1967, it was the year that Canadians celebrated the Worlds fair of Montreal and the nation's step on the world stage. But Forty years ago today, on July 24th, that celebration took a back seat as French President General Charles De Gaulle conquered Quebec in his mind and set the cause of Franco-Canadian friendship back to the days of Wolfe and Montcalm.
De Gaulle made one of the most discussed speeches in Canadian history from the balcony of the Montreal City Hall, when he proclaimed "Vive le Quebec libre".
While it sent the separatists of the crowd into rapture, it had a decidedly different reaction in the rest of Canada. The backlash was instantaneous, Canadians demanded that Prime Minister Lester Pearson send the meddlesome President and General packing. It was something that Pearson accomplished by reminding the General; "that Canadians are not in need of liberation since they are free".
De Gaulle took his cue from the words and frost coming out of Ottawa, and cancelled the remainder of his tour the following day after his tour of Expo, leaving Canada to its boil and setting the stage for frosty relations between Ottawa and Paris which still flare up to this day.
What seemed the most galling (if you pardon the pun) about De Gaulle's proclamations beyond his Free Quebec exhortations, was the preamble earlier, that described his caravan from Quebec to Montreal as similar to the drive he took when Paris was liberated from the Nazis.
It was a rather rude slight, considering the fact that since the start of the 1900's his homeland's history was one which had seen it saved not once, but twice by foreign troops, including Canadians of all languages, (perhaps he might have noticed them heading into battle, while he was resting in England before returning to France in victory).
It was those comments of liberation which seemed particularly churlish and more indicative of his self imposed, self importance than of any historical fact.
His departure was one of the watershed moments for Pearson, a Prime Minister who seemed to shy away from controversy at most times, and indeed on this one many wish he had been more forceful with the General and issued a declaration of expulsion.
De Gaulle's shocking words should not have been a complete surprise, they seemed to be pre-determined by De Gaulle's antics prior to his visit to Quebec. Sailing into Quebec city on a French Navy vessel as though a conquering General come to reclaim his territory, refusing to fly a Canadian flag while in port, he lit the fuse long before he made it to the balcony of Montreal's city hall.
It forever cast De Gaulle in English Canada as an untrustworthy leader, a meddler and someone for which little to no respect would be offered for the rest of his days. His legacy from then on when it came to Canada France relations would be one of failure, while he may have won more than a few hearts and minds from the then percolating separatist movement, mainstream Canada was quick to distance themselves from him for his remaining time.
Those comments however, seemed to be just one more piece of tinder that sent the national unity debate ablaze in the late sixties and early seventies, a clarion call for both sides that still plays out to this day.
The comments still leave English Canada quite suspicious of every statement that is issued from Paris, especially when it comes to Canadian unity.
Retrace some of the historic moments from July 24, 1967 with the links below:
No comments:
Post a Comment