National history: the young Caquists are right
The young Caquists published in our pages yesterday an open letter signed by their president Keven Brasseur, proposing the creation of a Museum of the National History of Quebec.
This proposal, which should go without saying, is nevertheless deliciously subversive in an era which pushes Western societies to multiply penitential genuflections, to the point of even apologizing for existing, as we see these days with the announced will. by Télé-Québec to "decolonize history" by rewriting it according to the codes of multiculturalism and racialism.
The proposal of the young Caquists also has the immense merit of recalling what lies at the heart of our national history, of identifying its common thread. I can't resist the urge to quote them: “Quebec's history is above all that of a French-speaking nation in America, which has succeeded for four centuries in developing its uniqueness. It is the story of the survival and the blossoming of a singular and French-speaking culture in a massively English-speaking continent, and this collective difference has something to make us proud ”.
This definition, brief, dense, strong, sums up very well the meaning of our historical journey and still corresponds today, without the slightest doubt, to our existential situation, while the ancient question of survival. The latter arises in a context that is defined at the same time by the radicalization of Canadian multiculturalism, the surge of woke imperialism of American origin, the foreseeable linguistic and demographic collapse of the historical French-speaking majority and the exhaustion of identity.
'a part of Quebec society that is tempted a form of secret assimilation.
It is therefore important to reconnect with history, which remains the raw material of peoples' identity, by relearning it, by resisting publicly subsidized militant falsifiers. It is by reconnecting with it that the fundamental question
of our national future can resurface at the heart of public life.
Let us understand each other well: it is not a question of proposing an enchanted account of our history forgetting its gray areas, but of proposing a true account of it, testifying to our presence in America over the centuries and our legitimate aspiration to maintain ourselves there as a people and our right to be master at home.
Above all, it must be said, this story is not shameful: it is that of a people who took root in America with the epic of New France, who built their country one village at a time, who survived the Conquest, who does not want to die, who clings to existence, who gets up every time, who sometimes hesitates to embrace his destiny, but who, nevertheless, always finds a way to resist and be reborn .
I would add, and I am sure that some young Caquists are already saying it to themselves, or will say it one day,
that this story will have to culminate one day in independence.
The young Caquists, by pleading for the creation of a Museum of the National History of Quebec, thus encourage the government of Quebec to give even more political flesh to its desire to affirm the Quebec people.
We would like not only that they be heard, but that this youth wing, if it remains faithful to this program, plays an increasingly large role in this party, like the young liberals in the early 1990s who also represented in their time the nationalist wing of their party and who were among the first to draw the consequences of Meech's failure.
When the big deadlines come, and Quebec will have to face its destiny again, the young Caquistes will perhaps play a central role in the future, by spurring their party and inviting it to have the courage to freedom for the people of Quebec.
At the very least, they already have the courage of identity, which at this point in our history amounts to the same thing.
This proposal, which should go without saying, is nevertheless deliciously subversive in an era which pushes Western societies to multiply penitential genuflections, to the point of even apologizing for existing, as we see these days with the announced will. by Télé-Québec to "decolonize history" by rewriting it according to the codes of multiculturalism and racialism.
The proposal of the young Caquists also has the immense merit of recalling what lies at the heart of our national history, of identifying its common thread. I can't resist the urge to quote them: “Quebec's history is above all that of a French-speaking nation in America, which has succeeded for four centuries in developing its uniqueness. It is the story of the survival and the blossoming of a singular and French-speaking culture in a massively English-speaking continent, and this collective difference has something to make us proud ”.
This definition, brief, dense, strong, sums up very well the meaning of our historical journey and still corresponds today, without the slightest doubt, to our existential situation, while the ancient question of survival. The latter arises in a context that is defined at the same time by the radicalization of Canadian multiculturalism, the surge of woke imperialism of American origin, the foreseeable linguistic and demographic collapse of the historical French-speaking majority and the exhaustion of identity.
'a part of Quebec society that is tempted a form of secret assimilation.
It is therefore important to reconnect with history, which remains the raw material of peoples' identity, by relearning it, by resisting publicly subsidized militant falsifiers. It is by reconnecting with it that the fundamental question
of our national future can resurface at the heart of public life.
Let us understand each other well: it is not a question of proposing an enchanted account of our history forgetting its gray areas, but of proposing a true account of it, testifying to our presence in America over the centuries and our legitimate aspiration to maintain ourselves there as a people and our right to be master at home.
Above all, it must be said, this story is not shameful: it is that of a people who took root in America with the epic of New France, who built their country one village at a time, who survived the Conquest, who does not want to die, who clings to existence, who gets up every time, who sometimes hesitates to embrace his destiny, but who, nevertheless, always finds a way to resist and be reborn .
I would add, and I am sure that some young Caquists are already saying it to themselves, or will say it one day,
that this story will have to culminate one day in independence.
The young Caquists, by pleading for the creation of a Museum of the National History of Quebec, thus encourage the government of Quebec to give even more political flesh to its desire to affirm the Quebec people.
We would like not only that they be heard, but that this youth wing, if it remains faithful to this program, plays an increasingly large role in this party, like the young liberals in the early 1990s who also represented in their time the nationalist wing of their party and who were among the first to draw the consequences of Meech's failure.
When the big deadlines come, and Quebec will have to face its destiny again, the young Caquistes will perhaps play a central role in the future, by spurring their party and inviting it to have the courage to freedom for the people of Quebec.
At the very least, they already have the courage of identity, which at this point in our history amounts to the same thing.
MATHIEU BOCK-CÔTÉ
https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/08/07/histoire-nationale-les-jeunes-caquistes-ont-raison
https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/08/07/histoire-nationale-les-jeunes-caquistes-ont-raison