Ex-premier Jacques Parizeau has also jumped into the debate over the 101 Caniapiscau islands.
Parizeau said Quebecers shouldn’t be so apologize and back down when they are called racists. He pointed to the Quebec Toponymy Commission’s “surprising retreat” over naming the islands, which already have Cree names.
“We have been insulted and we are losing our faculty of indignation. We bend our back. The resignation is not well-advised,” he told an audience of 500 at the Salon du livre de Quebec.
“The only danger for a people is to maintain a seige mentality,” he said.
This mentality, he said, shows itself in how Quebecers back down whenever someone contradicts them.
The Toponymy Commission said it would reconsider its plan to rename the islands when The Nation told it Crees had already given names to the former mountains. The commission promised to consult Crees to find out which of the former mountains have names. The French names were given during the summer without any consultation with the Crees.
