FRENCH NATIONALISM IN CANADA
Commonwealth and Foreign
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Certain tendencies which contributed to the results of the recent Provincial election in Quebec, though they by no means alone accounted for them, are of more than local interest. I refer, amongst others, to the revival of French- Canadian nationalism. This is not only a matter of first importance for the Dominion as a whole, but it has some significance for the rest of the Commonwealth, particularly for those observers who attach importance to the relation of Canada to Imperial, or Commonwealth, foreign policy.
Stiperficially, the " Outs " have routed the " Ins " in Quebec ; a Liberal regime of almost forty. years' standing (until three months ago the most conservative Government in the Dominion) has fallen of its own weight, after dry-rot had been revealed penetrating to its core ; a new party, L'Union Nationale, composed largely of Conservatives and disaffected Liberals, has been swept into power, gaining 77 out of 90 seats in the Legislative Assembly. On the face of it, yet another Canadian Government has paid the price of being in power during the world depression. Scandals in the Taschereau regime, exposed in the Com- mittee of Public Accounts at Quebec, played their full part in the result. But more significant for the outside world has been the fusion of economic discontent with political nationalism.
Since 1930, economic discontent resulting from the depres- sion has produced the inevitable wave of opinion against the great corporations and the great employers of labour. We have had the equivalent of, perhaps the same wave of sentiment which led to, Roosevelt's New Deal, next door. (American movements usually seep over into Canada after a short lapse of time, though, in this case, Canadian con- ditions would have produced discontent, anyway.) Mr. Taschereau, the veteran Liberal Premier of Quebec, was a ready mark. He had come to be regarded as the cor- porations' man, the agent of " the interests "—locally dubbed " Trustards." But the interests in question were not merely corporations ; they were " English " corporations, that is to say, companies controlled by English-Canadian, British or American capital. (That there are few large French- Canadian corporations is one of the nationalists' complaints.) The Quebec population, which is, of course, overwhelmingly French-Canadian, reacted in the classical depression manner against vested interests, but not merely as such. Economic revolt has, to some extent, become fused with nationalism. And the reformist zeal; which is utterly remote from Marxism, has not even taken the pattern of American radicalism. Its text, as is appropriate in the most Catholic, though not the most Roman part of the Commonwealth, is the Papal encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, with a strong interpolation of Rerum Novarum.
One of the signs of the times in Canada, of late, has been an outburst of pamphleteering in both languages. All sorts of nationalist sheets have sprung up in Quebec, many of them anti-Semitic, some of them considerable, many not. ' More important have been the youth movements, like those of the Jeunes Canada, the Jeunesse Patriote and others—consciously aiming at setting up a French-Canadia' n, Catholic,- corporative State upon the banks of the St. Lawrence River, which, however, at least for the time being, would remain within the Commonwealth. Elements of the younger clergy, realising that to hold their Quebec fortress 'against radicalism it would now be necessary to appear in the vanguard of social reform in this most backward province, have influenced these moire- - ments in the general direction of an 'economic paternalism which would provide greater social serviCes.
One element of the campaign, however, caused renewed disquiet amongst those who have watched the 'rebirth of Quebec nationalism with a wary eye. "It was illustrated by;• amongst other episodes, the issue of a pamphlet from the publicity headquarters of the now victorious Union Nationale; in Montreal, entitled The Founders of Union Nationale. (There was nothing to connect M. Duplessis, the union leader, with the publicathn etrsonally.) -This bioadshect. inveighed -
against the dangers of Imperialism, both military, economic and political. Couched all too clearly in the guise of a cate- chism, in the question-and-answer form of the Sunday schools, it asked : " What attitude should Canada take towards England ? '.' The answer supplied was : " It must keep the terms of the alliance as determined by the Statute of Westminster, while striving with all its force to achieve, in the near future, its complete independence." The appearance of this pamphlet caused a short-lived furore in the English- speaking community. Unissued copies were hastily withdrawn from circulation, and the offending passages removed from subsequent issues.
Rumours of these undercurrents appear to have reached England, and, in despatches cabled to Canada, one London paper is reported to have asked whether the Empire's first Fascist Government had not been elected to power. L'Union Nationale undoubtedly harbours strong nationalist elements, mildly Fascist, which may yet wield considerable influence. Time will tell. However, there is nothing in Mr. Duplessis' record to suggest that he is himself Fascist or ultra-nationalist: As a British commentator has well put it, Mr. Duplessis may be trusted to add liberal doses of water to the headier wine peddled by some of his supporters. But it should never be forgotten that it was a nationalist movement which unseated Taschereau and that, on balance, the consequent victory of Union Nationale was a victory, though only in part, for nationalism in Quebec.
What does the result of the Quebec election amount to, in brief? For Quebec, it gives promise of some sort of "New Deal," and means the disappearance, for the time being, of the historic Conservative Party, at least in name. It spells a defeat for the Federal Liberal Party, whose Minister3 rallied to the support of Quebec Liberals. For Mr. Bennett, no • less, it represents a defeat, since the provincial Conservative ' party found itself unable to carry on under the Conservative name. More serious, it suggests a heightening of that sectionalism which is the curse of Canada. For the Federal Liberal Government, already too impotent in the face of Provincialism in finance, economics and politics, will be more chary than ever of offending Quebec, provincially now in the hands of an enemy, lest it lose the support of the Province in the Dominion election also. This is particularly unfortunate, since the solution of Canada's most pressing problems, notably in the financial and economic spheres, is hampered at every turn by the faulty workings of a federal system in which the authority of the central government has been progressively weakened by a series of judgements of the Privy Council.
For the Commonwealth as a whole, it serves as a reminder of the difficulties of the Canadian Confederation. With rumours of war abroad, it may be well to consider the direction of a Quebec nationalism touching almost one-third of Canada's population.- The ultra-nationalist organs were almost as outspoken in favour of Mussolini, at the height of the sanctions . crisis, as they are now, upon religious grounds, in favouring the cause of the Spanish Right. French-Canadian nationalism, of course, is not confined to one party. All parties in Quebec are " anti-Imperialist," in the cruder sense of Imperialism, and -profoundly pacifist. French-Canada is loyal to the crown, though there is a growing tendency, in nationalist sections, to be loyal to His Majesty "as King of Canada." It is loyal to it ar3 the protector of French-Canadian liberties, a defence against possible encroachments by the English- speaking majority.. Hence the fervour with which Quebec cleaves to the British North America Act and to the right of appeal to the Privy Council in London. But this loyalty is not incompatible with the most determined pacifism- to be found in all the Empire and the most resolute objection to participating actively in " Imperial wars." The next war in •which the Commonwealth takes part may well place a strain upon the Canadian Confederation.—I am, Sir, &c.,
• YOUR CORRESPONDENT IN CANADA.
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