Canadian Issues Vol 43.Indd

Editorial Board / Comité de rédaction

Editor-in-Chief Rédacteur en chef Claude Couture, University of Alberta, Canada

Associate Editors Rédactrices adjointes Chantal Maillé, Université Concordia, Canada Ursula Mathis-Moser, Universität Innsbruck, Autriche Faye Hammill, University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom

Managing Editor Secrétaire de rédaction Maryse Lavigne, Université de l’Alberta / University of Alberta, Canada

Advisory Board / Comité consultatif

Malcolm Alexander, Griffith University, Australia Alfredo Carpio, Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador, Venezuela Sarah Feingold, Kibbutzim College of Education and Arts, Israel Katalin Kurtösi, University of Szeged, Hungary Francisco Colom, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Spain Beatriz Diaz, Universidad de la Habana, Cuba Massimo Rubboli, University of Genoa, Italy Eurídice Figueiredo, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brésil Cécile Vanderpelen-Diagre, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgique Naoharu Fujita, Meiji University, Japan Gudrun Björk Gudsteinsdottir, University of Iceland, Iceland Leen d’Haenens, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands Vadim Koleneko, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia Hélène Harter, Université Rennes 2, France Graciela Martínez-Zalce Sánchez , National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM, Mexico Elke Nowak, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany Maeve Conrick, University of Cork, Ireland Susan Hodgett, University of Ulster at Jordanstown, United Kingdom Andrew Eungi Kim, Korea University, Korea Feng Jianwen, Nanjing University, China R.K. Dhawan, University of Delhi, India Robert K. Whelan, University of Texas at Dallas, U.S.A. Ing Lila D. Kowalewski, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina Krzysztof Jarosz, Univesité de Silésie, Pologne Lillian Gonzalez, Universidad de la Frontera, Chili James Harold Connett, Centro Paraguayo de Estudios Canadienses, Paraguay The International Journal of Canadian Paraissant deux fois l’an, la Revue Studies is published twice a year by the internationale d’études canadiennes (RIÉC) International Council for Canadian Studies. est publiée par le Conseil international Multidisciplinary in scope, the IJCS is intend- d’études canadiennes. Revue multidiscipli- ed for people around the world interested in naire, elle rejoint les lecteurs de divers pays in- the study of Canada. The IJCS publishes the- téressés à l’étude du Canada. La RIÉC publie matic issues containing articles (20-30 pages des numéros thématiques composés d’articles double-spaced), research notes (10-15 pages (20-30 pages, double interligne), de notes de double-spaced) and review essays. It favours recherche (10-15 pages, double interligne) et analyses that have a broad perspective and es- d’essais critiques et privilégie les études aux says that will interest a readership from a wide perspectives larges et les essais de synthèse variety of disciplines. Articles must deal with aptes à intéresser un vaste éventail de lecteurs. Canada, not excluding comparisons between Les textes doivent porter sur le Canada ou sur Canada and other countries. The IJCS is a bi- une comparaison entre le Canada et d’autres lingual journal. Authors may submit articles in pays. La RIÉC est une revue bilingue. Les either English or French. Individuals interest- auteurs peuvent rédiger leurs textes en fran- ed in contributing to the IJCS should forward çais ou en anglais. Toute personne intéressée their papers to the IJCS Secretariat, along with à collaborer à la RIÉC doit faire parvenir son a one-hundred word abstract. Beyond papers texte accompagné d’un résumé de cent (100) dealing directly with the themes of forthcom- mots maximum au secrétariat de la RIÉC. En ing issues, the IJCS will also examine papers plus d’examiner les textes les plus pertinents not related to these themes for possible inclu- aux thèmes des numéros à paraître, la RIÉC sion in its regular Open Topic section. All sub- examinera également les articles non théma- missions are peer-reviewed; the final decision tiques pour sa rubrique Hors-thème. Tous les regarding publication is made by the Editorial textes sont évalués par des pairs. Le Comité Board. The content of articles, research notes de rédaction prendra la décision finale quand and review essays is the sole responsibility of à la publication. Les auteurs sont responsables the author. Send articles to the International du contenu de leurs articles, notes de recher- Journal of Canadian Studies, 250 City Cen- che ou essais. Veuillez adresser toute corres- tre Avenue, S- 303, Ottawa, CANADA K1R pondance à la Revue internationale d’études 6K7. For subscription information, please see canadiennes, 250, avenue City Centre, S-303, the last page of this issue. The IJCS is indexed Ottawa, CANADA K1R 6K7. Des renseigne- and/or abstracted in America: History and ments sur l’abonnement se trouvent à la fin Life; Canadian Periodical Index; Historical du présent numéro. Les articles de la RIÉC Abstracts; International Political Science Ab- sont répertoriés et/ou résumés dans America : stracts; Point de repère; and Sociological Ab- History and Life; Canadian Periodical Index; stracts/Worldwide Political Science Abstracts. Historical Abstracts; International Political Science Abstracts; Point de repère et Socio- © All rights reserved. No part of this publica- logical Abstracts/Worldwide Political Science tion may be reproduced without the permis- Abstracts. sion of the IJCS. ISSN 1180-3991; ISBN 1-896450-37-7 © Tous droits réservés. Aucune reproduction n’est permise sans l’autorisation de la RIÉC. The IJCS gratefully acknowledges a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Re- ISSN 1180-3991 ; ISBN 1-896450-37-7 search Council of Canada. La RIÉC est redevable au Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada qui lui accorde une subvention.

Cover / Couverture The IJCS would like to thank / La RIÉC aimerait remercier Claude Couture for the use of the photo / de lui avoir permis d’utiliser la photo International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes Miscellaneous: international perspectives on Canada En vrac : perspectives internationales sur le Canada

43, 2011.1

Table of Contents / Table des matières

Claude Couture / Faye Hammill Introduction / Présentation ...... 5

Angela Buono Le transculturalisme : de l’origine du mot à « l’identité de la différence » chez Hédi Bouraoui...... 7

Muriel Sacco Une politique de la ville « à la française » à Montréal?...... 23

Katrin Urschel “From the ‘White Lily’ to the ‘King Frog in a puddle’: A Comparison of Confederation and Multiculturalism in Irish-Canadian Literature”...... 45

Evelyn P. Mayer Beyond Border Binaries: Borderlines, Borderlands and In-Betweenness in Thomas King’s Short Story Borders ...... 67

Nielan Barnes Canada-US-Mexico Integration: Assessing (Im)Migrant Health Policy Convergence...... 83

Jay Scherer & Lisa McDermott Playing Promotional Politics: Mythologizing Hockey and Manufacturing ‘Ordinary’ Canadians ...... 107

Meena Sharify-Funk Governing the Face Veil: Québec’s Bill 94 and the Transnational Politics of Women’s Identity...... 135

Donica Belisle Virtue and Vice: Consumer Culture in English Canadian Fiction Before 1940 ...... 165

IJCS / RIÉC 43, 2011 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

Research Note / Note de recherche

Myreille Pawliez Narratologie et étude du personnage: un cas de figure. Caractérisation dans Dis-moi que je vis de Michèle Mailhot...... 189

Review Essay / Essai critique

Christopher G. Anderson Immigration, Immigrants, and the Rights of Canadian Citizens in Historical Perspective...... 207

Authors / Auteurs...... 221

Call for papers / Soumission d’articles...... 222

Information and Guidelines for Contributors...... 227 Renseignements et directives aux auteurs...... 233

Canadian Studies Journals Around the World / Revues d’études canadiennes dans le monde...... 239

4 Introduction Présentation

This issue reflects the richness Le présent numéro reflète en of international contributions quelque sorte la richesse des to the study of Canada. Among contributions internationales à the member associations and l’étude du Canada. En effet, parmi associate member organisations les associations membres et les of the International Council for associations dites associées ou Canadian Studies, each three-year partenaires du Conseil international cycle sees 10 annual conferences, des études canadiennes, on 15 biennial conferences and 3 compte, pour chaque cycle de 3 triennial conferences. In all, during ans, 10 conférences annuelles, every three-year period, about 15 conférences biennales et 3 6,000 experts on Canada have the conférences triennales. En tout, opportunity to present their research pour chaque cycle de trois ans, findings at these meetings. environ 6,000 experts du Canada Canadian participation is important, ont ainsi l’occasion de présenter since these international forums dans ces conférences les résultats allow Canadian researchers the de leurs recherches. La participation chance to exchange views and canadienne à ces forums compare results with researchers internationaux est importante et from other countries. ainsi les chercheurs canadiens eux-mêmes ont la possibilité The interdisciplinary richness d’échanger leurs points de vue et of Canadian studies is likewise de comparer leurs résultats avec revealed through this issue. It brings les chercheurs internationaux. together articles by authors working in literature, cultural studies, urban Le présent numéro montre aussi studies, and political science, la richesse interdisciplinaire des while Native studies is represented études canadiennes. Ainsi, dans through the essay on Thomas King ce numéro, on retrouve des textes and borderlines. The issue as a d’auteurs œuvrant en littérature, whole offers fresh perspectives en études culturelles, en études on migration, multiculturalism, urbaines, en science politique, enfin transculturalism, popular and urban en études autochtones notamment à cultures, and narratology. travers l’étude de Thomas King et le thème de la migration. Le numéro Eight recent books which take dans son ensemble offre aussi un up the subject of migration are regard croisé sur les thèmes de la considered in the review essay migration, du multiculturalisme, which concludes the issue, du transculturalisme, de la culture completing the study of an populaire et urbaine, enfin de important theme in international la narratologie. Canadian studies.

5 Acknowledgments Finalement, le lecteur trouvera The editorial committee wishes to un essai critique portant sur huit thank Marjolaine Deschênes, Ruth ouvrages contemporains ayant Bradley-St-Cyr, Maryse Lavigne trait au thème de la migration qui and Sylvie Provost for their careful complète ainsi l’étude d’un thème work on the preparation and de recherche important au niveau production of this issue. international en études canadiennes.

Claude Couture Remerciements Faye Hammil Comme il se doit maintenant pour (On behalf of the Editorial Board) chaque numéro, le comité éditorial tient à remercier celles qui ont patiemment travaillé à la confection et réalisation de ce numéro : Marjolaine Deschênes, Ruth Bradley-St-Cyr, Maryse Lavigne et Sylvie Provost.

Claude Couture Faye Hammill (au nom du comité de rédaction) Angela Buono

Le transculturalisme : de l’origine du mot à « l’identité de la différence » chez Hédi Bouraoui

Résumé Cette étude illustre quelques implications de la notion du transculturel, tout en la situant par rapport aux notions du pluriculturel, de l’interculturel et du multiculturel. Depuis sa première apparition en 1940 dans le domaine anthropologique, la notion de transculturalisme a élargi son champ d’application en tant que méthode d’interprétation potentielle de toute réalité métissée. Cependant, au niveau social et politique, l’approche transculturelle demeure théorique, voire utopique, ainsi que l’a démontré l’expérience québécoise du groupe d’intellectuels rassemblés de 1983 à 1997 autour du magazine Vice Versa. C’est au niveau identitaire et esthétique que le transculturalisme trouve son plein accomplissement dans l’expérience personnelle et poétique de l’écrivain franco-ontarien d’origine tunisienne Hédi Bouraoui. En insistant sur l’idée de traversée, de passage et d’échange entre les cultures, il érige la migrance en valeur identitaire et en principe de création littéraire : si « l’émigration redéfinit l’ontologie de l’être contemporain », les notions d’identité et de différence – les deux pivots du transculturalisme tel que Bouraoui le conçoit – en sont également renouvelées par la démarche transculturelle et transpoétique que l’auteur applique à son écriture et à sa conception de la culture. L’identité et la différence sont analysées et redé- finies jusqu’à en renverser la valeur signifiante. La relation d’opposition entre les deux termes se tourne en identification : « l’identité de la différence » introduit une perspective nouvelle dans l’évaluation de la diversité, tout en lui conférant une qualité oxymorique qui demeure au fond de la poétique bouraouienne et se pose en clé de lecture d’une appartenance identitaire à même de résoudre les contradictions de la pluralité en unicité originale et harmonieuse.

Abstract This study illustrates a few of the implications of our notion of transcultural, while situating it in relation to notions of pluricultural, intercultural and multicultural. Since it first appeared in 1940 in the field of anthropology, the notion of transculturalism has expanded its application as a potential interpretive method of all hybridized realities. However, at the social and political level, the transcultural approach remains theoretical, utopic even, as demonstrated by the Québécois experience of a group of intellectuals who were together from 1983 to 1997 for the magazine Vice Versa. It is in terms of identity and aesthetics that transculturalism becomes fully accomplished in the personal and poetic experience of Hédi Bouraoui, a Franco-Ontarian writer originally

IJCS / RIÉC 43, 2011 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes from Tunisia. By insisting on the idea of crossing, of passage, and of exchange between cultures, he uplifts migrance to a value of identity and a principle of literary creation: if “emigration redefines the ontology of the contemporary self”, notions of identity and difference−the two linchpins of transculturalism as conceived by Bouraoui−are equally renewed by the transcultural and transpoetic approach that the author applies to his writing and his idea of culture. Identity and difference are analyzed and redefined to the point of over- turning the signifier value. The oppositional relationship between the two terms becomes one of identification: “the identity of difference” introduces a new perspective in the evaluation of diversity, gives it an oxymoronic quality which remains at the depth of Bouraoui’s poetics, and unlocks the reading of identity belonging while it resolves contradictions of plurality into a uniqueness that is original and harmonious.

La notion du transculturel fait désormais partie du langage courant, ainsi qu’en témoigne l’inclusion du terme dans les principaux dictionnaires. Néan- moins, les définitions qu’ils en donnent ne rendent pas tout à fait compte des implications du mot. Si dans Le Grand Robert l’on indique de façon générique que transculturel c’est ce « qui concerne les transitions entre cultures différentes » (ad vocem), dans Le Petit Larousse l’idée même de mouvement et de passage entre les cultures est ramenée à la simple pluralité culturelle. Dans l’édition de 2003 on peut lire que transculturel c’est ce « qui concerne les relations entre plusieurs cultures » (ad vocem), tandis que dans une édition plus récente du dictionnaire en ligne (2009) on trouve la définition suivante : « se dit d’un phénomène social qui concerne plusieurs cultures, plusieurs civilisations différentes » (ad vocem).

Cette dernière formulation n’apporte guère davantage de précisions sur la spécificité du transculturel et, qui plus est, ces définitions ne permettent point de bien démarquer le transculturel des notions voisines du pluriculturel, de l’interculturel et du multiculturel. Pour ce faire, il convient de se rapporter aux définitions proposées par le Conseil de l’Europe. Dans leCadre européen commun de référence pour les langues, la dimension pluriculturelle est défi- nie en ces termes :

Les différentes cultures (nationale, régionale, sociale) auxquelles quelqu’un a accédé ne coexistent pas simplement côte à côte dans sa compétence culturelle. Elles se comparent, s’opposent et interagissent activement pour produire une compétence pluriculturelle enrichie et intégrée dont la compétence plurilingue est l’une des composantes, elle-même interagissant avec d’autres composantes. (p. 12)

8 Le transculturalisme : de l’origine du mot à « l’identité de la différence » chez Hédi Bouraoui

Il s’ensuit, ainsi que les commentateurs l’ont bien remarqué, que « le pluri- linguisme et le pluriculturalisme correspondent à une spécificité personnelle mobilisée dans une situation de communication » (Bernaus et al. 12), là où le multiculturalisme et l’interculturalisme relèvent d’une dimension collective et sociétale. En ce qui concerne le premier, « il convient [...] de conserver les termes multilinguisme et multiculturalisme à la description de contextes mettant en contact différentes langues et cultures » (Bernaus et al. 12), tandis que « l’interculturalité est un terme qui désigne tout d’abord une situation de communication dans laquelle les participants mobilisent toutes leurs capaci- tés pour interagir les uns avec les autres » (Bernaus et al. 13).

Les notions de pluriculturel, de multiculturel et d’interculturel font donc appel de façon respective à l’individu, au groupe et à la situation de communication : le transculturel se pose en point de convergence et dépassement de ces fondements, en processus dynamique entraînant une transmutation foncière de ses données de base par le biais de leur profonde interpénétration.

De l’origine du mot transculturel Afin de bien saisir la prégnance de la notion de transculturel, il convient d’en retracer l’évolution. On fait remonter sa naissance à la réflexion de l’anthro- pologue cubain Fernando Ortiz : en 1940, dans son ouvrage Contrapunteo cubano del tabaco y el azúcar, il introduit le mot « transculturation » en substitution du terme « acculturation », pour mieux rendre compte de la com- plexité ethnique et de l’évolution ethnoculturelle dans l’île de Cuba1. Ainsi que l’a expliqué Jean Lamore :

À cette époque, la notion d’acculturation est très en vogue : chère aux Nord-Américains, elle débouche sur l’idée d’assimilation [...] : fondée sur un fait éminemment eurocentriste, elle impliquait que l’indigène, le « sauvage », le « barbare » devait obligatoirement « s’assimiler », ou encore « se civiliser ». Or, Ortiz, en étudiant le processus de formation ethnoculturelle de Cuba, définit un processus totalement différent : la transculturation, qui se caractérise par le choc. L’« ex-culturation » des peuples conquis, soumis ou exploités, n’empêche pas certains syncré- tismes : le conquérant prend lui aussi une part de sa culture. Il y a aussi « inculturation », c’est-à-dire une acquisition réciproque d’éléments culturels. (p. 45) Tout en dépassant la perspective eurocentrique dominante, le néologisme imaginé par Ortiz résume les implications multiples des transferts culturels, comme ce passage, ici rapporté dans la traduction qu’en offre Jean Lamore, met bien en évidence :

Le vocable « transculturation » exprime mieux les différentes phases du processus de transition d’une culture à l’autre, car celui-

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ci ne consiste pas seulement à acquérir une culture distincte – ce qui est en toute rigueur ce qu’exprime le mot anglo-américain d’ « acculturation » – mais que le processus implique aussi nécessaire- ment la perte ou le déracinement d’une culture antérieure, – ce qu’on pourrait appeler « déculturation », et en outre, signifie la création consécutive de nouveaux phénomènes culturels que l’on pourrait dénommer « néo-culturation ». [...] Dans l’ensemble le processus est une transculturation, et ce vocable renferme toutes les phases de sa parabole (Lamore 44). Bronislaw Malinowski, dans son introduction au Contrapunteo d’Ortiz, saisit toute la valeur innovante de la transculturation, ainsi que sa charge transfor- mationnelle de création :

Es un proceso en el cual emerge una nueva realidad, compuesta y compleja; una realidad que no es una aglomeración mecánica de caracteres, ni siquiera un mosaico, sino un fenómeno nuevo, original e independiente [...] una transición entre dos culturas, ambas activas, ambas contribuyentes con sendos aportes, y ambas cooperantes al advenimiento de una nueva realidad de civilización (Ortiz 5). Depuis, par suite de ce pouvoir de création dont il est porteur, le transculturel a dépassé les limites du domaine d’application d’origine pour élargir son champ d’action en tant que méthode d’interprétation potentielle de toute réalité métissée. Nous nous bornerons ici à en examiner les implications identitaires et littéraires dans l’interprétation toute particulière qu’en donne l’écrivain franco-ontarien d’origine tunisienne Hédi Bouraoui, qui nous paraît avoir exploité les potentialités du transculturel jusqu’à leur plein épa- nouissement. Pour mieux faire ressortir son approche originale, nous nous arrêterons brièvement sur l’expérience québécoise des fondateurs du magazine transculturel Vice Versa, desquels Bouraoui s’était un temps rapproché2 pour poursuivre ensuite sa réflexion individuelle sur le transculturel en tant que principe de création poétique.

Du sens politique du transculturel Au Québec, l’application du transculturel à l’expérience migrante a été le fait, au cours des années quatre-vingt et quatre-vingt-dix du siècle dernier, du groupe d’intellectuels d’origine italienne rassemblés autour du magazine Vice Versa, proposant un projet transculturel dont Fulvio Caccia et Lamberto Tassinari ont été les porte-parole :

Le terme transculturel a une dimension politique car ce mot implique la traversée d’une seule culture en même temps que son dépassement. L’unité qu’il sous-tend n’a pas la même résonance que celle qu’évo- quent le termes « inter-culturel » ou « multi-culturel ». Ceux-ci défi- nissent un ensemble et le circonscrivent dans un espace et un temps,

10 Le transculturalisme : de l’origine du mot à « l’identité de la différence » chez Hédi Bouraoui

alors que le transculturel ne possède pas de périmètre. C’est le passage et l’implication totale à travers et au-delà des cultures (Caccia, Sous le signe 299). La dimension transversale au niveau du temps et de l’espace du projet transculturel tel que le conçoivent les intellectuels italo-québécois confère à sa portée politique un caractère utopique, se réclamant de cette « utopie nord-américaine » que Jean-Michel Lacroix et Fulvio Caccia, dans leur introduction au volume Métamorphoses d’une utopie, définissent comme l’idéal fondant « [...] une nouvelle humanité. Humanité enfin dépouillée de son eurocentrisme, débarrassée du carcan de l’Histoire, où il serait possible de réinventer la culture en saisissant l’absence, l’entre-deux qui conduit à l’altérité créatrice » (p. 12). Le caractère dichotomique du projet transculturel, partagé entre l’idéal et sa réalisation, émerge des propos de Tassinari, lors de son entrevue avec Fulvio Caccia (1985) :

Ce projet se manifestera dans sa plénitude lorsqu’il investira la sphère politique et économique. Le transculturel travaille une gestion de la société dépourvue de discrimination [...], mais il n’en demeure pas moins que le discours transculturel est au fond un discours sur le pouvoir. À la limite, il remet en question le fonctionnement de la société. [...] La transculture possède un ressort utopique qui remet en question la base traditionnelle de la société (Caccia, Sous le signe 303-304). Au cours d’un séminaire international qui s’est déroulé à Rome en 2005, consacré au « Projet transculturel de Vice Versa », Tassinari a tracé le bilan de cette aventure intellectuelle en soulignant la double dimension, identitaire et sociale, de la transculture :

le trans [...], proposé par Vice Versa signifiait traversée, passage, métamorphose continue de l’identité : perte et gain sans arrêt, osmose. [...] Je ne m’arrêterai ici que sur l’aspect politique de la démarche transculturelle, cet aspect que justement Vice Versa n’a jamais réussi, en aucune mesure, à traduire en réalité sociale. Si à la base de la vision transculturelle il y a, au niveau de l’individu, la poursuite et l’acceptation d’une identité multiple, hybride, en devenir continuel, alors sur le plan politique, de la cité, à cette identité devrait correspondre une société libérée des fantasmes du pouvoir [...], enfin l’avènement d’une vraie démocratie à travers l’autonomie de l’individu. (p. 23) Profondément enraciné dans la réalité immigrante du Québec des années quatre-vingt, le projet de Vice Versa a été conditionné dans son parcours par le contexte sociopolitique où il a pris naissance3. Cependant, son « échec productif » (p. 67), ainsi que l’a qualifié Régine Robin4, tient sans doute aussi dans sa dimension utopique5, maintes fois soulignée par Tassinari, concevant « la transculture [...] comme une forme de substitut soft de l’utopie perdue, comme sa continuation sous les formes du métissage et de l’impureté » (p. 21).

