Canada certainly went out of its way in the last two weeks to accommodate Quebec.
I was appalled to learn that an Canadian ambassador told a European Parliament delegation that Canada intends to honour the results of Quebec’s referendum but all Aboriginals could do is vote in that referendum (see GCCQ notes, page 16).
Surely this couldn’t be a racist double-standard that allows one distinct society to separate and to take other equally distinct societies along for the ride against their will. Surely this would be a great and grave injustice as well as totally ignoring fiduciary responsibilities and obligations to Aboriginal Peoples.
Even worse the Canadian government isn’t prepared to handle Aboriginal questions and issues when all the ambassadors can say is that polls show Quebecers ready to refuse separation so everything is a hypothetical question.
Perhaps the odds aren’t in Quebec’s favour but burying your head in the sand doesn’t make the problem go away. By not preparing for this eventuality, Canada only shows it isn’t taking either the Francophones or Natives seriously. It evokes memories of the grasshopper laughing and playing away the summer while the ants prepared for winter. Well we all know what happened when winter hit, the grasshopper died.
Mr. Parizeau et al seem to be working to achieve their ends while the feds sit back, bury their heads in the sand and refuse to entertain hypothetical questions about the future of this country and its inhabitants. This type of smugness is annoying because these are concerns that people in Canada take seriously even if its government does not While I won’t say anything about voting in the referendum as the ambassador suggested because that is a choice that each person should make for themselves ultimately. On the other hand, I do think people should have some fun at the upcoming hearings in Radisson or Chibougamau (“Nouveau Quebec,” as the Cree communities are left out in the cold by these hearings). Even if you might not take the hearings seriously, at least you have a chance to go up and let those normally faceless bureaucrats, sitting behind that table, know what you think. That in itself can be a soul-cleansing experience.
Articulation is optional as long as emotion is present I once heard of someone doing a primal scream. It’s just one long agonizing howl of frustration. Apparently an amazing therapeutic technique.
Of course we’ve heard of one case where an Algonquin man was cut off when he spoke in his own language to La Commission Nord-du-Quebec sur l’avenir du Quebec’s Audiences publiques sur l’avant-projet de la Loi sur la souveraineté du Quebec. Don’t, I repeat, do not attempt this as it might upset this panel with a long name.
Be sure to question/lecture/howl at them in Radisson on the 3rd of March at the Salle de l’ecole J.-J. Rousseau starting at 7 p.m. and in Chibougamau on the 5th of March atthe Salle des Moose de Chibougamau (1 p.m.) To register yourself to “speak” call 1 -800-381 -2425. Ask for Chantel Gravel, tell her The Nation sent you for “preferential” treatment Be sure to ask them about the grasshoppers and whatever else you’d like to do, just do. It’s your political right to be heard in the manner you want to express yourself and don’t let them tell you otherwise. After all Canada and Quebec are world pillars of democracy and equality for all aren’t they?
