Anti-Quebec sentiment

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Anti-Quebec sentiment is opposition or hostility toward the government, culture, or people of Quebec, that is French-Canadians, English-Canadians and people from other origins.

The term Quebec bashing is used in the French-language media^[1] to refer to what is perceived and depicted by Quebec nationalists as defamatory anti-Quebec coverage, in the English-language media, of French-Canadians and French-Canadian society inside Quebec.^{[citation needed]} The term is most widely used within Quebec, especially in the French-language media where this English-language phrase has been adopted.^{[citation needed]} Examples are found in the English-language media, but occasionally in coverage from other countries, often based on Canadian sources.^[2] These examples can range from hostile racism to minor slights or legitimate criticism.^{[citation needed]}

There is a perception among the French language media in Quebec that an unfavourable depiction of Quebec by the media became especially prevalent in the years following the 1995 Quebec referendum on Quebec independence,^[3][4] although there is no study or statistical evidence provided to back this assertion.

The scope or the level at which it represents an opinion held in English Canada is challenged by moderate federalist elements in the French-speaking media, has been debated;^[5] the majority of examples given below are from marginal figures in English Canada,^{[citation needed]} and have received far more notice within French Canadian society than without.

Contents 1 Themes 2 Examples 2.1 Jean-François Lisée and Robert Guy Scully 2.2 Esther Delisle 2.3 Mordecai Richler 2.4 Don Cherry 2.5 Richard Lafferty 2.6 The appointment of David Levine 2.7 Diane Francis 2.8 Lawrence Martin 2.9 Des bouts de chiffon rouge 2.10 Kristian Gravenor 2.11 Barbara Kay 3 First Nations issues 4 Context 5 Response 6 Debate 7 Other depictions 8 Further reading 8.1 In English 8.2 In French 9 References 10 See also

[edit] Themes

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One themes of criticism of Quebec is the attribution to Québécois of racism and of discrimination against Anglo-Quebecers, aboriginals and other minorities. The expression "pure laine" ("pure wool"), used to denote old-stock Quebecers, has often been cited as a manifestation of discriminatory attitudes.^{[citation needed]} It has been portrayed as a common contemporary way of seeing race in Quebec, while counter-critics deem the term obsolete.^[6][7]

Given the history of Québec and the struggle of the francophones to protect their culture, the insularity which historically exists should not be surprising (see any history book for reference). While examples of anti-'French'(i.e. francophone sentiment exist), especially outside of Québec, the same anti 'English' sentiment (i.e. 'les maudits anglais') exists in Québec.

The term 'Québexico' has recently been used informally to compare Québec to Mexico (see 'bannana republic' theme.

Monsieur Pierre Falardeau, in his (now classic) film Elvis Gratton, delivered a humorous parody of Québec culture and American envy which was indeed a scathing parody of current Québecois. At the end of the film credits, a caption states 'peuple a genou, levez vous debout' (people on your knees, rise up!'. This reflects his desire for the Québecois to rise and form a nation.

While Québec is indeed part of Canada, the quebecois to form a 'nation' in the sense of a 'distinct society'. This battle has been won, whatever constitutional or political changes occur in the future.

What is problematic to allphones, and other non'purelaine' groups, as recently evidenced by the Bouchard-Campeau hearings on 'accomdation raisonnable' reasonable accommodations, is the persistence of a xenophobic anti immigrant sentiment (as evidenced by the content of these hearings, texts availble via the Bouchard Campeau commission or its report).

Another challenge is the unbalanced composition of the Québec public service. While some efforts have been made to increase the percentage of minorities (i.e. Montreal Police Force), the public service of Québec (SAAQ, MSSS, etc) is largely white and francophone.

To be totally frank, separatism is doomed to fail.

primero: Hard-core separatists are rare.

secondly:Most Separatists are like teenagers who threaten to leave home but do not want to lose any comfort.

thirdly: If a yes vote won, the Mohawks and the West Island and perhaps the Townships would immediatley separate from Québec.

Ultimately, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms will prevail in Québec. Violations of the charter are commonplace, however eventually the charter will be applied, much to the dismay of any racist xenophobes, of whatever political or ethnic classification in the belle province.

Finally, the phrase 'je me souviens' has more of a federalist military origin than a separatist one.

The richness of Québec is linked to its multiculturalism and the protection of the French language. Political extremism undermines the quality of life in Québec.

Controversy has arisen over attempts to criticize, or to discredit and denigrate, members of the Québécois political elite.^{[citation needed]}Among pro-independence leaders, while René Lévesque has sometimes been spared (but not always, notably not by Mordecai Richler , who expressed guarded admiration for the man but also strongly criticized him)^{[citation needed]}, Lucien Bouchard and Jacques Parizeau are strongly calumnied^{[citation needed]}. Some writers have described members of this elite as criminals^[8] and compared to people such as Pol Pot^[9] or the Devil.^[10][11] (one source, same as usual???) The administration of the Government of Quebec itself has been described as corrupt, sometimes with the derogatory term of "banana republic".^[12] They have portrayed the Quebec nationalist and independence movements, and the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101) in a highly unfavourable light.^{[citation needed]} The body that enforces the Charter, the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF), has often been called the "language police" and been criticized for enforcing sign laws requiring that French wording dominate English and other languages on commercial signs. English-speaking Quebecers vastly oppose these sign laws.^[13] The public servants of the OQLF have sometimes been compared to the Gestapo or "brown shirts",^[14][1] although these claims are generally recognized as exaggerations (in fact, many regions of the world have language-protection laws, even if they do not have any enforcement agencies equivalent to the OQLF).