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En soulignant le but de « fonder un corps politique en dehors de toute communauté d’esprit, de langue ou de culture » (Vice Versa 33), Fulvio Cac- cia a formulé « l’hypothèse que la transculture est un projet pour restituer et rénover le sens originel de “civilisation” telle que la définition initiale de transculturation l’implique » (Vice Versa 34). Ainsi que l’explique l’auteur :

La civilisation se distingue [...] par le fait qu’elle suppose une hié- rarchie, une décision... et renvoie directement à la civitas, la ville tandis que la culture renvoie aux champs et à une acception consensuelle et non hiérarchique qui institue le peuple en tant qu’acteur de l’histoire (Vice Versa 34). En remontant à l’étymologie commune de deux mots, Caccia pose donc en évidence la parentèle entre la civilisation, dans son sens anthropologique, et la politique, dans son sens social. Il se rapporte en particulier à la notion dynamique de civilisation impliquée dans la transculturation décrite par Ortiz. Malinowski en avait bien souligné le pouvoir de création ethnoculturelle, un pouvoir qui, transposé dans le domaine sociopolitique, confère à la notion de transculture élaborée par l’équipe de Vice Versa le statut idéal d’un modèle du devenir humain.

Du sens identitaire du transculturel Chez Hédi Bouraoui le transculturel accomplit une autre étape de son parcours, en manifestant sa force de création sur le double plan de l’identité et de l’esthétique. Tunisien de naissance, immigré à Toronto à la fin des années soixante après ses études en France et aux États-Unis, Hédi Bouraoui a éla- boré sa notion du transculturel à partir d’une réflexion tout à fait autonome6, qu’il a entamée dès les années soixante-dix en puisant directement dans sa propre expérience de vie : par sa formation pluriculturelle et son itinéraire tricontinental, chevauchant l’Afrique, l’Europe et l’Amérique, il s’est fait lui-même carrefour culturel et incarnation vivante du transculturalisme. Son choix de s’établir au Canada a été déterminé, ainsi qu’il l’a souligné au cours d’une entrevue, par la présence d’« une société multiculturelle qui se formait et qui correspondait à [s]on héritage [...] multiple et multiculturel et multiracial et multireligieux » (Chamberland 185). Poète, écrivain et critique, Bouraoui a consacré son œuvre entière à la promotion et à la diffusion de cette notion qu’il pose en valeur humaniste fondamentale :

Nous avons défini le terme transculturalisme après avoir réfléchi sur la politique canadienne du multiculturalisme qui, d’après nous, encourageait la constitution de ghettos culturels à l’intérieur de la mosaïque canadienne. Le transculturalisme est d’abord, et avant tout, une profonde connaissance de soi et de sa culture originelle afin de la trans/cender d’une part, et de la trans/vaser d’autre part, donc la trans/mettre, à l’altérité. Ainsi se créent des ponts de compréhension,

12 Le transculturalisme : de l’origine du mot à « l’identité de la différence » chez Hédi Bouraoui

d’appréciation, de tolérance, de paix entre moi et les autres, la culture d’un pays à l’autre dans son intraitable différence (Transpoétique 10). En observateur attentif de la réalité qui l’entoure et vivant dans sa chair l’expérience de la migrance dans un pays d’immigration massive, Bouraoui envisage le transculturalisme comme un développement potentiel du multiculturalisme canadien, apte à en mettre en valeur les enjeux positifs et à en déjouer l’effet secondaire du repliement des différentes communautés sur elles-mêmes :

Pour ne pas occulter l’apport positif du multiculturalisme, à savoir la reconnaissance et la validité d’autres cultures au sein d’une culture nationale, nous avons voulu détourner ce projet vers le transculturalisme qui a pour but de bâtir des ponts entre les diversités culturelles, de faire passer les valeurs d’une aire géographique à une autre. Autrement dit, une nouvelle focalisation pour que les différentes communautés se penchent sur la culture des uns et des autres (Transpoétique 63-64). En appliquant à la culture les concepts de traversée, transition, transformation qu’entraîne la notion du transculturel, Bouraoui a élaboré une vision culturelle dynamique à même de refléter la réalité et traduire les enjeux du monde actuel. D’après lui, « l’émigration redéfinit l’ontologie de l’être contemporain » (Dotoli 56) et se pose par conséquent en valeur identitaire fondamentale – ce que Bouraoui appelle poétiquement l’émigressence7. En renversant la vision stéréotypée de l’émigration pour en dégager les valeurs potentielles, Bouraoui a érigé le phénomène migratoire en fondement de toute interaction humaine et donc de tout échange entre les cultures :

Il ne s’agit pas ici de retracer l’essence des mouvements migratoires, le déracinement, l’exil, le déchirement, l’aliénation, etc., mais plutôt d’accentuer l’émigration tacite et implicite, intérieure et actuelle, littérale et symbolique de nos propres gestes et de notre propre action : à savoir cet écart, ce déplacement, cette tension de mouvance, entre désir et réalité, intention et acte, geste et manifestation, en un mot, entre le moi qui agit sur le monde et le monde qui agit sur le moi (Pertinence 56). Cette dynamique est à la base du processus de formation et de transformation des cultures qui s’accompagne de l’échange transculturel et que Bouraoui qualifie de « créaculture 8» , néologisme de son invention :

Si nous définissons la culture comme une interaction entre l’homme et son milieu, dans un modus operandi qui secrète les valeurs régissant une société, une nation, la créaculture met l’accent sur le côté créateur des valeurs représentant une vision unitaire où le sujet et le monde sont en perpétuelles tensions et créations vers une éventuelle harmonie. Cet équilibre précaire est à saisir par une approche interdisciplinaire,

13 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

éclectique et essentiellement humaniste qui refuse de réduire culture et civilisation d’un pays à leur contexte purement historique, littéraire ou artistique (Transpoétique 32). Le transculturalisme tel que Bouraoui le conçoit propose, d’un côté, une approche positive du choc des cultures, en tant que fondement d’une culture de niveau supérieur, une transculture profondément enracinée dans l’expérience migrante, et par là même, apte à en traduire les préoccupations identitaires et les solutions d’adaptation à un contexte culturel étranger; de l’autre côté, le transculturalisme se pose en modèle identitaire et en valeur humaniste traversant et dépassant toute frontière, dans le but de promouvoir un idéal éthique de tolérance et de paix qui n’est pas la moindre des implications du message bouraouien.

Pour Bouraoui la paix revêt une valeur non seulement morale, mais aussi identitaire : il énonce son idéal de tolérance et de communion entre les peuples en affirmant que « la Paix, c’est la véritable rencontre de l’Autre dans sa vérité, c’est l’acceptation totale de la différence » (Vers et l’Envers 34). Cet axiome tourne autour de la notion de différence qu’ailleurs Bouraoui formule en termes d’« identité de la différence » (Dotoli 59), à savoir la différence érigée en valeur identitaire et en source d’enrichissement culturel.

Quant à ce principe, il dérive essentiellement de son héritage culturel méditerranéen : la diversité et l’altérité sont des composantes fondamentales de l’identité méditerranéenne, tout comme les valeurs humanistes traditionnelles de l’ouverture à l’autre, du respect de l’étranger, du sens de l’accueil et du partage réciproque. La Méditerranée a été le théâtre, déjà au second millénaire avant Jésus-Christ, d’un exemple de transculturalisme avant la lettre représenté par les Phéniciens qui, en poussant leurs commerces du Proche-Orient aux Colonnes d’Hercule, fusionnaient les traditions, les cultes et les cultures des peuples rencontrés tout au long de leurs traversées de la mer9. Et plus tard dans la ville punique de Carthage en Tunisie, la terre natale de Bouraoui, se sont mélangés bon nombre de peuples d’Afrique, d’Europe et d’Asie – ce qui mène notre auteur à affirmer que pour lui : « Carthage, c’est au fait la métaphore [...] de ce qu’on appelle aujourd’hui “la mosaïque canadienne” » (Dotoli 56).

L’identité et la différence demeurent deux concepts-clés du transculturalisme bouraouien. Le rapport d’opposition entre ces deux termes est tourné en identification par la formulation qu’en donne l’auteur : l’« identité de la différence » renvoie au caractère oxymorique de toute identité humaine, dont une composante essentielle est « l’étrangeté inconnue par laquelle nous sommes tous des êtres étrangers condamnés à l’étrangeté absolue » (Bangkok blues 14). La découverte de l’autre et de la différence entraîne la prise de conscience de cette étrangeté propre à tout homme et l’approche de l’autre n’est qu’une forme particulière de migrance :

14 Le transculturalisme : de l’origine du mot à « l’identité de la différence » chez Hédi Bouraoui

En effet, en communiquant nous immigrons tous vers et dans les autres par la parole [...]. Ainsi nous sommes tous des immigrés, ce qui déclenche un sens d’égalité et de fraternité... Une nouvelle solidarité dans une communauté qui non seulement accepte la différence, mais va plus loin en la célébrant (Transpoétique 66). La perspective transculturelle de Bouraoui implique une participation et une tension conscientes à l’échange entre les cultures et refuse tout phénomène de déculturation que la théorie d’Ortiz considérait comme une des étapes du processus de transculturation; de même elle se démarque de la vision du groupe de Vice Versa, qui envisageait l’identité migrante comme la manifestation d’une dynamique de « perte et gain » (Tassinari 23) entre la culture d’origine et la culture d’accueil. D’après Bouraoui, la construction de l’identité ne comporte pas de perte, mais elle se fait par addition, au fur et à mesure de la découverte de l’autre et de l’intégration de sa différence :

un poète a proclamé avec insistance qu’il faut s’anéantir pour rencon- trer l’autre, différent. Non, pas se soustraire, s’additionner en restant soi-même pour être sans cesse changé, modulé. [...] Cette poussée n’est rien d’autre que [...] ce désir virulent et vertigineux de quitter notre peau, non pour l’inverser ou la masquer, mais pour lui insuffler d’autres tonalités (Bangkok blues 14). Appliquée à la réalité canadienne, l’« identité de la différence » trouve son symbole dans un représentant de la faune du pays, l’orignal, que Bouraoui pose en illustration vivante de la diversité ethnique et culturelle du Canada. Il rappelle que « dans son Voyage en Amérique Chateaubriand le décrivait ainsi : “L’orignal a le mufle d’un chameau, le bois plat du daim, les jambes du cerf. Son poil est mêlé de gris, de blanc, de rouge, de noir” » (La Francophonie 87). Le caractère composite et mélangé des formes et du poil de l’orignal l’élève sous la plume de Bouraoui en mythe fondateur de l’identité transculturelle. Orignalitude, c’est le mot que Bouraoui a forgé pour désigner une « identité de la différence » profondément enracinée dans le terroir canadien :

Une nouvelle création conceptuelle qui retient l’origine pour y additionner les différences. [...] L’orignalitude célèbre chaque infime partie de ses diverses composantes. [...] Elle tend plutôt à abolir les frontières culturelles qui cloisonnent, non pas pour les annuler, mais pour les rendre perméables de part et d’autre, sans pour autant faire perdre ce qui fait l’originalité de chacune (Le mythe de l’orignalitude 83). Bouraoui fait encore recours à un oxymoron pour exprimer de façon incisive le caractère pluriel de l’identité transculturelle : « Je est nôtre » (Transpoé- tique 42). Cette devise aux échos rimbaldiens pose une relation dialectique entre le singulier et le pluriel : l’identification des deux termes est immé- diatement déjouée par le caractère intrinsèque de leur relation, impliquant l’ouverture, la transition, la transformation du singulier au pluriel. L’iden-

15 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes tité même s’identifie à la différence sans perdre pour autant sa spécificité essentielle, le sujet s’objective tout en gardant son individualité première. Cette valeur transculturelle de la devise bouraouienne se double du caractère humaniste fondamental que l’auteur a assigné à son œuvre : « je est nôtre » renvoie à la pluralité culturelle, invite à l’approche de l’autre, à l’échange et à l’acceptation des différences; il souligne le rôle du sujet et son engagement en première personne, tout en refusant le repliement sur son particularisme et remarquant, au contraire, son appartenance à un contexte collectif. L’auteur l’affirme en toutes lettres, lorsqu’il déclare :

Et moi, Hédi Bouraoui, je dis « je est nôtre ». Je ne m’appartiens pas, j’appartiens à tout le monde [...]. Nous ne sommes plus dans la « binarité infernale », nous sommes dans la « pluralité ». [...] C’est la pluralité qui fait notre richesse. Si j’additionne ma culture maghrébine à ma culture française, à ma culture canadienne, je suis trois personnes en une, et je ne peux nier aucune partie da ma culture (Binarité s. p.). La pluralité déjoue le risque qu’implique tout dualisme, ce qu’Hédi Bouraoui appelle la « binarité infernale », à savoir « le rapport qui s’établit entre deux pôles culturels [... et] qu’il faut déconstruire [...] parce qu’il instaure des ghettos culturels » (Falcicchio 121). Si la pluralité culturelle instaure plutôt des relations multilatérales et donc s’adapte bien au monde et à l’époque actuels, marqués par les chocs des peuples et des cultures, il n’en reste pas moins que « la pluralité implique deux risques : le risque de perdre son originalité personnelle et le particularisme d’une culture donnée » (Falcicchio 121).

« Je est nôtre », c’est la formule pour sortir de l’impasse. Le « nôtre » n’étant qu’un élargissement du « je », tout risque de perte identitaire est déjoué en faveur d’un épanouissement du particularisme subjectif. C’est autour du « je » que tourne la pluralité, se déclinant toujours à la première personne pour remarquer comment l’échange véritable et l’interpénétration des cultures permettent à chaque sujet de garder son originalité, tout en s’enrichissant des valeurs de l’autre. Le « je » qui se fait « nôtre » assume la différence de l’autre et revêt une identité plurielle qui ne laisse pas de place aux particularismes. Le « je » qui se fait « nôtre » devient l’autre, dans un échange réciproque qui se pose en emblème de l’idéal humaniste et de la perspective identitaire dont l’écrivain est promoteur.

Cette devise intègre aussi le côté littéraire de l’identité de Bouraoui, puisque c’est tout d’abord en poète qu’il a forgé son « je est nôtre ». C’est un raccourci exemplaire de la démarche transculturelle qu’il applique à son écriture, l’expression accomplie de la valeur poïétique que le transculturel acquiert sous sa plume d’écrivain.

16 Le transculturalisme : de l’origine du mot à « l’identité de la différence » chez Hédi Bouraoui

Du sens poétique du transculturel Il faut remonter à la genèse de la devise pour qu’on puisse saisir toute sa valeur représentative de la vision transpoétique et transculturelle de l’auteur : « je est nôtre » semble bien découler, par le biais d’un jeu homophonique, de « Je est un autre » (Rimbaud 200 et 202), le leitmotiv rimbaldien des Lettres du voyant.

L’invention verbale, le jeu de mots, la surprise langagière constituent un caractère marquant de l’écriture de Bouraoui. « Je est nôtre » est un exemple parfait du mouvement que l’auteur impose à la parole. La référence à un mot célèbre du passé situe la parole bouraouienne à l’intérieur d’une tradition littéraire – ce qui atteste encore une fois la valeur irremplaçable de l’héritage dont témoigne l’œuvre entière de Bouraoui, à partir de son tout premier recueil poétique, Musocktail. Cette Muse qui introduit la poésie bouraouienne n’est pas sans rappeler l’invocation aux Muses des poètes anciens; néanmoins, moulée dans une robe de cocktail, elle abdique sa fonction ins- piratrice coutumière pour suggérer dès le début le caractère transpoétique, composite et mélangé, de cette poésie qui vient de naître à la croisée de la tradition et de l’innovation.

Rimbaud aussi exhortait à « demand[er] aux poètes du nouveau, – idées et formes » (p. 204) – ce qui ne l’empêchait de chanter : « j’allais sous le ciel, Muse! et j’étais ton féal » (p. 56), et d’adopter une impeccable versification classique, tout en proclamant qu’« il faut être absolument moderne » (p. 152). Un courant de sympathie rattache évidemment Hédi Bouraoui à « cet homme aux sandales de vent » (Struga 105), qu’il a célébré dans ses poèmes Varia- tion Rimbaldienne et Rimbaud revisité (Struga 103-106).

C’est justement une relecture rimbaldienne, ce que Bouraoui a opéré en lançant sa devise transpoétique. Le passage du « Je est un autre » de Rimbaud au « je est nôtre » de Bouraoui n’est pas qu’un simple glissement phonétique, un jeu littéraire se bornant au niveau linguistique, mais il sous-tend une éla- boration supplémentaire. Dans sa lettre à Paul Demeny, Rimbaud écrivait :

Car Je est un autre. Si le cuivre s’éveille clairon, il n’y a rien de sa faute. Cela m’est évident : j’assiste à l’éclosion de ma pensée : je la regarde, je l’écoute : je lance un coup d’archet : la symphonie fait son remuement dans les profondeurs, ou vient d’un bond sur la scène. (p. 202) Le surgissement de la poésie implique donc une prise de distance : le « Je », en tant que sujet poétique, « est un autre ». L’accent n’est pas sur la qualité identitaire du « Je », mais plutôt sur le dédoublement des sujets. En effet, la relation établie par la copule souligne la superposition plutôt que l’identification du « Je » et d’« un autre ». Une telle interprétation est suggérée aussi par les mots de Rimbaud à Georges Izambard :

17 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

[...] je me suis reconnu poète. Ce n’est pas du tout ma faute. C’est faux de dire : Je pense : on devrait dire on me pense. – Pardon du jeu de mots. Je est un autre. (p. 200) Cette dépersonnalisation du « je » vise donc la négation de l’identité subjective en faveur d’une définition du sujet poétique englobant le même et l’autre, l’identité et la dissemblance, à l’instar d’« un verbe poétique » que Rimbaud souhaitait « accessible [...] à tous les sens » (p. 139-140). C’est donc la mul- tiplicité qui se dégage du discours rimbaldien comme le caractère essentiel et particulier du sujet poétique. Cette multiplicité que Rimbaud partage avec « un autre », Hédi Bouraoui la ramène tout entière au sujet par sa relecture du mot rimbaldien : « Pour Rimbaud je est autre » (Transpoétique 42).

Une telle réinterprétation, insistant sur « cette équivalence et fusion fulgurantes du sujet à son altérité » (Transpoétique 70), acquiert une valeur essentielle pour la formulation du « je est nôtre ». Dans la devise bouraouienne c’est le caractère pluriel du « je » qui est mis en évidence plutôt que son caractère autre. Par le biais de cette lecture rimbaldienne, l’altérité est assu- mée dans sa dimension plurielle : « Je est Nôtre. Donc, l’individu incarne la pluralité d’autrui dans son contexte socio-culturel » (Transpoétique 65), – ce qui définit l’identité transculturelle du « sujet éclaté et pluriel conscient à la fois de sa post-modernité et de sa tradition » (Transpoétique 70).

La valeur de la tradition culturelle est une composante moins évidente, mais tout aussi fondamentale du cogito bouraouien : « je est nôtre » puisque l’identité du sujet transculturel, plurielle par définition, ne peut pas se passer de ses racines culturelles, qu’elles plongent dans le sol natal ou dans la terre d’adoption. La réitération de la première personne dans le passage du singulier au pluriel souligne que le sujet reconnaît son individualité dans la pluralité de ses héritages. « Je est nôtre » marque le moment où la superposition de cultures multiples, impliquant différences et divergences, devient transculture, sublimant la diversité en identité plurielle, pleinement assumée par le sujet.

Conclusion Au Canada le multiculturalisme, en tant que caractéristique de la société et en tant que politique gouvernementale, a constitué le terrain fertile pour le développement d’une pensée transculturelle. Cependant, par rapport au multiculturel, cette réflexion n’a abouti qu’à l’élaboration d’un modèle utopique de société, tant chez les fondateurs de Vice Versa, avouant qu’« avoir imaginé qu’une telle société eût pu prendre forme sur les rives du Saint-Laurent fut une illusion » (Tassinari 23), que chez Bouraoui, d’après lequel « [...] la notion de multiculturalisme n’est pas opératoire, car elle ne tient pas compte du transvasement culturel entre les différentes ethnies. C’est pour cette raison que nous avons créé la notion de “transculturalisme” [...]. Mais là aussi nous

18 Le transculturalisme : de l’origine du mot à « l’identité de la différence » chez Hédi Bouraoui avons à faire à une métaphore mythique idéale qui ne se reflète pas dans la réalité » (Transpoétique 116).

Ainsi que l’expérience personnelle et littéraire de l’auteur le démontre, c’est plutôt par rapport aux notions du pluriculturel et de l’interculturel que le transculturel s’épanouit de façon accomplie. Sur le plan individuel, le caractère pluriculturel de Bouraoui intègre ses appartenances multiples pour composer une identité transculturelle unique et plurielle, dont témoigne sa devise, identitaire et poétique à la fois, « je est nôtre ».

