Henri Bourassa and Confederation

Patrice Dutil discusses with Pierre Anctil, Professor of History at the University of Ottawa, the life and work of Henri Bourassa. The founder and editor of Le Devoir was arguably one of the most influential political thinkers in Canada over the past 150. The editorial being discussed was entitled “Canada: Should it be French or English?”. It is drawn from the 2017 Champlain Society volume “Do what you Must”: Selected Editorials from Le Devoir under Henri Bourassa, 1910-1932. Le Devoir, Editorial, 26 July 1910 My only objective is to make everyone understand, whether they be of English, French or Irish ancestry, that Canada has remained an English territory only due to the steadfast loyalty of the French Canadians. Furthermore this loyalty merits particularly more recognition since it was displayed most forcefully during a period when French Canadians held in their hands the fate of the British crown in Canada, while at the same time the official representatives of Great Britain treated them as pariahs. Without this doubly deserving loyalty, England would not possess a single inch of territory in America. Far be it for me to conclude from this that the French Canadians have acquired their right to dictate their will on the Crown or on the naïve Anglo majority of the Canadian people. No, Canada is not and must not be French. Nor is it, or must it be, English. By its political constitution, by its ethnic composition just as by natural law, Canada is an Anglo-French Confederations, the result of a fertile union between the two great and noble races. Under the aegis of the Crown of England, it must remain the asset of a bilingual nation. Neither of the two races has the right to dominate the other or to impose, either in the internal governing of the country or in regard to the mother country, any policy contrary to the tradition and common interests of the confederation. Any attempt to dominate or assimilate French Canadians will only weaken the strength of their nationalist sentiment. The day that they no longer feel at home, not only in the province of Quebec, but throughout the Canadian Confederation and that they no longer see in the constitution the laws and the customs of Canada, a symbol of their double origins, they will cease to place the institutional of their country ahead of those of the United States. Anyone who, in the State or in the Church, makes an effort to assimilate French Canadians through language, intellectual training or customs, is the worst enemy of the peace, greatness, and especially, the unity of the Canadian people. Producers/directors : Sabrina Bertsch, Cindy Long, Vincent Piette If you like our work, please consider supporting it: https://bit.ly/support_WTY. Your support contributes to the Champlain Society’s mission of opening new windows to directly explore and experience Canada’s past.