The Coalition Avenir Québec’s flirt with the anglophone community earlier this year never blossomed into much of a relationship. Despite intentions by the CAQ to broaden its base to include anglo participation, as well as our community’s own frustration with being taken for granted by the Quebec Liberal Party, any initiative to consolidate relations quickly fell apart once the election campaign began.
This election was free of any angst about separation or the fear of electing the Parti Québécois, so one would think that we might have been able to keep our options open and start bridge-building with a potential government-in-waiting. But François Legault was portrayed by many commentators in the anglophone community and on social media as anti-immigrant or a “closet separatist.” This scared off many of our voters from straying from the Liberal Party, in direct contrast to most Quebecers, who opted for change.
Many English-speaking Quebecers are now cautiously pessimistic about the results. There are fundamental concerns about numerous issues that affect our community. By keeping all our eggs in the Liberal basket, have we compromised our community’s best interests? The CAQ, with whom the community has had minimal contact, is an enigma to most anglophones. The party will now form a government for at least four years with jurisdiction over our school system, our health-care network, municipal governance, and so on. And after the way anglophones voted, the visceral reaction of many politicians would be that they owe us nothing. Many institutions critical to our community will therefore depend on Legault’s integrity as a leader and strength of character. Did he press the right buttons in this campaign just to secure power, or is he genuine in wanting to reform the system and build a wide coalition for a better Quebec?
His comments in English on election night are a preliminary indication that he will rise to the challenge as a leader of all Quebecers. In addressing anglophones directly, he stressed that his government is our government, and the “heated campaign” and election are now over, so “let’s start working together.” He is inviting our community into the tent despite our reticence about him and his party. He implied that we should not believe the portrait that was painted of him in the campaign, and he is ready for a fresh start even though we may have spurned his initial flirtatious advances.
He will now have time to fully explain his intentions regarding the integration of immigrants. He will now have the opportunity to work with the community to reassure us that any new model and reform for school governance can be done without compromising constitutional guarantees that are so critical to our community. He will now be able to reaffirm whether his commitment during the English debate to maintain the anglo Secretariat is genuine. And we must also provide him with the perspective of minority communities with regard to religious symbols and ensure that all rights are protected.
