By MICHAEL O'GRADY - Last December I considered becoming an independent candidate in the Longueuil municipal elections - the incumbent Parti Municipal de Longueuil, under Jacques Goyette, was the only strong party in Longueuil.
When Caroline St-Hilaire, former Bloc Québécois MP, declared her mayoral candidacy in Longueuil, I was faced with an unexpected dilemma: Run as an independent in a three-way race, guaranteeing another term for the incumbent in my district, or join St-Hilaire's new party and play a role in developing its platform and strategy in Longueuil.
Joining St-Hilaire was the easy choice. After all, I am a "neo-Bloke Québécois," a term of endearment I use to describe many anglophones in Quebec society today.
A neo-Bloke Quebecois is a Quiet Revolution anglophone who is bilingual and moves effortlessly between the two solitudes. The national question or the language laws will not make us move to Ontario. Quebec is our home. We do not subscribe to the separation of Quebec from Canada; we see our traditional share of the cabinet portfolios in Ottawa as essential to prosperity. Quebec's language and culture create a healthy balance against the homogenous influence of anglo American social and political culture. These linguistic and cultural "barriers" make for a diverse, healthy and just society, though they admittedly provoke some aggravating discussion.
Today's Quiet Revolution anglos have fulfilled their end of the social contract by embracing the French language and Québécois culture. Municipal parties represent a great opportunity for anglos and people of different nationalist persuasions to work in one party toward goals they all share. Our anglo leaders must work for our share of the services and investment, our share of jobs in municipal spheres and our share of jobs in local economies.
When I reflect on discussions on both sides of the linguistic divide with respect to the municipal elections, it resembles a recurring nightmare, scripted by the extremes of the "two solitudes" These extremes get most of the ink. But do they represent a large number of moderate people who want to get past this 40-year civil war of the mind and work together to build a harmonious post-Quiet Revolution society? Isn't it possible to do this at the municipal level?
Conventional wisdom seems to paint all nationalists with one brush: It asserts the existence of a sinister master plan to use our municipal governments as a gateway to separation. Such sensational assertions capture our imaginations. Yet, no one has demonstrated cogent arguments and proof that make this case convincingly. Old- school separatists like Louise Harel are not necessarily identical to the younger nationalists like Caroline St-Hilaire.
If these differences were explored, voters in both linguistic communities might learn that not all nationalist leaders have identical views on how to best manage a city. More importantly, such a discussion might cause voters, especially English-speaking voters, to evaluate the platforms of municipal parties in terms of actual local issues instead of being influenced by the ever-waving sceptre of the separatist bogeymen.
Municipal parties in the Montreal area will always be a mixed bag. Not unlike other cities today, the real issues are the environment, public transit, taxes and debt, public security, community health and equity. In the context of English Greenfield Park, voting according to who is or is not separatist is to cannibalize our vote and to force us into a posture of ghettoization. We cannot blame separatists for self-imposed isolation. English voters must pass the torch to candidates they believe are capable of working with leaders of all persuasions and of participating in the process of reshaping our communities and our society beginning with our neighbourhoods.
As a neo-Bloke Québécois, I see The Quiet Revolution as history. Let the future begin!
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Michael O'Grady is a candidate for Action Longueuil in District 18 in the Longueuil borough of Greenfield Park.