(Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America)

By Grant Regalbuto, Université du Québec 1

November 15, 1997

Before addressing the issue of the participation of Italian and other immigrants in the debate over the independence of Québec, it is useful to present Canada and Québec from a sociological, historical and linguistic point of view.

Canada is the United States of America’s largest small neighbor; it is a very very large country; the second largest in the world after the Federation of Russia. It is also a small country in terms of population : according to 1996 census estimates there are some 30 million Canadians and Canada’s population density ratio is about 2,9 persons per square kilometer 2 .

Modern Canada was created, as a quasi independent country, in 1867; however its European roots go back to the 15^th century. In the 1800s, most Canadians where either of British or of French extraction (or native peoples). From a linguistic point of view, French and English speaking Canadians could be found in most, if not all parts, of Canada. Ever since its origin, as an independent country, Canada is officially a bilingual country.

Québec is the "berceau" of Canada in the sense that it is the first colony to be established in what was to become Canada. It is also Canada’s largest province in terms of land mass and with 7 millions inhabitants, it is Canada’s second most populous province. Most Québeckers live within a few hundred miles radius of the Saint Lawrence River. Up until the late 19^th century its population was to a great extent of French origin. Citizens of French extraction include, by a historical quirk, those of Italian origin, the descendants of soldiers of the Régiment de Carignan- sent to New France to fight against the Indians in the 17^th century (1665). These soldiers originated, in part, from regions of France which are now part of Italy (ex. Savoy).

As was the case in the rest of Canada, the merchant class was essentially British. Rural Québec was French.

The great immigration

The great influx of immigrants, during the later 19^th and especially the 20^th century, radically changed the make up of Canada. In the 1800s Canadians were either of British or of French extraction, today (1996 estimates) 42% of the population is neither of British nor of French origin 3 . Furthermore, for the past 30 years the single largest source of new Canadians has been the Asia Pacific region 4 .

Interesting Census Date

To better understand the numerical and cultural importance of immigration in Canada, it is revealing to look at recent census data on immigration per se, on the ethnic origin of Canadians and on the languages they speak.

Before starting, there are two definitions we have to note:

Immigrant population: "refers to persons who are, or have been, landed immigrants in Canada. A landed immigrant is a person who is not a Canadian citizen by birth, but who has been granted the right to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities 5 ."

Ethnic Origin: "refers to the ethnic or cultural group(s) to which the respondent’s ancestors belong . . . should not be confused with citizenship or nationality 6 "

Immigrants make up more than 16% of Canada’s 1991 population

• 55% of immigrants come from Europe; 49% in Québec and 55% in the rest of Canada (ROC).
• One fourth of all immigrants are from Asia.
• The next largest group , after Asia, comes from the United States of America except in Québec where the next largest group of immigrants comes from the Caribbean, notably from Haïti.
• One out of every four Italian immigrants to Canada resides in Québec.

Québec’s society differs in this respect from the rest of Canada. Immigrant’s make up 8% of Québec's population whereas they make up 19% of that of the rest of Canada. Furthermore, immigrant’s to Québec are not the same as those who go to the rest of Canada

• 93% of all Haïtian immigrants to Canada reside in Québec.
• 96% of immigrants from Hong Kong reside outside of Québec
• 83% of Algerian immigrants reside in Québec
• 96% of immigrants from the United Kingdom reside outside of Québec.
• Italians constitute the single most important group of immigrants in Québec.

Having looked briefly at the immigration dimension of Canadian society, that is persons who decide to establish themselves permanently in Canada, it is interesting to examine the ethnic origin of Canada’s population. Ethic origin refers to the group to which belong parents and ancestors and to which one identifies one’s self.

A majority (56%) of Canadians outside of Québec are of British extraction whereas only 10% of Québeckers are of the same group.

• 15% of Canadians outside Québec are of French origin whereas 80% of Québeckers are of French origin.
• There are more Canadians outside Québec that are of Western European origin (excluding evidently French) than there are of French origin.
• There are more Québeckers from Southern Europe than from Western Europe; it’s the contrary in the rest of Canada.
• Ethnic Italians constitute in Canada, in Québec and in the rest of Canada, the single most important ethnic group after the British and the French; there are over 1 million Canadians of Italian origin.

Data concerning ethnic origin are complicated to interpret since an individual can identify to more than one group because of inter or mixed marriages. More than one third (36%) of Canadians outside Québec identify to one group whereas 92% of Québeckers identify to only one ethnic origin (British, French, Italian, etc.) In addition, a majority of Canadians outside Québec of British or of French origin identify to more than one ethnic group. We find the same phenomenon among British Québeckers; however, there is very little inter marriage among French Québeckers (374 000 / 5 077 000).

• Three out of every four ethnic Italians in Québec identify to only one origin; in Canada the ratio of mixed origin among ethnic Italians is almost 40%.

