Quebec’s reflections on its interprovincial relations began in the 1950s. Liberal leader Georges-Émile Lapalme believed that Quebec had a role with regard to the “French-Canadian diaspora” similar to that which France had with regard to to its former colonies. The Francophonie is “annoyed by the vocabulary”, which some accuse of being imperialist, notes Marcel Martel, professor of history at York University. But the idea caught on, and when the Liberals were elected in 1960, Lapalme, who had become Minister of Cultural Affairs, created the Service du Canada français d’outre-frontières, from which emerged the idea of the Maisons du Québec.
The project, which was then intended to forge ties with Francophones in a minority situation, did not last long, but revived in 1969 when Quebec and Ontario signed a collaboration agreement, explains Marcel Martel. The former wants to dialogue more with the other provinces to promote its language. “Quebec had to have an interprovincial dimension,” explained Gil Rémillard, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs from 1985 to 1994. For Bourassa, it was very important to have close relations with Ontario. »
On January 18, 1973, in a speech delivered to the Toronto elite at the Empire Club, Premier Robert Bourassa noted that the country would not be the work of provincial governments “locked in their regionalisms”. However, the House will first have economic objectives, as evidenced by the first words of the decree creating it: “Minister of Industry and Trade” And the mission continues today. “Our goal is to help Quebec businesses export to the rest of Canada,” sums up post manager Catherine Tadros.
Important transactions
Seventeen employees, including Catherine Tadros, work at the Bureau du Québec à Toronto (BQT), one of the 35 representations of Québec outside its borders. Four of these offices are based in Western Canada. And nearly half of the employees report to Investissement Québec International and are dedicated to the export sector, according to the head of the post. This is far from the beginnings of the House, which had two people in 1974, including the first official delegate, Thomas Moorse, who had the title of “economic adviser”. “Quebec is alive and healthy,” the latter announced in an advertisement published in the Globe and Mailin July 1973.
Catherine Tadros knew almost only the orientations of a CAQ government: she was appointed to the post three months before the election of François Legault. The latter gave the Bureau a clear mandate to “increase Quebec’s exports to Ontario and the rest of Canada,” she explains. In 2021, Ontario bought $43 billion in goods and services in Quebec, or 25 times more than what France buys in Quebec. “Forty percent of Quebec’s sales outside the province are made in Canada,” says Ms.me Tadros.
We had to get Quebec to have an interprovincial dimension. For Bourassa, it was very important to have close relations with Ontario.
However, within the Bureau itself, it is often noted that Quebec’s economic exchanges with Canada are in the blind spot of some Quebecers. “Maybe in the media, we don’t talk about it as much. It’s more exotic to talk about our sales in France or Asia, but interprovincial trade is important,” says Catherine Tadros. Media interest in BQT was likely greater in its early days. For example, in 1978, 200 journalists and public relations officers took part in a “Quebec evening” organized by the delegation.
Cultural mission
Although the economy is the BQT’s priority, it is also the eyes and ears of the province with regard to the implementation of the Government Action Plan for Canadian Francophonie, according to Catherine Tadros. The Bureau has therefore not completely strayed from the mission imagined by Georges-Émile Lapalme. According to the latest version of the policy, published in 2021, it is responsible “to mobilize Quebecers established in other provinces as actors in bringing Francophones together”.
In general, Ontario and Quebec now enjoy good relations. According to former minister Gil Rémillard, this is due in particular to the creation of the Quebec delegation in Toronto in the 1970s. “Politics often reflects people’s personalities,” explains the former Quebec minister. Robert Bourassa was sensitive [à l’idée de ce rapprochement]. »
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.