Quebec’s weapon of deterrence | The Press

This text is not a statement or an incitement to vote for anyone. This text is simply a cold reflection on the importance of keeping sovereignism alive in Quebec.

Indeed, even for a well-convinced federalist party, preserving a sovereigntist flame, however small, is an asset comparable to what nuclear weapons are to Putin. If the Western powers refuse to cross a certain red line drawn by Vladimir, it is only because Russia has nuclear weapons. Without this massive deterrent, the NATO countries would have jumped more actively into the fray, because since the end of the USSR, their desires for domination, assimilation and integration of Russia are as uninhibited as the Putin’s irrepressible desire to bring Ukraine to heel.

In Canada too, the desire to iron out the cultural particularities of Francophones is an old story. Faced with this state of affairs, the vitality of sovereignism has often slowed down or delayed these assimilation projects which have never lacked gas since the Conquest of 1759.

Today, the Parti Québécois (PQ), which is the only resolutely sovereignist party, is dying. It has nothing to do with Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who is one of the most brilliant, convincing and convinced young people of his generation. It just so happens that a political party is a bit like a car. After seeing snow for a long time, sometimes problems accumulate, reliability decreases, and user confidence wanes. From then on, even if the bodywork is patched up and shined, the engine noise will betray this appearance of renewal. However, far be it from me to predict the death of the PQ, as some columnists did at the start of the election campaign, before recognizing its vital signs after the TVA debate. I am simply saying that there are worrying signals emanating from the engine of the political formation which, during the last 20 years, has regularly changed orientations and leaders in the hope of finding a saviour.

However, the problem of the PQ is much more in the tank than in the drivers. This is perhaps why the once very sovereignist François Legault dreams of giving Pascal Bérubé a beating and sending his training to a court in scrap.

However, François loses in wishing for the funeral of the PQ, because even for a majority CAQ government, the presence of active sovereignty in the House is advantageous. In question, Quebec’s real weapon of deterrence is not the derogatory clause that François draws to protect himself from forces hostile to his projects. The clause is a simple wall in which the courts can also find cracks and undermine its nationalist laws, so well put together, he believes. Quebec’s real weapon of deterrence is keeping the referendum card alive. I see here the image of hunter-gatherers who, to deter large predators, never let the night fire go out in their camp.

For François Legault, negotiating with Ottawa is more effective when a living independence movement listens to the talks. The fear of giving ammunition to this massive destabilization force of Canadian unity has often brought Ottawa to its senses.

What would have happened to Putin’s country if, after the break-up of the USSR, it had accepted total denuclearization in exchange for Western development aid? The same thing as the Quebec nation devoid of a resolutely independentist formation. Without this strategic weapon, Quebec will become an old toothless and declawed lion with only loud roars to try to impress the federal government. However, the latter has developed great expertise in the art of not listening to what she considers to be the whims of French-speaking nationalism.

Deep down, in his very secret garden, François knows that deep convictions do not die. They metamorphose, hide and sometimes enter a slowed state of life while waiting for conditions to become favorable for their flowering again. In other words, the lips of François Legault may have us believe the opposite, the sovereignist ideas will never leave him. One cannot have campaigned so deeply for the independence of Quebec and suddenly become a federalist with the maple leaf tattooed on his heart. The bird also sweats, but it is its plumage that hides its sweat. So said my grandfather. What will happen when Legault faces the refusal of the federal government to give him the means for his nationalist ambitions? What will he do if the courts hack his Laws 21 and 96? I do not know. One thing is certain, without any fear of a national conflagration on the horizon, Ottawa would be more and more cavalier with its assertive nationalism. But he knows that very well.