According to a Léger Marketing survey of January 2007, 86% of Quebecers of ethnic origins (other than English or French) have a good opinion of the ethnically French majority, often called "Québécois pure-laine" or "Québécois de souche" [2].

Some apparently unrelated topics^{[citation needed]} have been linked to the nationalist and independence movements and the language laws, such as the departure of the Expos baseball club from Montreal,^[15] and suicide rates in Quebec.^[16][17] However, most of them remain opinions.^{[citation needed]}

Some criticism of Quebec society has emphasized the supposed superiority of English-Canadian or Anglo-Saxon conceptions of democracy, individual liberty and multiculturalism, as well as the English Canadian tolerance of dissent (sometimes stigmatized as "treason"), claiming that "only in Canada" could such things be tolerated.^{[citation needed]}Barbara Amiel has written in Maclean's: "Of course, [Bill 101] was approved by the Liberals of Quebec and illustrates another fact, which is that francophone culture itself is not as intrinsically democratic as cultures based on British traditions".^[18] Quebec was once portrayed as prevented from sliding into a more perilous state only by its association with Canada, its leaders, and these supposedly higher principles.^[19]

[edit] Examples

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Allegations of Quebec-bashing have been made not only against English-Canadian publications but against publications from around the world, often respected publications that take their sources in English-speaking Canada.^{[citation needed]} Within Canada, people such as former radio personality Howard Galganov and journalist Diane Francis^[20] have gained a reputation for anti-Quebec depictions. Author Mordecai Richler wrote a number of articles, published in the United States and Great Britain, which many Québécois considered offensive^{[citation needed]}. From outside the English-speaking world, three articles harshly critical of Quebec were published in German newspapers during the 1990s: "A Quebec as antisemite as 50 years ago" in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, "Empty shop windows, barricaded doors and hate graffitis" in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and "Hello Montreal, and goodbye forever!" in Die Welt, three of the largest largest newspapers in Germany.^[21]

Unfavourable depictions of Quebec have also been provided by books such as Bilingual Today, French Tomorrow, as well as political cartoons.^[22] One other example of Quebec bashing is found in pop culture. Don Cherry, a sports commentator on the CBC, has occasionally been accused of Quebec bashing. A couple of American comedians^[who?] have sometimes been accused of Quebec bashing, although they appear to have confused Quebec with France.^{[citation needed]} In 2006, articles labeled as "Quebec bashing" sparked notorious controversies: Barbara Kay's August 9 "The rise of Quebecistan" in The National Post^[19] and Jan Wong's September 16 "Get under the desk" in The Globe and Mail.^[23] The Globe and Mail and The National Post are Canada's two national newspapers and both are Toronto-based publications.

[edit] Jean-François Lisée and Robert Guy Scully

On Sunday, April 17, 1977, five months after the first accession of the Parti Québécois to power under René Lévesque, journalist Robert Guy Scully wrote an article in the "Outlook" section of The Washington Post called "What It Means To Be French In Canada".^[12] Page A2 of the paper summarized the article, which presented the historical disenfranchisement of French Canadians experienced at the hands of English Canada: "French Quebec is a culturally deprived, insecure community whose existence is an accident of history, one which shouldn't have happened, says a French-Canadian writer. Page C1."^[24] Two columns of the front page of the section and an entire inside page were devoted to the article. In it, Scully called the French Québécois society incurably "sick". He decried the economic poverty found in the French-speaking eastern part of Montreal: "No one would want to live there who doesn't have to," he wrote. "There isn't a single material or spiritual advantage to it which can't be had, in an even better form, on the English side of Montreal."

This article was featured in former Parti-Quebecois referendum strategist Jean-François Lisée's In the Eye of the Eagle, an extensive study of American interest in Quebec and its independence movement, where it was portrayed as anti-Quebec. In the chapter "A Voiceless Quebec", Lisée advances the view that if such prominence was given to such "singular and unrepresentative a view of Quebec society", it was partly caused by "the perfect absence of a Quebec voice in North America's news services, and the frightening degree of ignorance in the American press on the subject of Quebec." Lisée points out that these ideas were also presented by the Editor-in-Chief of the section, Al Horne, in a speech at a Washington symposium.^[12]

[edit] Esther Delisle

Esther Delisle, a French-Canadian PhD student at Université Laval wrote a thesis that discussed the "fascist" and anti-semitic writings and beliefs of Lionel Groulx, an important figure in the history of French-Canadian nationalism. Quebec Premier, Jacques Parizeau, and numerous other commentators, labelled the book as "Quebec bashing",^[25] although her thesis received more sympathetic treatment from other Quebec journalists.^[26] Delisle's thesis expressed the opinion that the objectionable views of Groulx and other Quebec intellectuals in the nineteen-thirties and forties were not necessarily shared by the general French-Canadian population at that time.^{[citation needed]}

