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"THE CANADIAN IDEAL"
NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS
BEFORE THE ISRAEL ASSOCIATION FOR CANADIAN STUDIES AT THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF
JERUSALEM
ISRAEL
JUNE 28, 1998
Canadians are polite, modest folk. At least,
that's the reputation we have with Americans. Our neighbours to the south claim
that, to find the Canadian in a packed elevator, all you have to do is step on
everyone's toes, and the person who says "sorry" is the Canadian. As
for our reputation with the French, did you hear the one about the Canadian
tourist who gets lost in Paris? Instead of asking, "Where's the Eiffel
Tower?", he phrases the question in a typically Canadian way: "Excuse
me, but I'd like to go to the Eiffel Tower", to which the traffic cop
replies: "Be my guest!"
So you can understand how much this major
conference goes against my Canadian sense of modesty, seeing that it has
attracted an impressive number of participants from many countries, who will
spend the next three days studying important aspects of Canadian life: the
education system, the economy, literature, history... Nevertheless, I would like
to take this opportunity to thank the Israel Association for Canadian Studies
and the Halbert Centre for Canadian Studies.
The Israelis also have their own joke about
Canada, which wins over our sense of modesty. When God asked Moses, "So
where do you want your promised land?", Moses meant to answer:
"Canada." But as everyone knows, the liberator of the people of Israel
had a speech impediment, so when he stammered: "Can... Cana... Cana...,"
God impatiently answered: "Canaan? Okay, that's where you're going!"
Canada is obviously not a promised land, but I'm
proud nevertheless to see that my country has sparked the interest of so many
researchers like you from around the world; that so many human beings of all
origins and from all continents have chosen Canada as their adoptive country;
that so many others dream of moving to Canada: even the French, who supposedly
are people of good taste, as well as the Australians and the Americans, choose
Canada as the country where they would most like to live other than their own
(Paris Match-BVA, February 12, 1998; Canada and the World, Angus Reid, 1997).
All of you have your own reasons for specializing
in Canadian studies. Just as all those who have chosen to immigrate to Canada
have had their own reasons. For my father-in-law, who is Austrian by origin,
it's because he read Jack London books as a child!
I too, in a way, have chosen Canada, even though
I was born there. I've chosen the cause of a united Canada, to the point of
accepting Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's invitation to leave academia and work
alongside him for Canadian unity. Today, I'd like to talk about the reasons I
have chosen Canadian unity, and about the important place that my society,
Quebec, occupies among those reasons.
Why Canadian unity?
I'll begin with a quotation from a former
president of this country, Chaim Herzog. In a speech to the House of Commons on
June 27, 1989, he was too generous to Canada:
"You are an outstanding model of coexistence
between individuals of different cultures and backgrounds who live here in a
climate of mutual tolerance and respect for their original identity."
We are not that model of tolerance that President
Herzog and many other foreign observers have celebrated. This idea of a
"model of tolerance" has to be handled with great care, because
contexts vary greatly from one country to another. For example, Canada's
geostrategic limitations are nothing compared with those weighing on Israel.
Moreover, there are still far too many instances of intolerance in Canada. But
President Herzog was basically right: Canada has no meaning if it does not
continually come closer to that model of tolerance it is associated with, and it
is that quest that is its true greatness.
The main reason I believe that Canada must stay
united has more to do with the universal than with the specific. To be sure, our
flag, our national anthem, the majestic beauty of our vast land, all these
manifestations of our Canadian singularity fill our hearts with pride. But the
real reason that Canada is a jewel of humanity is that our country is one of the
most humane countries in the world, one where the values of freedom, tolerance
and respect for differences are the best observed. There are few countries where
human beings have a better chance to be considered as human beings, whatever
their origin or religion.
"I should regard it as a great misfortune
for mankind if liberty were to exist all over the world under the same
features", wrote Alexis de Tocqueville. The Canadian ideal seeks to avoid
that misfortune. Canadians know that the quest for what is true, just and good
must be plural; they know that by drawing on the best of each culture, each
individual, regional or historical experience, we come closer to what is best in
civilization. Canadians know that equality must not be confused with uniformity.
