Election analyses from various sources
Radio-Canada’s analysis, CBC analyses from Antoni Nerestant and Jonathan Montpetit, Michel C. Auger’s piece on La grande victoire d’un mauvais système as La Presse takes against first‑past‑the‑post, Le Devoir also chiming in on the distortion created by that kind of polling; looking for a silver lining, Le Devoir hails the near gender parity of the results, although we can see with recent elections in Italy and the UK that a woman leader is no guarantee of social justice.
Contradicting things that he and his deputies said during the campaign, François Legault claims he’s a premier for all Quebecers. But who is a Quebecer?
carswell 13:41 on 2022-10-04 Permalink
If you listen to Legault closely, it’s very clear that “nation” has two definitions: an inclusive one when he’s speaking English, a restrictive one when he’s speaking French..
steph 20:23 on 2022-10-04 Permalink
@ carswell – that’s because the word nation is different in french and english… just like the other n-word. Ugh I just hate political hypocrasy and their tolerance to racism. I hope we come out of this quickly.
Kate 09:18 on 2022-10-05 Permalink
Can you expand on how the meanings differ, steph?
carswell 10:06 on 2022-10-05 Permalink
Was about to ask the same thing, Kate, but wanted to take time to do a little research.
I’ve been a student of French for more than 50 years, studied linguistics in university, have read works on French vs. English usage (e.g. Stylistique comparée du français et de l’anglais), was an ESL teacher and curriculum developer in an earlier life and, for the last 30 years or so, have earned much of my living as a French-to-English translator, and I’ve never heard or been made aware of any significant difference between English “nation” and French “nation.
Just compared the definitions in Le Robert and Webster’s New Collegiate. Almost identical.
Also, not being a particularly strong English speaker and one who uses lots of faux amis, Legualt is unlikely to be aware of any subtle differences between the two terms that escape the likes of me.
Ian 12:47 on 2022-10-05 Permalink
The fact that Legault is frequently referred to in English by French commentators as “Prime Minister” tells us all we need to know about in what sense Legault means “the nation of Quebec”.
I think some of this comes from the confusion of national identity and national rights, i.e., Canada has treaties with First Nations, Canada recognizes that Quebec is a nation – but within the context of national identity, not sovereignty. While being viewed as a “nation” within Canada does have some legal value, it is not the same as sovereignty.
Que cette Chambre reconnaisse que les Québécoises et les Québécois forment une nation au sein d’un Canada uni.
Perhaps related, I got a newsletter from the CSSDM (formerly CSDM) boasting that they had an 80% graduation rate last year, well above the Quebec average. That means that 1 in 5 students did not graduate. If a 20% dropout rate is something to boast about (and is above the average)t, it’s no wonder that so many people in Quebec don’t understand the distinction between being a “nation” within a country, and being a sovereign nation. I don’t imagine for a second that Legault is not taking advantage of this.
Kevin 13:51 on 2022-10-05 Permalink
@Ian
I look at that the way Harper intended: as a way to recognize French Quebec *people* in much the same way we recognize indigenous people as belonging to the First Nations.
As for High School — Quebec has the lowest graduation rate of any province, and it’s really dragged down by boys. 3 in 10 males don’t finish high school.
Joey 17:03 on 2022-10-05 Permalink
@Ian those commentators would just as quickly call Doug Ford “prime minister” of Ontario, no?
Ian 18:02 on 2022-10-05 Permalink
Perhaps, but they rarely mention the ROC unless talking about Quebec-bashing.
Let’s also not forget St-Jean getting rebranded at “Fête nationale”, Queen Vicky’s birthday as “Jour des patriotes” and the Provincial Assembly being known as the “Assemblée nationale du Québec” …
… you can forgive some undereducated types for not realizing that Quebec is not already a Nation in the fullest sense. Legault certainly isn’t spending much time on that distinction, it’s full steam ahead with restricting immigration, suppressing certain kinds of hats and scarves, worrying about what language people speak at home, etc.
After all the “80% of immigrants move to Montreal, never learn French, and don’t have jobs” guy got re-elected, let alone all the stuff Legault said. It’s a pretty clear signal from the “Nation” that Franky can do whatever he wants (except get votes in his hometown).