In a March 1, 1997 cover story titled Le mythe du Québec fasciste (The Myth of a Fascist Quebec), L'Actualité revisited the controversy around Delisle's doctoral thesis. A profile of Groulx also appeared in the same issue; both articles acknowledged Groulx's antisemitism and the general favourable attitude of the Roman Catholic church towards fascist doctrine during the 1930s. Pierre Lemieux, an economist and author wrote: "The magazine's attack is much weakened by Claude Ryan, editor of Le Devoir in the 1970s, declaring that he has changed his mind and come close to Delisle's interpretation after reading her book."^[27]

However, the same newsmagazine made a claim, never substantiated, that Delisle had been subsidized by Jewish organizations, and the claim was repeated on television by former Parti Québécois cabinet minister Claude Charron while introducing a 2002 broadcast on Canal D of Je me souviens, the Eric R. Scott documentary about Delisle's book. Outraged at what both Scott and Delisle called an absolute falsehood, they asked Canal D to rebroadcast the documentary because it was introduced in a way they considered to be defamatory and inaccurate.^[28]

Groulx is a revered figure to many French Quebecers who see him as one of the fathers of Quebec nationalism, although his actual writings are little read today. A station on the Montreal Metro as well as schools, streets, lakes, and a chain of mountains in Quebec are named for him. In order to separate his political and literary activities from his academic work, Groulx wrote journalism and novels under numerous pseudonyms. In her book, Delisle claimed that Groulx, under the pseudonym Jacques Brassier, had written in 1933 in L'Action nationale: "Within six months or a year, the Jewish problem could be resolved, not only in Montreal but from one end of the province of Quebec to the other. There would be no more Jews here other than those who could survive by living off one another."

Referring to Groulx and the Le Devoir newspaper, Francine Dubé wrote in the National Post on April 24, 2002 that "the evidence Delisle has unearthed seems to leave no doubt that both were anti-Semitic and racist."^[29] And, also in 2002, the Montreal Gazette referred to "anti-Semitism and pro-fascist sympathies that were common among this province's (Quebec) French-speaking elite in the 1930s." Further support for Delisle's writings come from a variety of sources.

[edit] Mordecai Richler

Main article: Mordecai Richler#Controversy

Well-known Montreal author Mordecai Richler made numerous assertions decrying what he perceived as racism, tribalism, provincialism, and anti-semitism among nationalist politicians in French-speaking Quebec, notably in a 1991 article in The New Yorker and his 1992 book Oh Canada! Oh Quebec!, but also in various other articles and interviews. His negative portrayal of some Quebec government policies got international coverage in the United States and Great Britain, where the voice given to French-speaking Quebecers was considerably less than that of English Canadians.^[12] His views were strongly criticized in Quebec and to some degree among anglophone Canadians.^[30]

He notably compared some Quebec nationalists to Nazis and criticized René Lévesque before an American audience.^{[31][citation needed]} Richler was also critical of fellow Jews,^{[citation needed]} Zionists,^{[citation needed]} English Canadian nationalists^{[citation needed]}, intellectuals,^{[citation needed]} and Israel^[32] and in fact nationalists of any sort.^{[citation needed]} He was also prone to hyperbole and negativity in his commentary^{[citation needed]}, and was known as something of "curmudgeon" in literary circles.^[33] Some commentators, inside and outside Quebec, think that the reaction to Richler was excessive, and sometimes bordered on the racist itself.^[34] For example, a passage saying that the Catholic Church treated French Canadian women like swine was depicted by Quebec sovereignists as Richler calling Quebec women swine. Other Quebecers acclaimed Richler for his courage and for attacking the orthodoxies of Quebec society,^[34] and he has been described as "the most prominent defender of the rights of Quebec's anglophones."^[35]

[edit] Don Cherry

Don Cherry, a longtime commentator on Hockey Night in Canada has made a few comments interpreted by many as Quebec bashing. For example, in 1993 he said the Anglo residents of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario "speak the good language"; during the 1998 Winter Olympic Games he called Quebec sovereigntists "whiners", after Bloc MPs had complained there were too many Canadian flags in the Olympic village, he went on to say that Jean-Luc Brassard shouldn't be the flag bearer because he was "a French guy, some skier that nobody knows about";^[36] in 2003, after fans in Montreal booed the American national anthem he went on an American talk show and said "true Canadians do not feel the way they do in Quebec there";^{[citation needed]} in 2004 while criticizing visors he said, "most of the guys that wear them are Europeans or French guys ..."^{[citation needed]}

Politicians of all sorts, French advocacy groups, and media commentators from across Canada criticized Cherry and CBC Television on numerous occasions after these statements.^{[citation needed]} In 2004 the CBC put Cherry's segment, Coach's Corner on a 7 second tape delay to avoid future incidents.^{[citation needed]} He has also praised numerous French-speaking Quebec hockey players for their play.^[37][38][39]

[edit] Richard Lafferty

In a 1993 financial analysis bulletin sent to 275 people, broker Richard Lafferty compared the then leader of the Bloc Québécois, Lucien Bouchard, and the then leader of the Parti Québécois, Jacques Parizeau, to Adolf Hitler, and their tactics and his tactics. Parizeau was said to have been especially affected, being the widower of Polish author Alice Poznanska, who saw the horrors of the Third Reich first hand.^[40] The two politicians sued Lafferty for defamation, demanding $150,000 in reparation.

