This year, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation takes place against a backdrop of tensions which bring to the fore the question of relations between indigenous peoples and the State of Quebec. The announced hydroelectric development projects come alongside protests over hydroelectric rates and the place reserved for Indigenous people within the new National Museum of the History of Quebec. This leads us to wonder what type of relationship Quebec aspires to develop with the peoples who share its territory.
As such, a few historical reminders are worth mentioning. Our society has undeniably been marked by the important and prolonged contacts we have had in the past. Whether we think of cultural elements, such as maple syrup and the arrow sash, or social elements, such as equality between men and women, the importance given to the good treatment of children or our social cohesion, Quebec identity without this autochthony (at the time, savagery) would not be the same.
We therefore believe that the process of truth and reconciliation between our peoples should take on, here, a meaning of its own and respectful of our heritage.
Truth
It is necessary to recall the distinction regarding the nature of the relationships that the Aboriginal people had with the French and the British. As such, we can never emphasize enough to what extent the Conquest marked a dramatic rupture in relations between our peoples. Before her, Indigenous people were, it should be remembered, regularly considered as brothers by French speakers. But from this turning point, French Americans and Natives alike were treated by the Empire as savages.
Francophones seeking to be treated as a people with a culture and history to find legitimacy in the eyes of Her Majesty’s representatives worked fiercely to distinguish themselves and distanced themselves physically and mentally from Aboriginal people. Canada’s will, embodied in policies such as the Indian Act and residential schools, continued this same segregationist logic.
The misfortunes that accompanied these events should not make us forget the historic relationship between our peoples, French-speaking and Indigenous, dotted with love and fraternity. It is therefore not guilt, but rather the truth that should animate our discussion on reconciliation. This involves naming our relationships for what they were: those of complex and imperfect humans who, within imperial systems, sought to live their lives as best they could. A story composed of both moments of darkness, but also of light.
To highlight our precious common heritage, August 4 deserves to be established as a national day commemorating the links between our peoples, in memory of the Great Peace of Montreal signed in 1701. Highlight this unique agreement in the world in terms of of relations between Europeans and Indigenous people would concretely mark our common story by promoting these little-known but essential links that our peoples have woven at the intersection of our histories.
Reconciliation
Returning to the roots of relations between our cultures constitutes a first, crucial step towards lasting reconciliation between our peoples, not only for our time, but for the future. The second is to consider the nations that share this common territory as key players. There have certainly been several historic advances, but we cannot deny the still conflictual nature nor the disproportion of the balance of power between the State of Quebec and the indigenous nations.
How can we take these negotiations seriously? How can we reasonably believe that this unfairness will not benefit one party to tip the balance in its favor? The First Nations seek to negotiate as equals and in good faith. Our relations need a paradigm shift, where the State will stop keeping communities precarious in order to establish a healthy negotiation climate based on equitable foundations. This inevitably involves structuring concessions which are part of a historical catch-up to return to what prevailed and should always prevail between our nations.
To achieve this, we can act now by granting the 11 indigenous nations effective representation within our National Assembly, by having each elect its own representative. Thus increasing the number of seats from 125 to 136 would represent a historic advance that would be in line with the heritage of French America and would concretely distinguish us from other peoples who took root in the New World. Such a change of direction certainly requires confidence and courage, but first and foremost a sincere ambition to work together towards a common goal: the prosperity of a society where every people is a stakeholder.
We therefore appeal to our collective memory to reconnect with this lost alliance, in order to lay the foundations of a Quebec that truly reflects our aspirations. Those of free peoples.