Sometimes chance happens. It so happens that during this Saint-Jean-Baptiste week, I was finishing the excellent biography of Jacques Parizeau written by Pierre Duchesne. A major work, which I recommend to all young people who, like me, have not been able to experience the great moments of the idea that drives them, the independence of Quebec.
It has not been easy, in recent years, to assert oneself as a sovereignist. So much laughter, so many consecutive failures. I’ve long wished I could relive the frenzy of the turn of the last century, a time when it felt so good to be alive for someone with my ideas. Strangely, as I have been delving for the past few weeks into the life of Sirwhile I relived, a little, these great events, the news seemed very cruel to me.
First there was this spat between the leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-Francois Blanchet, and the member (sovereignist) of Quebec solidaire Ruba Ghazal. Mr. Blanchet criticized the elected official for having voted for the NDP in the last federal election…
And then this story, this very sad dispute between Émile Bilodeau and Méganne Perry Mélançon, the spokesperson for the Parti Québécois (PQ). The singer, who will host the Saint-Jean evening on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec, is an orange sovereigntist. He does not like Law 21 at all and wished the “death” of the PQ (he apologized for these remarks). This, it seems, is enough for the Parti Québécois to boycott the small protocol ceremony on the sidelines of the national holiday.
While I was engrossed in the struggles within the Lévesque cabinet over how to achieve sovereignty, the political heirs of these men seemed to be waging a little fistfight over what it is to be a sovereigntist.
A fight, these people will excuse me to say it, which seemed to me very sad to observe. The story stuttered before my eyes.
For the past few months, and thanks to the excellent work of Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, a more favorable wind has been blowing on the independence ship. This is certainly not a reason to start removing veils.
Cease fire
Today, building an official union, between the different sovereigntist sensitivities, seems to be a dream. On the other hand, an unofficial unit can be built immediately. For this, I ask for a ceasefire.
Our option is weakened by these internal verbal quarrels which only make our adversaries laugh. All of us, simple activists, elected officials, chroniclers, have a historical responsibility. Let’s reject bigotry, let’s reject insult.
Sovereignty is not conditional on a specific policy; if it becomes so, it ceases to be the sovereignty of Quebec, but becomes the sovereignty of a Quebec (enter your ideology) exclusively.
No, carrying out a sovereignist policy is not carrying out this or that economic, social or cultural policy. It is to seek to obtain the means in order to carry out such and such a policy. This is our project, it is a project of regaining power, it is only after having regained our power that we will be able to discuss what we are doing with it.
Each insult that is uttered is one less person who will be ready to push the wheel when the time comes. Each contemptuous comment is one more hurt man that resentment will keep away from our dream. Sovereignty activists from all political backgrounds, let’s stop harming ourselves. The big night is still far away, we will have to work hard, and even if political union seems illusory, a non-aggression pact would already be the first step on the way to an alliance.
A great man, Bernard Landry, said: “Independence in itself is neither left nor right, it is forward. »
Let’s walk.