Welcome Back! We have some exciting news for you this month.
We are pleased to announce that two new members have joined our team. Charles Roburn, MIT graduate and former candidate for the Equality Party and involved in Alliance Quebec is joining the Board of Directors.
Also, Dan Laxer, former radio announcer for CJAD and copywriter for Bell Media has taken on the role of Media Liaison for the Canadian Party of Quebec.
On April 11th, the Canadian Party of Quebec conducted a film session with TFO, the Ontario French Language Station. The theme and reason for the film was to compare rights and services of the francophone community in Ontario to the anglophone, allophone and indigenous communities in Quebec.
The session was eye opening to the Ontario TV station to say the least. They were exposed to all articles in Bill 96 and 21 and the level of control on the education system in Quebec.
In closing, it was noted, that there currently are 650,000 francophones living in Ontario (4.7% of the population) and 1,250,000 anglophones living in Quebec from a population of over 8,000,000. What brings us all together is the Fact that we are Canadians. Canada has 2 official languages, English and French. Bilingual services should be offered across the country, with no exceptions.
The Federal Government has the responsibility to ensure and protect human rights across the country, the constitution, and the federation. They appear to be missing in action on all three points these days.
You can read the opening statement from Jean Marier, former candidate for Nelligan and questions and responses that we provided to TFO. The program is scheduled for viewing in mid-May 2024.
As well, last month I indicated that the party had created an independent exploratory committee concerning creating the 11th province. The cat is now officially out of the bag!! The week of April 15th , Keith Henderson and the Party launched a press briefing and conducted interviews on the 11th province. You can read an article written by Keith on the subject.
Finally, please ensure to check your email and junk mail. Election Quebec will be sending out emails or letters to you as members, asking that you confirm your membership. Your response to this inquiry is important, as it ensures our continued success as a provincial political party.
Liz Campbell
Chair and President
Canadian Party of Quebec
The 11th Province
By
Keith Henderson Board Member
The Canadian Party of Quebec has established a Preparatory Committee for the Creation of an Eleventh Province. The mandate of the committee is to examine the feasibility of creating an eleventh province of Canada out of the current territory of Quebec, i.e. subdividing the territory of Quebec into those portions currently more Canadian-minded (the new eleventh province) and the nationalist remainder, old Quebec, the existing 10th province.
Preparatory Committee research will include the following: 1. Probable Cause for seeking an Eleventh Province; 2. Opportunities afforded; 3. History of partition and additional province (territories) proposals; 4. Constitutional impediments: ways and means to circumvent them.
The Committee will examine the probable causes for the creation of an eleventh province, including recent Quebec government attacks on Anglo minority institutions and the abrogation of Canadian fundamental rights and freedoms, most egregiously through the pre-emptive use of the Notwithstanding Clause, often with the complicity of the federal government. The Committee notes the refusal of all parties currently represented in the Quebec legislature to agree to the Constitution of Canada.
The Committee will investigate the opportunities afforded by the creation of an eleventh province, notably the securing of the region’s bilingual and multi-faceted cultural heritage, its educational leadership, as well as its clear economic advantages, potentially sufficient to render the new province a net contributor to equalization payments, not a net recipient as has been Quebec’s situation for decades.
The Committee will explore the history of efforts to secure the rights of Anglo-Quebecers during the Confederation period, as well as the systematic dismantling of those efforts post-Confederation.
The Committee will pay particular attention to the impact of the Supreme Court Reference Case (1998) on the territorial integrity of Canada, especially to the Court’s determination that Canadian territory is divisible should a sufficient majority of Quebecers wish to secede, that the various governments in Canada would be required to negotiate secession arrangements in good faith, but that to render it legal, the project of secession would require an amendment to the Constitution of Canada. The Committee will study the reverse of the separatist agenda. Should a sufficient majority of citizens within a defined region of Quebec wish to create a new province of Canada from such a region, would the Quebec government be required to negotiate in good faith the necessary constitutional amendment? Stated differently, is Quebec territory divisible should a sufficient majority in a defined region wish to form a new province?
The Committee will examine the possibility of establishing a Task Force to help deal with the matters enumerated above, a Task Force separate from the Party and able to receive funding outside the constraints of political party financing in Quebec
National Purity
By
Jean Marier
Former Candidate Nelligan
My father's family settled in Beauport in 1662. Some 290 years after that date, my father married a Canadian of Irish origin and they started a family in Montreal. The fact that he married an English speaking woman made me less pure by the standards of many Quebecers today. Less Quebecois, more foreign. This is somewhat ironic considering my family has been here for over 350 years!
But I remember that it is thanks to the generosity of the English Crown if I still speak French today. It is thanks to James Murray and Guy Carleton that French is now spoken in Quebec thanks to the Quebec Act of 1774. We are not a small historical French minority like those of New England or New Orleans Today, we are a proud nation, in part, because of our history, and a benevolent English king, and of our constitutional rights and freedoms.
These same freedoms allowed separatists to express themselves freely in the National Assembly, in the press and in the Canadian Parliament for the dismantling of our great country, Canada. You could see how stunned I was by the recent unanimous resolutions adopted in the National Assembly to end the oath sworn to the king and to abolish the role of lieutenant governor. These resolutions lack understanding of history and show a great lack of respect for our institutions.
