THE Larousse defines masochism as a “self-destructive drive, in which the subject finds pleasure only in the physical pain and humiliations inflicted on him.” It might be time to create a “remote masochism” where the subject, dissatisfied with being humiliated at home, must now seek humiliation in foreign lands to achieve his pleasure. François Legault, whose shocking declarations on the subject of immigration ruined this magnificent occasion that is always, for a Quebec prime minister, an official visit to the country of Voltaire, could inspire us with this new masochism.
What will we remember, in fact, on the other side of the Atlantic, of the passage of the current face of Quebec? We will remember – this is what the French people I have spoken to since have remembered – a grumpy and stunted Quebec Prime Minister who came to show, in the eyes of the entire French-speaking world, where Quebec should shine brightly and where Canada’s place is quite absurd, the poor balance of power that our nation has in matters of immigration with the federal government.
For a few days, he demonstrated the weakness of Quebec while Justin Trudeau, all smiles, chose the nobler path of restraint: “We will discuss all that at home, my little one,” as the father of the family said, who, for to avoid another “bacon crisis”, promises the moon to his son even though he knows very well that he will never grant his requests. Is this really the image that Quebec wants to project to the world?
Increasingly, the melodrama surrounding the distribution of immigration powers between Quebec and Canada has the effect of a generic comedy. We are even beginning to question the psychology of the main person concerned, who, after six years of power and increasingly absurd, even inflammatory declarations, has still obtained nothing. Isn’t insanity defined as doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result?
Really, we don’t know what’s going on with this proud business leader who has served as our Prime Minister for six years. Perhaps he never ultimately abandoned his independence beliefs? Perhaps he is trying to demonstrate, through repeated failures, the impossibility for Quebec to obtain more powers in a Canada which, with demographics helping, will soon no longer need it?
I doubt that François Legault is a good enough tactician to have consciously adopted this strategy which benefits the separatists: “I will get elected by promising big gains in the federation – [il dirait de “gros wow”] — while knowing full well that I will not obtain them, in order to show Quebecers that the path they did not choose in 1995 was the right one, ultimately. After so many failures, what other conclusion, indeed, could a rational individual adopt? » I admit that I would have a big smile if, in fifteen or twenty years, we read in an unauthorized biography of the Prime Minister that this was indeed the strategy.
Solutions
In the meantime, the problems linked to immigration are not being resolved, they are getting worse. And like all problems that are left to drag on, they stimulate increasingly harmful rhetoric — forcibly returning asylum seekers to other provinces, regardless of whether it is necessary or not, is not something we say out loud in a rule of law.
While, however, there are solutions within the reach of a daring provincial that could halt the decline of the French language and the housing crisis: for French, extend Law 101 to CEGEPs, for the housing crisis, to less for students, build, like that of Paris, where I have the pleasure of staying, a magnificent international city of Montreal (we preferred to give the Royal Victoria hospital, which would have been ideal, to McGill — who knows why!).
Above all, we will have to stop telling stories. Canada is a sovereign state and one of the prerogatives of a sovereign state is the management of its borders — who enters, who leaves, when, how, etc. Quebec, as long as it remains a federated entity of Canada, will never obtain full powers in immigration, as Legault demands, because this would imply, for Canada, alienating what makes it a sovereign state to full part. It won’t happen. And then, let’s not forget that mass, integrated immigration – if only it becomes integrated, another story – in English benefits the Canadian demographic crusade.
This problem ultimately illustrates the entrapment of Quebec within Canada, a straitjacket that pushes us into all kinds of identity excesses because we do not have the noble confidence that comes with being “masters of our own home”. Systematically anxious for our identity, tirelessly worried about our language, while knowing that we do not have the effective political resources to protect them, we are reduced to small compensatory measures and nauseating declarations which betray the soul of Quebec and comfort those who, almost by default, have a bad image of us.
One thing is certain: our Prime Minister is entitled to his masochism from a distance. A little decency would command him not to indulge in his fantasies when he claims to represent us on the stage of the world. It is possible that then we will be a little ashamed.