NATIONAL
REVIEW:
QUEBEC
The
national
Question
in
Quebec.
Steve
Garrod
Now
that
the
PQ'
White
Paper
is
out,
everybody
is
asking
the
question
--
what
do
the
people
of
Quebec
really
want?
Federalist
politicians
read
the
liberal
byelection
sweep
in
Quebec
ridings
as
a
blanked
endorsation
of
"renewed
federalism."
in
English
Canada,
petitions
fall
like
the
winter
rains
on
the
"People
to
People"
petition,
One
Canada,
the
Western
premiers'
statement.
And
now,
BC
Hydro
boss
Bonner
stuffs
flyers
into
our
power
bills,
promoting
federalism.
What
do
the
people
of
Quebec
want?
Like
workers
of
other
oppressed
nations
and
national
minorities,
they
do
not
want
priveleges,
they
want
equality.
They
want
to
be
able
to
work
and
live
in
their
mother
tongue,
as
English
Canadian
workers
do;
get
equal
wages
for
equal
work;
get
access
to
the
same
kinds
of
jobs
as
English-speaking
workers
have;
have
the
right
to
decide
their
political
future
freely,
including
the
right
to
separate.
The
Quebecois
consititute
a
nation
with
a
distinctive
language,
culture,
territory
and
economic
life.
Yet
they
do
not
enjoy
the
right
to
decide
their
own
political
future
freely.
In
face
of
their
struggle
for
their
rights,
they
are
forced
to
endure
the
racist
slanders
of
such
reactionaries
as
Bill
Van
der
Zalm.
His
"joke"
about
"frogs"
expressed
the
most
extreme
contempt
for
the
fundamental
rights
of
the
Quebec
people.
And
who
benefits
from
this
national
discrimin-tion,
but
the
capitalists
who
run
the
corporations
and
pull
the
strings
of
the
Clarks
and
Bennetts
etc.
Anything
thai
divides
workers
is
fine
by
them.
They
will
use
racism
and-
chauvinism
as
a
wedge
to
try
and
split
the
current
of
unity
now
growing
in
the
workers'
movement.
Many
trade
unions,
for
instance,
have
already
come
out
in
favour
of
Quebec's
right
to
self-determination;
CUPW
(postees),
UAW
(autoworkers),
CUPE
(public
Workers),
BS
Fed
of
Labour,
Sask
Fed
of
labour,
University
of
Regina
Fed
of
Students,
the
Black
Youth
Organization
in
Halifax.
This
growing
opposition
to
chavinist
policies
is
something
the
capitalists
fear.
After
all,
the
history
of
Canadian
capitalism
is
rooted
in
national
oppression
and
privelege
of
one
language
and
national
grouping
(English)
over
all
others
-
French,
the
Native
people,
the
Chinese
labourers
who
first
built
the
rail-lines
etc.
And
it
is
this
very
oppression
which
has
led
to
resistance
-by
the
Quebec
people
for
their
rights,
and
by
the
Native
people
for
their
livelihood
and
land.
It's,,
clear
that
Trudeau,
Clark
and
cronies
have
never
had
the
political
answer
to
national
discrimination.
Neither
does
Levesque
with
his
scheme
of
sovereignty
association.
-
He
is
unable
to
solve
the
problem
because
he
defends
the
interest
of
the
capitalist
class.
This
is
obvious,
for
example,
in
the
referendum
bill,
which
denies
workers
the
right
of
free
expression
by
compelling
them
to
work
with
one
of
two
"umbrella"
organizations
created
by
the
government
if
they
want
to
make
their
point
of
view
known
on
this
issue.
The
PQ
tramples
on
the
rights
of
Native
peoples
with
its
Bill
101,
refusing
to
recognize
the
language
rights
of
any
Native
people
"unfortunate
enough
to
leave
the
reserves
to
which
the
State
confines
them.
National
discrimination
can
only
be
defeated
by
the
absolute
equality
of
languages
and
nations.
Languages
and
nations
must
be
put
on
an
equal
footing,
so
that
there
is
no
discrimination
whatsoever,
at
school,
at
work
or
in
daily
life,
against
members
of
any
nation
or
national
minority.
If
these
demands
are
fully
recognized
by
English
Canadian
workers,
in
regards
to
Quebec's
rights,
Quebecois
workers
will
have
no
interest
in
separation
because
they
will
be
convinced
their
rights
will
be
respected.
It
is
no
surprise
that
racist
attacks
and
national
sentiments
are
on
the
rise
right
now.
The
"rewarding
and
prosperous
future"
the
Western
premiers
are
so
fond
of
imagining,
is,
in
fact,
a
future
of
increasing
inflation,
unemployment,
restriction
of
rights
for
workers.
Famous
bourgeois
economists
admit
"they
can't
do
anything",
and
they
juggle
their
various
"solutions"
-
raised
interest
rates,
social
service
cutbacks,
government
service
layoffs,
restrictive
a
u.
c
o
a:
a
CO
o
o
a.
533
Dominion
laws.
The
fact
remains
however,
that
people
won't
buy
the
line
that
they
must
pay
for
the
capitalists'
crisis.
Postal
workers
defy
the
law
to
defend
their
right
to
strike;
Inco
and
Endako
miners
stay
out
until
their
victory
is
assured.
In
Ontario,
thousands
demonstrate
against
police
violence
towards
national
minorities.
Students
protest
fee
hikes
and
reduced
services
on
campuses.
And
in
Quebec,
nearly
Va
million
public
sector
workers
in
Common
Front
have
sworn
to
break
the
law,
the
law
of
Levesque,
to
defend
their
rights
as
workers!
Bennett,
Bonner,
Clark,
Levesque.
.all
fan
the
flames
of
nationalism
in
order
to
stem
this
tide
of
protest
against
the
crisis.
On
the
question
of
Quebec,
the
absolute
equality
of
languages
and
nations
must
be
upheld.
Like
CUPE
workers
who
voted
overwhelmingly
to
"respect
the
rights
of
the
Quebec
people",
people
must
take
the
flM
Eii!l
(Above
Sasha's)
right
stand
on
this
issue,
they
must
fight
oppression
wherever
it
happens,
and
do
so
from
the
point
of
view
of
workers'
interests.
For
example,
in
Prince
George,
there
should
be
support
for
the
language
rights
of
national
minorities,
like
East
Indians,
so
that
they
can
fully
participate
in
the
political
life
of
the
society.
In
particular,
people
should
support
the
declaration
for
absolute
equality
of
languages
and
nations
in
Canada,
signed
by
40,000
people
already,
initiated
by
the
Marxist-Leninist
Organization
IN
STRUGGLE!,
and
now
circulated,
in
the
West
alone,
by
over
150
individuals
and
groups.
Because
the
declaration
has
been
translated
into
several
languages,
it
is
accessible
to
many
national
minorities.'
You'll
find
it
posted
at
bulletin
boards
around
the
campus-sign
it,
circulate
it.
To
get
extra
copies,
and
to
return
filled
copies
of
the
ceclaration,
write
Box
1255,
Stn
A,
Prince
Georae.