Fleurdelisé *

February 26, 2010

by Kim McConnell

Canadians for Language Fairness www.languagefairness.ca

The article reproduced below (in an earlier blog) from the Winnipeg Free Press is very revealing.  Indeed, Canada is very fragile and why is that?  Pierre Elliot Trudeau said, “"There is no way two ethnic groups in  one country can be made equal before the law....and to say it is possible is to sow the seeds of destruction".  Pierre Trudeau, 1966. 

He was correct!!!  By forcing this on Canada when he entrenched the Official Languages Act into the Constitution, he allowed the 23% French-speakers to displace the 77% English-speakers from Canada’s Halls of Power. 

The French-speakers of Quebec, by their intransigence and general bloody-mindedness, thumbed their noses at English-speakers and won the battle of nerves.  The English-speakers, like peaceful people everywhere, took the easy way out – instead of meeting the French-speakers head-on in open confrontation, they withdrew and in many cases, even capitulated. 

In Quebec, the Stockholm Syndrome kicked in and the media led the way in convincing English-speakers that the French-language and culture should take precedence.  Historical revisionism was allowed to teach the French Quebecers’ version of history (British conquerors - bad, conquered French – good). 

Anyone who has seen a copy of the book, “Fleurdelisé”, published by Guerin in Montreal will know what I’m talking about (see note below).

There are other problems of course:

1. The way Canada was set up with the senior provinces (e.g. Quebec, New Brunswick, PEI) having more seats in Parliament despite their dwindling population and younger provinces like Alberta having fewer seats despite their growing population resulting in an imbalance in representation.  This is true in the House of Commons as well as the Senate.  Any attempts by the Conservative government to bring about any correction have been thwarted by the Opposition (Liberal, NDP & Bloc Quebecois).
2. The Equalization Payments policy which is now under attack from the Western provinces who are sick & tired of always paying the freight & always coming out on the losing end.
3. Quebec, despite endless efforts on the part of the Rest (Most) of Canada to appease them inevitably end up less patriotic & less caring .
4. Quebec, especially the French-speakers, are getting more & more unpopular because they seem to be ever more demanding & less cognizant of the fact that they are a minority and it is not the obligation of the majority to put them on a pedestal and give them priority consideration, at great cost to themselves.  It is not human nature to acquiesce to this reversal of the democratic philosophy of majority rule!!!  So should we be surprised that we have become a very unhappy country?

What can we do about this frustration?  We can help to educate other Canadians and let them know that we shouldn’t put up with this insane situation.  Circulate our message to as many people as you can so that they can also start to understand.  Ask them to pay attention before it’s too late.  --Kim

* Fleurdelisé: Quebec’s “national” flag