Like many Quebec nationalists, I read with interest “It is necessary to dare to say the Quebec difference”, the text by Étienne-Alexandre Beauregard recently published in The duty. I agree with most of the items mentioned, which I would like to complete with a few additions.
It is undeniable that our origins and the events that have punctuated our history largely determine who we are. Added to this are the linguistic precariousness and the territory that inhabit us, as characteristics that continue to define us.
These elements have given us particular traits that lead us to make certain choices rather than others, helping to transform our future. To dare to say the Quebec difference, we must therefore also address how they manifest themselves through our collective decisions. From the CLSCs (health), through the end of the exploration of fossil fuels (environment) to parental leave (family), our choices have erected a model of society unique in the world. Both cause and consequence of our specificity, this constitutes the second facet of the same coin, that of our identity.
During the year of my 19th birthday, in 2012, I was particularly struck by the scale of the uprisings that opposed promises to reduce accessibility to higher education. A debate that only took place in Quebec. Education allows us to become aware of our situation and our conditions, thus expressing our desire to say “master in our own house”. This can be explained by Quebec’s long delay in education, before rolling up its sleeves by adopting robust and unique reforms that still shape our society. Of these, let us mention the CEGEP network and the CPE network.
Far from being a transitional institution, CEGEPs are an innovation that is now embedded in the landscape of Quebec. Their particularities have helped to democratize higher education and contribute to the economic, cultural and social development of Quebec, even more markedly in the regions. This is what led Guy Rocher to say eloquently, on the occasion of his most recent hearing before a parliamentary committee, that “CEGEPs are one of the educational institutions that exert the most influence both on Quebec society and the students who frequent it.
The creation of CPEs also followed the observation of a delay in education for early childhood, a decisive period in the life of every human being. Among their many benefits, they have made it possible to promote access to the labor market for women and to offer children a quality education at low cost. This has led to important advances in the fight against poverty, equality between men and women and, of course, education.
The education resulting from these institutions, which cannot be found anywhere else, is the fruit of our choices and is an integral part of the Quebec difference. Through their accessibility and quality, they promote both social mobility and the development and cohesion of Québec. Their effects will continue to exert a lasting influence on our ways of life and our way of seeing the world. They also help to make it, despite our imperfections, a rather enviable place.
And it is because a distinct people needs to make choices that correspond to it that no fully assumed nationalism can deny the need for its self-determination. This is why, in order to be able to proudly wear this medal, it seems essential to me to seek the independence allowing us to decide entirely by ourselves, for ourselves.