The Role Of Black Sheep In La Francophonie

The adventurers soon discovered a very harsh country where the ones that did not get along did not fare well. Not only did they have to cooperate with one another, but they also had to become accepted by the first inhabitants. The most enduring were able to find a woman amongst those, procreate and métis an offspring. The New World was certainly a good demonstration ground for what Darwin would discover later on in regards to the survival of the fittest. The first settlers from the “West” on our land therefore originated from these Black Sheep.

Diluting the gene pool –or keeping its integrity?
Spiritual support was a necessity of survival. Devoted members of the Catholic Church did come to evangelize and bring the rudiments of a moral and social order. A redemption message could be delivered far away from the corruption prevailing in Europe. The scenario of these lonely souls spawning generations of restless natives must have motivated headquarter in sending these brave women to help settle down on the Land. The fattest women apparently had the highest chance of survival during the first winter. From that point onward, the course was well laid out for the next 150 years or so of the French régime. The Church would remain critical to the well being of the colony and took on education and health matters.

The footprint left by the French adventurers throughout North America was impressive but spread thin due to the lack of followers or “white sheep” ready to settle the land. Although outstanding, the contribution of the women to bear and bring up the population could simply not keep up with the task under duress. The need for Black Sheep was lessening.

The change of regime
The old world did bring its wars and the peasants kept minding the land as they always do. Not much gold or precious metal had been found although the fur and timber trade had justified some of the expenses of maintaining a colony, up to a point. The British had meanwhile made substantial progress settling the land elsewhere in North America.

The situation reached a turning point when British General Wolfe outflanked on the west side upper town of Québec City the French army commanded by le Marquis de Montcalm awaiting the enemy on the east side lower town. Le Marquis did engage his troops in a very bad “bataille rangée” on les Plaines d’Abraham, reminiscent of his better practices in Europe. Historians do not know if any Black Sheep ever suggested retreating within the city walls since the winter was fast approaching and the British would have found themselves most vulnerable. On the other hand, perhaps time was overdue for the French Empire to withdraw from America since they had gradually decommitted themselves. The adventurers that strictly came in for the fast buck were already back home or active elsewhere on more lucrative ventures.

The British were quite happy to not further stretch themselves after the final victory and left the peaceful peasants minding the land under the guidance of the Church. Perhaps they could even get them to fight an American rebellion after granting the favorable Quebec Act. The USA was indeed heading toward their independence and already causing plenty of headaches. There was not much need for Black Sheep anymore in La Francophonie.

Problems tightening the reigns
Once threats fade away, Empires generally go back to the business of trading, also known as milking its colonies. Bankers and merchants will both do well then. Guns will help when the locals get restless over the injustices that the practice generally entails. This includes getting the native population squatters shackled under appointees, generally from the ruler ascent. Bringing in more people from that ascent would make them stick out less. Should headquarters cut back on maintenance expenses of the appointees, getting a larger cut on the people proceeds remains an option for the appointees. Guns will help again if there is resistance. And it is good to maintain the illusion of an external threat to the Empire in order to justify the guns and to keep the troops well primed rather than engaged in welfare or mischief. Also consider taking full advantage of religious bickering since these produce repeatable results in accordance to the “Divide to rule” practice identified by Machiavelli long before.

So not all that long after the United States painfully acquired its independence, both the Upper Canada and Lower Canada that had benefited from peaceful times came under closer scrutiny. The pastures got tightened in regards to new immigration, land ownership and democratic reform. This was a thriving environment for a new generation of Black Sheep in La Francophonie. Some would start to question things, sometimes kick back, and a few would go astray.

The old world did also bring the corruption of the Church and the ruler. The educated ones were first to notice the cozy relationship in tightening the harness. The Patriots kicked under the leadership of Louis-Joseph Papineau over land ownership. The uprisings were contained at the cost of close to three hundred lives and a major loss of goodwill after such a tragedy. Soon afterward, Upper Canada generated a much smaller kick on the matter of democratic reform. These events acted as a reminder to the British that what happened in the United States could very well happen north too. Some level of self-government would result from the actions of the Black Sheep, with although more dark clouds ahead: Governor Lord Durham had steered toward a unified Canada made out of two equal parts in spite of the significantly larger demographics of Francophones in Lower Canada. Durham was convinced that over time a majority of Anglophones would be reached after controlling immigration and legislative assemblies.