Quant au plan littéraire, si l’on considère l’écriture comme une situation de communication privilégiée où « la connaissance, la conscience et la com- préhension des relations (ressemblances et différences distinctives) entre “le monde d’où l’on vient” et “le monde de la communauté cible” sont à l’origine d’une prise de conscience interculturelle » (Conseil de l’Europe 83), l’écri- ture de Bouraoui transcende le simple échange communicationnel entre des apports culturels différents pour donner naissance à une forme nouvelle d’expression littéraire transmutant la différence en identité cohérente et unitaire. Ses oxymorons en donnent une illustration parfaite. Le cogito bouraouien « je est nôtre » est un exemple accompli du métissage poétique : en se posant à la croisée de plusieurs univers littéraires, cette devise réalise ce que Bouraoui appelle l’« écriture interstitielle qui émigre / immigre d’une culture à l’autre. Sans complexe, sans frontière, sans transition » (Livr’errance 7). Tout en bouclant les vides entre les différents univers culturels, cette écriture édifie par son caractère fusionnel de nouvelles entités culturelles et de nouvelles formes à même de les exprimer.

Bien loin de représenter un simple exemple d’intertextualité, le cogito bouraouien relèverait plutôt de ce que Clément Moisan et Renate Hildebrand définissent comme transtextualité. Dans le cadre de l’écriture migrante au Québec, dont ils traitent dans leur essai Ces étrangers du dedans, « la trans- textualité serait le transfert d’une culture littéraire à d’autres et son partage par des écrivains venus d’ailleurs et ceux d’ici » (p. 268) – ce qui implique le mouvement en tant que principe fondateur du texte littéraire et entraîne une définition du transculturel comme « [...] une résultante, car l’état d’équilibre précédent ne peut jamais, dans tout système littéraire, demeurer très longtemps. La littérature dans son ensemble obéit à une évolution » (p. 207).

Cette définition convient tout à fait au transculturalisme bouraouien en tant qu’évolution de l’individualité pluriculturelle et de la communication interculturelle. La notion d’évolution demeure aussi à la base de la perspective anthropologique d’Ortiz, puisque « la transculturation [...] n’est pas un moment, n’est pas un facteur isolé, mais bien un processus séculaire, constant, permanent » (Lamore 45). Dans le processus de formation ethnique l’évolu- tion transculturelle revêt un caractère objectif et nécessaire, tandis que dans

19 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes l’élaboration de Bouraoui elle acquiert une dimension subjective, axée autour d’une tension volontaire de l’individu. Entièrement joué sur le mode de la conciliation des contrastes, le transculturalisme bouraouien se révèle une approche efficace pour l’évolution du conflit engendré par le choc culturel, tant sur le plan de l’identité individuelle que sur ceux de la communication interculturelle et de l’expression littéraire.

Au contraire, si l’évolution transculturelle du multiculturalisme est demeurée à l’état d’utopie, c’est que le transculturalisme échappe à ce que Tassinari appelle « [...] la dictature du territoire. Le territoire transculturel embrasse l’ensemble de la terre » (Caccia, Sous le signe 301). La dimension sociopolitique du multiculturel implique un ancrage incontournable dans un territoire défini – ce qui pose une contradiction patente avec la dimension transversale de l’espace transculturel. Sa place de choix, ainsi que le démontre Bouraoui, c’est l’individu, en tant que sujet évolutif et sujet de communication, à même de tourner ses différentes identités en « identité de la différence ».

Notes 1. « Por aculturación se quiere significar el proceso de tránsito de una cultura a otra y sus repercusiones sociales de todo género. Pero transculturación es vocablo más apropriado. Hemos escogido el vocablo transculturación para expresar los variadísimos fenómenos que se originan en Cuba por las complejísimas transmutaciones de culturas que aquí se verifican, sin conocer las cuales es imposible entender la evolución del pueblo cubano [...] » (Ortiz 93). 2. Hédi Bouraoui a été parmi les collaborateurs du volume édité en 1992 par J.-M. Lacroix et F. Caccia, Métamorphoses d’une utopie, où figure son article intitulé « La troisième solitude ». Cet article a été ensuite repris par l’auteur dans son recueil d’essais Transpoétique (p. 113-120). 3. Régine Robin a bien remarqué que le projet transculturel, tout en étant politique dans son essence, ne l’était pas pour autant sur le plan de l’engagement politique : « il faut croire que les intellectuels du Québec n’étaient pas prêts à recevoir une pensée qui, prenant en écharpe le nationalisme traditionnel des intellectuels québécois, allait à l’encontre de leurs visées sans proposer quelque chose de précis. Nous n’étions pas un groupe politique, notre visée n’avait jamais été de choisir un camp politique. Notre force à nous était précisément de changer de terrain, de poser les problèmes autrement » (Robin 77). Pour une analyse détaillée de l’évolution du projet transculturel de Vice Versa par rapport au contexte québécois et canadien, cf. Tassinari p. 22-29. 4. « Dans cette quête, notre échec fut très productif. Même si nous n’avons pas été compris [...], nous avons développé une pensée qui a l’avenir pour elle dans tous les pays qui sont devenus peu ou prou des pays d’immigration » (Robin 77). 5. Il est opportun de rappeler ici la récurrence du mot utopie dans les titres des publications des fondateurs de Vice Versa, dont l’ouvrage collectif Métamorphoses d’une utopie, cité plus haut, et le recueil d’articles de L. Tassinari, Utopies par le hublot (Montréal: Carte Blanche, 1999).

20 Le transculturalisme : de l’origine du mot à « l’identité de la différence » chez Hédi Bouraoui

6. Dans son recueil d’essais publié en 2005, Bouraoui précise que « nous n’avons jamais lu Fernando Ortiz dont le nom nous a été mentionné en 2005. À sa lecture, la transcultura est un concept traitant l’anthropologie culturelle, l’hybridité de l’imposition pré-coloniale [...]. La transculturalité se définit comme le phénomène du passage d’une culture à l’autre. C’est la passerelle esthétique et culturelle qui facilite la communication d’une culture à l’autre. Encore une fois, rien à voir avec la problématique du colonialisme chez Fernando Ortiz » (Transpoétique 10-11). 7. Émigressence est le titre d’un des recueils poétiques de Bouraoui (Ottawa: Vermillon, 1992). C’est un mot-clé de la poétique bouraouienne qui pose l’essence de l’émigration en principe fondamental de création formelle et en thème majeur de l’œuvre. 8. Hédi Bouraoui a introduit ce néologisme dans son essai de civilisation comparée française et américaine, Créaculture I et II (Philadelphia/Montréal: CCD/Didier Canada, 1971). 9. Pour un approfondissement de ces thématiques, cf. Fernand Braudel, La Méditerranée. L’espace et l’histoire. Paris: Flammarion, 1985.

Bibliographie Bernaus, Mercè, Ana Isabel Andrade, Martine Kervran, Anna Murkowska et Fernando Trujillo Sáez. La dimension plurilingue et pluriculturelle dans la formation des enseignants de langues. Strasbourg : Conseil de l’Europe, 2007. Bouraoui, Hédi. Vers et l’Envers. Toronto : ECW Press, 1982. « La troisième solitude. » Métamorphoses d’une utopie. Éd. Jean-Michel Lacroix et Fulvio Caccia. Paris-Montréal : Presses de la Sorbonne Nouvelle/Éditions Triptyque, 1992. p.175-183. « Pertinence esthétique et éthique dans l’ensemble du champ poétique? » Carrefour de cultures. Mélanges offerts à Jacqueline Leiner. Éd. Régis Antoine. Tübingen : Gunter Narr Verlag, 1993. 49-56. Bangkok blues. Ottawa : Vermillon, 1994. La Francophonie à l’estomac. Paris : Nouvelles du Sud, 1995. —— « Le mythe de l’orignalitude dans la praxis réelle d’une francophonie excentrée. » Francophonies d’Amérique. 10 (2000). 79-86. —— « Binarité infernale et transculturalisme. » Troisième Civilisation. 507 (2003). s. p. —— Struga suivi de Margelle d’un festival. Montréal : Mémoire d’encrier, 2003. Livr’errance. Mareuil sur Ourcq (France) : Éditions D’Ici et D’Ailleurs, 2005. —— Transpoétique. Éloge du nomadisme. Montréal : Mémoire d’encrier, 2005. Caccia, Fulvio. Sous le signe du Phénix. Montréal : Guernica, 1985. « Vice Versa, le Québec et le projet d’une république transculturelle. » Le projet transculturel de Vice Versa. Actes du Séminaire international du CISQ, Rome, 25 novembre 2005. Éd. Anna Paola Mossetto. Bologna : Pendragon, 2006. 31-41. Chamberland, François-Xavier. « Hédi Bouraoui. » L’Ontario se raconte. De A à X. Entrevues radiophoniques. Toronto : Éditions du Gref, 1999. 183-188. Conseil de l’Europe. Cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues. Strasbourg-Paris : Conseil de l’Europe/Éditions Didier, 2001. Dotoli, Giovanni. « Entretien avec Hédi Bouraoui. » Culture et littérature canadiennes de langue française. Éd. Giovanni Dotoli. Fasano (Italie) : Schena, 2003. 49-64.

21 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

Falcicchio, Adriana. « Entretien avec Hédi Bouraoui. » Rivista di Studi Canadesi. 17 (2004) : 117-137. Grand Robert de la langue française. Éd. Alain Rey. Paris : Le Robert, 2011. Lamore, Jean. « Transculturation : Naissance d’un mot. » Métamorphoses d’une utopie. Éd. Jean-Michel Lacroix et Fulvio Caccia. Paris-Montréal : Presses de la Sorbonne Nouvelle/Éditions Triptyque, 1992. 43-48. Lacroix, Jean-Michel, Caccia, Fulvio, Éd. Métamorphoses d’une utopie. Paris- Montréal : Presses de la Sorbonne Nouvelle/Éditions Triptyque, 1992. Moisan, Clément, Hildebrand, Renate. Ces étrangers du dedans. Une histoire de l’écriture migrante au Québec (1937-1997). Québec : Éditions Nota bene, 2001. Ortiz, Fernando. Contrapunteo cubano del tabaco y el azúcar. Caracas : Biblioteca Ayacucho, 1978 [1940]. Petit Larousse. Éd. Philippe Merlet et Anémone Berès. Paris : Éditions Larousse, 2003. Petit Larousse en ligne. Éd. Isabelle Jeuge-Maynart. www.larousse.fr. Paris : Éditions Larousse, 2009. Rimbaud, Arthur. Poésies. Une saison en enfer. Illuminations. Éd. Louis Forestier. Paris : Gallimard, 1984. Robin, Régine. « Vice Versa, un échec productif. » Le projet transculturel de Vice Versa. Actes du Séminaire international du CISQ, Rome, 25 novembre 2005. Éd. Anna Paola Mossetto. Bologna : Pendragon, 2006. 67-80. Tassinari, Lamberto. « Sens de la transculture. » Le projet transculturel de Vice Versa. Actes du Séminaire international du CISQ, Rome, 25 novembre 2005. Éd. Anna Paola Mossetto. Bologna : Pendragon, 2006. 17-29.

22 Muriel Sacco

Une politique de la ville « à la française » à Montréal?

Résumé La circulation des idées et l’augmentation des espaces de rencontre entre les acteurs de l’action publique, induites par la mondialisation et la supranationalisation, incitent à entrevoir le spectre d’une homogénéisation des recettes de politique publique malgré la très grande diversité et la complexification des systèmes institutionnels. Selon de nombreux témoignages, les politiques publiques de lutte contre la ségrégation sociospatiale introduites à Montréal en 1999 auraient beaucoup emprunté à la politique de la ville française. Cet article vise à déterminer l’ampleur de cet emprunt et des convergences de ces politiques publiques avec la politique de la ville française à travers l’analyse du processus qui a guidé ce transfert. Loin de souscrire à une uniformisation de l’action publique, l’adoption et la gestion de ces politiques publiques, ainsi que l’élaboration du programme local d’action de Parc-Extension, montrent l’articulation entre le contexte politique et institutionnel montréalais et cet élément exogène dans la fabrique de ces politiques publiques.

Abstract Globalization, through the circulation of ideas and increased meeting spaces between individuals, prompts a homogenization of formulas for public action, despite the great diversity of institutional systems. According to numerous accounts, public policies introduced in Montréal in 1999 that were aimed at fighting socio-spatial segregation borrowed largely from the policy of the French city. This article aims to analyze the process that guided this transfer and the convergence of these public policies with the French model of city policy. Far from subscribing to the uniformization of public action, the goal is to grasp the articulation between Montréal’s political and institutional context and the exogenous element in the making of these public policies. Drawing attention to the implementation of these policies in Parc-Extension will help us understand the potential role of local actors in the transfer of foreign public policy models.

Introduction À la fin des années 1990, les questions de la dégradation et de la paupérisation des quartiers péricentraux sont apparues dans les préoccupations politiques montréalaises. Cette tendance se retrouvait dans d’autres pays occidentaux dès la fin des années 1980. Les transformations du système économique international ont fragilisé la cohésion sociale urbaine. C’est pourquoi de

IJCS / RIÉC 43, 2011 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes nombreux pays occidentaux ont adopté des politiques de lutte contre la ségré- gation sociospatiale. En Grande-Bretagne, on retrouve Equal Opportunity Policies et Urban Regeneration Policies dans le cadre du programme Action for Cities, l’Allemagne adopte Soziale Stadt, la France crée la politique de la ville, la Commission européenne met en place les programmes Urban et Objectif 2, etc. Outre l’attention nouvelle pour les quartiers défavorisés, ces politiques publiques instituent de nouveaux modes d’intervention publique en introduisant notamment le ciblage territorial et l’approche intégrée.

En 1999, Montréal obtient du gouvernement québécois la mise en œuvre de politiques de lutte contre la ségrégation sociospatiale, les Quartiers sensibles et les Quartiers ciblés. Selon les témoignages, ces politiques ont été influencées par la politique de la ville française. Plusieurs traces montrent cette influence, notamment à travers les multiples missions d’études réalisées en France ou les intitulés des politiques. Or, en dépit de la proximité linguistique, les contextes politiques et institutionnels français et québécois sont à priori très différents. Alors que la structure institutionnelle française est décentralisée; au Canada, les villes relèvent de la compétence provinciale et ont une faible autonomie. En outre, Montréal présente une structure spatiale assez différente de celles des villes françaises. En effet, les quartiers défavo- risés montréalais jouxtent le centre-ville, tandis que les quartiers défavorisés français se situent principalement en périphérie. Dès lors, il semble important de comprendre comment le contexte montréalais et la politique de la ville française ont façonné ces nouvelles politiques de lutte contre la ségrégation sociospatiale mises en œuvre à Montréal. Cette question permet de détermi- ner la place de la dimension exogène de la fabrique des politiques publiques. Cette analyse du processus de transfert repère l’émergence du problème des quartiers défavorisés à Montréal, la traduction réglementaire et la gestion au niveau de la Ville de Montréal des politiques publiques adoptées, ainsi qu’une étude de cas permettant de comprendre comment les projets locaux ont été élaborés. Les données utilisées sont des entretiens semi-directifs avec les principaux acteurs de ces politiques publiques à Montréal, dans le cadre d’une enquête empirique de nature qualitative et inductive, et de façon secon- daire1, une recherche documentaire. Nous défendrons l’hypothèse d’une articulation entre le contexte préexistant et les principes de la politique française de la ville.

Dans une première partie, nous examinerons les différents types de transferts de politiques publiques, ainsi que les effets de ces imports. Ensuite, nous dresserons un bref portrait de la politique de la ville française. Dans une troisième partie, nous analyserons le contexte du transfert de la politique de la ville à Montréal et les convergences qui en découlent. Enfin, étant donné les spécificités de ces politiques publiques, nous évoquerons une étude de cas centrée sur le quartier de Parc-Extension.

24 Une politique de la ville « à la française » à Montréal?

De la circulation des modèles de politiques publiques En science politique et, plus particulièrement, dans l’analyse des politiques publiques, le rayonnement politique français renvoie de façon plus générale aux questions de la diffusion, du transfert et de la convergence des modèles de politiques publiques. Avant d’envisager la profondeur de l’influence du modèle français dans les politiques montréalaises, il convient de s’attarder sur le traitement scientifique de la circulation des idées et des recettes de politiques publiques, ainsi que sur les transformations de l’action publique qui en résultent.

Circulation des modèles de politiques publiques, transfert et convergence La comparaison est une méthode scientifique, mais également une pratique politique. « La comparaison est en vogue et alimente de plus en plus fortement la décision publique » (Hassenteufel 113). La comparaison, la référence et l’analyse d’expériences étrangères fructueuses ou innovantes sont des pratiques politiques courantes. Selon Bennet (215), les États ont naturellement tendance à regarder ailleurs pour voir comment d’autres ont répondu à des pressions similaires, à partager des idées, à importer des éléments étrangers et à les adapter. La circulation du modèle de la démocratie et de régime parle- mentaire illustre la longue histoire du phénomène (Mény 9). Loin d’être nées avec la mondialisation ou la supranationalisation, ces différentes pratiques d’emprunt et d’import d’un modèle étranger de politique publique correspondent à des transferts. « Sont rassemblés, sous l’expression transfert, les processus de développement au sein de systèmes politiques et/ou sociaux existants, de programmes d’action, de politiques ou encore d’institutions dont les cadres d’action relèvent d’idées ou proviennent d’institutions ou de programmes d’action de systèmes politiques ou sociaux autres (en général étrangers) » (Russeil 444).

De façon plus générale, les phénomènes de circulation, d’accélération de la diffusion et de transfert des pratiques, des idées et des modèles politiques publiques favorisés par l’inflation des espaces de rencontre à l’échelle internationale et la constitution de réseaux d’acteurs transnationaux suscitent un grand intérêt, du fait qu’ils seraient les révélateurs de l’influence de la mondialisation sur les politiques publiques nationales et de l’homogénéisation et de la standardisation de l’action publique. C’est pourquoi ils réactualisent ainsi la question de la convergence de l’action publique (Knill 765), entendue comme « the tendency of societies to grow more alike, to develop similarities in structures, processes and performances » (Kerr, cité par Bennett 215). La convergence signifie le passage de positions différentes vers un point commun au cours du temps (Bennet 219). Ces convergences ne supposent pas forcément l’existence d’un transfert (Knill 765). Certains considèrent que la convergence peut résulter de réponses intérieures similaires, mais indé- pendantes à des problèmes similaires (Busch et Jorgens 862). De même, le

25 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes transfert ne mène pas nécessairement à la convergence. Ainsi, le transfert est un processus, alors que la convergence est l’un des effets possibles du transfert (Knill 766).

Les causes du recours au transfert de politique publique sont assez diverses. Certains tels que Dolowitz et Marsh (11) placent la source des transferts dans les transformations économiques et politiques du contexte international dans le sillage de la mondialisation et dans l’interdépendance accrue des entités politiques qui en résulte. Ces transformations ont engendré des mouvements de recomposition politique sur la scène internationale, qui conduisent soit à une supranationalisation des institutions et à la multiplica- tion des institutions internationales (ONU, Union européenne, Banque mon- diale, Fonds Monétaire International…) participant à la construction d’un cadre réglementaire à l’échelle internationale, soit à une concurrence accrue entre les entités politiques (État, région, ville, administration) impliquant de mettre en œuvre des mesures perçues comme étant les plus avancées ou les plus valorisées et promues, notamment à travers des stratégies de bench- marking et de promotion des best practices. Ainsi, Delpeuch (13) constate que certains transferts sont essentiellement motivés par la volonté de ne pas apparaître comme retardataire. D’autres, en revanche, associent ces transferts à des causes internes, telles que l’inefficacité des politiques en vigueur (Rose 5), l’insatisfaction engendrée par des protestations des usagers ou les effets pervers produits, l’émergence ou la croissance d’une expertise, la tentative de dissimulation du caractère arbitraire, contingent, partisan ou injuste de certains choix (Delpeuch 14) ou encore la nécessité, dans la compétition élec- torale, de se démarquer par rapport aux autres partis politiques ou aux autres candidats (Maillard et Le Goff 665-66). Tant dans sa version fonctionnaliste et adaptative de lesson drawing2 (Rose 17) que dans une optique plus straté- gique, le transfert est associé à un besoin de donner des garanties – que ce soit sur la scène politique nationale et interne, ou internationale –, en recourant à des solutions déjà éprouvées et dont le succès serait de ce fait implicitement assuré. Ces différentes causes justifiant le recours au transfert ne sont pas exclusives : elles réfèrent aux différents contextes dans lesquels des transferts sont effectués. Chacune à leur manière, elles façonnent le transfert parce qu’elles impliquent une autonomie assez différente des individus et des institutions engagés dans ces processus. Ainsi, elles exercent une influence sur le caractère volontaire ou non du transfert. Dolowitz et Marsh (11) déterminent un continuum allant du transfert coercitif au transfert volontaire. Ils distin- guent donc les processus verticaux d’imposition et de conditionnalité des processus horizontaux d’imitation, d’émulation et de convergence culturelle.

À côté du degré d’autonomie des acteurs, ces causes déterminent éga- lement le degré de connaissance du modèle importé. Les organisations ont tendance à imiter ce qui est perçu comme une bonne pratique, même si elles n’ont qu’une image mythifiée et une compréhension très superficielle de la

26 Une politique de la ville « à la française » à Montréal? pratique prise pour modèle (Delpeuch 13). En d’autres termes, il y a souvent un écart entre le modèle de politique publique observé et ce qui est effectivement transféré, qui provient du degré de connaissance du modèle importé (Maillard et Le Goff 669). Lorsque le transfert répond à des exigen- ces de conformité aux principes socialement valorisés ou affublés d’un prestige élevé, et qu’il revêt un aspect essentiellement formel et symbolique, le transfert consiste essentiellement en une reprise des slogans et des leitmotivs liés au modèle importé (Maillard et Le Goff 677), et produit principalement des changements d’ordre discursif. L’utilité de ce type de transferts réside généralement dans les coûts, parfois élevés, de la non-conformité aux normes collectives dominantes et légitimes, et conduit certains gouvernements à adopter certaines normes en dépit de leur inapplicabilité, de leur inutilité ou des résistances qu’elles produisent. C’est pourquoi le transfert est opéré de manière purement rituelle et cérémonielle. D’une part, ces cas de figure montrent que le degré d’autonomie des acteurs et le degré de connaissance du modèle transféré sont étroitement liés entre eux et dépendent du contexte dans lequel le transfert s’effectue. D’autre part, ils montrent que l’écart entre le modèle de politique publique importé et le contenu du transfert dépend assez étroitement du degré d’autonomie des acteurs opérant le transfert et de leurs connaissances du modèle initial.