Some people say that Canada is an artificial
country. If they mean that Canada has triumphed over so-called natural
differences of race or ethnicity, and has come closer to what is truly universal
in human beings, we should take their criticism as the greatest of compliments.
The philosopher Johann Herder, who wrote that "the most natural state is
one nationality with one character," might also have found Canada quite
artificial. I'm not all that concerned about whether my country is a
"natural state", but I know that a country gains in humanity when it
draws on the best of what the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor, a Quebecer,
calls "deep diversity".
Allow me to summarize some of the reasons I'm
proud to be Canadian.
Canada was a pioneer of democracy. It is an
exceptional and admirable fact that, since 1792, my country has almost always
been governed by a political regime comprising an elected assembly. March 11,
1998, marked the 150th anniversary of responsible government in what was then
the Province of Canada. (Nova Scotia marked the same anniversary on February 2
of this year.) On that occasion, an historian many of you know, Ged Martin, a
professor at the University of Edinburgh, wrote,
"In the crucial combination of mass
participation, human rights and self-government, Canada's history is second to
none in the world."
I can think of no achievement of which a country
could be more proud. Canadians can take pride that they have never had an empire
and have never sent troops abroad in the 20th century for reasons other than
defending democracy and peace. They invented insulin, proposed the United
Nations peacekeeping force -- during the Suez crisis in 1956, to be exact -- and
drafted the initial version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which,
as Eleanor Roosevelt predicted, has become the "international Magna Carta
of all men everywhere." Just recently, Canada fulfilled its role as a good
global citizen by undertaking a vast worldwide initiative to ban antipersonnel
mines.
I am also proud of my country because it has
remained faithful to its original ideal. George-Étienne Cartier, one of the
best-known "Fathers" of our Confederation, said that Canada should be
an English- and French-speaking "political nationality", formed of
several different populations, proud of their identities, and united around
common objectives:
"In our own Federation we should have
Catholic and Protestant, English, French, Irish and Scotch, and each by his
efforts and his success would increase the prosperity and glory of the new
Confederacy." (February 7, 1865)
Canada has maintained its Francophone character
in a North America dominated by English, despite the wind of assimilation that
has been blowing in the world at a time when, for the first time in the history
of humanity, the number of languages spoken has decreased rather than increased.
Canada was the first country in the world to introduce a multiculturalism
policy, and it is still a pacesetter in that respect, as noted by UNESCO in a
recent report. According to the polls, the vast majority of Canadians agree that
cultural diversity strengthens Canada.
I am proud that our major cities -- Montreal,
Toronto, Vancouver -- have managed to contain racism, which plagues so many
other large cities in the world. For that reason alone, those three cities
deserve to remain in the same country, despite the geographic distance that
separates them. A study by the Corporate Resources Group of Switzerland ranks
them among the metropolitan areas with the best quality of life in the world.
Vancouver came in second, Toronto fourth and Montreal seventh.
I'm sure you're familiar with Kipling's line
that: "East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall
meet." If there is one city in the world that can make a liar out of
Kipling, and successfully combine the Far Eastern and Western civilizations, it
is surely Vancouver. I want to live that experience alongside my fellow citizens
from Vancouver, because I know that their chances of success, and those of my
city, Montreal, are better if we all stay together within one generous
federation. The constituency that I represent in the House of Commons,
Saint-Laurent-Cartierville, on the Island of Montreal, is itself an example of a
plural, harmonious community, a genuine mini-United Nations, composed of more
than 50 different cultural communities, including a Jewish community.
Canada's Jewish community now numbers 350,000,
including 90,000 in Montreal and 7,200 in my constituency (according to the 1996
census). The arrival of the first Jews in Canada dates back to the early 1750s
in Montreal and Halifax. Canada's first synagogue was also established in
Montreal, in 1777.
The first Jew elected to Parliament in the entire
British Commonwealth was Ezekiel Hart, who was chosen in 1807 by voters in
Trois-Rivières, the majority of whom were Francophone Catholics, to represent
them in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. Unfortunately, he was unable
to take his seat, because the law prohibited non-Christians from taking their
oath of allegiance on the Bible. It wasn't until 1832 that Jews obtained full
civil and political rights, which was still some 25 years before such measures
of justice were taken in the United Kingdom.