We must remember our history and the rule of law in Quebec. We must work within the framework of the constitution, for without rules, without laws, without a constitution, Quebec has no future.
Between Two Chairs
By
Myrtis Fossey
Co-Leader
I am a proud Quebecer and Canadian. I am multilingual, educated in French and English, educated in Linguistics and Psychology at university. I have worked for more than 20 years with the public in Montreal as a clinical psychologist.
My background is typical of most Canadian citizens, my parents are immigrants from Europe, I was born in Montreal and I have never made my home anywhere else.
My father is an Englishman born in Derby in the United Kingdom; he completed his doctorate in Lyon in France in archaeology. My mother was born in Patras in Greece and completed her university studies in Lichfield in the United Kingdom. My parents immigrated to Montreal during the 1960s because my father was hired at McGill University as a professor of archeology. Subsequently, my mother was a teacher and director at the Socrate school, a trilingual school in Montreal.
My parents decided to send me to the local school, "Victor Therian", a primary school which was part of a French-speaking Catholic school board. Subsequently I went to the “Collège Saint Louis” secondary school, also part of the same French-speaking Catholic school board. At the time, because my parents were considered Anglophone, despite my completely French speaking education, despite my "joual" dialect, I was not considered a true Quebecer according to my peers.
Even today, despite nearly 50 years of contribution to Quebec life, I am not considered Quebecois enough according to some, and this is because of my English-speaking heritage. Furthermore, despite my Canadian citizenship, my English-speaking heritage is not protected in Quebec either. I fall between two chairs. Not Francophone enough for Quebec identity and not Anglophone enough for Canadian identity.
If the Canadian identity is complex, a people composed mainly of immigrants, the Quebec identity is even more so. The difference between the Quebec/Canadian identity and the Canadian identity of the other provinces is distinct, especially with regard to the majority language and the minority language. Canada calls itself bilingual with two official languages protected under the charter of rights, French and English. But the minority status of the English in Quebec and the minority status of the French in Ontario are not similar. The promotion and protection of the minority language is not only different, but in fact, in Quebec the promotion and protection of the minority language does not exist at all.
The first time I made the trip to Western Canada, I had the chance to see the Rockies. It's been several years already, but I remember the pride I felt, I told myself that if all Quebecers could only see them that none of them would want to separate from Canada, that no one would want to deny a heritage so rich in natural beauty. Unfortunately, I was still naive about language policy.
Questions from TFO
1. What are the party priorities?
Protecting the rights of linguistic minorities and other minorities
2. What are the party’s political intentions?
Represent minorities, reconcile Quebecers to collaboration and diversity and not division and homogeneity
3. How do members of Quebec's English-speaking minority feel about language rights and the political climate in Quebec.
The feeling of belonging for immigrants and the children of immigrants is illusory because the discourse in the media and in the Assembly always turns towards the protection of the Francophone Quebec identity and not the Quebec identity aside from linguistics, that is to say, the priorities seen as being “Québécois’s” are limited to linguistic variables and do not include other inclusive identity variables such as: artistic culture, religious culture, culinary traditions, educational traditions, activities sports, leisure, climate, etc. By limiting ourselves to the Francophonie, other key elements distinguishing Quebecers from other Canadians are lost.
4. What are your grievances?
The notion of a distinct society which does not include the contribution of thousands of allophones, bilingual, polyglot and/or English-speaking Quebecers. What makes Quebec distinct must necessarily include Anglophones and other immigrant groups who have contributed and continue to contribute to Quebec society and innovation.
The notion of protecting the French at the expense of the minority rights. That is to say, the eradication of the English as being necessary to prevent the French from being submerged.
The implementation of restrictive, harmful and discriminatory laws to protect the French language, without research, without statistics or conclusive data, without valid proof that the French language is even in danger in Quebec.
The idea that a simple fear that the French language is in danger, without any proof, that this idea alone is sufficient to introduce punitive, anti-constitutional and fundamentally undemocratic laws gives the impression of autocratic governance without recourse to justice.
5. How do you perceive the Legault government's recent language bills and actions?
The actions of the CAQ serve to create insecurity and division among Quebec citizens, this division mainly serves to maintain the power of the CAQ while camouflaging their true governmental inadequacies.
6. What bothers you most?
That the federal government does not show leadership, Ottawa does not offer any support to allophone Quebecers, English or otherwise, who are also Canadians.
7. What would be your solution/wish?
Make it impossible to use the notwithstanding clause preventively and repetitively/chronically. The Quebec government says it's doing this to preserve the French language in decline; is this a legitimate concern in their view? No, without convincing data, without research results to support this fear, the laws become illegitimate.
8. How can the French language be preserved while respecting the rights of minority English citizens?
Promoting the French language does not require denigrating the English language. Instead of punishing the use of a language, instead of making its use illegal, we will focus on promoting bilingualism, free access to both languages in all circumstances, we will not remove any rights while preserving the rights of everyone. It's about promotion vs. punishment. Positive reinforcement works in the long term, punishment does not work in the long term. Punishment promotes revolt, not cooperation.
9. How does it see the struggle of the English-speaking minority in Quebec versus the French-speaking minority in Ontario?
The English-speaking minority in Quebec suffers because it does not have federal support. Franco-Ontarians receive resources and support from Canada
Looking to Make a Difference? Want to protect our rights? Then Join US!!