Quebec Premier Pauline Marois is using us all. She is using the ingrained bigotry of Quebec to turn Quebecers against fellow Canadians. She is using the liberal multiculturalism of Canada to insult Canadians. She is scratching at wounds on both sides of the Canadian language divide. Her Charter of Values is a vicious attack on Canadian values that could tear the country apart.
And in his ignorance Employment Minister Jason Kenney is playing right into Marois’ game plan. By threatening to use the courts to disavow the Quebec Charter, he has added another argument for separation to the Quebec psyche. And no matter who wins the argument, Marois has accomplished her objective.
It was former Premier Jacques Parizeau who complained bitterly about Quebec’s ethnic minorities after losing the 1995 referendum. Pauline Marois is solving the problem that Parizeau perceived. She is telling the visible minorities to conform to Quebec or get out of her province. The Charter of Values is discriminatory and bigoted and racist and she wins if it starts the exodus of visible minorities from Quebec. It is the same type of pogrom as was used to get rid of many of the Anglophones who shared Quebec prior to the draconian language laws that have never been properly challenged.
But you cannot solve this problem from outside Quebec. Somebody should have explained that to Calgary’s Jason Kenney before he started shooting off his mouth. Bigotry has to be addressed head on. One of the problems in Quebec is that bigotry seems to be confused with being devoted to your own religion. There is probably a vulgar word in French for bigotry that says it better but we will leave that to people in Quebec.
This values charter can probably be handled best by Quebec politicians such as Justin Trudeau. He appeals to the younger Quebecers who are the target of Marois’ plan. They are the ones most susceptible to the casual bigotry of Quebec but Trudeau can show them where it is wrong. He can appeal to them for a fairness that they can understand. He can also appeal to them with the opportunities that a more open society can offer to them and their children. He can help them shut the door on the bigotry of Quebec’s past.
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Copyright 2013 © Peter Lowry
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