Tuesday, April 28, 1987 marked a turning point for Quebecers, more specifically for hockey fans in La Belle Province: in the evening, on that fateful day, Kerry Fraser’s whistle sounded to signify that the goal scored by Alain Côté had been disallowed. Nearly 40 years later, we still talk about it as a great infamy brought to supporters of fleur-de-lis sweaters; yes, at the time, I was one of those athletes who felt aggrieved by this dubious decision.
I don’t want to take away from the excitement you can bring to professional sports, but on closer inspection, if said goal had been allowed that night, how would that have changed history? At best, the Nordiques would have won their series against the Canadiens and, for the more optimistic, the Stanley Cup. Would this “feat of arms” have prevented the dealership from leaving for Colorado in 1995? We will never know, but allow me to doubt it.
Be that as it may, the nationalist fever that Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is trying to revive has its roots these days in an issue far more important than a goal that was refused, namely a stolen referendum; because no matter in which sphere of society an issue is disputed, opponents are expected to play by the rules. However, with regard to the 1995 referendum, many rules seem to have been flouted by the “No” camp.
The list would be long to describe, but just think of the obscure financing of the ” love in », the acceleration of immigration applications, etc. And to add insult to injury, Jean Chrétien, who, at the start, had believed in an easy victory like in 1980, had on hand, on the evening of the vote, a second speech in which he would not have recognized the result in the event of a narrow victory of the “Yes” camp; unless I am mistaken, the victory of the “No” was meant to be just as tight.
After the various legal forms (even before the birth of Canada), which constantly relegated the French fact more and more to the background, after the night of the long knives (which saw the birth of a constitutional law without Quebec’s consent), after the instrumentalization of the October crisis by the federal government, after the failures of the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord… What more do we need to understand that the dice are loaded and our opponent is not playing fair?
Suffice it to note the various affronts to which francophones are subjected across the country to realize that our singularity, with regard to our language and our culture, which should be underlined and be an object of pride since it is unique to across the continent, acts as a ball and chain for the rest of the Canadian population.
Today, Quebec, like almost all the peoples of the planet, is opening up to other cultures for better or for worse, due to the globalization of trade and ease of travel. However, this thirst for knowing the other should in no way make us forget who we are and where we come from.
The non-recognition of a people has more to do with the suppression of their inalienable desire for self-determination in a rigged referendum than with a disallowed goal for a team’s supporters at a hockey game.