In March 2000, Lafferty was found guilty by the Superior Court of Quebec and sentenced to give $20,000 to both men (also reported as $40,000).^{[citation needed]} Lafferty appealed, but died in 2003. In October 2004 the Superior Court of Quebec maintained the guilty verdict but raised the amount to $200,000 (also reported as $100,000).^{[citation needed]} In 2005, before the case was heard by the Supreme Court of Canada, the politicians and Richard Lafferty's estate reached an out-of-court agreement. As commonly seen in such cases, the details of the agreement remained confidential. As they promised at the beginning of the proceedings, Bouchard and Parizeau donated the money to charity.^[41]

[edit] The appointment of David Levine

In 1998 David Levine, a former candidate for the Parti Québécois, was appointed as head of the newly amalgamated Ottawa Hospital. The appointment was opposed in English Canada not because of Levine's previous performance as a hospital administrator but because he had been a sovereignist. An editorial in the Ottawa Citizen opposing Levine's appointment argued that he should not be appointed because as a separatist he allegedly wanted to destroy Canada. The newspaper also repeatedly compared sovereignists to Nazis.^{[citation needed]} The premier of Ontario, Mike Harris, observed that he would even have preferred the appointment of a foreigner to the position, as long as the person appointed believed that Quebec should remain in Canada.^{[citation needed]} The mayor of Gloucester, Ontario asserted that Levine would be unable to refrain from letting his belief that Canada should be destroyed affecting his decisions as a hospital administrator.^{[citation needed]} The controversy ended once the hospital board refused to back down, and a speech by prime minister Jean Chrétien defending freedom of thought in a democratic society, a speech whose message was reinforced by union support, the support of the Quebec Liberal Party, and a resolution of the National Assembly of Quebec.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Diane Francis

Claiming that Canada is "at war",^[14] National Post columnist and former Financial Post editor Diane Francis has a history of publishing articles which have been denounced as Quebec defamation.^{[citation needed]} She has questioned Quebec's^{[citation needed]} protective language laws and its nationalist movement.^{[citation needed]} For example, she wrote in an editorial on April 11, 2000: "The rednecks who run the Parti Québécois have escalated the harassment of immigrants in business for using too much English. It's no coincidence that the government is displaying such overt intolerance as it heads for the Parti's annual convention next month. This is brown shirts a la Quebec who hope to fan fears about the future of the pur laine Super Race.", then calling the English language in Quebec "besieged" and then-Parti Québécois administration a "government comprised of language bigots"^{[citation needed]}. In addition to such references to National Socialism and stormtroopers, she also uses the terms "pure laine" and "language police", as other examples claimed to be "Quebec bashing" have done.^{[14][citation needed]}. When Quebecor bought Sun Media, Francis asserted that "separatists" should not have the right to own newspapers.^{[citation needed]} Quebecor was founded by Pierre Péladeau, who was a sovereigntist, but the company leadership had been given to his son Pierre Karl, who has not made his political inclinations public.^{[42][citation needed]}

In the book Fighting for Canada; the summary on her official website says that Francis has "pledged to become Lucien Bouchard's worst nightmare". It adds: "Outraged by the ruthlessness, lying, racism, and manipulation that she believed lay at the heart of the separatist campaign, Francis decided to dig a little deeper. What she discovered shocked even her, a seasoned journalist. Separatism, she asserts, is not a political movement, but a criminal conspiracy that has run rough shod over human rights, fair play, and democracy in an illegal attempt to destroy Canada." It continues, stating: "Worse yet, the separatists' not-always-unwitting accomplices range from mainstream federalist politicians to lazy and biased members of the media. [...] Through a combination of thuggery, sheer stupidity, and unrelenting ambition, these forces have conspired to capitalize on the separatist movement and the intense feelings it engenders. [...] There's a war on, she declares, and Canada is worth fighting for."^[8] Francis indeed developed a notable antagonism for former Premier Lucien Bouchard. On October 14, 1995, during the 1995 Quebec referendum campaign, she wrote: "Bouchard must go. The man is a menace, a demagogue and, possibly, a criminal."^[43]

