The author is a historian, sociologist, writer, teacher at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi in the history, sociology, anthropology, political science and international cooperation programs, and holder of the Canada Research Chair on collective imaginations.
A new stream of ideas is gaining momentum in Quebec. It is radical left-wing, wokist allegiance thinking that equates our entire past with a vast colonialist and racist enterprise, based on exclusionary, sexist white supremacism. Aboriginals would have been the main victims, but also women, immigrants and all forms of minorities. We would observe in the Quebec past the same alloy of brutality and abuse of power as among our American neighbors and other colonialist nations. Quebecers are in a way called upon to redefine their memory and their identity in depth in order to structure them around a feeling of guilt and shame.
We see what would follow if this thought took hold. It would become impossible for us to maintain a positive image of ourselves, we would no longer find inspiration in our past and we would have to give up any quest for collective pride. A duty of atonement would now replace the dreams and projects of emancipation that we thought were rooted in our history, in continuity with our national struggles.
The values that seemed to elevate us (equality, democracy, fairness, etc.) would reveal their true nature: facade strategies, adulterated speeches intended to hide our faults and deceive the Other. Virtue would no longer have a place in our national imagination. Our deepest aspirations would lose their legitimacy.
Facts
We must recognize that this table contains its share of truth, but it takes enormous liberties with the facts and is singularly lacking in nuance. It must first be remembered that our society itself (formerly “Canadian”) was born and grew up in colonialism, that of France first then that of the British. He therefore also lived through the harsh experience of racism, contempt and exclusion, which relegated him for a long time to a condition of inferiority.
It took a lot of collective energy to bring about a recovery, which is not yet complete, since Quebec still suffers today from embarrassing dependencies on the federal system. Should we apologize for the sympathy inspired by the incessant struggles of a small nation battered by history and flee the challenges it still faces?
The facts also teach us our share of responsibility in the fate of the Aboriginal peoples, and it is not small. I am thinking above all of how our industrialization has contributed to destroying their hunting grounds which were the basis of their communities. I am also thinking of the very pejorative image that a large part of our elites—the clergy in the lead—has long projected of the Aboriginal people in preaching, teaching, literature and the media.
This resulted in the various forms of discrimination and humiliation that we deplore today (they added to the horrors of federal politics that we know well). Nor can we forget the complicity of the Church in the Indian residential school system. In short, there is much to be done to fulfill this overwhelming legacy.
And again, we must add the practice (already attested for the rest of Canada) of the forced sterilization of Indigenous women in Quebec between 1980 and 2019, which has just been revealed by an investigation by researchers from the University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue. We see that Quebeckers also gave, in their own way, to colonialism.
shades
That said, as far as responsibility for these faults is concerned, shouldn’t it be appropriate to exempt the greater part of the people, long doubly dominated from inside and from outside? And don’t we find in the history of Quebec inspiring episodes, generous and courageous actors? What about settlers, women, workers? Of those who led avant-garde fights for democracy and social justice? Or the efforts that have made our society the most egalitarian in America, the one with the lowest level of poverty?
As for male domination, it comes under another register than the colonialism we are talking about here. On this point, our society has traditionally relied on rules and practices that are certainly unfair and reprehensible, but which have always prevailed in almost all human societies. This neither diminishes nor excuses the wrong committed and the resulting duty of reparation, but it is unfair to instruct an anachronistic trial here. It will also be recognized that, in this regard, our society has endeavored to mend its ways and has evolved in the right direction. There is still a long way to go, of course, but why ignore what has been done?
The future
We can extend the scope of this remark. Over the past few decades, under the impetus of meritorious leaders and movements, our society has made significant progress in terms of respect for human rights. The condition of all disadvantaged social categories has been improved: that of women (and children), that of immigrants and minorities, that of disabled people. On the Aboriginal side, we have been witnessing for some time a new awareness — greatly encouraged, it must be admitted, by the action of the Aboriginal peoples themselves. Here too, undeniable progress has been made, including a more positive image of these nations in the population.
These advances, once again, remain very insufficient. The movement of openness towards the excluded, the underprivileged, must continue and even gain momentum. On some fronts, our society has a duty to repair, which requires the development of a sense of collective responsibility and commitment among the whole population. But this requires creating favorable dispositions, a desire for justice and action. It would also be beneficial to situate this enterprise in the continuity of past struggles rather than disdaining them.
However, this desire, this need for commitment, this desire for reparation, reconstruction and progress, all of this risks being compromised by the rise of a radical and misleading discourse of fault, ignominy and shame, capable of destroying our legitimate grounds for pride. It is a discourse that only sows bad conscience, resentment, self-loathing and paralysis. On this kind of soil, only thorns come.