Canada's Jewish community has been an active
participant in the quest for the Canadian ideal. The Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, the venue of this conference, is surely aware of that, since it
awarded an honorary doctorate to the distinguished legal scholar, Bora Laskin,
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1970 to 1984, who made a
remarkable contribution to promoting individual rights and freedoms.
I am proud that the Jewish community in my
country feels both intensely Canadian and very close to Israel. That is the case
with 83% of Montreal Jews, according to a 1991 study. Sixty-one per cent of
Toronto Jews and 70% of Montreal Jews have visited Israel, compared with 31% of
American Jews. Free trade between Canada and Israel will further strengthen
these ties, which benefit both countries. And those benefits will not just be
economic. The two countries will learn from each other on an issue crucial for
both of them: the harmonious integration of populations of different languages
and cultures.
There are those who say that openness to cultural
diversity has fostered a ghetto mentality which weakens the very idea of a
common sense of belonging to Canada. I believe that the very opposite is true.
The vast majority of immigrants to Canada instantly develop a deep attachment to
their new country. They enthusiastically devote their talents to its service and
educate their children in Canada. Because Canada has seen diversity as a
strength, it has averted the rise of xenophobic political movements that now
poison the life of too many democracies.
Canada has two official languages, which are
international languages. Its diversified population gives it a cultural foothold
on every continent. Its Civil Code and common law enable it to share the legal
traditions of the vast majority of countries in the world. It is positioned
geographically between Europe, the United States and Asia. For all these
reasons, Canada is better positioned than ever to make its mark on the next
century, in this global world where mastery of different cultural registers will
be more of an asset than ever before.
Unfortunately, learning mutual respect and
openness to others is never an easy exercise. There are many dark pages in
Canadian history that I am not proud of, such as demonstrations of intolerance
against Aboriginals and Francophones. I am ashamed that my country took in so
few Jews before, during and after the Second World War. I will never forget that
it waited until the 1960s to purge racist criteria from its immigration policy.
And yet the Canadian ideal was able to advance
despite these errors, partly because, from the very outset, the British and
French had to learn to live together: first to tolerate each other, then to
respect each other, and eventually to help each other. That learning process,
which has often been difficult, has made us more disposed to welcome new
citizens from every continent. To separate now, especially along Francophone and
Anglophone fault lines, to undo that which has united us from the start, would
be much worse than the economic decline predicted by the vast majority of
economists: it would be a moral defeat. We Canadians have learned too much from
our history not to see that working together within a single country makes us
all better citizens.
I say this as a Canadian and also as a Quebecer,
proud of my Quebec identity and convinced that it is essential to Canada as a
whole.
Quebec and the Canadian ideal
I am proud of Quebec, a dynamic, predominantly
French-speaking society which we have built on a continent where English is
dominant. Since the beginning of Confederation, Quebec has never been as
Francophone as it is today, with 94% of its inhabitants able to express
themselves in French.
The federal and provincial language laws passed
in the 1960s and 1970s have helped the cause of the French language. The
language laws in force in Quebec are more liberal and respectful of the minority
linguistic community than those passed by other multilingual democracies such as
Belgium and Switzerland. When they are applied in a spirit of openness and
conciliation, they help Francophones and Anglophones in Quebec to live together
in trust and harmony.
I want to talk a little about the tolerance of
Quebec society. In my academic research, I have been struck by how much
Quebecers cherished the same universal values as other Canadians. If you ask
them for their opinion on interracial marriages, for example, you will see the
same degree of openness as elsewhere in Canada, an openness generally greater
than that in the United States or Europe. As Michael Adams, the head of a major
polling firm, has written, on the basis of a series of opinion polls:
"French and English Canadians have far more
in common with each other in terms of values than either group has with the
Americans." (Sex in the Snow, 1997, p. 195)
I say it again: look at Montreal in its
day-to-day life, and you will find that, in spite of geographic distance, that
great multicultural city belongs to the same culture of tolerance as Toronto,
Calgary and Vancouver.