On May 21, 1996, a group of about a hundred Anglo-Quebecers, Forum Québec, filed a complaint with the Press Council of Ontario about Diane Francis.^[44] In November 2000, another complaint against Francis was validated by the Quebec Press Council. Commenting on the examples brought to the body, it declared: "They are [...] unacceptable abuses of language that should not be tolarated in the pages of a great national daily publication. [...T]he Quebec Press Council can only validate the complaint".^[45] Maryse Potvin, a sociologist and specialist in race-related issues, argued, in a study of anti-Quebec depictions in the media, that the foundations and tone of Francis' writings against Quebecers were similar, in many regards, to the anti-semite discourse of the 1930s and 1940s: the idea of a conspiracy unrecognized by the population, one that is led by sovereigntists that "lie", that cheat, that infiltrate the Canadian Army.^[10]

[edit] Lawrence Martin

In 1997 Lawrence Martin published The Antagonist: Lucien Bouchard and the Politics of Delusion. In it he painted a speculative psychological portrait of Lucien Bouchard, then premier of Quebec. Bouchard was described as "mystical", and his culture as "most uncanadian".^[10] Martin based his book on the psychological analysis, itself disputed, of Bouchard made by Dr. Vivian Rakoff. Rakoff never met the subject of his "analysis". Martin's book called Bouchard "Lucien, Lucifer of our land";^[10] this was repeated by Lawrence Martin in 1997, on the pages of The Globe and Mail.^[11] Maryse Potvin, a sociologist who specializes in racism-related issues, asserted in a study of anti-Quebec media representation that this type of demonization is a known and documented process of racism.^[10] Although this statement does not logically imply that Martin's book was necessarily racist, the book was at the very least subjective and unsubstantiated.

[edit] Des bouts de chiffon rouge

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This article or section may be inaccurate or unbalanced in favor of certain viewpoints. Please improve the article by adding information on neglected viewpoints, or discuss the issue on the talk page.

In 2001, during the Parti Québécois leadership race, Bernard Landry criticized the federal government's policy of prominently displaying the maple leaf on federal government buildings and programs by stating that "Quebec is not for sale for a piece of red rag" (""Le Quebec ne ferait pas le trottoir pour un bout de chiffon rouge."; rag is the usual translation of chiffon^[46])

The phrase chiffon rouge can mean "red flag"^{[citation needed]} in the sense of earmarking something as suspicious^{[citation needed]}, and thus can be understood as an allusion to the slowly emerging sponsorship scandal^{[citation needed]}; it can also mean the red cape that a matador waves in the sport of bullfighting^{[citation needed]}, is usually understood^{[citation needed]}as a claim that the government's only real purpose in using the flag was to irritate, annoy and provoke Quebec sovereignists.^{[47][Quotation needed from source][unreliable source?]}

Canadian Press, however, translated chiffon rouge as "red rag" in the usual meaning, leading to extensive criticism of Landry across Canada for insulting the Canadian flag. Landry subsequently apologized for his choice of words, but denied that his intention had been to call the Canadian flag a rag. Other Quebecers, however, notably his political opponents Pierre Pettigrew and Stéphane Dion, were sceptical, with Dion declaring that there was no question that Landry had intended to be insulting, and that an unqualified apology was called for.^[48]

[edit] Kristian Gravenor

In the alternative weekly Montreal Mirror of November 28, 2001, Kristian Gravenor reported on a visit of inspectors of the Office de la langue française (OLF, now known as the OQLF) to Boutique Rock in the largely English-speaking Montreal neighbourhood of Notre-Dame-de-Grace. Gravenor referred to inspectors as "Tongue Taliban" and "the measuring-tape crew". He reported that the inspectors fined the store, which sells items such as rolling paper, hash pipes and medieval supplies, was fined $604 for infractions such as signs with "Open/Closed," "sandwiches" (instead of "sandwichs"), and a sticker that reads "Harley Parking Only". Owner Sam Servello claimed he'd fight saying "You know, bottom line, I pay taxes, I pay rent and what the fuck, I'm trying to make money and if English works for me, if French works for me, it's fine. Chinese too."^[49] The article quoted Alliance Quebec spokesman Andrew Male on confronting the OLF: "They come and liquidate your stuff, but you almost have to dare them".

Michel Chayer launched a complaint to The Quebec Press Council against the Mirror, claiming that Gravenor accused the inspectors of using fascist techniques reminiscent of Kristallnacht, a Nazi pogrom of the 1930s, an accusation denied by Gravenor and not contained in the article. He also claimed that the Mirror had omitted mentioning that the inspectorate had sent a previous notice warning the shop to comply with an earlier inspection or face the fine. The Council rejected the complaint outright, noting that editorials in alternative weeklies are given more latitude than more mainstream publications. ^[50]

[edit] Barbara Kay

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Main article: Barbara Kay controversy

On August 6, 2006, Parti Québécois (PQ) leader André Boisclair, Bloc Québécois (BQ) leader Gilles Duceppe, Québec solidaire (QS) spokesperson Amir Khadir and Liberal Party of Canada Member of Parliament (MP) Denis Coderre participated in a rally in support of Lebanon during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.^[51] The rally was billed as being for "justice and peace," but instead was, according to Kay, "virulently anti-Israel," including the desecration of a Jewish prayer shawl, and called for a "cease-fire," and not peace.^[51] On the following August 9, 2006, Kay published "The rise of Quebecistan"^[19] in the neoconservative broadsheet the National Post, claiming that the politicians (three of whom, Boisclair, Duceppe and Khadir, are pro-independence) as having supported terrorism, Hezbollah, and antisemitism for votes from Canadians of convenience.

