|
|
| Pages |
When the Québécois became part of Canada, it was because they were obligated to . All of this began when France lost the war against Great-Britain. It was not only a defeat for us but we lost everything that we had. For many years, the British tried to assimilate us, but they failed. Then the 13 colonies tried to gain their independence. At the time, England gave us some privileges, so we would not join Franklin in his war. Well, that was only the beginning of our troubles. Sure it was great that England gave us the right to practice our religion, to keep the French civil code, but what else? Nothing. During all these years, until the 70s, we had to defend ourselves, our culture, our language and our rights. And do you know what the funny thing is? Our rights were better protected when an Anglophone was the PM.
The first time that independence arrived on the political agenda, was in 1976,
when the great René Lévesque was elected Québec’s PM. That man was surely
the best politician that Canada had ever seen. Reasons for independence, in
1980, were easy to understand. We wanted the right to speak for ourselves at all
internationals organizations, like the UN. But that referendum was not a
referendum on Québec sovereignty, but to give Lévesques the right to negotiate
on equal footing with the rest of Canada our sovereignty. That referendum was a
clearly miss. The "Yvette affair" [i]
killed our chance. But in 1994, the PQ came back into power. Jacques Parizeau was our PM. And since that moment we knew that we had a chance to win. The reasons were still clear. We wanted to save our culture, we want to be the owner of our destiny. It was easy to understand, we are not like the rest of Canada. We speak French and we have been taught differently. Since the failure of Meech, followed by Charlettown, it was clear that Québec does not have a place in Canada. Anyway, in 1980, Trudeau promised to renew the federalism, but he never understood Québec. I hope every one remembers "La nuit des longs couteaux" (Night of the Long Knives –ed), when all Canada’s premiers decided to accept the 1982 Constitution without the Québec’s agreement. The last straw was surely when Jean Chrétien, in a interview for a documentary on these events, said:
It was the ultimate proof that the Québécois can’t live free and with democracy in Canada. So
their are many reasons for us to be independent. There are economic reasons that
I haven’t already spoken about. Ottawa keeps more of our money than they give
to us. They always try to interfere in our jurisdictional areas. When we want
more money for health care, the federal government say "Yes but it will be
our program…" The "Bourse du Millénaire" » (Millennium
Scholarship Fund – ed) was a perfect example of this interference. It
appears that the rest of Canada doesn’t care about that federal move,
but we really care in Québec – another point that proof, we are different. We,
the Québécois, have nothing against Canadians, but we are not like you – so
we can’t live in the same country. I understand your fear, because our leaving
will equal the end of Canada. My own analysis tells me that these people are
only in Ontario. All of the others that are from outside Ontario are nothing to
the eyes of Ontario. That’s why a new party was born in Canada and it’s why
some people, like Stockwell Day, could be the next Canadian PM. [i] The Yvette was a elemantary book, where Yvette was a gently girl who help her mother in the house and who learned to little girl to stay at home and prepared meal, wash cloth…… And the Wife of the Quebec Liberal Party chief, named Yvette…. The problem was that Lise Payette, a Lévesques’s minister compare both Yvettes.
|