Pour saisir cet écart et ces différences par rapport au modèle initial, certains auteurs (Bennett 220-227; Dolowitz et Marsh 13; Rose 81-82) ont distingué le contenu des transferts en fonction de leur degré de similarité avec le modèle initial. Selon Marsh et Dolowitz (13), il y a 4 degrés de transfert : 1) le copiage, qui consiste en un transfert direct et complet, 2) l’émulation, qui est le transfert d’idées derrière un programme ou une politique, 3) la combinaison, qui implique un mélange de plusieurs politiques publiques, et 4) l’inspiration, qui produit un changement politique sans pourtant que le contenu et les effets de ce changement soient tirés de l’original. Ces typologies aident à comprendre les raisons pour lesquelles le transfert ne mène pas de façon automatique à la convergence, en mettant en lumière les degrés de transfert et donc le caractère partiel de la convergence. Ce survol de l’essence du transfert et de ses causes nous laisse entrevoir l’autonomie des acteurs qui le réalisent et nous mène à considérer son rôle dans la fabrique des politiques publiques.

Du transfert à la réappropriation locale du modèle importé Depuis plusieurs années, la littérature sur les transferts s’oriente vers leur appréhension en tant qu’innovations et décisions politiques parmi d’autres (Maillard et Le Goff; Delpeuch 59; Hassenteufel; Stone; Hassenteufel et Palier 19). En conséquence, les transferts font l’objet de processus de traduction, de réappropriation et d’hybridation qui entravent la production de convergence et qui témoignent également de l’existence de prismes politi-

27 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes ques, institutionnels ou encore cognitifs (Maillard et Le Goff 677). Ainsi, il y a un intérêt de plus en plus marqué, tant dans les recherches sur les transferts que sur la convergence, pour l’explicitation des processus par lesquels les modèles et les modes opératoires venus d’ailleurs sont réappropriés nationa- lement ou plus localement, et par lesquels les convergences sont produites ou non. Cette direction revient à prendre en compte le contexte dans lequel le transfert vient s’insérer. Selon Radaelli (930), le contexte politique compte dans les processus de diffusion et de transfert parce que les autres conditions ne sont pas égales. Les institutions jouent un rôle au regard de la façon dont le transfert est ancré dans le policy process. Si le contexte dans lequel le transfert s’insère compte, il peut entraîner tant des ruptures que la persistance de styles de politique publique. La prise en compte du contexte initial ne génère pas forcément l’hypothèse d’un déterminisme institutionnel. Comme le rappelle Pierson (252) : « Previous events in a sequence influence outco- mes and trajectories but not necessarily inducing further movement in the same direction. Indeed, the path may matter precisely because it tends to provoke a reaction in some other direction ».

Outre l’attention au contexte initial pour comprendre les degrés de transfert et de convergence, notre article s’attache également à montrer l’importance des acteurs de la phase dite d’implémentation. Plus précisément, il s’agit de considérer les acteurs de la mise en œuvre quotidienne de ces politiques publiques comme faisant partie des acteurs effectuant le transfert, et de prendre en compte des réalités microsociologiques. En effet, l’implé- mentation des politiques publiques fait partie intégrante de la définition d’une politique; elle est également porteuse de sens (Lima 435). Cette facette de la production des politiques publiques révèle souvent des phénomènes de résistance, des effets pervers ou encore des glissements de sens par rapport au cadre initial qui modifient chacun à leur façon la portée d’une politique publique (Hassenteufel 89). La trajectoire (personnelle, éducationnelle, militante ou encore professionnelle) et son corollaire, les compétences de ces acteurs mobilisés, influencent le contenu des politiques et des transferts. Les acteurs impliqués dans la définition des projets locaux ne sont pas de simples exé- cutants du cadre normatif, mais ils donnent un sens ou une interprétation, et sont susceptibles par ce biais de façonner les objectifs initiaux de la politique.

La politique de la ville française Depuis sa création à la fin des années 1970, la politique de la ville française a subi des transformations. Elle a débuté avec Habitat et vie sociale (HVS) en 1977. Ce dispositif comportait essentiellement une action sur l’urbain pour rendre les quartiers d’habitats sociaux à nouveau attractifs aux yeux des classes moyennes qui les avaient quittés. Mais c’est surtout dans les années 1980, même si elle n’en prend pas formellement le nom à cette époque (Maillard 12), que la politique de la ville française prend son envol. À la suite des

28 Une politique de la ville « à la française » à Montréal?

émeutes de 1981 aux Minguettes, à Vénissieux et à Vaulx-en-Velin, la gauche à peine arrivée au gouvernement introduisait le Développement social des quartiers (DSQ).

Le DSQ et les transformations de l’action publique française Le DSQ amorçait deux grandes transformations dans l’action publique : la territorialisation et l’approche intégrée. La territorialisation de l’action publique, à son tour, impliquait plusieurs transformations. Premièrement, elle traduisait l’incapacité des politiques sociales à faire face aux problèmes d’exclusion et de ségrégation urbaine. Ce changement dans les formes d’intervention publique recelait des implications majeures sur le sens de l’action publique. En renforçant les moyens attribués aux quartiers défavorisés, cette politique ambitionnait de s’attaquer à la concentration de la pauvreté. Cette concentration n’étant pas neuve, cette politique publique mettait ainsi en forme de nouvelles interprétations des causes et effets de la concentration de la pauvreté (Tissot 10-11). Le DSQ opérait déjà un ciblage de populations spécifiques, les « vrais désavantagés», par delà les logiques catégorielles (Avenel 99). Deuxièmement, le quartier était non seulement la cible de ces politiques, mais devenait aussi un acteur clé. De ce fait, la territorialisation constituait une décentralisation de l’action publique en raison de la contestation grandissante de l’État planificateur. Le DSQ visait le développement local endogène en valorisant l’initiative des élus, des associations et des habitants. Il subordonnait l’attribution d’une aide financière à la constitution d’une mobilisation et à la définition d’un programme d’action à l’échelle du quartier, dans le sens d’une logique ascendante et de développement communautaire assez proche de l’empowerment (Donzelot et al. 108). Le DSQ était donc une politique processuelle, c’est-à-dire une politique définissant « des cadres d’interprétation des problèmes, des ensembles de ressources et procé- dures pour y répondre, plus qu’elle ne définita priori les objectifs et les rôles respectifs des acteurs mobilisés » (Maillard 14). Comme l’ouvrage de Donze- lot et Estèbe le suggérait, le DSQ marquait le passage de l’État commandeur à l’État animateur. Par le biais de cette coproduction et cette négociation de l’action publique par l’État et le quartier, il s’agissait d’améliorer l’efficacité de l’action publique et la prise en compte des spécificités des territoires, en diversifiant les types d’expertise et en incluant une expertise provenant du vécu quotidien des résidents.

Sur le plan du contenu, l’approche intégrée permettait d’allier des interventions ciblant les gens et les lieux – les logiques people et place dans le langage de Donzelot (et al. 102-103) –, le social et l’urbain. Cette approche visait à toucher les multiples causes et effets de la concentration de la pau- vreté et de l’exclusion sociale et à susciter la mobilisation et le sentiment d’appartenance des habitants de ces quartiers en les faisant participer aux transformations physiques de leur quartier. Malgré cette nouvelle approche

29 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes de la pauvreté à la fois en termes de contenu et d’ingénierie institutionnelle, de nouvelles émeutes ont éclaté au début des années 1990, invitant à revoir quelques-uns des fondements du DSQ.

Institutionnalisation et évolutions successives de la politique de la ville De 1988 à nos jours, la politique de la ville a été réformée à de multiples reprises. Les changements de majorité politique d’envergure ont engendré une redéfinition des moyens et des objectifs de cette politique publique (Es- tèbe 47), la droite mettant plus l’accent sur la répression et le développement économique et la gauche sur le développement d’actions de proximité (Tissot 7; Blanc 77). Malgré les multiples réformes de la politique de la ville depuis sa phase expérimentale, des tendances se dégagent sur le long terme. Cette politique, essentiellement symbolique, a connu de nombreuses transformations, attestant de la grande politisation dont elle a fait l’objet. D’abord, son caractère descendant, ou top down, s’est imposé au détriment de la démarche ascendante originale, par une codification et une contractualisation de plus en plus précises des projets attendus – qui nuiront à la spontanéité des mobili- sations locale. Ensuite, l’orientation place a gagné du terrain au détriment de l’orientation people (Donzelot et al. 103) en accordant une importance accrue à la réhabilitation de l’environnement physique et aux investissements dans les infrastructures. Enfin, le ciblage des lieux a mené à l’élargissement des limites spatiales de l’intervention sur les zones urbaines sensibles, au point de les faire coïncider avec la ville tout entière (Donzelot et al. 141). Ces bouleversements dans les échelles d’action participent d’une relecture de ces territoires et de leurs significations dans laquelle les quartiers ne sont plus porteurs d’un certain renouveau, mais symptômes de la nouvelle question sociale engendrée par les mutations économiques (Estèbe 51). Ainsi se sont progressivement imposés des impératifs de mixité sociale (Tissot 44) et d’un urbanisme sécuritaire et affinitaire. « Par la logique de discrimination positive territoriale, on aide plus les lieux que les gens, parce que les lieux souffrent d’une dépréciation consécutive à la concentration de pauvres et d’immigrés qui entraîne une perte d’efficacité des services et une fuite des rares emplois. » (Donzelot et al. 128). Il s’agissait de plus en plus d’enrayer les défectuosités du territoire.

La suite de cet article sera consacrée au processus d’importation de ce style français à Montréal et à la détermination du contenu du transfert effectué et des convergences existant entre la politique de la ville française et les politiques implémentées à Montréal. Comme le montre le cas de Parc- Extension, les acteurs locaux participent également au transfert.

La lutte contre la ségrégation sociospatiale à Montréal La création et l’implémentation des programmes pilotes Quartiers sensibles et Quartiers ciblés se sont accompagnées de missions d’études en France afin

30 Une politique de la ville « à la française » à Montréal?

de prendre connaissance de la politique de la ville. Le transfert de ce mode d’intervention publique à Montréal s’apparente au processus d’émulation mis en lumière par Dolowitz et Marsh.

Histoire et formes d’un transfert Le projet « Triangle Montréal-Lyon-Santiago » relatif aux échanges de pratiques et d’expériences sur le développement économique local entre ces trois villes a été à l’origine du développement des relations privilégiées entre Montréal et Lyon sur les matières sociales et urbaines. À partir de 1994, les partenaires de ce triangle ont organisé des visites annuelles. Au départ, pour Montréal, le but était de promouvoir l’expérience des Corporations de déve- loppement économique communautaire (CDEC) dans le domaine de l’em- ployabilité des personnes très défavorisées. Par la suite, nous nous centrerons essentiellement sur l’examen de l’apport français. D’une part, nos différentes sources évoquent peu l’apport des visites et expériences menées à Santiago. D’autre part, parallèlement à ces missions, les programmes de soutien aux relations bilatérales entre la France et le Québec, et les Entretiens Jacques Cartier ont surtout permis la consolidation des relations entre Montréal et Lyon, en débordant du cadre strict du développement économique local.

La chef de file de la mission d’études montréalaise s’est intéressée au cadre plus large dans lequel s’inscrivait le développement économique local en France, c’est-à-dire la politique de la ville. Seuls certains éléments de cette politique ont marqué cette « passeuse »3, elle s’intéressait moins aux instruments tels que la contractualisation ou l’homogénéisation des projets locaux ou de projets précis. Elle s’intéressait surtout aux grands principes. Elle était convaincue par l’approche intégrée, qui permettait un traitement nouveau de la pauvreté en considérant celle-ci dans toute sa complexité. À l’époque, cette approche était novatrice, car les cadres institutionnels (essentiellement municipal et provincial) en vigueur à Montréal empêchaient les coordina- tions intersectorielles. Les politiques et programmes étaient donc menés « en silos » à Montréal. Elle appréciait également la relation plus directe entre les élus locaux et les habitants instaurée par la politique de la ville, car la relation entre les élus et les résidents en vigueur à Montréal était médiatisée par les groupes communautaires. Le ciblage des quartiers pauvres, ainsi que le travail sur la proximité et le quotidien par des actions d’entretien et d’animation avaient également retenu son attention. Ainsi, les différentes missions d’étu- des ont permis à cette intermédiaire d’élargir les horizons possibles du regis- tre d’intervention publique. Dès le départ, il n’était pas question de copier en tous points l’expérience lyonnaise, mais seulement d’en reprendre certains éléments, d’autant plus que la ségrégation sociospatiale se posait différem- ment dans les deux villes. D’une part, elle n’était pas aussi inquiétante et troublante à Montréal qu’à Lyon ou dans d’autres villes françaises, Montréal n’ayant pas connu à cette date d’émeutes dans ces quartiers. D’autre part, les

31 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes quartiers défavorisés de Montréal jouxtaient le centre-ville, et concernaient des quartiers composés d’édifices relativement modestes du point de vue de leur taille (deux ou trois étages), alors qu’en France, et à Lyon en particulier, il s’agissait plutôt d’une problématique concernant les grands ensembles HLM localisés en périphérie des grandes villes. Ainsi, le diagnostic montréalais n’était pas tout à fait similaire à celui posé en France. Le transfert se heurtait donc aux différences de contexte institutionnel, politique, spatial et social.

Cet engouement pour la politique française de la ville a mis un certain temps à se concrétiser. Un intervalle, estimé à trois ans, a été nécessaire pour coucher sur papier les différentes leçons tirées de cette politique française et les adapter au contexte montréalais. Avant d’aboutir dans le programme politique du maire de Montréal, Pierre Bourque, cette proposition d’intervention intitulée « Quartiers sensibles » – du nom des quartiers ciblés par la politique de la ville française – avait fait l’objet de diverses conversations entre le maire et cette intermédiaire, lors d’événements sur le développement économique local à Montréal, et d’une validation de sa pertinence par le maire au cours d’une mission d’études en France. L’inscription à l’agenda de cette proposition de politique publique fut publicisée lors du début de la campagne électorale municipale. Le maire sortant de la Ville de Montréal, considéré comme très populiste, aimait beaucoup les contacts avec les rési- dents. Il a ainsi séjourné pendant une fin de semaine chez une famille de Côte-des-neiges, un des quartiers pauvres de Montréal. Effectué sous les feux des projecteurs médiatiques, ce séjour lui permit d’axer sa campagne électorale sur les thèmes de la lutte contre la pauvreté et de la nécessité d’une intervention spécifique dans les quartiers défavorisés de Montréal. Le ciblage territorial sur les quartiers défavorisés se justifiait du fait du long désinves- tissement des services municipaux en matière de services et d’équipements collectifs dans ces quartiers et du retour de la croissance économique. Sans la mentionner explicitement4, la référence aux principes guidant la politique de la ville française a servi de ressource politique pour se distinguer des autres candidats ayant pris part à la compétition électorale et introduire une nouvelle priorité aux projets politiques urbains montréalais.

Fort de sa réélection de 1998 et sur les conseils de la promotrice de cette proposition, Pierre Bourque interpela en 1999 le premier ministre, Lucien Bouchard, du gouvernement provincial mené par le Parti Québécois (PQ), sur la question des quartiers défavorisés et sur le fait qu’à cet égard, Mon- tréal présentait des spécificités par rapport aux autres villes québécoises en raison de son statut de grande métropole. Ainsi, en tant que principal centre économique québécois, la désindustrialisation et la suburbanisation des classes moyennes avaient conduit à une plus forte concentration des personnes défavorisées sur son territoire. En outre, Montréal attirait la majorité des nouveaux migrants arrivant au Québec. En effet, les nouveaux immigrants, qui se concentraient depuis longtemps dans les quartiers centraux, étaient

32 Une politique de la ville « à la française » à Montréal? discriminés sur le marché de l’emploi et, de ce fait, connaissaient une plus grande pauvreté. Ici, la référence à la politique française a visiblement facilité l’adhésion et l’intérêt porté par le gouvernement provincial à ce nouveau programme d’intervention publique. Dépassant la simple rhétorique politique, cette référence à une politique existante et ayant fait ses preuves constituait une ressource pour plaider l’intérêt de ce type d’intervention publique et écar- tait certains doutes sur la validité de l’approche proposée. Cette interpellation aboutit à la conclusion d’une entente-cadre entre le gouvernement provincial et la Ville de Montréal, intitulée « Partenaires dans le développement de la ville de Montréal. Concernant l’établissement d’un partenariat pour la mise en œuvre d’initiatives stratégiques à l’occasion d’un plan d’action conjoint » de 1999.

S’il ne s’achève pas ici, le processus de transfert montre que la politique n’est importée que partiellement, dans ces grands principes, en fonction des réalités et des contraintes montréalaises. Cette émulation a nécessité une certaine configuration, vu son inscription dans la campagne électorale et une volonté politique certaine. Il n’est pas certain que cet import aurait pris cette forme précise en d’autres circonstances.

La traduction réglementaire du transfert L’entente visait notamment à articuler les interventions des parties autour de trois axes de développement : économique et urbain, social et culturel afin d’assurer la cohérence de la combinaison des initiatives ayant un effet inté- grateur et présentant des effets structurants et des retombées, nécessitant le recours à un large éventail de leviers, ayant des impacts positifs sur les recettes de la ville et ne nécessitant pas de nouveaux programmes permanents. Cette entente prévoyait la conclusion de protocoles particuliers à chacun des axes et la mise en place d’un comité de suivi du plan d’action conjoint. En matière de développement social, elle prévoyait notamment de soutenir des « quartiers particulièrement sensibles » et reconnaissait donc le principe d’une géographie prioritaire. Elle assignait également la responsabilité de ce protocole au ministre de la Solidarité sociale, en collaboration avec la ministre d’État aux Affaires municipales et à la Métropole. Elle suggérait ainsi une plus grande collaboration entre les deux ministères. En matière de dévelop- pement urbain, l’entente fixait les grandes orientations des interventions dans ces quartiers défavorisés. Ces deux programmes avaient la particularité d’être financés par deux ministères différents et régis par des protocoles d’entente différents. Les Quartiers ciblés étaient financés par le ministère des Affaires municipales et de la Métropole (MAMM)5 et les Quartiers sensibles par le ministère de la Solidarité sociale (MSS). En raison de son incompatibilité avec la logique sectorielle des administrations provinciale et municipale, l’idée de gérer de façon conjointe des actions sur le bâti et en direction des personnes résidant dans ces quartiers défavorisés n’était pas clairement

33 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

énoncée. Le cadre réglementaire était donc adapté aux réalités et contraintes institutionnelles québécoises.

Les quartiers avaient été sélectionnés grâce à la combinaison de don- nées portant notamment sur la dégradation du bâti et des logements, le taux d’occupation des logements, le taux de chômage provenant du recensement de 1996, d’études similaires conduites par le Conseil scolaire de l’île de Mon- tréal, de l’Agence régionale de la santé et des services sociaux, ainsi que de l’INRS-Habitation, et visées dans le cadre des Quartiers ciblés et sensibles. L’évaluation6 de ces politiques suggère qu’ils ont été nommés une fois les actions réalisées, donc a posteriori.

En outre, les objectifs et les publics cibles de ces politiques étaient très larges. Les orientations définies octroyaient une large autonomie aux agents chargés de leur mise en œuvre. Cette imprécision a permis non seulement de consulter les acteurs du milieu et les conseillers des districts concernés, ainsi que les priorités du maire, mais aussi d’identifier les priorités et de proposer les moyens d’intervention les plus appropriés aux besoins de ces quartiers. Comme la politique de la ville française à ses débuts, les projets pilotes appli- qués à Montréal étaient processuels (Maillard). C’est pourquoi il convient de s’intéresser à la gestion concrète de ces deux programmes à l’échelle de la ville pour déterminer dans quelle mesure l’approche intégrée tant valorisée par notre passeuse a été effective.

De l’approche intégrée à Montréal Au-delà de la mise en scène entourant leur entrée dans l’agenda politique et l’adoption de ces programmes qui visaient tant à démontrer le volontarisme politique du maire que la création d’un terrain plus favorable à l’octroi d’un financement par Québec, ces nouveaux programmes engageaient un tournant dans les modes d’intervention montréalais. Ce virage divergeait sur plusieurs points au regard de celui engagé par la politique de la ville en France.

D’abord, à l’échelle de la Ville de Montréal, le mode de gestion de ces politiques avait beaucoup contribué à leur politisation. Les deux programmes étaient gérés par un des comités7 du maire dédié aux Quartiers sensibles et aux Quartiers ciblés. Ce comité était composé de quelques fonctionnaires de la Ville de Montréal, détachés de leur service respectif. Ces fonctionnaires agissaient à titre de chargés de projets et supervisaient l’élaboration des programmes d’action dans les zones sélectionnées. Initié en 1999 et placé sous la direction directe du maire de Montréal, ce comité représentait à la fois une façon de souligner les priorités politiques du maire et un « contournement » de l’administration municipale. De fait, cette position lui conférait une certaine primauté sur les services administratifs de la Ville de Montréal, ce qui repré- sentait une certaine révolution institutionnelle – surtout de la part d’un maire qui avait une carrière de fonctionnaire –, et l’associait au pouvoir discrétion-

34 Une politique de la ville « à la française » à Montréal?

naire et autoritaire du maire. Ce contournement visait à garantir la rapidité, la visibilité et l’efficacité des interventions, la réalisation de l’approche intégrée et une certaine reprise en main politique de l’orientation des politiques publiques menées à Montréal. Il n’avait pas donné lieu à une bureaucratisation de la coordination de la politique publique comme en France.