Kay later noted: "A more aggressive writer, novelist and polemicist Maurice Dantec, wrote an article for Egards, 'Bienvenue au Quebeckistan,' weeks before 'The Rise of Quebecistan' appeared in the Post. In it, he warns Quebec against becoming another 'Frankistan':

"When your cities are invaded by the same mobs as those who are burning 200 cars a day in France even as I speak, when Hezbollah militias, quite legally (ah, this Charter of Rights of the Bedouin and of the Liberties of the Terrorist!) are authorized to patrol [the streets] with your police forces, when your writers (if any remain) get assassinated in the street -- as in the Netherlands -- when ... the Cross on Mount Royal must be withdrawn from the view of decent Montreal Muslims so as not to 'shock' their sensibility, when Israel has disappeared in a huge festive movement uniting Communist scum with fascistoidal pseudo-nationalist cretins, capitulating dyed-in-the-wool liberals, sovereigntists without a sovereign, and the post-leftists feeding on Noam Chomsky's dog food or the animated cartoons of Michael Moore, then you will find yourself absolutely alone." (my translation)^[19]

On March 4th, 2007, the Quebec Press Council released a decision condemning the chronicle of Barbara Key for "undue provocation" and "generalizations suitable to perpetuate prejudices":^[52]

"The Council noted throughout the chronicle of Mrs. Kay a lack of rigour in the presentation of the context surrounding the walk for peace of August 2006, which tends to encourage the reader to lend intentions to public personalities without providing concrete facts to support these intentions. On several occasions in the chronicle, the journalist deformed facts, to present only a part of the situation, aiming only at supporting her point of view that the leaders of independent Quebec would withdraw the Hezbollah of the list of the terrorist movements and that this new country would become a harbour for them. The Council points out that, if the chroniclers can denounce with strength the ideas and the actions which they reject and carry judgements with complete freedom, nothing however authorizes them to deteriorate facts to justify interpretation that they draw. Deontology of the Council Press clearly established that the media and the professionals of information must avoid cultivating or to maintain the prejudices. They must imperatively avoid using, at the place of the people or the groups, the representations or the terms which tend to raise the contempt, to run up against the dignity of a person or a category of people because of a discriminatory reason. The Council estimated that the remarks of the journalist were equivalent to an undue provocation, in addition to establishing generalizations suitable to perpetuate the prejudices rather than to dissipate them."

[edit] First Nations issues

The factual accuracy of this section is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.(May 2008)

In conflicts such as the Oka Crisis of 1990 or the controversial James Bay Hydroelectric Project, Quebec has sometimes^{[citation needed]} been portrayed by the media as having uniquely poor relations^{[citation needed]} with its First Nations population, a portrayal which has been taken by many as implying that conflicts between First Nations groups and federal, provincial or municipal governments do not occur outside Quebec, or occur less frequently and are less severe. In fact, such conflicts, including the Gustafsen Lake Standoff, the Ipperwash Crisis, the Burnt Church Crisis and the Caledonia land dispute, have occurred across the country, .

[edit] Context

Main article: History of Quebec

Quebec is a Canadian province with a French-speaking majority (81% cite French alone as their mother tongue^[53] while 95% have a working knowledge of French);^[54] in contrast the rest of Canada has a majority of English speakers (75% cite English alone as their mother tongue^[53] while 98% have a working knowledge in the last census) compared to only 11% who have a working knowledge of French.^[54]

Before 1763, most of the land that is currently the Province of Quebec was part of New France, an area of North America colonized by France. After the defeat of France, subsequent political changes saw this land become first a British colony and province, later a region united with the future province of Ontario, and finally a province of Canada in 1867. An early Quebec nationalist movement emerged in the 1820s under the Parti Patriote, arguing for greater autonomy for itself within the British Empire and at times flirting with the idea of independence. It led to the Patriote Rebellion, which was put down by the British Army, at roughly the same time as the failure of a similar rebellion among the English-speaking people of what is now Ontario. After the suppression of the rebellion, Quebec gradually became a more conservative society, one in which the Catholic Church occupied a more dominant position. Major players in the Quebec media opposed Canadian participation in World War I and World War II, and many Quebec journalists and political leaders were openly antisemitic during the Second World War.^{[citation needed]} Later, in the late 1950s and 1960s, a tremendous social change, known as the Quiet Revolution, took place; during this time French-Canadian society became rapidly more secular, and economically marginalized French-speaking Quebecers slowly and peacefully took control of Quebec's economy^{[citation needed]}. It was then that a second independence movement took root. During this time a terrorist organization called the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) arose, as did the peaceful Parti Québécois, a provincial political party with the stated aims of independence and social democracy. Over time, the terrorist organisations vanished, while the PQ flourished.

