Quebec nationalism

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Quebec nationalism is the subject of many international studies together with the contemporary nationalism of Scotland, Catalonia and other non-sovereign regions of the world. This article aims at presenting an historical overview of the evolution of Quebec nationalism from its origins until now.

1 Canadien liberal nationalism
2 Ultramontane nationalism
3 Contemporary Quebec nationalism
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Canadien liberal nationalism

(1800s - 1880s)

The emergence of a French Canadian (Canadien) nationalism coincides with the birth of many nation-states at the time of the Early Modern revolutions, which began with the independence of the Thirteen British American colonies.

From 1776 to the late 1830s the world witnessed the creation of many new national states with the birth of the United States of America, the French Republic, Haiti, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Belgium, Greece and others. Often accomplished militarily, these national liberations occurred in the context of complex ideological and political struggles pitting European metropolis against their respective colonies, monarchists against republicans. These battles succeeded in creating independent republican states in some regions of the world, but they failed in other places, such as Ireland, Upper Canada, Lower Canada, and Germany.

There is no consensus on the exact time of the birth of a national consciousness in French Canada. Some historians defend the thesis that it existed before the 1800s, because the Canadiens saw themselves as a people culturally distinct from the French even in the time of New France. The cultural tensions were indeed palpable between the governor of New France, the Canadian-born Pierre de Vaudreuil and the General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, a Frenchman, during the French and Indian War. However, the use of the expression la nation canadienne (the Canadian nation) by French Canadians is a reality of the 1800s as far as we know from historical records. The idea of a nation canadienne was supported by the liberal or professional class in Lower Canada: lawyers, notaries, librarians, accountants, doctors, journalists, and architects.

A political movement for the independence of the Canadien people slowly took form following the enactment of the Constitutional Act of 1791. The Act of the British Parliament created two colonies, Lower Canada and Upper Canada, each of which had its own political institutions. In Lower Canada, the French-speaking and Catholic Canadiens held the majority in the elected house of representatives, but were either a small minority or simply not represented in the appointed legislative and executive councils, both appointed by the Governor, representing the British Crown in the colony. Most of the members of the legislative council and the executive council were part of the British ruling class, composed of wealthy merchants, judges, military men, etc., supportive of the Tory party. From early 1800 to 1837, the government and the elected assembly were at odds on virtually every issue.

Under the Leadership of Speaker Louis-Joseph Papineau, the Parti canadien (renamed Parti patriote in 1826) initiated a movement of reform of the political institutions of Lower Canada. The party's constitutional policy, summed up in the Ninety-Two Resolutions of 1834, called for the election of the legislative and executive councils.

The movement of reform gathered the support of the majority of the representatives of the people among Francophones but also among liberal Anglophones. A number of the prominent characters in the reformist movement were of British origin, for example John Neilson, Wolfred Nelson, Robert Nelson and Thomas Storrow Brown or of Irish extraction, Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan, Daniel Tracey and Jocquelin Waller.

Two currents existed within the reformists of the Parti canadien: a moderate wing, whose members were fond of British institutions and wished for Lower Canada to have a government more accountable to the elective house's representative and a more radical wing whose attachment to British institutions was rather conditional to this proving to be as good as to those of the neighbouring American republics.

The formal rejection of all 92 resolutions by the Parliament of Great Britain in 1837 lead to a radicalization of the patriotic movement's actions. Louis-Joseph Papineau took the leadership of a new strategy which included the boycott of all British imports. During the summer, many popular gatherings (assemblées populaires) were organized to protest against the policy of Great Britain in Lower Canada. In November, Governor Archiblad Acheson ordered the arrest of 26 leaders of the patriote movement, of which Louis-Joseph Papineau and many other reformists members of parliament. An armed conflict ensued. See the Lower Canada Rebellion.

Following the repression of the insurrectionist movement of 1838, many of the most revolutionary nationalist and democratic ideas of the Parti patriote were discredited.

[edit] Ultramontane nationalism

(1840s to 1950s)

Although it was still defended and promoted up until the beginning of the 20th century, the French-Canadian liberal nationalism born out of the American and French revolutions began to decline in the 1840s, gradually being replaced by both a more moderate liberal nationalism and the ultramontanism of the powerful Catholic clergy as epitomized by Lionel Groulx.

The rise of a Catholic nationalism, which was pervasive throughout Quebec society until fairly recently, according to its opponents marked a century of religious obscurantism. The censorship of essentially all of the Enlightenment, liberal, scientific and romantic ideas and literature of France, the United States and Britain severely affected what is seen today as the normal social and economic development of Quebec.

In opposition with the other nationalists, Ultramontanes rejected the idea that the people is sovereign and that state and church should be absolutely separated. They accepted the authority of the British crown in Canada, defended its legitimacy, and preached obedience to the British ruler. For ultramontanes, the faith of Franco-Canadians was to survive by defending their Roman Catholic religion and the French language.

[edit] Contemporary Quebec nationalism

Main article: History of the Quebec sovereignist movement.

Understanding contemporary Quebec nationalism is difficult considering the ongoing debates on the political status of the province. No political option (outright independence, sovereignty-association, constitutional reforms, or signing on to the present Canadian constitution) has achieved decisive majority support and contradictions remain within the Quebec polity.

One debated subject that has often made the news is whether contemporary Quebec nationalism is still "ethnic" or if it is really "territorial" as is Canadian, American, or French nationalism.

The notion of "territorial nationalism" (promoted by all Quebec premiers since Jean Lesage) gathers the support of the majority of the sovereignists and essentially all Quebec federalist nationalists. Interesting debates on the nature of Quebec's nationalism are currently going on and various intellectuals from Quebec or other parts of Canada have published works on the subject, notably Will Kymlicka, professor of philosophy at Carleton University and Charles Blattberg and Michel Seymour, both professors at the Université de Montréal.

People who believe that Quebec nationalism is still ethnic, have often expressed their opinion that the worldview of Quebec's nationalists is insular and parochial and concerned with preserving a "pure laine" population of white francophones within the province. These accusations were always vigorously denounced by Quebec nationalists of all sides and were generally considered as unrepresentative of the intellectual movements in favour of a wider independence for Quebec.

There is little doubt, at least, that the post-1950s era witnessed a remarkable awakening of Quebecers' self-identity. The rural, conservative and Catholic Province of Quebec of the 19th and early 20th centuries has given way to a confident, cosmopolitan society that has many of the attributes of a modern nation. Regardless of their political leanings, Quebecers have come to see themselves as a unique people with a culture worth preserving.

English Canadian nationalism is undergoing a similar cosmopolitan change with increased cultural confidence, and convergence between "Canadian" and "Quebecois" nationalism remains possible.