As has been demonstrated, Canada is , from an ethnic point of view, a rather heterogeneous even if Canadians of British and French origin are at present in the majority. From a language point of view, the situation is very different. A vast majority (88%) of Canadians outside Québec speak English at home even if only 77% of these same Canadians indicate that English is their mother tongue. As can be expected the vast majority (82%) of Québeckers speak French at home and indicate that French is their mother tongue.

• More than half (53% - 70,000) of Québeckers whose mother tongue is Italian (133,000) speak only that language at home; this ratio is of 40% outside Québec (377,000 with Italian as mother tongue and 171,000 who speak only Italian at home).

Contemporary Canadians and their fathers come from every continent, represent almost every race, and are from a multitude of language and cultural background. Canada has in many ways developed into a multicultural country. It has been Canadian Federal government’s official policy to promote multiculturalism in recognition of the contribution of citizens from a multitude of origins that participate in the development of Canada.

Today’s Canada is multicultural in its make up. However many authors question the pertinence of Canada’s policy promoting multiculturalism. It is seen as hindering the emergence of an original and unique Canadian national identity. Furthermore it’s a sham. Professor Villata’s research among Montreal’s Italian population shows that the Italian language and the Italian culture in Montreal is very different from that which one finds in modern day Italy; Italians in Italy have difficulty in understanding Montreal Italian (ex. salire which, in Italian, means "to get on (the train)", is used to signify "to get dirty or messy" because that is what the word means in French ). His research in South America seems to have given the same results.

Canada is at a crossroads

Canada is at a crossroads; the vision of a Canada of two peoples or of ten provinces is dépassé. Immigration has changed everything and there is a marked disproportion between Canada’s ten legally equal provinces: the largest has a population of 10 million and a land mass of 1.1 million km² and the smallest, 130 000 inhabitants and a total land mass of 280 km². Furthermore,

• the debates over Québec’s independence,
• recent attempts to modernize Federal institutions (Meech Lake Accord and Charlottetown Agreement),
• the rise of separatism in Western Canada, and
• the increasing popularity of the Western Provinces’ based Reform Party

has given rise to much soul searching in all parts of Canada. Canada and Canadians are trying either to discover their "national" identity or to forge one because the one found in books is, at best, inadequate and, for all intents and purposes, has no roots in the population.  

Be that as it may, in our discussions with Canadians from all walks of life and from all regions, we have discovered that there seems to be, outside French Québec, a Canadian psyche. It holds that Canada’s originality lies in the fact that it is a "bilingual" country and that it is not "American." There is however a deep rooted dilemma in this quest because there is very little difference between USA and Canadian English language cultures.

The Québec national question

Without going into too many historical details, one can say that the creation of Canada was seen as a way to protect British colonies, including Québec, from attacks by the USA (remember 1812). From the very beginning there were, and there still are, two fundamentally different and opposing views concerning the creation of Canada: on the one hand, it was seen as a federation of 4, later 10, British colonies north of the USA, whereas on the other hand, it was seen as the union of two peoples who share a common geographical ensemble – the British and the French.

Most French Québeckers (82% of the population) share the view that Canada is the result of the union of two founding peoples; English Québeckers and most Canadians hold the opposite view.

Québec society evolved in a different way from the rest of Canada. After the British conquest, the conditions imposed on New France and the rules established over the years by the British government were such that Québec developed as a distinct society: it was recognized as a French language entity where its inhabitants could continue to practice the Roman Catholic faith and where French Civil law governed relations between persons and with institutions. In its other colonies, Great Britain, was not as "tolerant." We have to add, that this tolerance was motivated by the fear of uprisings and the need for Great Britain to protect its rear guard from an "American" attack. With hind sight, one can say that it was inevitable that Québec would become, over time, a distinct society within Canada.

Over the past fifty years, the absence of interaction between Québec and the rest of Canada – that can be explained by distance, by the absence of a common language and a common heritage and by the political and social power exercised by the Roman Catholic Church – only accentuated the difference between the two societies. In many areas Québec has evolved into a rather unique society (all societies are unique) different from that which we find in Canada, in Great Britain and in France (the latter two being the former colonial powers that ruled over what has become Québec): Education system (Cégeps), Health Services (CLSC), Civil Code, Culture (films, music), cooperation between labor, management and government, women’s rights (family name). And, the massive influx of immigrants in the 20^th century has radically changed Québec. We have seen from a demographic point of view, be it in terms of immigration, of ethnic origin or of language, Québec has become very different from the rest of Canada. The change has not lead to the loss of Québec's uniqueness but rather to an identity crisis which will ultimately lead to a new definition of what it means to be a Québecker!

A Call to Reason

The theme of this conference is Conflicts and Collaboration between Two Communities. It concerns the relationship between Black Americans and Italians. However, there is in Québec and in Canada "collaboration and conflict" concerning Italian, and other 1^st and 2^nd generation newcomers, and other Québeckers.