À la différence de la politique de la ville, les projets pilotes n’ont pas survécu à l’alternance politique, en 2002, au palier municipal et, en 2003, au provincial – bien qu’au départ ils aient été conçus comme des dispositifs temporaires et, de ce fait, limités dans le temps pour tester et pérenniser les approches territoriale et intégrée. Les dispositifs qui les ont remplacés s’inscrivent dans le prolongement d’une approche plus sectorielle. Malgré la reconnaissance de la pertinence des Quartiers sensibles et ciblés lors du sommet de Montréal de 2002, ils n’ont pas été reconduits par la nouvelle administration du maire Gérald Tremblay et par le gouvernement provincial libéral de Jean Charest, en 2003. Si le Programme de renouveau urbain et villageois8, adopté par le gouvernement péquiste de Bernard Landry en 2003, reprenait cette approche ciblée et intégrée mêlant actions sur le bâti et déve- loppement social, il dépendait du service d’urbanisme de la Ville de Montréal et s’est arrêté en 2005. Quant à l’entente sur la lutte contre la pauvreté et l’exclusion sociale qui dépendait du service de développement social, elle a conservé l’approche territoriale avec une systématisation des critères et une augmentation des zones ciblées, mais elle ne reposait plus sur une approche intégrée. En revanche, ces nouveaux programmes renvoyaient la coordination de ces politiques à l’échelon de l’arrondissement et aux arrangements politiques en vigueur dans ceux-ci. La survie de l’approche intégrée dépen- dait donc d’une configuration politique et institutionnelle et d’un mode de gestion spécifiques.

En conclusion, le transfert de la politique française de la ville a essentiellement consisté en une adaptation des grands principes du style français pris comme référence. De ce fait, il ne peut être assimilé à la simple reprise de slogans inspirés par la politique de la ville. Si le cadre réglementaire était relativement peu éloquent, les Quartiers sensibles et ciblés reprenaient assez explicitement les approches territoriale et intégrée, ainsi que le caractère pro- cessuel caractérisant la politique de la ville française des débuts. Comme en France, l’introduction de politiques territorialisées avait contribué à la politisation de l’action publique locale, en ce sens que les décisions prises par les responsables municipaux pesaient sur l’organisation de la politique publique. Les éléments importés sont adaptés aux réalités politiques et institutionnelles locales, créant des écarts entre le modèle transféré et le transfert.

La dernière partie de cet article est consacrée à la façon dont les missions d’études réalisées par les chefs de projets ont façonné les projets locaux

35 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes liés à la mise en œuvre des Quartiers sensibles et ciblés à partir du cas de Parc-Extension.

La mobilisation du quartier à Parc-Extension Situé au centre de l’île de Montréal, Parc-Extension est un quartier dont l’urbanisation remonte aux années 1930. C’est un quartier multiethnique et de transit9. D’abord un quartier d’immigration italienne, il est progressivement devenu un quartier où se concentraient l’immigration grecque et, plus récemment, des populations issues des pays sud-asiatiques. En 1996, 62 % des ménages vivaient sous le seuil de pauvreté et 30 % étaient prestataires de la sécurité de revenu et 81 % de locataires contre 72 % pour la ville de Mon- tréal10. Le quartier était donc associé aux images de chômage, de pauvreté, de dégradation du cadre bâti, de manque d’équipements ou encore d’insécurité (Germain et al. 22).

Le programme d’actions élaboré dans le cadre de ces politiques pilotes touchait à la fois le développement social des habitants11 et la réhabilitation de l’environnement physique du quartier12. Selon la distinction de Donzelot (et al.), les plans d’intervention étaient caractérisés par une logique people, malgré le financement d’actions relatives à l’environnement physique, prenant une direction opposée à celle prise par les politiques urbaines françaises. Cette orientation people résultait clairement des processus de définition des projets locaux.

Les procédures d’élaboration du plan d’action du quartier pour les deux programmes ont vu interagir trois types d’acteurs13 : la chargée de projet du comité du maire responsable de Parc-Extension, l’élue et les groupes communautaires du quartier. Pour les projets liés au développement social, la chargée de projet a veillé à sélectionner les projets en concertation avec la Coalition jeunesse de Parc-Extension (CJPE) et avec l’élue. Ainsi, 8 des 10 projets financés ont reçu le soutien de la Coalition jeunesse. L’élue est inter- venue de façon limitée dans le choix des projets de développement social, seulement pour s’assurer qu’un projet visait la communauté sud-asiatique, car cette communauté n’était pas touchée par les différents programmes existants et les bailleurs de fonds privés. Concernant les opérations sur l’environnement physique, la sélection présentée par l’élue rencontrait les priorités définies tant par les tables de concertation que par le Conseil de quartier. Les plans d’action de ces deux programmes étaient le résultat d’une coproduction essentiellement locale et d’une collaboration horizontale entre les acteurs agissant à l’échelle locale et concernés par les problématiques ciblées par ces programmes. Ces programmes ont donc suscité une mobilisation des acteurs locaux qui les éloignaient des orientations descendantes et contractuelles prises au cours des deux dernières décennies par la politique de la ville en France au profit d’un rapprochement avec la philosophie du DSQ.

36 Une politique de la ville « à la française » à Montréal?

Pour la chargée de projet et la conseillère de Parc-Extension, la dis- tanciation et la nécessité de travailler avec les moyens du bord ont été les principaux apports de la mission d’études à Lyon. Ce bilan se justifie par les différences de ressources financières et de contraintes institutionnelles qui caractérisaient les deux villes. Pourquoi le transfert s’est-il limité à l’importation d’un cadre général et n’a-t-il pas conduit à l’importation de projets mis en œuvre sur le terrain lyonnais? La configuration des acteurs dans ce quartier avant l’introduction de ces politiques publiques et la trajectoire des acteurs en configuration permettent de répondre à ces questions. En effet, ces deux éléments ont façonné la conduite de ces politiques dans ce quartier. Malgré l’absence de transfert à cette échelle, cette étude de cas montre à nouveau que la conduite de ces politiques est plus proche de la phase expérimentale de la politique de la ville française, le DSQ.

La configuration d’acteurs à l’œuvre dans le quartier Lorsque les Quartiers sensibles et ciblés ont été introduits à Parc-Extension, la configuration d’acteurs dans le quartier était assez différente à plusieurs égards de celle engendrée par ces nouveaux programmes. L’introduction de ces politiques publiques a suscité autant de ruptures que de continuités.

Le quartier avait été désinvesti pendant plusieurs années non seulement par la Ville de Montréal, qui avait cessé d’y effectuer les investissements de routine (maintenance des parcs et des équipements collectifs…), mais aussi par les élus politiques. L’élu de Parc-Extension de l’époque ne semblait pas très actif dans la défense des intérêts et dans la consultation des résidents de son quartier. D’une manière générale, le cadre institutionnel procurait peu de ressources et de compétences aux élus et aux fonctionnaires pour agir à cette échelle. Les élus de quartier ne possédaient qu’une voix consultative et ne géraient aucune compétence ni ressource au niveau de leur arrondissement d’appartenance, ni au niveau du quartier qu’ils représentaient. L’arrondissement et le quartier n’existaient pas en tant que paliers gouvernementaux. Ils correspondaient plus aux districts d’élection des conseillers municipaux et à des découpages administratifs. Bien que les conseillers municipaux soient élus au scrutin majoritaire uninominal, ils ne disposaient que de faibles ressources politiques et financières, ainsi que de faibles marges de manœuvre. En conséquence, les institutions de proximité étaient absentes, bien qu’à partir des années 1990, le programme « Quartier en santé » ait renforcé l’attache territoriale de ces élus en créant des espaces d’information et de consultation des résidents par le biais des Conseils d’arrondissement et des Conseils de quartier, qui définissaient « les priorités de quartier ».

De ce point de vue, ces nouvelles politiques initiaient une présence plus active des élus politiques et des agents administratifs dans les quartiers, en leur déléguant de facto la compétence du développement social et com-

37 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes munautaire, normalement exercée par les niveaux provincial et municipal. Ainsi, le pouvoir décisionnel des élus de quartier sur le programme local d’action représentait une nouveauté. Le rôle officieux dévolu aux élus par ces politiques préfigurait à bien des égards la réforme municipale de 2001, qui institutionnalisait l’arrondissement comme palier gouvernemental et le rôle des élus de district à cette échelle. Mais le rôle de l’élu local ne se démarquait pas de celui en vigueur à d’autres niveaux de pouvoir. L’élu14 adoptait les décisions, mais ne les produisait pas forcément. L’élue de Parc-Extension n’a pourtant pas investi pleinement le pouvoir décisionnel que lui conféraient ces nouvelles politiques publiques. Elle a laissé une large place à la chargée de projets du comité du maire œuvrant pour Parc-Extension et aux acteurs du secteur. En effet, dans le système politique québécois, les fonctionnaires ont un poids considérable. En règle générale, ceux-ci construisent le contenu des décisions entérinées par les élus politiques. Ils sont ainsi chargés d’arriver aux solutions les moins contestables et les plus consensuelles possible à partir de rencontres avec les acteurs clés du secteur considéré et d’un examen le plus objectif possible, faisant la balance entre les besoins des habitants et les ressources existantes grâce à l’expertise acquise au cours de leur formation et de leur travail quotidien.

La faiblesse et le désintérêt de certains élus de ce district, de 1986 à 1999, laissaient une large place aux groupes communautaires dans la régulation du quartier. En effet, le monde communautaire était déjà extrêmement structuré autour des tables de concertation depuis la fin des années 1980, notamment grâce à l’impulsion des organisateurs communautaires du Centre local de services communautaires15 (Germain et al. 32). Dans la lignée de la tradition québécoise qui a consacré, dès les années 1970, les principes d’une société civile impliquée dans la gestion publique (Hamel et Jouve 7-8), les organismes communautaires de Parc-Extension se concevaient encore comme un contre-pouvoir au monde politique et comme des acteurs devant aider à la structuration du quartier et à la mobilisation politique de ses habitants. La philosophie de cette démarche s’inscrivait déjà dans l’empowerment. Ce monde communautaire se caractérisait par un militantisme social très actif et possédait une expertise très pointue sur le quartier, tant dans ses aspects démographiques que dans les aspects plus concrets de la vie quotidienne des habitants. Pour étayer cette connaissance, les organismes communautaires recouraient au porte-à-porte, à la rédaction de portraits du quartier et à l’analyse des statistiques. Ils exerçaient déjà le monitoring du quartier. Ceux-ci étaient coordonnés par le biais de plusieurs tables de concertation selon les publics ciblés16 et par une table de quartier17 regroupant les différentes tables. De longue date, ces tables étaient chargées d’établir des portraits de quartiers, de déterminer les enjeux, de les prioriser, ainsi que de mener certains projets à l’échelle du quartier qu’elles représentent. Ainsi, lorsque les Quartiers sensibles et ciblés ont débuté, le contexte était assez différent de celui en vigueur

38 Une politique de la ville « à la française » à Montréal? en France, puisque dans le cas de Parc-Extension, et de Montréal en général, le développement communautaire et la mobilisation du quartier étaient déjà bien ancrés, et les acteurs communautaires étaient incontournables, tant en raison de leur force réelle qu’en raison de la forte valorisation de ceux-ci dans le système politique et institutionnel québécois.

Avec ces politiques, les acteurs communautaires ont conservé un rôle important. Toutefois, ils ont perdu leur position monopolistique dans la planification du quartier. Ainsi, le fonctionnement de ces politiques illustre plutôt la reproduction d’un répertoire d’action en vigueur à d’autres niveaux de pouvoir (ville et gouvernement) que l’introduction de nouvelles pratiques. Si ces politiques ont introduit une innovation, elle se situe dans le rôle conféré à l’élu de district et au chargé de projet du comité du maire, ainsi que dans l’élargissement aux élus et aux agents administratifs locaux de la concertation locale par l’attribution de ressources, et non pas dans l’invention d’une nouvelle forme de régulation politique de ces quartiers ou dans la création d’une mobilisation à l’échelle locale. En effet, cette dernière existait déjà par le biais de la mobilisation communautaire.

La trajectoire des acteurs en configuration À Parc-Extension, la prégnance de l’orientation people dans les projets locaux des politiques de lutte contre la ségrégation sociospatiale et le recours à la coproduction comme mode de fabrique des projets locaux s’expliquent également par la trajectoire et les compétences des acteurs en configuration. Comme exposé précédemment, les acteurs communautaires mettaient déjà en œuvre des méthodes d’intervention fondées sur la mobilisation des habitants et des regroupements communautaires, et s’occupaient déjà de planification dans le quartier grâce à leur expertise dans ce domaine. Ceux-ci défendaient ardemment le bien-être des résidents dans tous les projets développés dans le quartier. La trajectoire professionnelle de la chargée de projet explique les orientations du contenu et la forme des procédures décisionnelles. Ayant une longue expérience dans l’organisation de diagnostics et de procédures participatives en environnement18, elle avait accumulé une grande connaissance des procédures participatives. En ce qui concerne l’élue, en tant qu’habitante du quartier depuis sa plus tendre enfance, bénévole dans le communautaire depuis plus de quinze ans et en poste depuis 1998, elle avait également une très bonne connaissance à la fois des besoins criants de son quartier – du fait du délaissement par la Ville de Montréal dont il avait fait l’objet pendant plusieurs décennies –, des dynamiques locales et des revendications communautaires. En outre, elle réclamait de longue date l’égalité des résidents de Parc-Extension à recevoir de la part de la Ville de Montréal le même niveau de services que dans les autres quartiers de la ville. Par ailleurs, tant l’élue que la fonctionnaire reconnaissaient que les véritables détenteurs de l’expertise sur le quartier étaient les groupes communautaires, ce qui conduit à une

39 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes certaine reproduction du style de politiques publiques par un effet d’adhésion à celui-ci.

Ce détour par Parc-Extension montre que ces nouveaux programmes se fondent sur une définition du quartier proche de celle développée dans le DSQ, en s’appuyant sur une forte et déjà longue mobilisation des acteurs locaux. Comme la politique de la ville en France, ces politiques s’inscrivent bien dans une logique tant de rattrapage par rapport aux autres territoires de la ville, notamment en ce qui a trait aux équipements collectifs et aux services, à la réparation des défectuosités des territoires en privilégiant toutefois une rénovation de l’urbain adaptée aux besoins des résidents du quartier, grâce à l’orientation imprimée par la configuration d’acteurs locaux.

Conclusion Cet article défend l’hypothèse que le contexte antérieur au transfert de la politique française de la ville s’articule à ce transfert. C’est pourquoi les convergences qui en résultent sont partielles, comme l’est le transfert lui-même. L’analyse de l’influence du modèle français de la politique de la ville sur les politiques de lutte contre la ségrégation sociospatiale montre l’existence de divergences entre le modèle initial et les politiques implémentées à Montréal. Plusieurs éléments expliquent cette distance. Les agents du transfert, incluant autant ceux qui vont chercher le modèle et ceux qui mettent en œuvre les politiques publiques inspirées par un modèle étranger, déterminent le contenu du transfert. Leur autonomie implique qu’ils se réapproprient ce modèle en en sélectionnant les éléments en fonction des réalités et des phénomènes qu’ils entendent résoudre. Tant à l’échelle de la ville de Montréal qu’à celle du quartier de Parc-Extension, leur interprétation des différences entre les deux contextes façonne la sélection des instruments et des objectifs importés, et le choix des instruments et procédures mobilisés dans l’opérationnalisation de ce transfert. Les contextes dans lesquels s’effectuent ces transferts influent donc autant que les raisons du transfert elles-mêmes. Les convergences se situent essentiellement dans la reprise du principe d’une géographie prioritaire et de l’approche intégrée, la mobilisation locale existant déjà. Toutefois, l’importation de ces éléments se rapproche plus de la phase expérimentale de la politique de la ville française, le DSQ, que des pratiques qu’ils ont eu l’occasion d’observer. La réappropriation du modèle conduit donc à la création d’une mobilisation du quartier en tant que vecteur du renouveau attendu – facilitée par l’existence préalable d’une mobilisation communautaire assez active, militante et structurée – et à l’absence de prise en compte des aspects plus concrets et des évolutions de ce modèle. Considérant l’évo- lution des politiques montréalaises, l’analyse montre également que les formes du transfert et la production de convergence dépendent non seulement de la configuration institutionnelle, mais aussi – plus fortement encore – de la configuration d’acteurs politiques. De ce fait, le transfert évolue dans le

40 Une politique de la ville « à la française » à Montréal? temps en fonction des configurations politiques. Les transformations de la configuration politique montréalaise ont conduit à la disparition de l’approche intégrée au niveau de la Ville de Montréal, qui équivaut à un certain retour au style de politiques publiques antérieur, marqué par des modes d’intervention sectorielle, et à la délégation de cette dernière au niveau du quartier. Enfin, la compétition électorale et les ressources fournies par le transfert pour se distinguer des autres candidats ne réduisent pas la portée du transfert et de la convergence à de simples effets de discours.

Notes 1. Les traces de l’influence du modèle français de la politique de la ville sont essentiellement orales, elles ne figurent dans aucun des documents auxquels nous avons eu accès. Les principaux acteurs de ces politiques publiques à Montréal y font pourtant souvent référence. 2. Le lesson drawing réfère à la constellation de policy transfer dans lequel les gouvernements utilisent rationnellement les expériences disponibles ailleurs pour des problèmes similaires. Le gouvernement est un acteur rationnel qui pose la question : sous quelles conditions et dans quelle mesure un programme en vigueur marche-t-il ailleurs. L’apprentissage peut se faire de façon positive ou négative, dans la mesure où les modèles étudiés servent de recettes à adopter ou non. 3. Le terme de passeur est utilisé pour qualifier les acteurs qui font passer des idées ou des pratiques d’un domaine à un autre, d’un secteur ou d’un milieu à l’autre, d’un pays à un autre. 4. La revue de presse réalisée sur ces politiques publiques et sur la campagne électorale de Pierre Bourque ne comporte aucune référence à la politique de la ville française. 5. Le Plan d’intervention des quartiers ciblés a été financé à hauteur de 42 millions de dollars canadiens, dont 29 millions proviennent du ministère des Affaires municipales et de la Métropole, et 12,6 millions de la Ville de Montréal. 6. SOGEMAP INC., 2003, Évaluation de la mise en application du protocole d’entente sur les quartiers sensibles et des premières retombées des projets, Rapport d’évaluation présenté au ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale, mars 2003. 7. Il y a eu trois comités du maire : le premier consacré aux Quartiers sensibles et aux Quartiers ciblés, le deuxième aux jeunes et le troisième à la sécurité. 8. Le Programme de renouveau urbain et villageois est appelé PRU quand il est question de son application à la ville de Montréal. 9. Parc-Extension est un quartier de transit dans la mesure où il constitue l’une des premières destinations des nouveaux immigrants en provenance des pays du Sud-Est de l’Asie et que la moitié de la population du quartier a déménagé entre 1996 et 2001. 10. GROUPE DE TRAVAIL SUR LES PORTRAITS DES QUARTIERS DE VILLERAY, SAINT-MICHEL ET PARC-EXTENSION, 2004, Portrait de quartier de Parc-Extension, Montréal, p. 24.

41 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

11. Le développement social regroupe des projets de prévention de lutte contre la toxicomanie, le décrochage scolaire et l’animation socioculturelle et sociosportive des jeunes, ainsi que deux projets à destination des immigrants, dont l’un à destination des femmes et l’autre visant la communauté Sud-Asiatique. 12. Les interventions visant le cadre physique rassemblent des opérations de réfection de certaines rues, de rénovation et d’équipement des parcs du quartier par l’ajout de jeux plus sécuritaires pour les enfants et de tables de pique-nique, ainsi qu’un projet de désenclavement du quartier par la création d’un passage entre le quartier et un parc d’envergure métropolitaine. 13. D’autres acteurs, le Comité de coordination ou le Conseil municipal, ont participé à la production de ce projet local, leur rôle ayant été secondaire dans la mesure où le premier a vérifié que les projets étaient concertés et répondaient aux attentes du milieu, et le second a adopté les dépenses liées à ce programme. 14. La figure du maire semble échapper à cette description des élus, sans doute en raison du leadership qu’il est censé représenter. 15. Les CLSC ont une approche très large de la santé. Ils tentent d’agir sur tous les déterminants de la santé (salubrité des logements, espaces publics, éducation…) afin d’améliorer les conditions de vie de la population et agir ainsi sur leur santé. Ils mettent donc en œuvre une approche préventive de la santé. 16. Il existe cinq tables de concertation sectorielles à Parc-Extension : la table de la petite enfance, la Coalition jeunesse, la table des aînés, la table des femmes, ainsi que le Regroupement en aménagement de Parc-Extension (RAMPE). 17. Cette table de quartier s’appelait Parc-Extension quartier en santé (PEQS). Elle a été dissoute au cours de l’année 2008 en raison de dysfonctionnements dans la concertation causés par l’absence d’un leadership consensuel. 18. Depuis le début de sa carrière, elle a en effet travaillé successivement dans plusieurs bureaux de consultance en environnement, au Bureau d’audiences publiques en environnement (BAPE) ou encore au Service de planification de la Ville, où elle a rédigé un guide sur l’élaboration des portraits de quartiers, ainsi que comme secrétaire-recherchiste des Conseils de quartier de Saint-Michel et de Parc-Extension.

