The new star of Quebec politics is Mario Dumont, the leader of the ADQ, who left his opponents Jean Charest and Andre Boisclair in the dust in last week’s election.
Generally speaking, Quebeckers give their premiers two majority mandates before they think carefully about throwing them out. Liberal leader Jean Charest failed this test by barely clinging to office as leader of Quebec’s first minority government in over a century. Charest, an unsuccessful former leader of the federal Tories, goes down in history as one of Quebec’s most unpopular premiers, a man who never understood the social or nationalist aspirations of Quebeckers.
Andre Boisclair has been a catastrophic leader of the PQ, so much so that he has left the sovereignist cause in worse shape than it has been in since Rene Levesque founded the party.
The collapse of the PQ and the rise of the ADQ raises the question whether Quebec nationalism has entered a new phase.
Since Confederation, Quebec nationalism has gone through three lengthy phases. The first phase, more appropriately called French Canadian nationalism, endured from 1867 to the First World War conscription crisis of 1917. During this era, French Canadian nationalists, the most important one being Henri Bourassa, the founder of Le Devoir, fought to advance the cause of French speaking minorities outside Quebec and to limit Canadian participation in the wars of the British Empire.
They struggled to sustain the educational and linguistic rights of Francophones in bruising battles in New Brunswick, Manitoba and Ontario. Under Bourassa’s leadership, they opposed Canada’s participation in the South African War 1899 to 1902 and combated the imposition of conscription during the First World War.
During this first defensive phase, French Canadian nationalists fought their important battles in Ottawa, determined to uphold the position of Francophones that had been established with Confederation. The 1917 federal election gravely split the country on the conscription issue, with English Canadians voting for the pro-conscription Unionists (Conservatives and pro-conscription Liberals) and French Canadians (in Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario) voting for the anti-conscription Liberals under Wilfrid Laurier.
The conscription crisis effectively ended the first nationalist phase, which was followed by a second phase which has been called Laurentianism. This brought to the fore intellectuals and politicians who sought autonomy for Quebec and who had little use for the earlier struggles in Ottawa.
The great intellectual leader of the nationalists during this era was Abbe Lionel Groulx, the cleric and historian, who rallied Quebeckers around the goal of reviving the values of the golden age of New France. Groulx believed in a staunchly Catholic Quebec in which church and family were the central institutions. His conservative nationalism warned against the dangers of pluralist politics and too much contact with the commercialism of English speaking North America.
The politician who rose to dominance during the Laurentianist era was Maurice Duplessis, a lawyer from Trois Rivieres who had been leader of the Quebec provincial Conservative Party, a hopeless political job if there ever was one. During the terrible years of the Great Depression, at a time when the ruling provincial Liberals were riddled with scandal, Duplessis found a new party, the Union Nationale which established an alliance between himself and a group of idealistic young Liberals who were fed up with their party’s corruption.
Duplessis led his party to power, ditched the young Liberals and went on to dominate Quebec for a quarter of a century. Duplessis became the master of a Quebec nationalism of the right, a nationalism that was heavy on symbolism. During his rule, Quebec established its provincial flag, and fought dogged battles to prevent Ottawa from invading areas of provincial jurisdiction. At the same time, Duplessis opened the door to outside investment, running ads in New York newspapers that invited corporations to take advantage of the low royalty rates the province charged mining companies and to enjoy the labour peace (weak unions) that prevailed in Quebec.
Warning Quebeckers that the federal Liberal government of William Lyon Mackenzie King was soft on Communism, Duplessis passed the so-called Padlock Law, an act that gave the province the power to padlock the doors on the halls (or even private homes) where Communists and Jehovah’s Witnesses held their meetings. Duplessis sent in provincial police goons to attack strikers, most famously in the Asbestos strike in 1949. His government fought to suppress progressive figures in the church and the universities.
In 1959, Duplessis died while he was still premier. By the time of his death, the new forces that would usher in a new age in Quebec were already making their presence felt. In 1960, the Liberals swept to power in Quebec under the leadership of Jean Lesage. The modern era of Quebec nationalism, the third phase, began with the remaking of Quebec society during the Quiet Revolution. In the Lesage cabinet was Rene Levesque, the former broadcaster, who went on to split with the Liberals and found the Parti Quebecois.
