With good reason, we are concerned about the electoral divide between Montreal and the rest of Quebec.
However, this is not just an electoral breakdown, nor a sociological issue, as we see in the West, the opposition of a large metropolis to the regions, but an identity breakdown as a result of mutating demographics. The greater Montreal area was created by waves of massive immigration over the past quarter century.
No surprise here: a country cannot be indifferent to the population it creates.
A new people, a Montreal people, is taking shape in the metropolis, in a way, under the sign of multiculturalism and open bilingualism, if the population of Montreal does not change from a Quebec identity to a Canadian identity. The Mask of a New Anglo Conformity.
Despite attempts to hide this by constantly manipulating the meaning of words, newcomers are invited to integrate into this Montreal community rather than Quebec identity. The Canadian government naturally operates from this perspective and contributes to this dissociation between Quebec and its metropolitan area.
For those who claim to speak in its name, this new Montréal is a central element of the current identity dynamics, constituted by the rejection of French-speaking Quebec, which is too homogenous, reactionary, closed, racist and focused on reclaiming identity. . He imagines that he is dominated by the regions and wants to free himself from them. This can be seen as a useful ideological ploy: by claiming that it was rejected by the historical French-speaking majority, one grants oneself the right to reject Quebec. It is in the name of content that we want to exclude ourselves. One need only read the most radical anti-national columnists to find this discourse.
Moreover, in the landscape of the metropolis, the historical French-speaking majority tends to become a minority among others – but a community that is increasingly rejected because it is associated with white privilege, systemic racism, and a form of Linguistic hegemony associated with Bill 101, from which the metropolis must free itself to reinvent itself under the banner of inclusion and diversity. Let’s keep this in mind: French is being trampled again today in the name of inclusion and diversity. The tribal cause is often exploited by these “inclusionary” activists who go so far as to turn the struggle against French into a struggle for recolonization in the name of English.
In order to be accepted in the new multicultural Montreal, francophones must move to a level of self-critical identity and mock as much as possible the French-speaking Quebecers in the regions and suburbs. Bad taste voting for nationalist parties like CAQ and PQ. Joining Wokism is a good representation of this symbolic self-criticism.
This identity break is now reflected in a new political break that brings back the name of the post-1995 separatist movement without her asking, then associated with Howard Galgano. In a strategy of intimidation attached to what was then known as Plan B, it was a question of declaring that the west side of Montreal would ask for its annexation to Canada in the event of independence. The discourse grew. It was defined not by the fear of independence, put on ice for a time, but by the rejection of identity laws put in place to free Quebec from Canadian multiculturalism and better protect the French language. Not even on the threshold of independence, the entire island is now slated to secede from Quebec.
This movement is not confined to the extreme fringes of the English-speaking community, even if it is freely expressed among them. Balarama Holness is its most militant representative. This ideology is now making its way into mainstream political discourse and can be seen on social media.
This contrasting neo-separatism, which has been widespread since the fair housing crisis of 2007-2008, is also available in a more “moderate” version – one that presents Montreal as a unique community relative to the rest of Quebec. Right to avoid identification laws. This discourse is dominant among municipal political elites.
Some consider this division of mind to be, perhaps, inevitable tomorrow, an administrative separation between Montreal and the rest of Quebec. They regret, but believe in the insurmountable. We can see things differently and assume that the Quebec government should set itself the task of politically restoring the metropolis, relying precisely on the historical French-speaking majority that will retain its political power for a little while longer.
We do not have to consent to the formation of a self-proclaimed Republic of Montreal.
From this point of view, the metropolis must be reintegrated into the Quebec national imagination by pursuing an island-wide policy of active franchising, and more broadly, by placing Quebec culture at the heart of the metropolis in a thousand ways. This is what Act 21 allowed. This is what strengthening Act 96 would allow. This would also be necessary, and I apologize for rewriting it, but teaching is repetitive work, with considerable immigration limitations. This is what Quebec’s independence will allow, without which Quebec society is condemned and, in the current historical context, may fall apart.
It is a question of criticizing a variety of neo-separatism and recalling that the historic French-speaking majority that represents the core identity of the people of Quebec cannot be symbolically or politically expelled from its metropolis. The state of Quebec should make its presence felt everywhere in Quebec’s largest city. The nationalist movement has played its part in this regard by beginning to mobilize again in the center of the metropolis, as it did in the 1960s through the 1990s. Ultimately, these measures will allow immigrants to better integrate, which is what we all need to do. with concern.
Montreal is unimaginable without Quebec, and Quebec is unimaginable without Montreal, whose vocation is to be a cosmopolitan and French-speaking metropolis, which prevents it from being Canada. The country of Quebec.
It’s a question mark for Montreal to win again. For the greater good of Montreal and Quebec.
