Documents
in Quebec History
Last
revised: 23 August 2000 | Documents on the Controversy Surrounding the Language
of Commercial Signs in Quebec (Bill 178) December 1988
Debates
in the National Assembly [December 20, 1988] M.
Clifford Lincoln, Minister of Environment and Member for Nelligan, Liberal
Party. [translation;
Mr. Lincoln stated that he was born in Mauritius where French and English cultures
live side-by-side as in Quebec. When he first came to Canada, he lived in British
Columbia but he did not feel comfortable because he missed French culture, so
he had come to Quebec] [
]
"Individual freedoms, the respect for the weak within society, for minorities,
that is the essential creed of any liberal party. [
]
"I have
a profound attachment to Quebec; I know it is one that is different from yours
who, for most of you, were born here. I understand that your attachment runs deep,
into generations of several hundred years; but I want to tell you that in my own
way I also love Quebec. It is my land as it is yours. I have chosen to live here,
and I have chosen to be grateful to Quebec where I was welcomed with such warmth
and generosity. [
] "The
issue here is not an issue of signs, it is not an issue of anglophones and francophones,
it is a societal issue, one that strikes into the deepest political commitment,
that is to say how we conceive freedoms, individual rights and fundamental rights
in a society. It is not a question of signs in black, white, pink or green, but
it is an issue of the right of an individual to put something on a sign if that
is his desire. [
]
"Yes, those
who have lost the right to post signs had a right that was fundamental, had freedom
of expression; this was demonstrated by successive judgements of the Superior
court, the Appeal court and, lastly, of the Supreme Court. These have said: yes
we think that the French language, as the member for Gouin has stated, is in danger
and vulnerable, but, despite that, we do not think that it justifies restricting
freedom of expression, a fundamental right. Let us make an accommodation by which
the French language, threatened and vulnerable, would be preponderant but without
restricting the right of others. "Now,
we have applied a notwithstanding clause and this distresses me because this runs
contrary to my personal commitment to say we have liberty but, for some reasons,
whatever the reasons, we restrict it, subtract from it, withdraw from it. [
] [In
English] "In
my belief, rights are rights are rights. There is no such think as inside rights
and outside rights. No such thing as right for the tall and rights for the short.
No such thing as rights for the front and rights for the back, or rights for East
and rights for West. Rights are rights and will always be rights. There are no
partial rights. Rights are fundamental rights. Rights are links in a chain of
fundamental values that bind all individuals in a society that wants to be equitable,
and just, and fair. Rights are bridges that unite people in a society through
a set of fundamental values, and the minute you deny those rights, you withdraw
that bridge, and create a gap between members of that society by denying those
fundamental rights that bind them together. "Rights
are that delicate balance that equates the chances of people in a society, so
that there is an equation between the rich and the poor, between the powerful
and the weak, between the majorities and the minorities, between the State and
the individual. Whoever tampers with a very delicate machinery of equity and justice
in a society, which are expressed through rights, sets in motion a chain of events
which someone more audacious may tamper with even more. That chain of events could
be disastrous for a society whose beliefs are based on a sense of equity and justice
for all. "All
of us are human beings first. We are not francophone, anglophone, rich, poor,
weak and strong, first, we are human beings with rights. And for me, I will fight
until my last breath for the right of some person to do something that society
says he has that right to do and, in that case, that person, be it English or
French or Chinese or whatever, has that right to paint that sign on the exterior
of his building, and I do not think that it should be denied. [
] [translation] "I
would have preferred fundamentally, - I say this in all sincerity-, that everything
would remain as before rather than to do something that is humiliating and say:
inside everything is permitted, but, outside, do not post signs because this injures
us. I do not think that this is what francophones believe. I do realise that security,
and the threat that has become so firmly anchored in the perception of francophones,
make it so that it is believed that the French face of Quebec will disappear if
posting signs in English was permitted. "I
think differently, but I profoundly respect your opinions. What I do not accept
is that this right is removed in an arbitrary fashion. I believe, along with the
judges of the Supreme Court, that the linguistic face of Quebec must reflect the
reality of Quebec. The reality of the face of Quebec is in great majority francophone.
Chicoutimi will never change. Montreal, in its main role, will not change. However,
there are places where anglophones live. They too have the right to have their
language outside somewhere, so as to feel well in their skin. [
] In
concluding, I would like to tell you that despite this very sad decision that
I will take today, I remain first and above all fundamentally attached to my ideals
as a Liberal. I will stay as a member of the Liberal caucus, and I also wish to
continue as a member of this Parliament because, in my way, I too am a Québécois
attached very deeply to this land. This year was a very difficult one for me.
My wife was buried in Quebec; it is the greatest tribute that I can render to
Quebec. Quebec will continue to be a land that will unite people, not divide them.
We must continue to work together, to seek mechanisms, and after the tearing apart
of this vote, and everything else that has happened here, I hope that we can begin
to try working solutions together [
]. Note
from the translator: following the adoption of Bill 178, three anglophone
cabinet ministers resigned from the government and, eventually, from the National
Assembly. These resignations were to protest the adoption of Bill 178. The ministers
resigning were: Herbert Marx, Clifford Lincoln and Richard French. Anglophone
discontent with the Bourassa Liberal government was also expressed by the establishment,
shortly thereafter, of the Equality Party. This essentially anglophone party elected
four candidates in the provincial elections of 1989. It is estimated that where
the fielded candidates, in essentially anglophone and allophone areas of Quebec,
the Equality Party received between 70-78% of the anglophone vote. ©
For the translation, 1999 Claude Bélanger, Marianopolis College |