Some Quebecers wrongly believe that they have to
renounce Canada to remain Quebecers. We need to show them all the common values
that unite all Canadians, beyond language barriers. We need to convince them
that to strengthen solidarity among Quebecers, they need to strengthen, in the
same spirit, their solidarity with other Canadians, rather than breaking it.
As a Quebecer, I want to help my fellow citizens
in the Atlantic provinces, Ontario, Western and Northern Canada to express their
own way of being Canadian, and to build a better future for their children. I
want to help the Jewish community and other communities throughout Canada. And
in return, I want to accept the help that other Canadians are giving to us
Quebecers, so that the alliance of our different cultures makes us better and
stronger, as George-Étienne Cartier wanted. To do that, however, we have to
stay together, rather than listening to the voices of division and rancour.
And now I'll tell you why I am very confident
about Canadian unity. It's not just because, as you are no doubt aware,
Quebecers' support for even the vague concept of
"sovereignty-partnership" has dwindled to around 40% in the polls.
It's also because Quebecers are increasingly supporting Canadian unity because
they think it's good for Quebec to be in Canada, whereas it wasn't that long ago
that their choice was motivated in particular by the fear of the negative
consequences of separation. This increased valuing of the Canadian ideal can be
seen in a number of polls, and I've also heard it from people first-hand.
Being both a Quebecer and a Canadian is a
wonderful opportunity. Every Quebecer must be able to say: "I am a Quebecer
and a Canadian, and I refuse to choose between the two identities." In the
same way that Jewish families in my constituency tell me they feel deeply that
they are Jews, Quebecers and Canadians. They feel both rooted in Montreal and
close, in spirit, to Israel.
Conclusion
I'm sure you can answer this question: What
contribution have Jewish thinkers made to humanity? First there was Moses, who
said that everything is law. Then Jesus preached that everything is love. Then
Marx roared that everything is struggle. Freud diagnosed that everything is sex.
Finally, there was Einstein, who commented: Well, you know, everything's
relative.
Allow me to transpose those premises to the
debate on Canadian unity.
Everything is law. Precisely because the debate
on the unity of a country is something extremely sensitive and difficult,
governments must set an example by committing themselves, without any ambiguity,
always to act completely frankly, peacefully, legally and clearly. Whatever
happens, the debate must take place respecting the rule of law and democracy for
all. It is important that there be a clear legal framework. This is why the
Government of Canada has taken the initiative of asking the Supreme Court to
clarify for all of us the legal status of a unilateral attempt at secession by
the Government of Quebec.
Everything is love. You know that in Canada, we
often talk of the "two solitudes" to describe the difficulties between
Francophones and Anglophones. We have forgotten that this expression is taken
from a letter by Rilke, who was trying to express love, rather than isolation.
"Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect, and touch, and greet
each other," wrote the poet. Canada is not an endless constitutional
squabble. Canada is, fundamentally, a principle of caring between different
populations united around common objectives, a principle of caring that we must
be conscious of not only in an ice storm. Improving the federation must be
guided by this principle of caring, so that the federal government and the
provinces work together more, while respecting their different roles.
Everything is struggle, or, more properly,
everything is conviction. Canada is not an emergency cord to be pulled on once
every fifteen years, one week before a referendum. The Canadian ideal must be
defended on a permanent basis and with conviction. Canadians must be shown how
much they owe their enviable quality of life to their being together, and that,
united, they will be better able to fight unemployment and poverty. And this
work of conviction must be effected through dialogue, never through exclusion.
Everything is sex, or, to make another slight
modification, everything is passion. Cool-headed economic analyses of the
advantages of Canadian unity certainly have their place in this debate, but it
has been proven that they are not enough. We need to talk about Canada, and
Quebec within Canada, with passion, with the passion of reason. Once again, I
don't mean frenzied flag-waving so much as heartfelt promotion of the universal
values we are all seeking.
Everything is relative, or at least, let us be
aware of the relativity of things. We need, at the same time, respect for the
law, clarity, straight talk, caring, conviction and passion. All these
ingredients are needed so that Canadians can prove to the world that their
ideal, which is also, as I think I have shown, the ideal of humanity, is
possible on this planet.
Check against delivery.
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