Bibliographie Avenel, Cyprien. Sociologie des quartiers sensibles. Paris : Armand Colin, 2007. Bennett, Colin J. “What Is Policy Convergence and What Causes it?” British Journal of Political Science 21.2 (1991) : 215-33. Blanc, Maurice. « La “politique de la ville” : une “exception française” » Espaces et sociétés 128-129 (2007) : 71-86. Busch, Per-Olof et Helge Jörgens. “The International Sources of Policy Convergence: Explaining the Spread of Environmental Policy Innovations” Journal of European Public Policy 45.5 (2005) : 860-84. Delpeuch, Thierry. « L’analyse des transferts internationaux de politiques publiques : un état de l’art » Les Cahiers du CERI – Questions de recherche 28 (2008) : 69 p. Dolowitz, David P. et David Marsh. “Learning from Abroad: the Role of Policy Transfer in Contemporary Policy-Making” Governance 13.1 (2000) : 5-24. Donzelot, Jacques, Catherine Mevel et Anne Wyvekens. Faire société : la politique

42 Une politique de la ville « à la française » à Montréal?

de la ville aux États-Unis et en France. Paris : Éditions du Seuil, 2003. Donzelot, Jacques et Philippe Estèbe. L’État animateur : essai sur la politique de la ville. Paris : Éditions Esprit, 1994. Estèbe, Philippe. « Les quartiers : une affaire d’État, un instrument territorial » Gouverner par les instruments. Éd. Lascoumes, Pierre et Patrick Le Galès. Paris : Presses de Sciences Po, 2004. 49-70. Germain, Annick, Francine Bernèche, Jean-François Marchand, Cécile Poirier et Jean Damasse. Les grandes controverses en aménagement et les consultations non gouvernementales à Montréal. Montréal : INRS Urbanisation, 2000. Hamel, Pierre et Bernard Jouve. Un modèle québécois?. Montréal : Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 2008. Hassenteufel, Patrick. Sociologie politique : l’action publique. Paris : A. Colin, 2008. —— « De la comparaison internationale à la comparaison transnationale » Revue française de science politique Vol. 55.1 (2005) : 113-32. —— et Bruno Palier. « Le social sans frontières? Vers une analyse transnationaliste de la protection sociale » Liens social et politique 45 (2001) : 13-27. Holzinger, Katharina et Christoph Knill. “Causes and Conditions of Cross-National Policy Convergence” Journal of European Public Policy 12. 5 (2005) : 775-96. Knill, Christoph. “Cross National Policy Convergence: Concepts, Approaches and Explanatory Factors” Journal of European Public Policy 12.5 (2005) : 764-74. Lima, Léa. « Prendre en compte la mise en œuvre de l’action publique dans la comparaison » Revue internationale de politique comparée 11.3 (2004) : 435-55. Linteau, André-Paul. Histoire de Montréal depuis la Confédération. Québec : Boréal, 2000. Maillard, Jacques (De). Réformer l’action publique. Paris : LGDJ, 2004. —— et Tanguy Le Goff. « La tolérance zéro en France » Revue française de science politique 59. 4 (2009) : 655-79. Mény, Yves (Éd.). Les politiques du mimétisme institutionnel. La greffe et le rejet. Paris : L’Harmattan, 1993. Pierson, Paul. “Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of Politics” The American Political Science Review 94.2 (2000) : 251-67. Radaelli, Claudio M. “Diffusion without Convergence: How Political Context Shapes the Adoption of Regulatory Impact Assessment” Journal of European Public Policy 12.5 (2005) : 924-43. Rose, Richard. Learning from Comparative Public Policy. New York : Routledge, 2005. Russeil, Sarah. « Transfert de politiques publiques », Dictionnaire des politiques publiques. Éd. Boussaguet, Laurie, Sophie Jacquot et Pauline Ravinet. Paris : Les Presses de Sciences Po. 2004. 444-452. Stone, Diane. “Learning Lessons, Policy Transfer and the International Diffusion of Policy Ideas” CSGR Working Paper 69/01, University of Warwick, (2001) 41 p. Tissot, Sylvie. L’État et les quartiers. Paris : Éditions du Seuil, 2007. Turgeon, Luc. « Les villes dans le système intergouvernemental canadien », Le fédéralisme canadien contemporain., Éd. Gagnon, Alain-G. Montréal : Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 2006. 403-427.

43 Book Review Editor Jane Moss Patrice J. Proulx Center for Canadian Studies Department of Foreign Box 90422, 2204 Erwin Road Languages & Literature Duke University 301Q Arts & Sciences Hall Durham, NC 27708-0422 University of Nebraska, Omaha [email protected] Omaha, Nebraska 68182 [email protected] Managing Editor Kevin J. Christiano Roseanna Dufault Sociology Department Department of University of Notre Dame Modern Languages 443 Decio Faculty Hall Ohio Northern University Notre Dame, Indiana 46556-5644 Ada, OH 45810 [email protected] [email protected]

US member 2-year dues $100 US. Send to: International 2-year dues $125 US. ACQS Secretariat Institutional subscriptions 154 College Avenue 1-year $50, plus $15 postage for Orono, ME 04473 foreign addresses. [email protected] Katrin Urschel

From the “White Lily” to the “King Frog in a Puddle”: A Comparison of Confederation and Multiculturalism in Irish-Canadian Literature

Abstract The Confederating period of the 1850s and 1860s and the adoption of official multiculturalism in the 1970s are arguably two of the most decisive ideological moments in Canadian history. The literature produced during the Confe- derating period and the early years of multiculturalism therefore constitutes a valuable medium to discern what is at stake in reinforcing “national” and “ethnic” identities as normative categories. This paper focuses on Canadian literature written during these times by Irish Catholic immigrants and their descendants because the conflicting role of the Irish as both colonizers and colonized adds political dynamics, the explorations of which help to illustrate the objectives and shortcomings of national and multicultural ideologies. The essay analyses ideas about nation building, ethnic identity, racial supremacy, and cultural diversity in the poetry of Thomas D’Arcy McGee and Rosanna Leprohon, as well as novels by Harry J. Boyle and Dennis T. Patrick Sears.

Résumé La période de formation de la Confédération (années 1850 et 1860) et la période d’adoption du multiculturalisme officiel (années 1970), sont deux des moments de l’histoire du Canada dont on peut dire qu’ils ont été parmi les plus déterminants sur le plan idéologique. Les ouvrages produits pendant la formation de la Confédération et les premières années du multiculturalisme constituent donc un moyen précieux pour discerner ce qui est en cause lorsqu’il est question de renforcer les identités « nationales » et « ethniques » en tant que catégories normatives. Le présent document s’intéresse à la littérature canadienne écrite à cette époque par des immigrants irlandais catholiques et leurs descendants à cause du rôle conflictuel des Irlandais, en tant que colonisateurs et de colonisés, qui ajoute une dynamique politique dont l’exploration aide à illustrer les objectifs et les lacunes des idéolo- gies nationales et multiculturelles. L’essai analyse des idées au sujet de la construction d’une nation, de l’identité ethnique, de la suprématie raciale et de la diversité culturelle dans la poésie de Thomas D’Arcy McGee et de Rosanna Leprohon ainsi que dans les romans de Harry J. Boyle et de Dennis T. Patrick Sears.…

IJCS / RIÉC 43, 2011 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

The Confederating period of the 1850s and 1860s and the adoption of official multiculturalism in the 1970s are arguably two of the most decisive ideological moments in Canadian history. The literature produced during the Con- federating period and the early years of multiculturalism therefore constitutes a valuable medium to discern what is at stake in reinforcing “national” and “ethnic” identities as normative categories. This paper focuses on Canadian literature written during these times by Irish Catholic immigrants and their descendants because the conflicting role of the Irish as both colonizers and colonized adds political dynamics, the explorations of which help illustrate the objectives and shortcomings of national and multicultural ideologies. The majority of Irish settlers in Canada were of Protestant backgrounds and economically and politically fairly powerful thanks to such support networks as the Orange Order (Akenson; Wilson, The Orange Order in Canada). Al- though a significant number of Irish Catholics had already settled in British North America before the 1830s (Miller 196), the largest influx was during and just after the Great Famine of the late 1840s, which largely shaped the stereotypical image of the Irish as poor, downtrodden, “lazy, improvident and unthankful” people (Toronto Globe, 11 Feb. 1858, qtd. in McGowan 17). Precisely because of the colonial conditions with which Irish Catholics, in particular, have been associated, while they were simultaneously part of an Anglophone, Christian, and ‘white’ majority, literature by Irish Catholic Canadians constitutes a fruitful test case for the investigation of power dynamics within the ethno-national discourse of Canadian nation-building and multiculturalism.1 As I will discuss, Canadian nationalism and imperialism provided Irish Catholic settlers with an opportunity to escape their status as racial inferiors and political and religious threats to the cohesion of the British Empire. At the same time, however, their strategies for overcoming colonial oppression only shifted but did not collapse the colonizer/colonized binary in Canada; it aggravated racial oppression, only with the Irish on the side of the winners. Multiculturalism later allowed, perhaps even forced them to reinscribe their national belonging with distinct ethnic features. Yet their long affinity to Canada’s ethnic majority and their central status within Canada’s national imaginary only underscored the artificiality of this ethnic reconstruction and instead shifted the focus to the individual and to intra- communal intersections of ethnicity with gender, class, and regional identities without tackling the inequalities on the larger societal level. The writers I have chosen for this investigation—Thomas D’Arcy McGee (1825–1868), Rosanna Leprohon (1829–1879), Harry J. Boyle (1915–2005), and Dennis T. Patrick Sears (1925–1976)—were extremely popular and arguably the most successful Irish-Canadian writers to represent Irish Catholic communities at the two time periods in question. McGee was not only a poet and journalist, but also a politician and one of the Fathers of Confederation. The entry on Leprohon in the Bibliotheca Canadensis, Canada’s first important encyclo- paedia, claims that “[s]he has done more almost than any other Can[adian]

46 From the “White Lily” to the “King Frog in a Puddle”: A Comparison of Confederation and Multiculturalism in Irish-Canadian Literature

writer to foster and promote the growth of a national Literature” (Morgan 224). Apart from poetry, she wrote short stories and nine novels, four of which were translated into French immediately after publication in English. Boyle was not only a fiction writer and print journalist, but also a successful radio and television broadcaster; he later served as vice-chair (1968–1976) and then chair (1976–1977) of the Canadian Radio and Television Commis- sion (CRTC). And Sears was discovered by publisher Jack McClelland, who provided him with a book contract based on the popularity of his journalism for the Kingston Whig-Standard. The centrality of these writers in Canada’s cultural domain enhances the salience of their discursive strategies for my assessment of Irish-Canadian literature.

The Confederating Period Canada’s national unification process began in the 1840s as the result of increased economic development made possible by the technological advan- ces associated with the steam engine. Rapid population growth, the rise of industrialism, and the ideology of free trade contributed to the increase in economic activity in British North America (Bumsted 145–49).

The end of the Canadian–American Reciprocity Treaty during the Amer- ican Civil War put the British North American provinces under pressure to in- tensify trade among themselves and expand the railway system. The railway was also seen as the best way of transporting troops, which is why it was promoted as a key element in British North America’s defence strategy against a potential invasion from the south. Trade and defence, together with westward expansion and the improvement of infrastructure, were the fundamental intercolonial issues that warranted a reform of administrative structures and thus led to the Confederation debates (Martin 24). Some of the ideological concerns of Canadian Confederation and nation-building were, however, intricately linked to Ireland. In 1866, the Fenians, an Irish Republican organisation that fashioned itself after a band of ancient Irish warriors, and consisted mostly of veterans of the American Civil War, invaded Canada with the intention of joining forces with Canadian Fenians and bribing England into releasing Ireland as their colony. The invaders were quickly defeated but the invasions helped turn public opinion in favour of Confederation, especially in the previously rather sceptical Maritime colonies (Burns 260; Martin 22). One of the key negotiators in this process was Thomas D’Arcy McGee. Born in Ireland in 1825, McGee fled to the United States after the failed rebellion of 1848 and then relocated to Montreal in 1857. Even though he had previously fought for republican ideals in Ireland, he had grown disillusioned with them in the United States and favoured Canada because of its bilingual nature and its disestablished church (Burns 267; Wilson, Thomas D’Arcy McGee 295). By appealing to the budding sense of national feeling among settlers, McGee’s campaign for Confederation was simultaneously an attempt at the

47 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes amelioration of the Irish situation and the lessening of religious and racial strife. McGee negotiated, in a sense, through his politics and his writing, room for Irishness in the conception of a Canadian identity. As Canada managed to accommodate minority rights within a British imperial framework, McGee wanted the country to serve as a model for Ireland (Wilson, Thomas D’Arcy McGee 44). The Fenian ideology fundamentally opposed the British Empire and thus intensified divides among Irish Catholic Canadians, splitting them into two major camps: radical Irish republicanism on the one hand, and constitutional Irish-Canadian nationalism on the other. Fenian radicalism also provoked a resurgence of anti-Catholic sentiment on the part of the Or- ange Order, and many Irish Catholics were arrested on suspicion, even if they had nothing to do with Fenian activity—a form of prejudice that continued for several years (Neidhardt 83, 134). Because of its divisive nature, McGee saw Fenianism as a threat to Irish integration in Canada, which sparked much controversy among Irish-Canadians. In April 1868 he was assassinated by a Fenian supporter in Ottawa, which ultimately proved his point about the futility of fighting violently for the Irish cause in Europe, and helped shift the focus of Irish-Canadians away from Ireland and towards their situation in Canada.

McGee’s poetry collection, Canadian Ballads, and Occasional Verses (1858) testifies to his ideals. McGee recognized the importance of Canada’s imperial link to Britain but also knew that for a successful social interaction among people from different backgrounds it was crucial to keep ethnic hostilities at a low and foster a unified identity. His call for and contribution to a Canadian “National Literature” was ironically based on an Irish decolonizing strategy. In his youth, McGee had been a member of Young Ireland, a didactic movement influenced by German nationalist philosophy to establish a unifying national literature in Ireland that would to celebrate the glories of Irish history and remind the Irish of their cultural accomplishments and virtues (Holmgren, “Ossian Abroad”). Ballad poetry was chosen as the predominant genre because it was seen as the supreme form of the “poetry of action and passion” (Dwan 207) and therefore well suited to the Irish political cause. With his experience in forming a national narrative for Ireland through ballads, McGee set out to establish the ballad as the dominant form of Canadian literature and even dedicated his Canadian Ballads to his Young Ireland mentor, Charles Gavan Duffy, in “memory of Old Times.” Remaining true to the Young Ireland ideology, he focused on aspects of the culture that could transcend the different heritages and traditions of the individuals, even though this fabrication of a unifying narrative implied a certain disregard for historical accuracies and a tendency to emphasize myth over reality. McGee refrained from using images of violence and concentrated instead on a defence of cultural developments and achievements.

48 From the “White Lily” to the “King Frog in a Puddle”: A Comparison of Confederation and Multiculturalism in Irish-Canadian Literature

The Canadian Ballads provide jigsaw pieces of a founding myth that highlight McGee’s sociopolitical interests: to establish an early form of multiculturalism based on religious, linguistic, and ethno-cultural tolerance. Irish-Canadians are reassured of their ethnic origins and simultaneously asked to develop a new Canadian identity resulting from the commemoration and reassessment of a communal North American heritage. The latter means, of course, the combination of both the aggregation of the various European cultures and traditions brought to North America by the settlers, and the ongoing response of the settlers to their Canadian environment. Effectively, this led McGee to write three different types of poems: poems that concentrate solely on Irish themes, poems that feature Canadian history, and poems that focus on Irish-Canadian connections.

Centring his Irish ethnicity in his Canadian Ballads, McGee was able to convey some key ideas about Canadian nationality. He saw every Can- adian as coming from a distinct ethnic background, and while these ethnicities differed in content, structurally they worked in the same way. All ethnicities present in Canada could therefore nurture Canadian literature in similar ways. Didactically speaking, the poems attached to the emigrants’ birthplaces were supposed to inspire other Canadians to “find corresponding sentiments of their own” (Holmgren, Native Muses 188). This served to shape Canada’s “mental outfit,” as McGee later outlined in a speech, ensuring that it is “national in its preferences, but catholic in its sympathies” (McGee, 1825—D’Arcy McGee—1925 2).

Whereas the Young Irelanders had not been concerned with religious or denominational difference, McGee’s Canadian Ballads exhibit a distinctly Catholic worldview. Problematically, McGee did not reduce Catholicism to a facet of ethnicity to be cherished on a sub-national level that would allow the nation to be truly “catholic” or universal “in its sympathies.” Instead, he tried to form the basis for a national identity at the intersection of Christianity and Canadian history, thus replicating an imperial ideology. The historical legacy he so proudly promoted as the essential substance of ballad poetry is the legacy of the colonizer; that is, it excludes the cultural achievements of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples and forecloses anything pre-colonial. His ballads begin with European explorers, and several of them celebrate the evangelizing of Aboriginal communities. McGee’s poem “Jacques Cartier” (Canadian Bal- lads 12–14) first evokes sublime natural settings in order to conjure up the excitement and admiration that European explorers displayed towards the New World. A few stanzas later, it reminds the reader of the settlers’ civilizing missions. Canada’s indigenous peoples appear as “pour souls” who worship “every living thing,” but whose lives are greatly improved upon hearing the Christian gospel (14). “Jacques Cartier and the Child” (McGee, Canadian Ballads 15–16) portrays Canada’s indigenous peoples as “Savages” whom the protagonist feels sorry for and wants to convert to the Christian faith to

49 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes save them. Both Cartier poems are written in the medieval European ballad form of elaborate fourteen or fifteen-syllable lines (Beaton), and are narrated by a chronicler with a pedagogical agenda. “The Arctic Indian’s Faith” (Mc- Gee, Canadian Ballads 29–30), on the other hand, is told from the Aboriginal perspective and in a much simpler style. Oral literature is already commonly associated with the “primitive” and connected to the stereotype of the Noble Savage (Finnegan 23–24). The ballad stanza form of alternating tetrameter and trimeter employed in his poem is reminiscent of the European oral tradition as well as the musical tradition of the ballad as a “a sung narrative poem” (Finnegan 10). It is used here in an attempt at a naturalistic depiction of Na- tive orality, and serves to present a more primitive, emotional, and repetitive form of commemoration, less developed than the elaborate and seemingly more rational epic accounts of exploration. Moreover, as Terry Goldie suggests that indigenous “languages are assessed as sound rather than as vehicles of communication” (118), the song structure of “The Arctic Indian’s Faith” can be read as an allusion to the incomprehensibility of Aboriginal languages, cultures, and religious practices. While the choice of form enhances their perceived otherness, it simultaneously makes them familiar. This appropriation process consolidates racial difference and leaves the Indigene speechless. Contrary to the individual in the title, the Aboriginals in the body of the poem appear as a collective speaker. The settler who performs the ballad can easily inhabit the Native “we” and become not only part of the heritage but claim it for himself and his own heirs—a quick route to indigenization.

Although ballad-writing, for McGee, was an anti-colonial instrument that ought to help Canadians distinguish themselves from the British and the Americans, just as it had helped the Irish before, it also represented an indigenization strategy that would ultimately efface Aboriginal culture and centre white Canadians as the new Natives. McGee’s promotion of the ballad overwrote Canada’s pre-colonial heritage not only because he began his own narration of Canadian nationhood with the arrival of white colonizers and European settlement; but he also imported a poetic framework intricately linked to European oral folk culture that could thus easily conceal the very process by which it superseded Aboriginal orature. In proposing a European orality to replace Canada’s Aboriginal orality as a mythological tool, he normalized Canada in European conceptions of time and space. Because of its decentring potential within the European community, the adoption of the ballad as an anti-colonial tool in the aid of Canada’s nation-building process granted the Irish a central position in the newly imagined nation. The Irish used this tool to rid themselves of their own marginal status and to shift the colonizer/colonized dichotomy so that they could be included on the imperial side. They did not use it in order to denounce colonialism in general, which ultimately helped sharpen the racial divide and increase economic and political inequalities.

50 From the “White Lily” to the “King Frog in a Puddle”: A Comparison of Confederation and Multiculturalism in Irish-Canadian Literature

Another Irish-Canadian writer who published poetry in the 1850s and 1860s is Rosanna Leprohon. Leprohon’s poems are in line with McGee’s guidelines for a national literature, that is, they celebrate historical events, local culture, and the inhabitants’ attachment to the Canadian environment. They appeared in such periodicals as the Literary Garland and even the Boston Pilot—a paper McGee had worked for and edited during his first so- journ in the United States between 1842 and 1845—and they were published posthumously in the collection Poetical Works (1881), edited by the Irish- Canadian poet John Reade. Given that both writers were well established in Montreal’s Anglophone society, it is very likely that McGee and Leprohon read each other’s poems carefully, if not discussed their subjects with one another. Leprohon’s “Jacques Cartier’s First Visit to Mount Royal” (66–67) can be considered a prequel to McGee’s two “Jacques Cartier” poems, filling a gap in the historical narration of the nation. Before taking up the effort to Christianize the Natives as described by McGee, Leprohon’s Cartier contem- plates the distinctive elements of the land itself, including the St. Lawrence river, the regional hills and mountains, the future border to the United States in the form of Vermont, and, in the distance, “the Indian wigwams dun” (66). In her fifth and final stanza, Leprohon points to a crucial step in any exploration: that of naming the land. She climactically describes how Cartier came up with “Mont Royal” (67) as the name for the mountain in what is today the city of Montreal. The inscription of the Canadian place in the linguistic and imperial system of the European explorers thus becomes the central motif of her eulogy.

Born in Montreal in 1829 and married to a French Canadian physician, Leprohon was not only already a second-generation Canadian but also considerably removed from Irish immigrant circles. The Irish do appear in her poetry but they are often constructed as “other” in terms of gender and belonging. Leprohon uses the categories of gender, race, and religion to define a superior Canadian identity that appears to be an amalgamation of British Isles and French legacies but without any conscious attachment to Europe. The clear distinctions she draws between Irish immigrants and established Can- adian nationals becomes clear in her poem “Monument to Irish Emigrants” (81–83), which is an appraisal of a monument built in 1859 to commemorate the Famine Irish who arrived in Canada in 1847–1848 and died from typhus. It is a rare reference to Leprohon’s own ethnic kinfolk, but this relationship is nowhere expressed in the text. Through her constant usage of the second- and third-person plural Leprohon maintains an us/them binary and alienates the Irish from her own Canadian community, beginning with the title. The dead were emigrants from Ireland instead of immigrants to Canada, which underscores the fact that they have nothing to do with Canadian society. The actual poem ends with the Famine Irish silenced and reduced to a piece of stone that is supposed to tell their story. Yet the living Irish too are alienated

51 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes by the speaker, both through the use of the second person and the ascription of male gender. It is worth noting here that in Europe, the Irish and other “Celtic races” were usually portrayed as effeminate in colonial discourse, and that the ascription of masculinity to Ireland is a reverse kind of “Othering,” unconventionally conducted from a female perspective. Moreover, as Sara Ahmed pointed out, the gender construction of the nation usually roots in the distinction between “what the nation takes to be as itself (the masculine subject)” and “what it has (the feminine object)” (136). Claiming degenerate or dead male bodies for itself would significantly weaken Canada’s self- image as a virile and strong new nation. Therefore, Leprohon associates the male gender with distance and foreignness, for example, when she speaks of “Ye gallant sons of toil” and “their fatherland” (82) or the “Sons of a distant land” (83). The monument is also not for our but “your kindred dead” (82, added emphasis), and Irish kinship is notably linked to toil and death. Taking into account that Leprohon’s father was an immigrant from Ireland and her mother already born in Canada, it makes sense for her to use gender categories as spatial metaphors to express distance and closeness to Canadian culture. Leprohon herself has already cast off her European ethnic belonging completely and become rooted in Canada. Thus she is following the maternal link, and her Canadian homeland identity is consequently expressed with signifiers from the female sphere.