While French is the majority language in Quebec, it is a small minority in most of the rest of Canada, and historically had faced demographic and economic pressures. Assimilation was feared and the French language was even discriminated against in parts of Quebec. This led the Quebec government of Liberal Party leader Premier Robert Bourassa to pass the Official Language Act (Bill 22) in 1974, abolishing English as an official language and making French the sole official language of Quebec. The Liberals were replaced by the PQ in the 1976 with René Lévesque, a major figure of the Quiet Revolution, becoming Premier of Quebec. One of the first actions of the PQ was enacting the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101). Many of the Charter's provisions expanded on the act of 1974. The protective language law outlawed the public display of English, making French signs obligatory, a stipulation that would later on be overturned by court challenges. A first referendum on sovereignty was held in 1980 (under the leadership of Lévesque the YES side lost with 40.44% of the votes) and a second in 1995 (with Lucien Bouchard, Jacques Parizeau and Mario Dumont as leaders the YES campaign narrowly lost at 49.44%). Both questions have been criticized by federalists and separatists alike for being unclear. The concession speech of Parizeau, in which he blamed the defeat on "money and the ethnic vote", taken by some as a tacit reference to traditional stereotypes of the Jews, created a controversy that saw disapproval from both sides and an apology from Parizeau himself the next day. Since then, this and many other incidents, particularly recent xenophobic resolutions by the municipal government of Hérouxville, have been cited by critics of the nationalist movement as evidence of xenophobia. In 2000, the Michaud Affair also fed criticism. The significance and meaning of these events is hotly debated within Quebec.

Historian and sociologist Gérard Bouchard has suggested that the ethnicly francophone population of Quebec consider themselves to be an oppressed minority population, despite forming the majority of the population of Quebec, and thus have found it difficult to accept other ethnic groups as also being Quebecers. He sees this as showing the need for an independent Quebec with a "founding myth" which will incorporate all willing ethnic communities in Quebec into a unified whole.^[55]

The modern nationalist and independence movements have been criticized by English-speaking Quebecers, ethnic minorities, and First nations, and by English Canadians outside Quebec, as has Bill 101, which has been successfully challenged in courts. Furthermore, many French-speaking Quebecers consider themselves a nation whose home is Quebec,^{[citation needed]} which is a source of dispute with English-speaking Canada^{[citation needed]}, and are split almost evenly about the National Question, that is to say independence or federate status (with or without the pursuit of special status within the federation). Further autonomy for Quebec and formal national recognition have historically been sought by federalists and sovereigntists alike. This has also been a source of animosity^{[citation needed]} for English Canadian society.

[edit] Response

Quebec-bashing has been denounced as dishonest,^[56] false,^[56] defamatory^[57] and sometimes prejudiced,^[56][58] racist,^{[59][4][60][61]} colonialist,^[4][62] or hate speech^[63] by many people of all origins^[64] and political colours^[6] in Quebec. It has also seen criticism in English Canada.^[65][66][67] Critics of "Quebec bashing" argue that Quebec is a tolerant and inclusive society and advance a number of arguments, some of which are mentioned in the examples section.

In response to Quebec's history of antisemitism, Quebec nationalists assert that English-speaking Canada was equally as antisemitic as French speaking Quebecers. Jews, who as a national minority, faced persecution across Canada, were subject to quotas at institutions such as McGill University, as well as French Catholic institutions. The federal government notoriously refused entry to Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, and seeking to dock in Quebec City, despite the fact that it was at the behest of French Quebec^{[citation needed]}. As a French Roman Catholic ethnic and religious minority in the British Empire, Lower Canada was first in the British Empire to grant Jews full civil and political rights in the Act of June 5, 1832, after the debate over Jewish Three Rivers resident Ezekiel Hart.^[68] The English Canadian media are, however, more willing to acknowledge Canada's history of antisemitism^{[citation needed]}, and incidents such as the Christie Pits riots in Toronto or the prejudice faced in Toronto legal circles by later Supreme Court Justice Bora Laskin have been repeatedly documented by historians and journalists.

Organizations, such as the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society (SSJB) often lodge formal complaints about perceived misrepresentation. In 1999 Guy Bouthillier, then president of the SSJB, lamenting the phenomenon, pointed out that the "right to good reputation" was a recognized right in the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, inspired by the international human rights declations of the post-war era.^[69] In 1998, under the leadership of Gilles Rhéaume (a former SSJB president)^{[citation needed]}, the Mouvement souverainiste du Québec filed a memorandum to the International Federation of Human Rights in Paris that mentioned anti-Quebec press articles. In 2000, Rhéaume filed a memorandum to the United Nations regarding "violations by Canada of the political rights of Quebecers", including media defamation.^[70] He also founded the Ligue Québécoise contre la francophobie canadienne ("Quebec league against Canadian Francophobia") explicitly to defend against "Quebec bashing". English Canadian journalist Ray Conlogue has denounced the anti-Quebec press.^[71] All complaints were eventually rejected.