The new nationalists represented both organized labour and the rising Francophone bourgeoisie whose members were determined to take their place alongside the Westmount English who had dominated the executive offices of Montreal for decades. When Levesque established the PQ, it was not until the party’s third election that it found its formula for success. In 1976, the party told Quebeckers that a vote for the PQ did not constitute a vote for Quebec sovereignty but simply for a new provincial government. Once in power, the PQ would call a referendum on the constitutional question.
Twice the PQ held referenda, losing widely in 1980 and narrowly in 1995. In effect, every bid for office by the PQ involved a pledge to hold a referendum on sovereignty. Boisclair made this a central promise in his recent campaign. But he was the victim both of “referendum fatigue” and of the rising appeal of Mario Dumont.
Mario Dumont is more than a little reminiscent of Maurice Duplessis, not as an authoritarian to be sure, but as a right-winger seeking to redefine Quebec nationalism. Dumont, who hails from Riviere du Loup, a town on the St. Lawrence River, is putting together a constituency of small city, town, and rural voters who are not comfortable with leaders who look like they belong in the salons of Montreal.
Dumont, who supported the Yes side in the 1995 referendum, has now said he opposes a future referendum and wants to see an autonomous Quebec within Canada, a Quebec that will have its own constitution and citizenship. Like the old Union Nationale, Dumont will wave the Quebec flag, but he is determined to drain Quebec nationalism of the progressive social content that it has displayed in recent decades. Dumont favours a two-tier health care system, with a strong private component, lower taxes and an end to the notion of an inclusive social model for Quebec. He exudes a populism of the right that features nostalgia, weaker government, and anti-intellectualism. Like Duplessis, he will accept a Quebec whose economy is run by the large corporations as long as the Quebec flag flies overhead. He fits ideally with Stephen Harper’s vision of a post-welfare state Canada in which Ottawa withdraws from social programs and allows the provinces to chart their own course.
Whether a fourth phase in the history of Quebec nationalism is underway remains to be confirmed in the next few years. But the signs are certainly there that Neo-Laurentianism has found its champion and its historical hour.
Generally speaking, Quebeckers give their premiers two majority mandates before they think carefully about throwing them out. Liberal leader Jean Charest failed this test by barely clinging to office as leader of Quebec’s first minority government in over a century. Charest, an unsuccessful former leader of the federal Tories, goes down in history as one of Quebec’s most unpopular premiers, a man who never understood the social or nationalist aspirations of Quebeckers.
Andre Boisclair has been a catastrophic leader of the PQ, so much so that he has left the sovereignist cause in worse shape than it has been in since Rene Levesque founded the party.
The collapse of the PQ and the rise of the ADQ raises the question whether Quebec nationalism has entered a new phase.
Since Confederation, Quebec nationalism has gone through three lengthy phases. The first phase, more appropriately called French Canadian nationalism, endured from 1867 to the First World War conscription crisis of 1917. During this era, French Canadian nationalists, the most important one being Henri Bourassa, the founder of Le Devoir, fought to advance the cause of French speaking minorities outside Quebec and to limit Canadian participation in the wars of the British Empire.
They struggled to sustain the educational and linguistic rights of Francophones in bruising battles in New Brunswick, Manitoba and Ontario. Under Bourassa’s leadership, they opposed Canada’s participation in the South African War 1899 to 1902 and combated the imposition of conscription during the First World War.
During this first defensive phase, French Canadian nationalists fought their important battles in Ottawa, determined to uphold the position of Francophones that had been established with Confederation. The 1917 federal election gravely split the country on the conscription issue, with English Canadians voting for the pro-conscription Unionists (Conservatives and pro-conscription Liberals) and French Canadians (in Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario) voting for the anti-conscription Liberals under Wilfrid Laurier.
The conscription crisis effectively ended the first nationalist phase, which was followed by a second phase which has been called Laurentianism. This brought to the fore intellectuals and politicians who sought autonomy for Quebec and who had little use for the earlier struggles in Ottawa.
The great intellectual leader of the nationalists during this era was Abbe Lionel Groulx, the cleric and historian, who rallied Quebeckers around the goal of reviving the values of the golden age of New France. Groulx believed in a staunchly Catholic Quebec in which church and family were the central institutions. His conservative nationalism warned against the dangers of pluralist politics and too much contact with the commercialism of English speaking North America.
