University of Virginia Library

Charles Bryan

Quebec Separatist Wants Own Nation

Most Americans, according to
reliable sources, know that Canada
is a large, sparsely-populated country
somewhere between the United
States and the North Pole. But
aside from bits of trivia concerning
Preston and Expo
'67, not even reliable sources know
much more. And experts on Canadian
politics are somewhat scarcer
than vegetarians.

It's not surprising, then, that
when Charles deGaulle this summer
promised French support to
something called the Quebec separatist
movement, most Americans
seemed to attribute it to the imagination
of a cranky old man.

BUT IN QUEBEC, some three-fourths
of whose residents are of
French descent, there is indeed a
strong, growing separatist movement.
As I learned from talking
with Jocelyn Tremblay, a graduate
student at the University and a
member of the revolutionary National
Liberation Front of Quebec,
the separatists are dead-serious.
They also have a strong
case.

The movement, as M. Tremblay
calls it, is above all else nationalistic.
It wants Canada to develop
a true sense of national identity.
"I want to give my kids a country,"
M. Tremblay told me. This
would mean in all probability the
withdrawal of Canada from the
Commonwealth—the adoption of a
"less friendly attitude" towards
Great Britain. The flying of the
Union Jack in Canada and their
technical status as subjects of the
Queen are daily reminders to the
separatists that they don't have a
"true nation that we can call
our own."

But the separatists tend to doubt
the achievement of this ideal. As
M. Tremblay admits, the English-speaking
majority likes to consider
itself British. If this continues to
be the case, however, if Ottawa
does not effect some changes,
the separatists are confident that
Quebec will secede from the rest
of Canada.

"We will talk first. We've invited
Prime Minister Pearson to
discuss our problems; we're talking
with other political leaders and
with students from universities outside
of Quebec. But if these talks
come to nothing, Quebec will become
free on its own. This might
be two years, five years—even
longer. But we will be free."

M. TREMBLAY SUGGESTS
that the first step might be for
representatives of Quebec to go to
Ottawa to announce Quebec's refusal
to pay federal taxes. These
taxes have long been a point of
contention to Quebec's citizens,
who feel that their province does
not get its fair share of benefits.

After this first step is taken, there
is the possibility of an armed struggle.
This could take on many of
the aspects of a racial or ethnic
war—many of the English-speaking
people in Quebec would probably
leave, according to M.
Tremblay, and these might well
be replaced by French-speaking
immigrants from such provinces
as Saskatchewan and Alberta.

But M. Tremblay is optimistic
towards the outcome of such a
struggle. First of all, the separatists
are sure of French support. They
also expect support from the
U.S., which has numerous investments
in Quebec, and probably
from the Soviet Union and other
countries. "We are already embarrassing
the Ottawa government
because of all the friends we have,"
he told me.

He also points to the character
of the revolutionary movement in
Quebec. Most of the people most
active in the NLF are, like M.
Tremblay, young and better-educated
than their elders. These
people know well the inequities
the French-speaking minority have
suffered, and they are bitter. M.
Tremblay referred especially to his
five years' service in the Navy,
where he was constantly being
called "French frog" or "French
pea soup," and where English-speaking
men are promoted over
more capable French speakers.

Furthermore, separatism is a
popular movement in Quebec, he
said. The NLF alone has 11,000
members and there are other
separatist parties. The House of
Commons actually includes one
separatist, Gilles Gregoire, who
that body by addressing it in
French.

IN SPITE of their progress, the
separatists face an uphill struggle.
As M. Tremblay admits, many
Quebec residents are reluctant to
press for separation because of
economic ties with English-speaking
Canadians or because of their
employment at English-owned factories.
Furthermore, it seems
doubtful whether U.S. aid, or even
neutrality, would really be forthcoming—Washington
and Wall
Street might well fear that the next
step after separation would be the
nationalization, Cuba-style, of American-owned
industries, which
some see as the major exploitative
element in the Quebec
economy.

But M. Tremblay has faith: "I
want a country and a flag I can
call my own. If I didn't think that
our movement would succeed, I
would take up American citizenship.
We're not afraid. We will
have our own country."