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A planned re-enactment of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, the battle that largely resulted in New France becoming British territory in the aftermath of the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War for those south of the border) 250 years ago this year, was cancelled after Quebecois separatists complained that it was insulting to their culture.
This pisses me off, firstly as a historian. This was a major turning point in the history of North America, one that made Canada and North America (not to mention Europe) as a whole what it is today. It marked the end of French control of New France, a colony that bled the French monarchy dry and helped bring about the downfall of the House of Bourbon in the French Revolution. Cancelling a ceremonial re-enactment of this battle (and not the first to be held in recent history) is like pretending that this never happened. We're ignoring a major part of Canada's history.
On that note, this also pisses me off as an English-speaking Canadian. Ottawa has bent over backwards and forwards for the whining of a squawking minority of Canadians (and of French-Canadians) for far too long, and Canadians in both the west and the Maritimes have been alienated as a result. The separatists (folks who want Quebec to leave Canada and become its own government--but still use Canadian money and be protected free of charge by Canada's armed forces) have had almost every demand satisfied, to the point that they get more preferential treatment than Canada's real oppressed minority, the First Nations.
What's really stupid is that by complaining, the separatists are invalidating their own argument. They claim that the Plains of Abraham is the battle that crushed the French Canadians and enslaved them under the British crown/Canadian crown. However, the first thing the British did after gaining control of New France under the 1763 Treaty of Paris, was to ensure that, not only could the French Canadians stay in New France, but they could keep their own religion, the seigneurial governmental structure, and their own law code (civil as opposed to Britain's common law). The British government did this amid strong opposition--the act that brought this about, the Quebec Act, was one of the Intolerable Acts that brought about the American Revolution. Finally, the separatists are living in a province that is still dominantly French-speaking and still has civil law--and that doesn't haul the lot of them off to the Special Handling Unit for treason.
If a group of Anglo-Quebeckers wanted a reenactment of a British loss cancelled, the provincial government would tell them to get knotted. But when a few people complain about a perceived insult to their centuries-old-but-still-alive culture, everyone has to bend over and assume the submissive position to keep them happy. Oppressed minority? I think not.
This pisses me off, firstly as a historian. This was a major turning point in the history of North America, one that made Canada and North America (not to mention Europe) as a whole what it is today. It marked the end of French control of New France, a colony that bled the French monarchy dry and helped bring about the downfall of the House of Bourbon in the French Revolution. Cancelling a ceremonial re-enactment of this battle (and not the first to be held in recent history) is like pretending that this never happened. We're ignoring a major part of Canada's history.
On that note, this also pisses me off as an English-speaking Canadian. Ottawa has bent over backwards and forwards for the whining of a squawking minority of Canadians (and of French-Canadians) for far too long, and Canadians in both the west and the Maritimes have been alienated as a result. The separatists (folks who want Quebec to leave Canada and become its own government--but still use Canadian money and be protected free of charge by Canada's armed forces) have had almost every demand satisfied, to the point that they get more preferential treatment than Canada's real oppressed minority, the First Nations.
What's really stupid is that by complaining, the separatists are invalidating their own argument. They claim that the Plains of Abraham is the battle that crushed the French Canadians and enslaved them under the British crown/Canadian crown. However, the first thing the British did after gaining control of New France under the 1763 Treaty of Paris, was to ensure that, not only could the French Canadians stay in New France, but they could keep their own religion, the seigneurial governmental structure, and their own law code (civil as opposed to Britain's common law). The British government did this amid strong opposition--the act that brought this about, the Quebec Act, was one of the Intolerable Acts that brought about the American Revolution. Finally, the separatists are living in a province that is still dominantly French-speaking and still has civil law--and that doesn't haul the lot of them off to the Special Handling Unit for treason.
If a group of Anglo-Quebeckers wanted a reenactment of a British loss cancelled, the provincial government would tell them to get knotted. But when a few people complain about a perceived insult to their centuries-old-but-still-alive culture, everyone has to bend over and assume the submissive position to keep them happy. Oppressed minority? I think not.