His public soul searching on the place of Italian and other immigrants in Québec’s society started some time ago. Some four years ago, Corbo announced publicly that he considered himself part of Québec’s francophone community (appartenance à la société québécoise). In his 1992 essay, Mon appartenance: Essai sur la condition québécoise 7 , Corbo criticized among other things, the Canadian Federal Government’s Policy on Multiculturalism: one cannot recreate Italy in Montréal’s "Little Italy". The Italian language and the Italian culture found in any "Piccola Italia" are a far cry from that which is found in modern day Italy. Language and culture are dynamic realities that evolve and change in any given setting and time frame. Professor Villata’s  8 research demonstrates that the Italian spoken by young Québeckers of Italian extraction is not always the same as that which is spoken in Italy; furthermore, they may really not be understood in Italy. 

Corbo’s 1992 observations on Canadian Multiculturalism were recently echoed in the thoughts of Anglo-Canadian author, Neil Bissoondath 9 . Who, in November 1994 attacked, as purveyors of illusions, promoters of Canadian Multiculturalism 10 . Fundamentally he holds that this policy leads to the "ghettoization" of immigrants who are not really integrating the host community.

In his "Fraternal Letter" Corbo adopts a pedagogical approach - former faculty at work! - to convince "his fellow immigrant citizens". He begins by identifying, rather well, the fundamental needs "biens politiques essentiels" that all Québeckers strive to fulfil and that Italian and other immigrants strive to satisfy with so much more acuity or intensity. These fundamental needs are security, freedom and prosperity. The identification of these essential political needs is the result of lengthy reflection. For Corbo, the pursuit of this dream (satisfying fundamental needs) pushed most immigrants to come to America in the first place. As soon as they perceive " the slightest possibility 11  " that this freedom, this security or this prosperity seem to be disturbed, immigrants, like all other citizens, are uneasy; they become worried, anxious.

In the short history course that he offers, the author uses a bipolar grid the present the results of his analysis of the historical evolution of relations between Canada an Québec. The first "pole" is characterized as being "authoritarian" where Canada, and before it Great Britain, sought to dominate the French Canadian minority 12 ; there were during these periods attempts to absorb the francophone group into the Anglophone community. The other "pole" is more "conciliatory": Canada, and before it Great Britain, is more respectful of "la différence québécoise" (p 63). During these more conciliatory periods one sought "flexible adjustments" (p 63).

The author then enumerates the various means proposed over the last half century to satisfy, without success, Québec’s aspirations (p 72). Slogans have changed from time to time but the bottom line has always remained unchanged: Maurice Duplessis’ call for provincial autonomy (autonomie provinciale ) in the 50s, Lucien Bouchard and Mario Dumont’s partnership and sovereignty ( souveraineté-partenariat ) in 1995", and Daniel Johnson’s 13 equality or independence ( égalité ou indépendance ) in the mid 60s (p. 70-71).

In the last part of his study, Corbo attacks the multicultural myth and underlines the validity and legitimacy of Québec language laws. For him, as for Neil Bissoondath, Multiculturalism leads to the "ghettoization" of minorities whereas language laws are the means taken by a majority to safeguard one of the essential political values that it holds as "profoundly essential" (p 108) to its identity. In this regard, he mentions that the French language has minority status on the international scene and a very small minority status in America; this statistical reality does not however justify its extinction, its disappearance.

Conclusion

Corbo does not discuss this important facet of the issue. One cannot forget that during the first waves of large scale immigration Québec did not project the image 14  of an essentially francophone community. The Belle Province’s two largest cities were to a large extent English speaking. In addition, French Canadians (for many years, francophone Québeckers were referred to as French-Canadians) did not control their economic or political destiny. This period ended with the Quiet Revolution (1960s and 70s). New comers, already weighed down by their own differences, sought desperately at times to "loose" their difference in order to "make it" financially and to benefit from the essential political values that the author speaks of.

The general structure of his letter, the clarity and precision in his arguments, that are all adequately referenced, and the intellectual rigor of his approach are such that Corbo’s small text (137 pages) is brilliantly well done. However, as Québec journalist Gérard Leblanc has already mentioned 15

Let’s hope that the Letter will be translated into English because it is in that language that Claude Corbo’s fellow immigrant citizens often find their Canadian vision of Québec (free translation by Grant Regalbuto).16

Both Corbo’s works on the subject were amply reviewed and commented upon in Québec’s francophone press 17 . However, in English Canada there was little question of Mr. Corbo or of his essays. A close analysis of the contents  18 of Montréal’s Gazette, Toronto’s Globe and Mail, Victoria BC’s Times Colonist, Manitoba’s Winnipeg Free Press and the Financial Times indicates that from 1992, the year his first essay was published, to 1996, when his most recent Letter was published, no reference whatsoever was made to his essays that are so very significant in the debate over Canada’s future.

This case of conflict and collaboration is far different from the ones you examined in the workshops and activities of this conference; however, we hope that it was refreshing to take a look at another reality; it may help keep the USA experience in a proper perspective.

Bibliography

Press 19 Review 20

1 With the assistance of Jocelyne Côté (linguistic and structural revision) and Bruce Lumsden. return to body