There is certainly a problem of coherence in François Legault’s tweet praising Catholicism, one of the causes of Quebec solidarity according to the PM.
Hypothesis of many: the PM would throw bones at part of his electorate, as was the case during the election campaign about immigration.
I do not believe.
If the PM continually puts his feet in the dishes on secularism, it is because it is not a deep conviction for him. It is a necessary evil.
It is a marriage of political convenience that François Legault has for secularism, and more broadly, with identity issues. That’s why he carries his balloons so awkwardly.
Psychology of PM
As soon as Bill 21 was passed, he was adamant he wanted to put the debate aside. He had not returned to politics for “that”, he said.
Come on, I gave, my inheritance will be elsewhere, he thought.
He saw secularism as a political tool allowing him to be elected and re-elected.
For proof, look at the evolution of his government since the election.
We stay away from all identity controversies. To protect French, we are now doing consultation between ministers and advertising. Let’s reverse the trend, they say, without laughing.
Also look at the banning of Minister Jolin-Barette, who was said to be omnipresent and dolphin, now marginalized and on the periphery.
You should read the excellent text “François Legault, the manager” by historian Éric Bédard, with whom he collaborated in the early 2000s, in the magazine Disadvantage to understand the psychology of PM.
I quote two extracts, “he did not wish to base his political action on the lamentations of the nationalists”; “He found it hard to understand these anxieties which he readily associated with a mentality of the small-time winner, even losers”.
But like a manager, a businessman, he saw a political opportunity, a market, he seized it.
Caquismo and secularism
The Caquiste defense of secularism has been cynical and confused since 2018. Three arguments are raised.
One: “You have to give a little to the majority”.
Two: “In Quebec, that’s how we live”.
Three: “Secularism protects our identity, it’s a Quebec value. »
But a majority does not justify a policy. And in a democracy, it’s not up to the state to define a particular “way of life” – if it respects our laws.
Above all, secularism is not a way of preserving any identity. It is a state principle, separating state and religion.
One way, in a plural society, for the state to be neutral in the face of all religious manifestations, including Catholicism, which the PM has obviously forgotten.
Youth and secularism
Secularism is certainly a consensus in Quebec.
I am convinced that this consensus would be even greater if secularism had been better defended, from Bernard Drainville’s Charter of Values to François Legault.
Particularly among the younger generation, who, unlike their filiation, have not lived under a leaden blanket of religion, and who see it rather as a form of diversity.
And who sees the inconsistency of prohibiting a prayer room for Muslim students during the week, and celebrating part of the Catholic heritage on weekends.
How many of us believe in the principles of state secularism, top-down, bottom-up, consistent across the board, but still uneasy with the way it is still defended today?