While the ordinary immigrant is at the heart of heated public debates, more often than not, he or she does not have a voice. We talk about him without him, ignoring everything about his reality.
With his luminous essay Us, the others which appears this week in French, columnist and writer Toula Drimonis first wanted to pay a very personal tribute to all these ordinary immigrants with extraordinary lives who, in the shadow of controversies, make the heart of Quebec beat.
The idea for the book was born after the death of her father, on November 29, 2014, she tells me. His name was Panayote Drimonis. A Greek immigrant, from a very poor background, fleeing poverty. He left his suitcase in Montreal in 1963 with $50 in his pocket, thanks to the family reunification program.
In Canada, Panayote became “Peter”. His only asset was a suit bought on credit which he had to repay quickly with his first salary as a diver. Above the sink where he began washing his debts, a warning: “If you blow a drink, I’ll blow your face.” »
In 1965, he opened his first small restaurant. It was at the corner of Avenue du Mont-Royal and Avenue Henri-Julien, just opposite the family apartment where Toula was born the following year. “The restaurant, where the photo on the cover of my book was taken, was called Le Coin blanc. Isn’t it extraordinary that an allophone Greek chose a French name for his snack well before law 101? »
His father was not one of those immigrants who are valued by policies that tend to measure the value of an immigrant by their immediate contribution to the country’s economy. He was also not one of those migrants who are celebrated for their extraordinary achievements, Toula points out.
Why would it be necessary for the immigrant to invent a vaccine, be a sports star or go to the front during the pandemic for him to have value? Doesn’t he have the right to a banal life like everyone else?
As banal as Panayote Drimonis’ life may be in snack bars smelling of steamed hot dogs, that did not prevent him from being part, with his wife Ourania, still alive, of those immigrants that Quebec needs. People who get up early to feed the city and make its heart beat. “As in Gérald Godin’s poem Montreal Tango “, says Toula. She cites in her book this hymn to immigration by the poet and politician, immortalized on a mural in front of the Mont-Royal metro station, not far from her father’s first restaurant:
The old heart of the city
would he still beat
thanks to them
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The poem Montreal Tangoby Gérald Godin, in front of the Mont-Royal metro station
While her parents worked long hours, Toula had to learn very early to fend for herself, with a key to her neck. Until she was 10, she didn’t remember seeing her parents relaxing at home. “When I think of my childhood, it’s the image of my parents who were always tired that comes to mind. »
Beyond the very touching personal story which allows us to better understand the sacrifices, challenges, worries and multiple allegiances of immigrants and children of immigrants, Us, the others is intended to be a plea for pluralism and a warning: the political rhetoric which constantly makes the immigrant a scapegoat or an “Other” waiting for a visa to access an inaccessible “We” is a threat to social cohesion .
“It’s not unique to Quebec,” specifies the author. Neither specific to our time – his essay also includes several eloquent historical reminders in this sense.
As an allophone journalist and columnist who writes about Quebec politics, Toula is often wrongly accused of Quebec bashing. She is made to feel that she is a Quebecer on probation.
We ask her why she always talks about Quebec… “I am a Quebec journalist! I follow the news here, it’s normal that I talk about Quebec! Why would I talk about Saskatchewan? »
Although she is a lover of the French language and Quebec culture, we also find it suspicious that she writes first in English rather than in French – her third language which she learned on her own, because she lived and was schooled in Greece from the age of 10 and did not return to Quebec until her early twenties.
And as soon as she talks about immigration, she is told that Quebec is a very welcoming and very generous society… which she does not deny. ” It’s true ! » She writes it in black and white in her book: “The quiet and boring reality about which most commentators do not bother to write is that, in general, we hears quite well. Quebec is a fabulous place to live and people of all linguistic backgrounds treat each other with respect, affection and kindness. »
Which does not prevent her from being worried when dissecting the often reactionary speeches of the Legault government and certain commentators on immigration. Let us think of the hurtful and erroneous comments made by former Immigration Minister Jean Boulet during the last election campaign – he declared that 80% of immigrants go to Montreal, do not work, do not speak French or do not adhere to the values of Quebec society. Or to those of François Legault, who affirmed that it would be “suicidal” for Quebec and for the future of the French language to accept more than 50,000 immigrants (before reversing course after the elections).
Even when followed by excuses or retreats, comments that constantly associate immigration with a threat are not without consequences, recalls Toula Drimonis.
Words have weight. The way we debate issues related to immigration, too.
“At the moment, too many commentators and politicians are suggesting, often indirectly, that “real Quebecers” must think a certain way, vote a certain way, have French as their mother tongue, etc. This is dangerous reasoning that creates a hierarchy in society and a category of second-class citizens. »
To meditate.
Us, the others
All in all
272 pages
Released January 30