The politician who rose to dominance during the Laurentianist era was Maurice Duplessis, a lawyer from Trois Rivieres who had been leader of the Quebec provincial Conservative Party, a hopeless political job if there ever was one. During the terrible years of the Great Depression, at a time when the ruling provincial Liberals were riddled with scandal, Duplessis found a new party, the Union Nationale which established an alliance between himself and a group of idealistic young Liberals who were fed up with their party’s corruption.
Duplessis led his party to power, ditched the young Liberals and went on to dominate Quebec for a quarter of a century. Duplessis became the master of a Quebec nationalism of the right, a nationalism that was heavy on symbolism. During his rule, Quebec established its provincial flag, and fought dogged battles to prevent Ottawa from invading areas of provincial jurisdiction. At the same time, Duplessis opened the door to outside investment, running ads in New York newspapers that invited corporations to take advantage of the low royalty rates the province charged mining companies and to enjoy the labour peace (weak unions) that prevailed in Quebec.
Warning Quebeckers that the federal Liberal government of William Lyon Mackenzie King was soft on Communism, Duplessis passed the so-called Padlock Law, an act that gave the province the power to padlock the doors on the halls (or even private homes) where Communists and Jehovah’s Witnesses held their meetings. Duplessis sent in provincial police goons to attack strikers, most famously in the Asbestos strike in 1949. His government fought to suppress progressive figures in the church and the universities.
In 1959, Duplessis died while he was still premier. By the time of his death, the new forces that would usher in a new age in Quebec were already making their presence felt. In 1960, the Liberals swept to power in Quebec under the leadership of Jean Lesage. The modern era of Quebec nationalism, the third phase, began with the remaking of Quebec society during the Quiet Revolution. In the Lesage cabinet was Rene Levesque, the former broadcaster, who went on to split with the Liberals and found the Parti Quebecois.
The new nationalists represented both organized labour and the rising Francophone bourgeoisie whose members were determined to take their place alongside the Westmount English who had dominated the executive offices of Montreal for decades. When Levesque established the PQ, it was not until the party’s third election that it found its formula for success. In 1976, the party told Quebeckers that a vote for the PQ did not constitute a vote for Quebec sovereignty but simply for a new provincial government. Once in power, the PQ would call a referendum on the constitutional question.
Twice the PQ held referenda, losing widely in 1980 and narrowly in 1995. In effect, every bid for office by the PQ involved a pledge to hold a referendum on sovereignty. Boisclair made this a central promise in his recent campaign. But he was the victim both of “referendum fatigue” and of the rising appeal of Mario Dumont.
Mario Dumont is more than a little reminiscent of Maurice Duplessis, not as an authoritarian to be sure, but as a right-winger seeking to redefine Quebec nationalism. Dumont, who hails from Riviere du Loup, a town on the St. Lawrence River, is putting together a constituency of small city, town, and rural voters who are not comfortable with leaders who look like they belong in the salons of Montreal.
Dumont, who supported the Yes side in the 1995 referendum, has now said he opposes a future referendum and wants to see an autonomous Quebec within Canada, a Quebec that will have its own constitution and citizenship. Like the old Union Nationale, Dumont will wave the Quebec flag, but he is determined to drain Quebec nationalism of the progressive social content that it has displayed in recent decades. Dumont favours a two-tier health care system, with a strong private component, lower taxes and an end to the notion of an inclusive social model for Quebec. He exudes a populism of the right that features nostalgia, weaker government, and anti-intellectualism. Like Duplessis, he will accept a Quebec whose economy is run by the large corporations as long as the Quebec flag flies overhead. He fits ideally with Stephen Harper’s vision of a post-welfare state Canada in which Ottawa withdraws from social programs and allows the provinces to chart their own course.
Whether a fourth phase in the history of Quebec nationalism is underway remains to be confirmed in the next few years. But the signs are certainly there that Neo-Laurentianism has found its champion and its historical hour.
4 comments:
Holy Toledo, that is a really thought provoking article!
thanks John.
Hi i think?
Bo GA BO GA Bo GA my poopy friend!
Post a Comment