Canada and Quebec are not immune to an authoritarian drift

Liberal democracy is retreating around the world, giving way to increasingly authoritarian governments. One of the most eloquent examples is of course south of our border with Donald Trump. But are Canada, and Quebec, safe from such a drift? Nothing is less certain, says constitutionalist Louis-Philippe Lampron in his most recent essay “Democracy will not defend itself on its own.”

“Trump can come to us too. All the loopholes he is trying to exploit also exist here,” said the law professor at Laval University in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Canada and Quebec are not immune to an authoritarian drift

Bill 1: Independence on the Instalment Plan

The “Québec Constitution Act, 2025” -Bill 1 — is not a conventional provincial constitution but a comprehensive, unilateral restructuring of Quebec’s relationship with the Rest of Canada (RoC). It is an aggressive attempt to establish a legal and political foundation for future independence by repudiating core tenets of the Canadian Constitution, subordinating individual rights to a newly defined collective identity, and attempts to seize federal powers. This document represents a direct constitutional challenge, aiming to create a de facto sovereign state through provincial legislation.

  Bill 1: Independence on the Instalment Plan | OP / ED | thesuburban.com

23 JUN 2014: Fête nationale strengthens francophone attachment to Quebec, poll shows

 

MONTREAL — Francophone Quebecers are far more likely to experience a sense of attachment to Quebec during the Fête nationale holiday, a new poll shows, while for non-francophones, it’s Canada Day that prompts a surge of patriotism.

In total, 63 per cent of francophones surveyed told pollsters that they agreed with the statement “the Fête nationale strengthens my sense of attachment to Quebec,” while just 27 per cent of non-francophones said the same. The trend reversed when those polled were asked if Canada Day strengthened their sense of attachment to Canada, with 67 per cent of non-francophones agreeing and only 31 per cent of francophones agreeing.

The poll was conducted online between Tuesday and Thursday last week by Léger Marketing for The Association for Canadian Studies.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/fete-nationale-strengthens-francophone-attachment-to-quebec-poll-shows/

LUCIEN BOUCHARD ET LA CLAUSE DEROGATOIRE

 

Alors premier ministre, devant des indicateurs nouveaux montrant pourtant des reculs inquiétants du français, il a refusé de renforcer la Loi 101.

Surtout, il l’a fait sous prétexte qu’il ne pourrait plus « se regarder dans le miroir » s’il devait invoquer la clause dérogatoire.

Parce que cette déclaration dramatique venait d’un premier ministre péquiste, le message envoyé fut d’autant plus dévastateur et durable.

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2026/03/25/clause-derogatoire-un-enjeu-majeur-et-pancanadien

William Johnson: Canadian Multiculturalism Falsified

http://vision.williamjohnson-quebec.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Canadian-Multiculturalism-Falsified-August-10-2019-2.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3AC_CdBuY1CjOY1GRtzkjVQuebULWzEXqd0kIf2vcTWD8ZF6UA9K13h74

The Gazette’s Philip Authier got it wrong. In the edition of August 9, 2019, he wrote: “While multiculturalism is used to refer to a society where people of different cultural backgrounds live side by side without much integration...”

False. Multiculturalism, as vested in Canada’s constitution in 1982, does not isolate cultural minorities. On the contrary, it celebrates their contribution to Canada’s diverse culture. Pierre Trudeau proclaimed it as a national policy in 1971 and explained:

Canada's citizens come from almost every country in the world and bring with them every major world religion and language. This cultural diversity endows all Canadians with a great variety of human experience. The Government regards this as a heritage to treasure and believes that Canada would be poorer if we adopted assimilation programs forcing our citizens to forsake and forget the cultures they have brought to us.

Multiculturalism, as he defined it, was not to be an isolated policy. It was to be “a policy of multiculturalism within a bilingual framework.” 

    He qualified: Although there are two official languages, there is no official culture, nor does any ethnic group take precedence over any other. No citizen or group of citizens is other than Canadian and all should be treated fairly.” 

Quebec's historical traditional demands requests

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/senate-expenses-spur-outrage-but-reform-abolition-not-easily-done-1.3031249

The Quebec government has said that any talks about the Senate would have to be broadened to deal with that province's "historical requests," such as recognition of its distinctiveness and demands for more powers — the same divisive issues on which the last two constitutional ventures, the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords, foundered. First Nations leaders would likely insist that aboriginal issues be part of the mix as well.

- approval over appointment of Quebec judges to the Supreme Court of Canada

- opting out of shared-cost programs within provincial jurisdiction, with full compensation for compatible programs
- recognition of a 'distinct society' in the Constitution of Canada
- more powers (e.g., communications)
- and a veto over constitutional amendments