More change of regime and more problems tightening the reigns
The British Empire was withdrawing similarly to the French one century earlier but this time a final “bataille rangée” would not be necessary. Durham had not been able to acquire a responsible government from Britain and some leaders in both Upper Canada and Lower Canada saw an opportunity to negotiate this level of autonomy with Britain under the threat of the US expansion. Amongst these leaders, Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Wilfrid Laurier and Georges-Etienne Cartier were the first Francophones to ever cooperate with Anglophones in the act of goodwill of the Dominion of Canada. As such, these Black Sheep do get key credits for the Canada that we know today.

The dark cloud seeded by Durham was lingering and additional Black Sheep were uncovered during the expansion of the Canadian footprint. Louis Riel, born Métis in what is now Manitoba, had all the characteristics of a Black Sheep at an early age: he apparently could not stand still while getting his education in Québec. After returning home, he led the 1869/1870 Red River rebellion against the Canadian Government over land rights and distinctive culture. This resulted into Manitoba getting self-government as a province and setting aside considerable land for the Métis.

Soon afterward, the Métis had moved over to better lands in Saskatchewan and faced the same land issues once again. Riel in exile south was then asked to lead the 1885 North West rebellion. A provisional Métis government was set up this time around in order to better negotiate with the Canadian Government. This was considered treason. Riel was arrested, tried for treason, suspected of insanity, but hanged after pleading for his sanity and the rightness of the Métis cause. Additional representation was subsequently gained once again in the Canadian Parliament. By getting the attention of the Canadian Government, many historians have credited Riel for ensuring that what is now Western Canada did not become part of the USA. Déjà-vu, dear fellow Westerners? This was however accomplished at the cost of increased tensions between French and English speaking Canadians.

Louis Riel represents the first Black Sheep to courageously stand for the First Nations and Francophones operating as cultural minorities outside of Québec. Riel eventually became recognized as the father of Manitoba in spite of never sitting in the assembly once and being elected twice! He remains one of the most controversial political figure of Canada to this day.

A next generation of Black Sheep in the making
La Francophonie continued expanding the footprint of Canada in mining, forestry and agriculture in spite of the tension of a changing demography under the Durham legacy. The industrial revolution kicked in and many went into our cities, factories, and unions. Some Francophones went astray in the textile mills of northeastern United States from which Jack Kerouac, the Black Sheep of the disenfranchised Beat generation, would originate. Some Francophones also went to wars back in the old world. That was when Canada apparently finally came together as a result of English and French speaking Canadians having to both take orders, fight someone else’s war and give many precious lives away, the ultimate act of goodwill. The need for Black Sheep was once again lessened but the next generation of Black Sheep was getting prepared this time around for something different. Education and exposure to the world and its big bad wolves would dramatically expand the resilience as well as the horizon.

In the lineage of Lafontaine, Laurier and Cartier, Henri Bourassa would certainly have been the federalist Black Sheep of the Papineau family in which he was the grandson of the Patriots leader. He opposed the creation of a separate Laurentian state in response to the assimilation forces experienced elsewhere. Such a State was originally proposed by l’abbé Lionel Groulx, yet another Black Sheep, but the first one ever to come off the ranks of the Catholic Church. Bourassa would also represent the first Francophone leader out of Québec to stand for the rights of Francophones elsewhere in Canada. Not only did Bourassa resist the big business Americanisation of Canada, but he also challenged Canada for unconditionally fighting all the Brits wars. He recognized the importance of small business and media as the founder of the Francophone newspaper Le Devoir. As a federalist, he became the father of Québec nationalism and was the first Black Sheep to demonstrate how to interoperate amongst what are presumably different sets of interests.

Une Révolution Tranquille by the Black Sheep for the Black Sheep
Québec was more than ripe for modernization when the radical 60s came along. The shock was particularly acute in Québec where the State and the Church have had this intimate relationship for far too long. Québec was going to accomplish their separation in a record time. In the same period and with the advent of the contraceptive pill, the fertility went from the highest to the lowest in the Western world. Québécois also drifted away in droves from the Catholic Church that had overreached earlier on. Black Sheep thrived in so many directions and the overall pack finally took confidence in itself. La Francophonie would never be the same again.

