Apparently, Quebec is going through an identity crisis similar to the one noted in the last post in Europe. From Maclean’s:
This is not to say that Jagmeet Singh is Obama’s Sikh analogue north of the border, but the script for racialization has always made for thin reading. There is nothing complicated about the suggestion that Quebecers are not comfortable with his “religiosity,†there’s simply the belief that white Quebecers are too racist and xenophobic to support the NDP if it elects a brown-skinned leader who will not placate their bigotry. There’s no “insurgent†campaign at work to upset the established order of the party, there’s simply a popular candidate who, by all appearances, is poised to demonstrate why Canadians of colour not only deserve a seat at the table, but can pull up a chair at its head. And whether or not Singh has indeed signed up enough members to win the leadership in the first round of balloting, his campaign has so far succeeded at a level that most party leadership candidates could only dream of.
What is Quebec if not French Canadian? That’s a question that Canadians will need to answer.
Nothing is new under the sun; Quebec and by extension Canada has wrestled with Quebec’s identity since France lost the battle of the Plains of Abraham.
Quebec does have a different cultural history and north star — the debate over identity is very much driven by a French lens — they take a very different meaning to secularism.
The truth is Mr Singh’s problem is more prosaic then discrimination. His problem is a big chunk of party’s legislator’s are from Quebec because the last leader was from Quebec, he’s not from Quebec.
Quebec has favored native son’s; doesn’t matter where the native son stood on Quebec’s place in Canada or any other issue. Since 1970, Quebec has voted for Trudeau (Pierre), Mulroney, Bouchard, Chretien, Duceppe, Layton, Trudeau (Justin), and Mulclair in Federal elections — all born in Quebec.