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Blog of Adam Daifallah -- author, journalist, law student. Lover of politics, writing, golf, curling, fitness, fashion, bacon and maple products -- not necessarily (but probably) in that order. Partisan of the Anglosphere. Contact me via email at adam@daifallah.com. This summer I am joined by Keir Wilmut and Omar Soliman.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Reflections on Québec's "Fête Nationale"
Last weekend was St. Jean Baptiste, or Québec's "National Holiday." (The word nation has a slightly different meaning in French.) This is supposed to be a holiday for all Québecers, not just the struggling separatists, but it is a day nonetheless filled with nationalistic fervor. It can be a bit startling for the uninitiated, but my sense after what I saw is that the cause of Québec independence is in very poor shape.
I took a certain amount of pleasure today in ripping off a "Oui au Québec Libre!" sticker that had been stuck on the statue of General de Gaulle near my apartment while jogging this morning. The stickers are made by the Parti Québécois' youth wing, and they were handing them out Friday night at the "Fête Nationale" concert on the Plains of Abraham.
Contrary to what I had expected, this concert was not filled with Québécois revolutionaries ready to take up arms. Yes, 200,000 people were present. And yes, they were all dressed in blue and waving fleurs-de-lis. But for the most part, they were just a bunch of drunken teenagers celebrating the end of the school year. One concert-goer, Daniel Dufort, sums up the situation nicely:
Each and every year, it seems that someone will somehow come and question me as to why I am celebrating Québec, while being a federalist. I take this as a reminder of a lot of people’s ignorance for the intricacies of Canada’s politics.
Throughout the crowd I saw at les Plaines d’Abraham, a crowd that was constituted of a lot of drunken teenagers, and even of some neo-felquists nutjobs, I didn’t see much of love for Québec. No, what I saw was a pretext for libations, nothing else. Either that or they were drunk on their love for Québec…
Couldn't agree more. The vast majority of those I witnessed "celebrating" were between the ages of 15 and 18, drunk out of their minds and making a huge mess of public property. The Plains were absolutely litterred with garbage. And I've never seen so many people peeing on public buildings.
The big St. Jean concert was just an excuse for the youth of Québec City to let out steam and have a fun time. If the state of Québec nationalism is that concert, a gay cokehead at the head of the PQ and Gilles Duceppe lashing out in righteous indignation because Harper will not call Québec "une nation," federalist Québécers and Canadians can take a deep breath and relax.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 11:05 PM
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