Political leader René Lévesque had come to the conclusion that Canada had failed to look after the interests of its Francophones and that only in a sovereign Quebec could they ever truly prosper on all fronts. He found and rallied a brand new political party focused on reaching Sovereignty through a democratic process away from the old Liberals/Conservative provincial governance scheme. The violence of the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) would not be necessary. Once in power, Lévesque was the first politician ever to clean up the financing of political parties. His government also brought in legislation that would ensure the protection of the French language that had become seriously endangered in Québec or Montréal in particular. Had it not been of this language regulation, Canada would most likely not have today such a successful French part and perhaps would have to contend with the difficult problems encountered amongst its First Nations. In spite of this, the legislation remains to this day most controversial amongst the ROC as exemplified by Meech Lake where it was deemed that a “statut particulier” was not necessary for Québec.

Rather than protect the existing base, sidekick Pierre-Elliot Trudeau (PET) had the confidence to take the plight of Francophones all the way to Ottawa. The State capital had until then been mainly English speaking in what was supposed to be a country with two official languages. He introduced bilingualism within the federal public services and multiculturalism across the country which both created an incredible amount of bickering up to this day. It should be noted that the assimilation of Francophones outside of Quebec did not slow down as a result of these measures although Canada generally became more receptive to French. Trudeau went as far as irritating the likes of Richard Nixon in the US for his stance on an independent Canada. The National Energy Program (NEP) brought in by his government was particularly brash and angered many Western Canadians concerned with their own Sovereignty.

Trudeau and Lévesque both captured the imagination of Canadians for not being afraid to shock. Through their own excess, these two Black Sheep contributed to dismantling the Lord Durham legacy and both served as powerful icons for asserting one’s sovereignty without necessarily gaining it. Many other Black Sheep shone in areas ranging from finance, major civil work (hydropower), arts, literature, music, movies, etc... They were able to produce world-class acts and break into new markets. Most noteworthy is the adulation of the French for anything Québécois nowadays. All these Black Sheep demonstrated what happens when one takes confidence in oneself and remove the shackles of oppression from the ruler. Canada can rely today on a homegrown proven model as it tries to become more self-reliant from its neighbour south and from some harmful forces of globalization.

Jacques Parizeau particularly sticks out as one very very special Black Sheep: a banker trained in the ranks of the London School of Economics engaging in Québec Sovereignty! He challenged the ”étapisme”, or the demonstration of good interim governance, and tried to force voting for a definitive sovereignty government. Parizeau became notoriously famous for his “money and ethnic groups” comments after losing the last referendum by a fraction. The impact of these comments on the Quebec Sovereignty movement was quite severe since Parizeau inadvertently made them realize that in order to be successful they would have to reach beyond the “pure-laine”. Quebec would have to become a multicultural open society, something highly reminiscent of Trudeau’s vision for Canada! As a result of this Black Sheep intervention, Canada and Quebec can now challenge each other out of their complacency on who is the most multicultural and bilingual society!

They just don’t make them the way they used to
Dolly the sheep, the first ever clone act, was a sign that times were dramatically changing. Assimilation, increased concerns for “correctness” as well as an eroding cultural diversity have not been salutary to Black Sheep. They get tired of bickering too, go into retirement and look for relief in the form of young lions. Threats are changing too. Assimilation has been under guard for so long that it is hard to look at globalization or even consumerism as something other than just more of the same. Also what about the environment? and not the language one anymore.

French speaking Canada has produced a lot of Black Sheep and is looking forward to English Canada producing its own. Canadian Sovereignty against US imperialism and neocon appointees certainly looks like a valid case. And how about showing some tender and loving care toward the First Nations and La Francophonie, assuming they are still part of Canada and that there will be an end to the Cold War triggered on Meech and confirmed after the last referendum sponsorship scam? Wouldn't you be surprised if they became more sovereign if Canada can’t? In the absence of political leadership on Canadian Sovereignty, why not you? Yes YOU reading this article. Remember that sheep do not baaah in French but beeeh instead. Vive le Canada libre et tous ses Moutons Noirs!

'Gaulois' publishes politically biting satires on the Canadian Internet space. He is also relearning to write in French out of his Vancouver home base after a telecom and tech sector career in Western Canada. This last article was dedicated to all Sovereignists committed to make things work. You can provide your feedback at rbeaulieu@canada.com.