Her national, imperial, and female confidence is particularly obvious in the poem immediately following “Jacques Cartier’s First Visit to Mount Roy- al” in her Poetical Works. “The White Maiden and the Indian Girl” (68–69) is structured as a dialogue between a white, possibly Irish-Canadian girl and one from a local indigenous tribe, who compare their living conditions with each other. It first may seem that both girls are on equal terms; they have an equal number of lines in the discussion, and the white girl’s arguments are well countered by the Indigene. But always speaking second and responding to the terms the white girl has laid out, the Native is, of course, caught within the language system of the colonizer and confined in her resistance to the definitions already established. As a result, the settler/Native binary is not broken down but reaffirmed.

Leprohon uses the term “maiden” for the “white” girl in the poem’s title, certainly to evoke the idea of the settler’s innocence and the fear of misce- genation. Throughout the actual poem, however, the white girl addresses the “Indian” as “maiden” and also as “child,” which cements a phallocentric and paternal worldview. Myra Rutherdale has documented how Anglican missionaries in Northern British Columbia, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories, in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries used maternal metaphors to describe and justify their work. Leprohon’s poetry can be interpreted as the literary equivalent if not justification for this kind of matronizing behaviour. The idea of sisterhood, on the other hand, was frequently evoked in the

52 From the “White Lily” to the “King Frog in a Puddle”: A Comparison of Confederation and Multiculturalism in Irish-Canadian Literature nineteenth century not only to describe a common gender identity but also to express a shared public responsibility for causes such as women’s rights, temperance, and evangelization. The identification as “sisters in Christ,” an image common to the convent tradition, is but one example (Lasser 165). However, sisterhood cannot transcend racial boundaries. The Native girl in the poem, calling her European companion “sister” and “White Lily,” tries in vain to establish a lasting natural bond. Thus the closeness, innocence, and kinship expressed in these terms mask the colonial power structure and metaphorically describe what Terry Goldie calls indigenization (13). Not only writing about the truly indigenous but establishing this familial association with them is Leprohon’s way of showing that “white” people in Canada have become native.

The settler’s subsequent displacement of the Native is illustrated in Lep- rohon’s poem by the separation of the girls. The white girl realises that she “cannot tempt” the “Indian” to live in her “palace home” but has to leave her in a forest rife with “countless dangers and hardships” (69). Interestingly, the Native takes up this reference of menacing death when she asks her white counterpart, “Back to the free, fresh woods let me hie, / Amid them to live,— amid them to die” (69). Yet as she also says, she “would worry to death of this gilded cage” (69), the settler’s home is not a healthy alternative. The ambivalence here lies in the fact that the image of the “gilded cage,” as well as the dark and scented rooms, are subversive criticisms of Leprohon’s own domestic sphere and may reflect a secret admiration and desire on the part of the speaker-poet for certain indigenous lifestyles. The female Aboriginal commonly “represents the attractions of the land but in a form which seems to request domination” (Goldie 65). As a result, the two worlds are incompatible, and the Aboriginal ultimately has to die in order for the settler to live.

This conclusion carries an obvious Christian reference, a connotation that is present in many of Leprohon’s poems. The eponymous “Huron Chief’s Daughter” (86–87), for example, is about to be burnt on a pyre by Iroquois warriors. A Jesus-like figure, she is portrayed as a noble queen, proudly enduring her cruel fate, and praying for a death in strength and courage to “be fit to reign, oh God! with Thee” (87). While “The Huron Chief’s Daughter” illustrates the “savagery” of the Iroquois, “The White Canoe: A Legend of Niagara Falls” (36–49) focuses on the morbidity of Seneca spirituality as it depicts a tribal girl who, chosen as a sacrifice to the Spirit of Niagara, paddles into death, and is joined by her father, the tribe’s widowed chief, who wants to sacrifice himself next to her. In several poems, Aboriginal girls are sacrificed and the Catholic faith simultaneously promoted.

Displacing the Native Canadian and stripping the Irish-Canadian of his or her ethnic affiliation, Leprohon envisions Canada as a nation of devout white Christians and civilizers. Her texts represent a move towards the adop-

53 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes tion of an “ethnicity-free” identity that is today often termed “Anglo-Celtic” (Fee 274). On top of that deliberate move, McGee’s assassination at the hand of a Fenian only emphasised the benefit of turning away from ethnic bag- gage and towards the construction of a centralized Canadian identity. Many post-Confederation Irish-Canadian poets such as John Reade, Isabella Val- ancy Crawford, or Nicholas Flood Davin took this attitude for granted and cemented this ideology in their poetry. Moreover, all of these poets have been canonized early on through their inclusion in popular Canadian anthologies. Both McGee’s “The Arctic Indian’s Faith” and “Jacques Cartier” were included in Dewart’s famous Selections from Canadian Poets (1864) as well as Lighthall’s three anthologies (1889; 1892; 1894). Leprohon also saw five of her poems included in Dewart’s Selections; “A Canadian Summer Evening” was included in Lighthall’s anthologies; and “The Huron Chief’s Daughter” was anthologized in Rand’s A Treasury of Canadian Verse (1900). As the focus on the “ethnic” had subsequently been replaced by the “national” and the “regional,” the literary representation of Irish ethnic identity gradually disappeared, and the Irish became almost invisible members of Canada’s ethnic majority. The linguistic, historical, mythological, literary, religious, and other commonalities that were envisioned in this move towards invisibility cemented the illusion of national homogeneity (Kymlicka 62).

The Early Years of Multiculturalism In 1963, when a surge of Quebecois nationalism had been posing a number of questions about the relationship between the “two founding nations,” the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was established to enquire into the cultural contributions and practices of Canada’s population. While the resulting establishment of official bilingualism was more readily accepted, the suggestion to frame Canada in bicultural terms was met with harsh criticism, especially from Ukrainian Canadians, soon followed by Jew- ish Canadians, who requested an acknowledgement of Canada’s multicultural diversity (McRoberts 122). In 1971, multiculturalism was introduced to eradicate racial and ethnic prejudice and discrimination in the national debate, to adapt Canada’s previous bicultural self-conception to the societal realities, and officially to recognise “ethno-cultural particularities … as legitimate expressions of the larger Canadian culture” (Troper 1002). The irony was that many of the “ethno-cultural particularities” of Canada’s ethnic majorities had already become mainstream features of Canadian culture so that they were left virtually “ethnicity-free,” while the “otherness” of ethnic minorities was highlighted. Multiculturalism is effectively only one of three branches of “group-differentiated minority rights” in Canada: Indigenous peoples have been negotiating land claims and treaty rights; the descendants of the historic French settlers obtained “bilingualism and provincial autonomy (for the Québécois)”; and “multicultural” rights and accommodations were finally arranged for ethnic groups that were neither part of an indigenous commun-

54 From the “White Lily” to the “King Frog in a Puddle”: A Comparison of Confederation and Multiculturalism in Irish-Canadian Literature

ity nor of the “two solitudes” (Kymlicka 78, 91). The Irish as an “historic substate ‘nation’” of the British (Kymlicka 78) were naturally included on the English side of the two solitudes, and beyond that Irish Catholics were allied religiously with the French. This inclusion, however, put the Irish in an awkward position. While it acknowledged their contribution to Canada’s national and imperial outlook with its implied inequalities vis-à-vis linguistic and racial minorities, it occluded the fact that much of the Irish migration to Canada had been caused by a similar imperial ideology except with the Irish at the receiving end. Because the identification with the Irish language, Fenianism, and Famine victimhood, for example, would mark the Irish as different, marginal and inferior, and certainly irreconcilable with the cultural identities of the other Anglophone settlers in Canada—representatives of the same English and Scottish imperial elites that also governed Ireland—they had to be assimilated or replaced to fit into the national imagination. The Irish were therefore both included in and at odds with the English solitude.

As Will Kymlicka has argued, multiculturalism is not merely about “recognition” and “identities” but also about “redistribution” and “interests”; that is, it is about power and resources (80–83). Yet the Canadian Irish already had positions of power during the Confederating period; to name but one example, Thomas D’Arcy McGee became a member of the Legislative Assem- bly soon after his arrival in Canada, and he was Minister of Agriculture, Im- migration, and Statistics (1864–1867) while negotiating Confederation with other political leaders. How do the Irish then fit into Canada’s multicultural imagination? Were the Irish—who in terms of language, religion, and settlement history can be located close to both English and French Canadians—so much assimilated that they had very little to produce by the time they were allowed to step outside the bicultural framework and perform Irishness as an intrinsic element of their Canadian identity again? Did they place particular emphases on “identities” or “interests” and manipulate the ideology for special gains? How much of a role did ethnicity play in Irish-Canadian literature when the performance of distinct ethnic identities became a marker of being Canadian and an instrument of empowerment, although the Irish had been empowered a century earlier precisely because they stopped performing such distinct ethnic identities?

The Lark in the Clear Air (1974) by Dennis T. Patrick Sears and The Luck of the Irish: A Canadian Fable (1975) by Harry J. Boyle are Bildungsromane both set on Irish farms in rural Ontario during the Depression. The main plots of both novels explore family ties, community relations, and romance over the course of about one year as seen through the eyes of an orphaned adolescent. However, each novel is also clearly anchored in the early 1970s through its narrative perspective, which opens a window of about forty years that gives the reader a sense of how ethnic affiliations and societal structures have changed throughout the decades.

55 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

Sears’s text is predicated on the assumption that Irish-Canadians do not identify themselves as Irish beyond the first generation, but that Irishness is a label that can easily be supplied from the outside—by a different person or by the narrator who looks back at his past from a future standpoint—especially to mark a lack of education or civility.2 Boyle’s text, on the other hand, treats Irishness as something more organic and continuously present, except that the ethnographer would find a different representation of it depending on the generation he or she looks at and the year of inquiry. Although both novels conform to the multiculturalist urge to diversify, they expose both the socially constructed nature of ethnicity and the intrinsic diversity of an ethnic community. Considering the relative attention they received—with The Luck of the Irish winning the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour in 1976, and The Lark in the Clear Air being canonized with its adoption into the New Canadian Library series in 1985—the novels are symptomatic of the way multiculturalism encouraged representations of the “Celtic fringes”—Mar- garet Laurence’s The Diviners (1974) is another good example—but they are also symptomatic of the ongoing misrepresentation and exclusion of other voices from Canadian literature. Put differently, they accorded privilege to the fringes of an already privileged group.

In their generic conception, these ethnographic social realist novels3 are, much like the ballad and the historiographic poem in the nineteenth century, aspiring to a national or universal level. In addition to their focus on various distinct representations of identity—ethnicity, gender, religion, generation, region, and so on—their realism indulges, to quote Georg Lukács, the type:

a peculiar synthesis which organically binds together the general and the particular both in characters and situations. What makes a type a type is not its average quality, not its mere individual being, however profoundly conceived; what makes it a type is that in it all the humanly and socially essential determinants are present on their highest level of development, … rendering concrete the peaks and limits of men and epochs. (6)

This universal aspect of the realist character is very important. Both Boyle and Sears have made it clear that they do see their work as simultaneously autobiographically specific and representative of the universal.4 That is, their characters can be read as synecdoches for the nation (Ryder 16). They extend the self symbolically into the social and transform personal experience into a larger political narrative (Patten 51). While the novels flesh out local Irish heritage, their use of the orphan motif and the Bildungsroman structure are emblematic of a renunciation of the local community and a simultaneous embrace of a national Canadian identity. Tom Macrae, the protagonist of The Luck of the Irish, appears instantly symbolical: he is born on the twelfth of July, Orangeman’s day, baptised Catholic at once, and dies at the age of fifty- two on the first of July, Canada Day. Losing his parents at a young age, Tom

56 From the “White Lily” to the “King Frog in a Puddle”: A Comparison of Confederation and Multiculturalism in Irish-Canadian Literature is raised by his sister Carrie, a bossy, ignorant, but religious woman. Tom’s symbolic trajectory of transformation is also a result of his ethnic, even racial origins. The narrator provides a long list of success stories in Celtic myth and Irish history that Tom appears connected to through blood and genes, “mysterious hereditary strains bubbling away in him” (133). Growing up, he had been a passive consumer of these stories; however, when the Macraes’ barn is destroyed in an instance of spontaneous combustion, and the siblings set off on a pilgrimage to change their economic fortunes, Tom begins to change and to rearrange actively the grid of Irishness that concerns his life.

The pilgrimage to the Martyrs’ Shrine near Midland, north of Toronto, is explicitly likened to the Atlantic crossings of Jacques Cartier (34) and of the Irish emigrants during the famine (40), both of which also led to redefinitions of identities and vast economic changes. This identifies the pilgrimage, on the one hand, as a metaphor for the transformative experience of migration in general. On the other hand, the central event of the pilgrimage, the miracle, is very much a symbol for the transition of the Irish as a poor settler community to being very successful Canadian individuals. It works as a catharsis for the community and leads to a softening of sectarian differences, a decline of religious fervour, and a substitution of psychology for religion to emphasize individual identities over community values.

This pluralisation is also expressed in the narrative perspective. The novel contains a lot of dialogue as well as direct “quotations” from various characters as if they were being interviewed. The parts of the main plot told from the point of view of Tom Macrae contain both sections in free indirect speech and longer interior monologues set apart and indented. This hetero- glossia allows for a rich picture of a community in transition, and makes a point about identity already on the structural level of the book: ethnic communities are composed by individuals who represent a variety of opinions, values, and manners of speaking.

The heterogeneous group of characters that the reader meets at the beginning and end of the novel highlights the changes in the Irish-Canadian community between the late 1920s—the setting of the main plot with the pilgrimage—and the late 1960s—the setting of the frame narrative that focuses on Tom’s funeral. While the mourners do not represent racial or linguistic diversity, they nonetheless signify cultural diversity as they are ranked according to the relative importance of their various markers of identity. The fact that the Irish Americans are introduced as the first mourners underscores the centrality of ethnicity. Both Boyle’s and Sears’s novels repeatedly draw attention to the many family connections between the Irish in Ontario and those in the area around Detroit, Michigan.5 The people from the immediate local surroundings are listed as the second group of guests. They are mostly business relations of the deceased and are from a variety of ethnic

57 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes backgrounds, which appear to be representative of the demographics of the region. It is with regard to the Catholic community, only the third one to be introduced, that the biggest changes are pointed out, which is probably an indicator of its relative decline in importance. Not only has the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) had its bearings, but also the ethnic mix within Catholic communities has changed, furnishing the Macraes’ parish, for example, with a Polish priest. The narrator makes the interesting remark that the Irish American visitors find this a lot less odd than the Irish-Canadian parishioners who have a hard time reconciling the priest’s ethnic heritage with the fact that their church’s “stained glass windows had all been donated by Redmonds, Brophys, O’Briens, Callaghans, and so on” (2). This observation places an additional emphasis on the first category, Irish ethnicity, which seems to increase its importance in the perception of subjectivity the more Catholicism disappears from within the Irish ethnic self-conception, and the more Catholicism overlaps with other ethnicities in Canada. In that sense, the novel presents the Irish community at a critical moment when the dynamics of homogeneity and diversity with regard to both ethnicity and religion are slowly being altered and the related powers shifted.

This uprooting of Catholic sternness, however, does not represent a challenge to the overall celebration of Canada’s Christian heritage. Catholicism is still presented as the trigger for the pilgrimage, and the shrine is a cultural relic from the time of Canada’s colonization and therefore an imperial manifestation and affirmation of the consolidated power of Christianity. The shrine commemorates the Jesuits’ mission to Aboriginal communities as well as their tragic death on such pyres as Leprohon described in her poems. Its history is introduced by a preacher from London whose speech at mass is pur- posely sensationalist to entertain the congregation and encourage the pilgrimage. Moreover, the character of Sylvester Toogood, the seller of fake relics, takes any seriousness out of colonial history. He exploits Native Canadians as a commercial commodity to boost sales, reproducing the stereotype of the Native shaman who has natural healing powers but died out in the course of imperial expansion. Any frightening aspects of Native culture are removed by presenting the relic-providing Chief as a Christian and part-white, that is, assimilated and de-indigenized (Goldie 132–33), and by situating his life in the past. It has become a cliché that “whites of an Irish or Scottish heritage” have “an unusual ability to comprehend indigene mysticism and thus are unusually apt candidates for indigenization” (Goldie 137). By presenting the Aboriginal as a void, Boyle depicts a natural progression from McGee’s and Leprohon’s “imaginary Indian” (Francis) to the fake Aboriginal product for consumption: the Celtic settler does not need to assert his superiority anymore; he has replaced the Native completely. Even within the narrow Catholic framework, Poles and Italians are depicted as tragic outsiders and not yet belonging to

58 From the “White Lily” to the “King Frog in a Puddle”: A Comparison of Confederation and Multiculturalism in Irish-Canadian Literature the community, which reinforces the picture of an “Anglo-Celtic” core in Ontario to which the Irish naturally belong.

Though not quite as intent on using symbolic dates as Boyle, Dennis Sears, in The Lark in the Clear Air, still points out that his character Mick is born in the year before Confederation (126); he was born in Ireland and arrived in Canada two years later. Of mixed Irish background, Mick unites a cultural dichotomy that continuously affirms and subverts traditional Irish stereotypes: bourgeois and farmer, Anglo-Irish landowner and Catholic stable- boy, arts education and a love of nature, good manners and a disposition to violence. His ward and great-nephew Danny describes him as “a kind of King Frog in a puddle big enough for him to operate in and small enough to rule out any possible competitors” (88). Through such a hybrid and individualized form of ethnicity, the practice of categorizing people as representatives of distinct communal identities is ridiculed. At the same time, however, the novel exposes the regulating power of the “civilized” ruling circles that limit Mick’s options—as a member of the School Board, for instance—and seem to trigger his conscious rejections of civility and his embraces of alcoholism, prostitutes, and fist fights.

Mick prefers to escape into music whenever he has the chance. Whereas Danny was bored by the songs as a teenager, the grown-up narrator develops a folkloric interest: “I wish now, looking back, I’d written the words down or studied harder at catching the tunes” (74). Relating back to Thomas D’Arcy McGee’s insistence on the importance of ballads for the creation of national (and ethnic) identities, this metafictional statement is another way of drawing attention to the potential of song and literature as prime preservers of heritage. Furthermore, it highlights the disappearance of distinct ethnic markers between the first and the third generation, between the arrival from Ireland and the adoption of an “ethnicity-free” Canadianness, and between Confed- eration and multiculturalism.

While ethnicity seems to have great meaning for Mick, it is already an empty category and a mere label for Danny. As the adult narrator, he speaks about his youth from an ironic distance and adds the label “Irish” to past situations predominantly for comic relief. “Irishness,” however, is also closely connected to aspects of education, that is, ethnic identity is depicted as a way of performing that can and should be altered by certain amounts and kinds of learning. Danny’s love interest, the school teacher Elaine, resembles the nineteenth-century cartoon figure of Britannia, the strong English female who rescues the Irishman from anarchy by civilizing him. She too supplies Irish- ness from the outside as a label of otherness, identifying certain actions and features of Danny’s and Mick’s as “Irish.” She teaches Danny correct English grammar and poetry and wants him to go to university to escape Mick’s fate. The novel ultimately presents a clash of desires and a mix of messages, of

59 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes which some celebrate the diversifying objectives of multiculturalism, and some undermine them by idolizing the civilized, highly educated, and successful white Canadian who has overcome animal urges and ethnic curiosities.

Through intertextuality and mythopoeia, the novel is coloured in a particular shade of Canadianness that is simultaneously Irish and Canadian. The Lark in the Clear Air is not only named after a poem by Samuel Ferguson, an Irish poet who was praised by Gavan Duffy, the Young Ireland mastermind and mentor of McGee, for his “appeal to the imagination and passions, not to the intellect” (qtd. in Dwan 207), but the novel can be read as an actual adaptation of this Irish text. This highlights the novel’s groundedness in both the Irish and the Irish-Canadian literary tradition, while also demonstrating the impact of the natural environment on the composition of culture. This strategy disguises the fact that the pastoral incorporation of Canada’s natural environment into a European narrative framework is in itself a strategy that was developed by Irish and other explorers of, visitors to, and settlers in Canada, such as McGee and Leprohon, making the novel only an updated version of the kind of homogeneity-inducing cultural product Irish-Canadian settlers had been developing long before. The style underscores the centrality of the European explorer in Canada’s founding myth and the subsequently assumed universality of Anglo-Celtic constructions of Canadianness.

Both Boyle and Sears present their own ethnic communities as micro- cosms to serve as examples for Canada overall, suggesting that social cohesion in Canada only works by recognizing the essentially human characteristics of every person, and by negotiating happiness and success on individualistic terms. While they relativize the Irish experience in a larger Canadian context, presenting Irish settlers in a particular frame of space and time, they simultaneously underscore their centrality in the construction of Canada as an essentially white, Anglo-Celtic, Christian country. Their play with stereotypes and their formal choices promote a settlement into coded norms rather than a challenge to the problematic nature of colonial history; they reaffirm the values of the Confederating period but do not question the ideologies that led to assimilation. Since multiculturalism introduced a shift of power away from the established cultural majorities, the assertion of minority identities within the majority appears a strategy of reclaiming privilege under changed conditions.

