French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal delivered a vibrant plea for secularism during his visit to the National Assembly. Concerned about the fate of “our values”, François Legault said he wanted to govern so “that Quebec remains Quebec”.
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Before the French dignitary, the Quebec Prime Minister agreed Thursday that the two nations are currently facing the same challenges. He stressed that Quebec has exceeded its reception capacity in terms of immigration, which is not without risk for the future of French and “our values”.
Borrowing a formula from President Emmanuel Macron, François Legault said he wanted to “govern so that Quebec remains Quebec”.
AFP
Quebecers and the French also share the same deep attachment to secularism, added Mr. Legault.
Secularism and French
Called to address the deputies, Gabriel Attal pleaded in favor of the religious neutrality of the State. “Secularism is the condition of freedom, the condition of equality and the condition of fraternity!” he said, to applause.
He also insisted on the fight that the two nations must wage against English linguistic uniformity in digital content.
AFP
“We must fight and the message that I came to convey here is that we will fight so that every child, every young person can have access to books, articles, video games, films, series in French and that algorithms and artificial intelligence platforms give French the place it deserves. We are fighting so that young people can flourish in their language, perpetuate it, transmit it.”
The “neither-nor”
In front of Quebec elected officials, the Prime Minister of France was cautious about France’s policy with regard to the destiny of Quebec. He was careful not to pronounce the famous French doctrine of “non-interference and non-indifference”, so dear to sovereignists.
Gabriel Attal was content to praise the privileged relationship between Quebec and France, a “bond that nothing and no one can break.” “Our two nations are linked,” he repeated in the Blue Room of Parliament, which was under very high police security for the occasion.
When speaking, the PQ leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, said he understood his caution with regard to the national question of Quebec. “But when Quebecers have said yes,” the sovereignist leader hopes that Gabriel Attal – whom many see as President Emmanuel Macron’s heir apparent – would be the one to pronounce Charles de Gaulle’s formula “Long live free Quebec!” An intervention which made the main person smile.
Passing through Ottawa earlier in the day, the representative of the French government had nevertheless already endorsed France’s historic posture of “non-interference and non-indifference” towards Quebec.
“I find that this sentence says a lot, and I understand it quite well, of course,” said Mr. Attal at a press conference alongside Justin Trudeau.
The Prime Minister of Canada also seized the opportunity thrown by a journalist who asked Gabriel Attal if he felt “torn”, even “torn” between Canada and Quebec, “who both wish to establish ties with France a direct and privileged relationship.
“There is no disagreement,” said Justin Trudeau. “Canada is very happy to have a deep friendship with France and as a proud Quebecer too, I am very happy that my beautiful province of Quebec also has a privileged relationship with France,” he continued. .
AFP
Since the end of the 1970s, France had adopted a posture known as “non-interference and non-indifference” regarding the Quebec national question. President Sarkozy broke with tradition in 2009, before his successor François Hollande returned to traditional doctrine.
AFP