In popular Quebec parlance, the word patente is used as a kind of catch-all term. This word could be replaced by trick or thing, for example. About fifty years ago, on the other hand, this word was used to designate a secret society, La Patente. Do you know his story?
La Patente, whose real name is the Ordre de Jacques-Cartier, was a secret group that brought together Francophones who wanted to make gestures of influence to protect the interests of the French-Canadian nation.
These people would have succeeded in influencing, and even changing their minds, the Canadian government and many companies on hot issues in favor of French Canadians.
The success of the organization was based on discretion, so all sorts of words were used to avoid naming it under its real name of the Ordre de Jacques-Cartier.
It is in this context that the term La Patente ended up imposing itself.
Screenshot / archive
The film L’ordre secret by Phil Comeau, made a few months ago, tells us the story of La Patente.
HIS ORIGIN
The Order of Jacques-Cartier was born in Ontario in the interwar period. At its peak, the underground organization had over 50,000 members.
According to several historians, his influence was decisive for the presence of French in the public sphere in Canada. For example, without it, our Jacques-Cartier Bridge would probably be called the Harbor Bridge and our banknotes would probably not be bilingual.
This French-speaking and Catholic secret society extended its influence to Canada, but also in certain cases to the North American continent.
It is said that she had succeeded in weaving a vast network from the St. Lawrence Valley to Louisiana, passing through the borders of British Columbia and even as far as American Massachusetts.
ORANGERS AND FREEMASONS
The history of the Ordre de Jacques-Cartier begins in Ottawa in 1926.
Many Francophone civil servants who work in the national capital are frustrated by the many injustices they experience and especially by the lack of bilingualism in the Canadian government apparatus.
Archival photo
To become part of the Order, one had to undergo an initiation rite similar to those practiced by the Knights of Columbus.
Since the birth of Confederation, only Anglophones have had access to senior positions in the federal public administration.
French Canadians, on the other hand, vegetate most of the time in menial jobs. Their bosses are almost always English-speaking and they too often favor the advancement of their linguistic compatriots.
It was in response to this Anglo-Saxon power that one autumn evening in 1926, a handful of federal civil servants met to mobilize, discuss injustice and dream of a powerful secret society for the country’s Francophones.
You know, the Anglophone community also had secret societies to defend and promote its values.
Some influential bosses met in Masonic or Orange assemblies, for example.
Do you know the term orange? In English Canada, this sectarian organization had resisted Catholic interference in civic affairs for decades.
Orangemen viewed Catholics and French Canadians as politically disloyal or culturally inferior. A rather racist organization in fact.
VERY SIMPLE OBJECTIVE
The objective of La Patente is very clear: to defend the interests of French-speaking minorities in North America through the intervention of influential members, in other words, to lobby hard.
The leaders of the Order of Jacques-Cartier began by bringing together important men, French-Canadian nationalists were certainly recruited, but above all discreet and trustworthy people.
It’s so secret that members are forbidden from talking about the organization to their own wives.
Priority is therefore given to recruiting journalists, school inspectors, traveling salesmen, store owners, teachers and several other trades who have a social or political influence.
The members of La Patente are given the following motto: “Increase Canadian organizations in order to get our ideas across. »
We want to integrate and control, directly or indirectly, the institutions of influence, such as the Caisses Populaires Desjardins, the major boards of directors, the school boards and the cultural organizations that affect the popular masses.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Its members manage to exert a lot of influence.
Here are a few achievements that are directly or indirectly attributed to the famous Patente: the implementation of bilingual checks by the Canadian government, the consecration of the fleur-de-lis flag of Quebec, and possibly that of Canada, the francization of large companies such as Bell Canada, the choice of the location of Expo 67 in Montreal rather than Toronto, the francization of part of the toponymy of Quebec.
In addition, the organization imposes a new anthem for the country, O Canada, to replace God Save The Queen.
This influence of La Patente extends over nearly 40 years. Then, in 1963, the secret was exposed. Members established in Quebec publicly reveal the secrets of the Ordre de Jacques-Cartier, among others in the popular magazine Maclean in May of the same year.
It is a real disaster for the organization which was to remain secret. Thereafter, the most active elements gradually leave the organization which will slowly disappear. It was finally in the winter of 1965 that the organization’s chancellors officially dissolved the Ordre de Jacques-Cartier.
It is interesting to note that well-known former politicians would have been close to this organization, names such as the influential journalist André Laurendeau of Le Devoir, the former mayor of Montreal Jean Drapeau or the former premiers of Quebec, Bernard Landry and Jacques Parizeau, to name a few.
OUR HISTORY
If it seems more and more obvious for the specialists that La Patente greatly exaggerated its influence, there is no doubt that this secret Order is an integral part of our history.
She contributed to trying to make English Canada understand the importance of respecting and protecting the French culture in the country.