I have been a fervent critic of the Bouchard-Taylor commission. Tonight I changed my mind. I did not see a racist and bigoted forum, but rather a gathering of mostly well-educated and respectful people who wanted to share their success stories or their tribulations with a commission that has heard enough drivel and was probably relieved to hear some decency.
The testimonies were varied, ranging from the ostracism against anyone who wasn’t a native Quebecer with a French-sounding surname to stories of community involvement by church groups that foster cooperation. One point that kept cropping up was whether the crisis really existed. Many speakers speculated that the whole reasonable accommodation debate was being fuelled for political gain. I agree.
Biggest groups: Church representatives telling about projects, Anglophones telling stories of discrimination (if anglos face discrimination, imagine the immigrants), students who were the most open-minded of the bunch, Quebecers who focused on the language and how it might serve to unite Quebec society even more if it were made the only public language. Overall a solid bunch of folks who didn’t want to shut up and who MOSTLY expressed commonsensical views.
However, the platformists were there. First a Mohawk lady drowned her valid points in rhetorical exaggerations about colonialism and holocausts. Then came anti-Zionists, anti-Afghanistan mission people, you mention it. Was quite fun.
Some vaguely unsettling remarks were overheard by yours truly, a sign that even in a bunch of seemingly educated people something’s lurking. However I did not witness the overt racism and bigotry that characterized other meetings chez les francophones.
Taylor’s concluding remarks were a bit incomplete (one has to stick to the key ones) but were nevertheless strong. Fostering familiarity and communication will decrease fear and distrust, aboriginal rights are not in the mandate of the Commission and thus will be left out of the final report and, most importantly, the system of immigration and employment is in trouble because Quebec (as far as I can remember) has the worst record in Canada for immigrant unemployment.
True to my free market and individualism beliefs, I spoke about accommodation being a personal business, which people must be left to do at their own discretion. Discrimination doesn’t pay, and those who discriminate will lose business, lose connections and lose money. It is not up to the government to impose behavior models beyond the ones governing civilized coexistence in abidance of the Law.
Before I placed no hope in the commission, now I just wish they’ll have both the courage and the commonsense to say that any solution has to be a two-way road. Quebecers (those who are ignorant) need to be educated that there’s a wider world beyond their borders and one can’t prosper in isolation. Immigrants need to be taught Canada’s laws and history (that’s where values are enshrined, right?). And society must be left to adjust itself as it sees fit.
I will post a transcript (sort of) of my speech tomorrow morning.
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