Québécois Nationalism and Canada’s National Interest

Quebecois Nationalism and Canada's National Interest DAVID KWAVNICK On November 15, 1976, the great Canadian debate was dramatically re-opened. Once again, we were called upon to examine the fundamental premises of our national existence and to define our collective goals. It is to be hoped that this time we will avoid the mistakes of a decade ago and act upon a sound understanding of our interests instead of clutching desperately at straws. The portents, unfortunately, are less than completely encouraging. One of the more annoying harrassments visited upon the western world by an avenging providence has been a mutant strain of so-called intellectuals whose defining characteristic is their overwhelming burden of unexpiated psychological guilt and whose favourite activity is engaging in a perverse form of intellectual masochism. Canada, and in particular English-speaking Canada , is not without its full complement. The PQ victory has brought them scurrying out of the·woodwork to devise ever more ingenious means by which the rest of us may do penance for the good of their souls. They have been telling us, in effect, that we must destroy Canada in order to save it; that the nationalist aspirations of the Quebecois must take precedence over the nationalist aspirations of Canadians; and, that under no circumstances may we give the Quebecois nationalist cause to take offence by being so gauche as to insist upon our own demands, aspirations or interests.I The problem, in truth, is that we failed to deal satisfactorily with the problem of Quebecois nationalism a decade ago and that we are now being asked to repeat the very mistakes we made at that time. Canada's response then was based upon a series of unarticulated premises and selfserving assumptions, foisted upon us by various interests in Quebec, which we were never permitted to subject to critical examination. For example, the premise that Canadians outside Quebec labour under a sacred obligation Journal ofCanadian Studies to safeguard the territorial integrity of Canada. They must therefore behave in a reasonable and responsible manner, bending over backwards when necessary to placate the Quebec~is nationalists . The other side of this coin was that Quebeckers are under no such obligation and are therefore free to make unreasonable demands and behave in an irresponsible manner. In the early and mid 'sixties, this premise formed the basis for that grotesque series of farces in which Jean Lesage made increasingly absurd demands and Lester Pearson found himself with no alternative but to capitulate. The only concern of the government of Canada at that time was how to capitulate with minimum loss of face. Then there was the premise that the only legitimate means by which Quebec could be kept in Confederation was by demonstrating to the Quebecois nationalists that they could most easily achieve their objectives within Canada rather than outside it. The result, when combined with the first premise, is a corollary which, though never fully articulated, was nonetheless scrupulously observed in practice. It held that the task of convincing the Quebecois nationalist was henceforth to be the first and foremost responsibility of Canadians. All other national aims were to enjoy a distinctly lower priority while all activities deemed to be inimical to the attainment of this objective, including especially the development of a Canadian nationalism, were to be proscribed. Among the conclusions to follow from this premise was one which asserted that, in seeking to build a strong national government for himself in Quebec City, the Quebecois nationalist was merely acting in accordance with his "legitimate nationalist aspirations". However, any attempt by Canadian nationalists to build a strohg national government for themselves in Ottawa was regarded as illegitimate and a danger to Canada. This view forms tJ:ie basis of the very curious proceedings at the Libhal Party conference held at Ottawa in October, 1966. Some of the delegates, moved by a strong sense of Canadian nationalism, presented resolutions asking that their national government undertake to deal with certain problems : The result was a great uproar and the party 53 big wigs quickly moved to have the offending motions defeated. The basic disagreement, according to a news report, was ''primarily between the provincial-minded Quebeckers...