An emblematic figure of the diversity within the independence milieu, the former minister Maka Kotto confides that he “dropped out” of the sovereignist movement, in the absence of a clear project. If ever the question were to come back to the fore again, the former PQ member is now convinced that it will not go through the Parti Québécois, or any other party for that matter.
“The reflection on the question of independence, it will always arise. But is it something achievable in the short term, and even in the medium term? I doubt. The work that Mr. Parizeau did in 1995, with France, among others, and even with the United States, there is no equivalent today. Those who still call themselves sovereignists do not ultimately rely on any concrete project, “slips the former Minister of Culture, on the sidelines of the release of his biography. Maka Kotto. Roots, flowers and fruits.
“The roots” is his childhood in Douala, Cameroon, in a rather well-to-do environment, but plagued by corruption skillfully maintained by the former French colonizers. A little cheeky, he was introduced to the theater during his college years with the Jesuits. On the boards, he took pleasure with his comrades in putting on sketches to make fun of the dictatorship in place, to the great displeasure of his father, who dreamed of him rather as a high official.
It is by immigrating to France that he will be able to display his “flowers” and live from his passion. During the 1980s, he led an acting career there, which led him to land one of the main roles in the film adaptation of How to make love with a nigger without getting tired, by Dany Laferriere. A shoot that will make him discover Quebec, where he was finally able to reap “the fruits” of his emancipation. He will even become Minister of Culture in 2012 during the short-lived Marois government, which exceeded even the wildest dreams of his father, who was unfortunately no longer there to see him.
“Colonial and slave liabilities were the elephant in the room that we avoided talking about in Africa and France. It was Quebec that reconciled me with the West,” he explains with great gratitude.
political conundrum
Written by his former political attaché Serge Geoffrion, this book paints an intimate portrait of Maka Kotto, but also necessarily sometimes encroaches on the political terrain. He scratches the sovereignist movement on a few occasions, but remains on the whole fairly temperate, without ever falling into personal vendetta.
In interview at To have to, the former politician, however, went a step further by saying that the Parti Québécois faces squaring the circle by claiming to want to both form a government and achieve sovereignty. “To carry a social project and to govern, it is contradictory. It is impossible to please everyone while governing. We always end up alienating people, unions, with our economic decisions. The question of the constitutional future should no longer be partisan. The question of sovereignty should be defended by civil society, not by a political party,” maintains Maka Kotto, who however refuses to bury his former political formation.
During the last election campaign, he actively campaigned for his wife, Caroline St-Hilaire, an unsuccessful candidate for the Coalition avenir Québec in Sherbrooke. But this should not be seen as political support for the party of François Legault. “Caroline and I are two very different people. She has always been more center right, and I center left. It is a pragmatic, while I am an idealist, ”continues the one who was defeated in 2018 and who excludes any return to active politics.
The courage of his convictions
During his 14-year political career in Ottawa and then in Quebec, Maka Kotto tried to convince other immigrants of the merits of sovereignty, often in vain. It is difficult to counterbalance Canadian multiculturalism, in which newcomers are immersed as soon as they arrive in the country.
Mako Kotto says he hates multiculturalism, which leads to “separatism between communities” and prevents immigrants from developing any sense of belonging to Quebec. A convinced secularist, he also believes that the very concept of cultural appropriation is an illusion. At a time of fiery debates on the “n-word”, Maka Kotto does not recognize himself in this anti-racism imported from American campuses, he who nevertheless campaigned all his life – as an actor, then as a minister – against discrimination and for greater diversity on screen.
“For a long time, there was no cultural offer in Quebec that took diversity into account. Many immigrants have therefore been exposed to American culture. However, the United States has not solved its problems. As long as they have not done so, we will witness deviations. »
At least things are changing on television and in Quebec cinema. Diversity is more and more visible there, he rejoices. Could Maka Kotto be tempted by a return to his first love? The comedian turned politician remains evasive about his projects, but he does not hide his desire to reconnect with art in the coming years.