Journalist Normand Lester wrote three polemic volumes of The Black Book of English Canada in which "Quebec bashing" is denounced.^[72] The books have been criticized for their lack of proper source references, and for their tendency to treat as revelations incidents and facts that although not extensively written about in French are actually well-known and acknowledged in English Canada^{[citation needed]}. In the books Lester noted "It is one of the characteristics of racist discourse to demonize the group that is condemned, all the while giving oneself all virtues, to pretend representing universalism while the group targeted by hateful discourse is denounced as petty, and its demands, without value, anti-democratic and intolerant". The book offered a counter-point by chronicling the racist and anti-semitic history of English Canada. The author argued that Quebec was never more anti-semitic than English Canada. Most notably, it underlined the fervent federalist opinions of fascist Adrien Arcand and revealed for the first time that his former fascist National Social Christian Party was funded by Prime Minister of Canada R. B. Bennett and his Conservative Party (see R. B. Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett#Controversy). He argued that the fascist party was so marginal that it would never have been viable, had it not been for the funding. Lester was suspended from his job at Société Radio-Canada for publishing this book, an organization often accused of Quebec nationalist bias; he subsequently resigned.

[edit] Debate

While examples of anti-Quebec coverage in English Canada are recognized by a number of French-speaking people in Quebec, whether this represents a wide phenomenon and an opinion held by many people in English Canada is subject to debate. Certainly the print examples cited here constitute only a tiny portion of English-Canadian print journalism during the period covered. Chantal Hébert noted that commentators such as Graham Fraser, Jeffrey Simpson and Paul Wells, who are more positive about Quebec, were often called upon by the Canadian media since the 1995 referendum. She also mentioned Edward Greenspon, who, however, as editor-in-chief of the The Globe and Mail, ended up defending an alleged instance of Quebec bashing in 2006, Globe and Mail columnist Jan Wong's "Get under the desk".^[73]

Graham Fraser, an English Canadian journalist noted for his sympathy for Quebec, has tempered both sides. "This phenomenon (of English Canadian Francophobia) exists, I do not doubt it; I have read enough of Alberta Report to know that there are people that think bilingualism is a conspiracy against English Canadians to guarantee jobs for Quebecers — who are all bilingual, anyway.", he wrote. "I have heard enough call-in radio shows to know that these sentiments of fear and rage are not confined to the Canadian west. But, I do not think these anti-francophone prejudices dominate the Canadian culture."^[74] Fraser, in fact, was himself named as Canada's new Official Languages Commissioner in September of 2006.

Maryse Potvin has attributed the debate over Quebec-bashing to "the obsession with national identity which, on the one side, is articulated around the reinforcement of the federal state, the Charter, and a mythified version of the Canadian multicultural project, and which, on the other side, is based on a logic of ideological victimization and crystallization of the political project."^[75] She called on intellectuals, politicians, and the media to emphasize the common values of the two national visions.

[edit] Other depictions

Other English-speaking journalists have earned a notable reputation for a much fairer and sympathetic view of Quebec, in sovereigntist and federalist circles alike, such as Ray Conlogue, Peter Scowen or Graham Fraser.

[edit] Further reading

[edit] In English

• Maryse Potvin, "Some Racist Slips about Quebec in English Canada Between 1995 and 1998", in Canadian Ethnic Studies, volume XXXII, issue 2, 2000, pages 1-26.

[edit] In French

• Guy Bouthillier. L'obsession ethnique. Outremont: Lanctôt Éditeur, 1997, 240 pages ISBN 2-89485-027-1 (The Ethnic Obsession)
• Réal Brisson. Oka par la caricature: Deux visions distinctes d'une même crise by Réal Brisson, Septentrion, 2000, ISBN 2-89448-160-8 (Oka Through Caricatures: Two Distinct Vision of the Same Crisis)
• Daniel S.-Legault, "Bashing anti-Québec; uppercut de la droite", in VO: Vie ouvrière, summer 1997, pages 4-7. (Anti-Quebec Bashing; an uppercut from the right)
• Sylvie Lacombe, "Le couteau sous la gorge ou la perception du souverainisme québécois dans la presse canadienne-anglaise", in Recherches sociographiques, December 1998 (The knife under the throat or the perception of Quebec sovereigntism in the English-Canadian Press)
• Michel Sarra-Bourret, Le Canada anglais et la souveraineté du Québec, VLB Éditeur, 1995 (English Canada and the Sovereignty of Quebec)
• Serge Denis, "Le long malentendu. Le Quebec vu par les intellectuels progressistes au Canada anglais 1970-1991", Montréal, Boréal, 1992 (The long misunderstanding. Quebec seen by progressive intellectuals in English Canada 1970-1991)
• Serge Denis, "L'analyse politique critique au Canada anglais et la question du Québec", 1970-1993, in Revue québécoise de science politique, volume 23, 1993, p. 171-209 (Critical Political Analysis in English Canada and the Quebec of Quebec)
• P. Frisko et J.S. Gagné, "La haine. Le Québec vu par le Canada anglais", in Voir, 18-24 juin, 1998 (Hatred. Quebec Seen by English Canada)

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[edit] References

[edit] See also

• "I Am Not Canadian"
• Speak white
• Le Livre noir du Canada anglais
• Quebec federalism
• Quebec sovereignty
• Anglo-Quebecer