers have taken their rightful place at the head of a modern and prosperous Quebec. They did so without worrying for a second about what was happening elsewhere in the country, except when a law, a regulation or a federal policy got in the way. Then it was time for a unanimous motion in the National Assembly of Quebec!
The two founding nations of the federation are drifting apart and ignoring each other. George-Étienne Cartier’s dream of a “political nation” is further away than ever. From two solitudes, we have moved on to two indifferences.
Sovereignists will always be able to draw up a long list of federal nuisances, but the reality is that the Quebec government can do whatever it wants in just about any area. We have now learned it can even unilaterally amend the Constitution and impose Bill 101 on businesses under federal jurisdiction. And the prime minister of Canada confirms his powerlessness, if not his agreement.
Indigenous people have long since supplanted French-Canadians at the heart of the guilt complex of the rest of Canada’s political and intellectual classes. The initiatives and billions of dollars are countless in Canada’s effort to achieve reconciliation, but it eludes us — just as attempts to unite Quebec and the rest of the country in a common project have failed. The wounds are too deep; the misunderstandings are too great.
What does this mutual indifference mean for Canada? The federation will survive for a long time, simply because it is such a convenient country. But the national feeling that usually unites people will continue to be lacking. Reciprocal apathy will continue to grow.
One morning, Quebecers and Canadians will wake up so far apart that they can only see the obvious. Quebec will have effectively become a separate country.