60 From the “White Lily” to the “King Frog in a Puddle”: A Comparison of Confederation and Multiculturalism in Irish-Canadian Literature

Conclusion Assessing Irish settler colonialism at the time of Confederation and the early years of official multiculturalism, one can conclude that in trying to escape British colonial domination Irish-Canadian writers have success- fully converted anti-colonial strategies into national programs that helped them move from the cultural margins into a self-created centre. To use my titular metaphors, borrowed from Leprohon and Sears, they have, first, asserted their racial superiority and indigenized themselves, becoming “white lilies”—innocent, natural Canadians. The later position as “king frog in a puddle” indicates an amphibious nature that allows the Irish to move easily between “ethnic specificity” and “ethnicity-free mainstream,” underscoring in a sense the instability of identities. At the same time, however, the king frog is also a (European) myth that conceals a position of power. In such a framework where ethnicity is presented as something that can be overcome, the pattern of “ethnicity-as-choice” and “race-as-determination” (Anagnostou 107) is consolidated, and multiculturalism becomes a void that only increases the inequalities on the level of the larger society. As Kymlicka reminds us, nation-building and multiculturalism are not contradictory; in fact, multiculturalism must be seen as a transformation of rather than an opposition to the nation-state (83). The Irish have historically shown the validity of this statement in the way they integrated themselves into Can- ada’s early oligo-ethnic national vision, securing a space for the shamrock on the English side of the bicultural framework. Yet over time they have become part of the problem, not the solution. The potential for change lies in the concept of collective remembering and forgetting that is an essential principle of any nation-building, whether imperial or multicultural (Renan). That Irishness and its relation to the Canadian nation was not remembered all that differently in the early years of official multiculturalism compared to the way it was ideologically understood around the time of Confederation shows how strongly the Irish contributed to the homogenizing of Canadian identity, and how slowly national self-conceptions develop over time. This does not mean, however, that the Irish have not moved on from there. In fact, the challenges to the national forgetting of various forms of racism, exclusion, injustice and oppression, that have been brought forward by those who were empowered by official multiculturalism, have had their impact on subsequent accounts of Irish-Canadian remembering and forgetting. That is, an assessment of contemporary Irish-Canadian literature promises different conclusions than those reached here, but to go into detail would exceed the focus of this paper. Suffice it to say that the more recent transnational explorations of Irish-Canadian identity that specifically contemplate the ironies inherent in the Irish colonizer/colonized binary have been much more sceptical about cultural nationalism and multicultural harmony in Canada (Urschel).

61 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

If multiculturalism, as an ideology that is supposed to guarantee social justice and equality, “is not just about ‘retention’ of an identity but its development within a larger social context” (Kostash 95)—and the “nation” provides such a context—it is mandatory to analyse this context in terms of its inclusionary and exclusionary practices. As Laura Moss has argued, “[i]f context contains memory, then it is also vital to consider social, political, and historically specific contexts to remember what is, or has been, done in the name of the nation” (Moss 11). This essay has tried to do just that with respect to Irish Catholic Canadians. Moving forward, however, it is also worth considering the conceptual instability of the nation as the site of these kinds of negotiations precisely because of its associations with the history of racism. Whereas Donna Palmateer Pennee has celebrated the process of “national literary studies” as the enabler of “a kind of literary citizenship” that can counter forms of exclusion (81–82), Lily Cho, in a direct critique of Pennee’s work, has problematized the nation as the “natural site of citizenship” (95), suggesting instead to foreground “diasporic citizenship.” For her, “dwelling in this dissonance between diaspora and citizenship” has the potential “to enable memory to tear away at the coherence of national forgettings” (109). As Irish-Canadian literature has done much to define the terms of reference in Canada’s debates about the “national” and the “ethnic,” a move away from these categories towards the “citizen” and the “diasporic” might produce the space where the previously marginalized are able to redefine the centre, and a dialogue of equals can emerge.

Notes 1. I use scare quotes to describe the Irish as ‘white’, because of their not un- contested hold on whiteness. See David Wilson’s “Comment: Whiteness and Irish Experience in North America” for a thorough discussion of the relevant historiography. 2. For a critical definition of civility, especially in the Canadian context, see Daniel Coleman’s White Civility (2006). He refers to civility as combining “the temporal notion of civilization as progress that was central to the idea of modernity and the colonial mission with the moral-ethical concept of a (relatively) peaceful order—that is to say, the orderly regulation between individual liberty and collective equality that has been fundamental to the politics of the modern nation state” (10; original emphasis). 3. I classify them as “social realist,” as opposed to plainly “realist,” because of their anti-Romantic depiction of social struggles, a setting in neglected areas, and ordinary language. 4. Boyle had this tendency to use the local to comment on the national already in his work as a radio and TV broadcaster (McCreath); also see his essay collections. As for Sears, regarding his first novel, he writes, “It may be argued, with cause, that any novel is, after a fashion, autobiographical. In that sense the episodic nature of The Lark in the Clear Air reflects slices of life as I knew it from that part of my boyhood spent growing up in Ontario” (11); however, he also uses the term “mythical” to characterize his invented Brulé setting, which

62 From the “White Lily” to the “King Frog in a Puddle”: A Comparison of Confederation and Multiculturalism in Irish-Canadian Literature

serves as a universal stand-in for “all back-country Ontario farm and town- lands that have, or had, a marginally agricultural tenure” (10). 5. This cross-border connection is a persistent motif in Irish-Canadian literature. Such recent novels as Emma Donoghue’s Landing (2007) and Jane Urquhart’s Sanctuary Line (2010) also stress family links among the Canadian Irish in Ontario and the American Irish around Detroit.

Works Cited Ahmed, Sara. The Cultural Politics of Emotion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2004. Akenson, Donald Harmon. The Irish Diaspora: A Primer. Streetsville, Ont.: P. D. Meany; Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, Queen’s University, 1996. Anagnostou, Yiorgos. “A Critique of Symbolic Ethnicity: The Ideology of Choice?” Ethnicities 9.1 (2009): 94–122. Beaton, Roderick. “Balladry in the Medieval Greek World.” The Singer and the Scribe: European Ballad Traditions and European Ballad Cultures. Ed. Philip E. Bennett and Richard Firth Green. Amsterdam; New York: Rodopi, 2004. 13–21. Boyle, Harry J. The Luck of the Irish: A Canadian Fable. Toronto: Macmillan, 1975. Bumsted, J. M. A History of the Canadian Peoples. Toronto; Oxford; New York: Oxford UP, 1998. Burns, Robin B. “D’Arcy McGee and the Fenians: A Study of the Interaction Between Irish Nationalism and the American Environment.” Special Fenian Issue. Irish University Review 4.3 (Winter 1967): 260–73. Cho, Lily. “Diasporic Citizenship: Contradictions and Possibilities for Canadian Literature.” Trans.Can.Lit: Resituating the Study of Canadian Literature. Ed. Smaro Kamboureli and Roy Miki. Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2007. 93–109. Coleman, Daniel. White Civility: The Literary Project of English Canada. Toronto; Buffalo; London: University of Toronto Press, 2006. Dewart, Edward Hartley, ed. Selections From Canadian Poets With Occasional Critical and Biographical Notes and an Introductory Essay on Canadian Poetry. Montreal: s.n., 1864. Donoghue, Emma. Landing. Orlando et al: Harcourt, 2007. Dwan, David. “That Ancient Sect: Yeats, Hegel, and the Possibility of Epic in Ireland.” Irish Studies Review 12.2 (August 2004): 201–11. Fee, Margery. “What Use is Ethnicity to Aboriginal Peoples in Canada?” 1995. Rpt. Unhomely States: Theorizing English-Canadian Postcolonialism. Ed. Cynthia Sugars. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2004. 267–76. Finnegan, Ruth. Ballad Oral Poetry: Its Nature, Significance and Social Context. Cambridge; London; New York; Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1977. Francis, Daniel. The Imaginary Indian: The Image of the Indian in Canadian Culture. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp, 1992. Goldie, Terry. Fear and Temptation: The Image of the Indigene in Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand Literature. Montreal; Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1989. Holmgren, Michele J. Native Muses and National Poetry: Nineteenth-Century Irish-

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Canadian Poets. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. London, Ont.: University of Western Ontario, 1997. ———. “Ossian Abroad: James Macpherson and Canadian Literary Nationalism, 1830–1994.” Canadian Poetry: Studies/Documents/Reviews 50 (Spring- Summer 2002): . Kostash, Myrna. “Imagination, Representation, and Culture.” Literary Pluralities. Ed. Christl Verduyn. Peterborough: Broadview, 1998. 92–96. Kymlicka, Will. Multicultural Odysseys: Navigating the New International Politics of Diversity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Lasser, Carol. “‘Let Us Be Sisters Forever’: The Sororal Model of Nineteenth- Century Female Friendship.” Signs 14.1 (Autumn 1988): 158–81. Laurence, Margaret. The Diviners. 1974. New Canadian Library. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1988. Leprohon, Mrs. [Rosanna Eleanor]. The Poetical Works of Mrs. Leprohon (Miss R.E. Mullins). Ed. John Reade. Montreal: John Lovell, 1881. Lighthall, William Douw, ed. Songs of the Great Dominion: Voices from the Forests and Waters, the Settlements and Cities of Canada. London: Walter Scott, 1889. ———. Canadian Songs and Poems: Voices from the Forests and Waters, the Settlements and Cities of Canada. London: Walter Scott; Toronto: W. J. Gage, 1892. ———. Canadian Poems and Lays: Selections of Native Verse Reflecting the Seasons, Legends and Life of the Dominion. Toronto: Musson, 1984. Lukács, Georg. Studies in European Realism. Trans. Edith Bone. London: The Merlin Press, 1972. Martin, Ged. Britain and the Origins of Canadian Confederation, 1837–67. Vancouver: UBC Press, 1995. McCreath, Ross. “Pioneer: Boyle, Harry J. (1915–2005).” Biographies. May 1996. Canadian Communications Foundation. 15 Dec 2008 . McGee, Thomas D’Arcy. Canadian Ballads, and Occasional Verses. Montreal: John Lovell, 1858. ———. Poems, With Copious Notes. Also an Introd. and Biographical Sketch, By Mrs. J. Sadlier. New York: D. & J. Sadlier, 1869. ———. 1825—D’Arcy McGee—1925: A Collection of Speeches and Addresses, Together with a Complete Report of the Centennial Celebration of the Birth of the Honourable Thomas D’Arcy McGee at Ottawa, April 13th, 1925. Ed. Charles Murphy. Toronto: Macmillan, 1937. McGowan, Mark G. The Waning of the Green: Catholics, the Irish, and Identity in Toronto, 1887–1922. Montreal; Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1999. McRoberts, Kenneth. Misconceiving Canada: The Struggle for National Unity. Don Mills, Ont.: Oxford University Press, 1997. Miller, Kerby A. Emigrants and Exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to North America. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1985. Morgan, Henry James. Bibliotheca Canadensis, or, A Manual of Canadian Literature. Ottawa: s. n., 1867. Moss, Laura. “Strategic Cultural Nationalism.” Canadian Literature 200 (Spring

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2009): 6–14. Patten, Eve. “‘Life Purified and Reprojected’: Autobiography and the Modern Irish Novel.” Modern Irish Autobiography: Self, Nation and Society. Ed. Liam Harte. Basingstoke; New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. 51–69. Pennee, Donna Palmateer. “Literary Citizenship: Culture (Un)Bounded, Culture (Re)Distributed.” Home-Work: Postcolonialism, Pedagogy, and Canadian Literature. Ed. Cynthia Sugars. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2004. 75–85. Rand, Theodore Harding, ed. A Treasury of Canadian Verse: With Brief Biographical Notes. Toronto: W. Briggs, 1900. Renan, Ernest. “What Is a Nation?” 1882. Trans. Martin Thom. Nation and Narration. Ed. Homi Bhabha. London; New York: Routledge, 1990. 8–22. Rutherdale, Myra. “Mothers of the Empire: Maternal Metaphors in the Northern Canadian Mission Field.” Canadian Missionaries, Indigenous Peoples: Representing Religion at Home and Abroad. Ed. Jamie S. Scott and Alvyn Austin. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005. 46–66. Ryder, Sean. “‘With a Heroic Life and a Governing Mind’: Nineteenth-Century Irish Nationalist Autobiography.” Modern Irish Autobiography: Self, Nation and Society. Ed. Liam Harte. Basingstoke; New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. 14–31. Sears, Dennis T. Patrick. The Lark in the Clear Air. 1974. New Canadian Library. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1985. Troper, Harold. “Multiculturalism.” The Encyclopedia of Canada’s Peoples. Ed. Paul Robert Magocsi. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999. 997–1006. Urquhart, Jane. Sanctuary Line. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2010. Urschel, Katrin. “From Assimilation to Diversity: Ethnic Identity in Irish-Canadian Literature.” Multiculturalism and Integration: Canadian and Irish Experiences. Ed. Vera Regan, Isabelle Lemée, and Maeve Conrick. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2010. 177–91. Wilson, David A. “Comment: Whiteness and Irish Experience in North America.” Journal of British Studies 44.1 (2005): 153–60. ———, ed. The Orange Order in Canada. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2007. ———. Thomas D’Arcy McGee, Volume I: Passion, Reason, and Politics, 1825– 1857. Montreal; Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008.

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Beyond Border Binaries: Borderlines, Borderlands, and In-Betweenness in Thomas King’s Short Story “Borders”

Abstract The concerns at the border in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries are not so much goods and customs any longer but establishing the identity and citizenship of those crossing the line. This focus increased further after 9/11 with new security concerns and the ensuing thickening of the Canada–US border. With the mother, one of the protagonists in Thomas King’s short story “Borders,” insisting on her Blackfoot identity, she and her son are stuck in the middle. They can neither go back to Canada nor cross the border into the United States. Quite literally, they are stranded in what Homi K. Bhabha called “third space.” The setting of the duty-free store, located “between the two borders” (King 134), thus acquires a new meaning as a place of refuge, hybridity, and third space beyond border binaries.

Résumé Vers la fin du 20e siècle et le début du 21e, l’administration douanière ne se préoccupe plus autant des questions de marchandises que des questions concernant l’identité et la citoyenneté des personnes qui franchissent la frontière. Cet intérêt a encore augmenté après le 11 septembre à cause de nouveaux problèmes de sécurité et du renforcement de la frontière Canada- É.-U. Comme la mère, dans la nouvelle de Thomas King Borders, qui, ayant insisté pour s’identifier comme Pied-noir, reste prise avec son fils entre le Canada et les É.-U. puisqu’elle ne peut ni revenir au Canada, ni traverser la frontière pour passer aux États-Unis. Tous deux sont littéralement « coincés » dans ce que Homi K. Bhabha appelle un « tiers espace ». L’emplacement de la boutique hors taxes, entre les deux frontières (King 134), acquiert ainsi une nouvelle signification comme un lieu de refuge, d’hybridité et de tiers espace au-delà de la double frontière.

So the borderlines construct conceptual edges and the borderlands construct territories of translation. But this distinction misleads; borders can work both ways at once, whereas the distinction suggests that a definitive binary resolution is possible. I resist the simplistic rhetoric of either/or, and engage with the more difficult rhetoric of both/and. (New 5) Border concepts, liminality, and identity construction are key issues in times of globalization and simultaneous particularization. Canada–US

IJCS / RIÉC 43, 2011 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes borderlands are contextualized within the current discourse of border studies through focusing on Thomas King’s short story “Borders.” King aptly explores the nexus between borders, citizenship, and identity. Being of mixed heritage and a frequent border crosser between Canada and the United States himself, he illustrates the dignity of Native peoples and the arbitrariness of the border. The Canada–US border bisects the traditional lands of indigenous nations, as is the case for the Blackfoot. Both borderlines as “conceptual edges” (New 5) and borderlands as “territories of translation” (ibid.) in a Canada–US context, together with the encompassing notion of in-betweenness, are the foci of this analysis in relation to “Borders.” King, one of the first Native authors to be well known in both Canada and the US (Davidson, Walton, and Andrews 3), embodies the “both/and” (New 5), the in-betweenness in need of interpretation, negotiation, and translation. King, through his mixed heritage and his biographical border crossings, is particularly suited to recognize and address the issue of borders and liminal spaces: “As a mixed-blood man, born in the United States but now a Canadian citizen, King is especially sensitive to the power of borders. Yet he is also extremely interested in the spaces ‘in-between’ those borders, whether they are literal or figurative” (Davidson, Walton, and Andrews 4). In-betweenness can be seen as an asset, according to King. He “recognizes the possibilities inherent in his position of literal and figurative ‘in-betweenness’” (ibid. 9). King’s interest and personal experience with borderlines, borderlands, and the spaces in-between are evident in his fiction.

Border Studies and Border Concepts The new field of border studies is increasingly evolving into an interdisciplinary field theorizing and analyzing borders, borderlands, and borderlands culture requiring comparative research (Konrad and Nicol 21). The geographical focus of border studies in North America has shifted recently from the US– Mexican border to diverse borderlands including the Canada–US border. Na- tive scholar Karl S. Hele describes the added benefit of these borderland studies: “Beyond simply comparing Canadian and American experiences, much can be discovered by examining the ebbs and flows of experiences within borderland regions” (xxiii). These regions differ in their regional cultures depending on their geographic location along the Canada–US border. Much of the fiction of Thomas King is located in the Alberta–Montana borderlands. In this locale, the past, present, and future of Canadians and Americans merge, in particular First Nations in Canada and Native Americans.

Moreover, new paradigms are adopted analyzing “the border not as a barrier but as a crucible where conflicting currents of identity, history, and culture shape local and national communities” (Hele xxiii). The country as a whole is influenced by the periphery and the edges. They have become essential to the centres of power: “Areas once peripheral are now primary zones of

68 Beyond Border Binaries: Borderlines, Borderlands, and In-Betweenness in Thomas King’s Short Story “Borders”

growth and development, crucibles for economic and social transformations that in turn engender changes in the interiors of countries” (Loucky and Alper 19). Borderlands are catalysts for change and laboratories of transformation beyond their immediate surroundings.

National borders seem to be arbitrary and artificial from a Native perspective: “First Nations have resided in their territories, which are referred to geographically as Turtle Island or North America, since time immemorial. For them, the linear borders are but a recent and wholly artificial construct” (Lischke 220). The free movement of First Nations and Native Americans is not halted by political boundaries superimposed on their homelands by newcomers. Hence, Natives started to undermine these boundaries and thwart the negative cultural impact through using key cultural expressions such as storytelling to voice their viewpoints: “Lines drawn both on the water and on the land bisect and serve to divide Native American communities. In response, Native Americans in their stories and literatures have resisted these borders throughout their territories” (ibid. 219). Expressing their voices in literature is empowering and essential in the survival of Native cultures. These “stories of resistance to the lines drawn upon the lands and the waters of Turtle Island” (ibid. 220) feature prominently in King’s work. Creating awareness is one of the main goals, thus “[i]n many of the stories that have been written by Native people, borders are represented as political artifacts that need to be dismantled or subverted, as in King’s ‘Borders,’ in order to overcome cultural ignorance” (ibid. 220). “Borders” is hence a story of resistance promoting a deeper understanding of Native peoples’ situations in the past and present.

Borders do not simply divide peoples, cultures, and countries, but also create a borderland where interaction is possible. People, goods, and ideas cross the border and go beyond binaries: “In many instances, boundaries divide physically and geographically, but they might also help to transcend differences, enable interaction, and generate understanding between cultures, perhaps even serving to establish new identities” (ibid. 221). Borders are challenging yet at the same time emblematic of opportunities. International borders are characterized by a simultaneity of multiple functions: “An international border, once definitive in most aspects of lands and life, today has become at once a barrier, a conduit and a transition zone” (Konrad and Nicol 22). This holds true as well for the Canada–US border. The border is a site of simultaneous convergence and contestation even with enhanced security measures and a current focus on rebordering: “[T]he reality remains that borders are simultaneously sites of nexus and convergence as well as lines of delineation and disjunction. They are alternately flexible and fixed, open and closed zones of transition as much as institutional settings” (Loucky and Alper 12). However, the perceptions of the border can differ regarding the primary functions of the borderline between two nations. Consequently

69 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes increased awareness instead of increased security is needed, taking into account regional perspectives from local stakeholders. This approach creates more knowledge and hence more trust, leading to tangible results, such as more trade and better security.

The binational relationship between Canada and the United States is asymmetric in nature, in general Canada being the less powerful of the two partners. However, in certain instances, such as the Cascade Gateway in Washington State and British Columbia, this relationship is reversed. Van- couver is the centre for Western Washington. Canada and the US view the border and related security issues very differently. The United States sees the border to Canada as a weakness in their defence strategy: “The world’s long- est border between two countries is now often characterized as a potential gateway for terrorists and undocumented immigrants. These concerns draw on the widely held US view of Canada as a safe haven for terrorists and a country with lax immigration laws” (Sadowski-Smith 1). This has led to an erosion of trust between the two countries: “We don’t seem to see the world the same way anymore, and as a result there is perceptible erosion in the trust between us. Americans responded to Sept. 11 in ways that most Canadians don’t seem to have internalized” (Rosenzweig 34). Canadians underestimate the lasting impact of 9/11 on Americans’ need for security. For Canadians, trade, tourism, and sovereignty, as well as identity, trump security concerns. There is a complete disconnect between the two countries regarding border priorities, leading almost to a dismissal of the other country’s concerns: “Likewise, in an America where national security concerns are top of mind, Canadian complaints about ‘thickening’ at the border fall on deaf ears” (Savage 30). Canadians associate a “thickening” of the border with the rebordering and technological build-up along the Canada–US border, which has repercussions for trade, transportation, and border culture: “Increased security has slowed the flow of goods and people and increased frustration of businesses and travelers. These disruptions are serious because they threaten to undermine economic opportunities in border regions, erode social ties, and weaken competitiveness in the highly integrated North American economy” (Alper and Hammond 1). Due to the asymmetry between Canada and the United States, Canada—and by extension the US–Canada border— are marginalized in the American psyche: “From the U.S. perspective, until recently the northern border has been largely inconsequential, a back door which hardly merits attention” (Loucky and Alper 17). Hence, only a sense of perceived security threats can spark the interest of the US media and public or an overhaul of security-related regulations. The focus on the Canada–US border has become very topical after the June 1, 2009, implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) with its passport requirement for land border crossings between Canada and the US, particularly in light of low rates of passport holders in both countries (Konrad and Nicol 14).

70 Beyond Border Binaries: Borderlines, Borderlands, and In-Betweenness in Thomas King’s Short Story “Borders”

Border studies acknowledge that borders as well as border concepts are evolving and in need of review: “A central part of border studies is the recognition that borders are places of reading and interpretation, subject to revision: how we read borders, and who is included and excluded by them are ongoing questions” (Davidson, Walton, and Andrews 151). These issues are revisited repeatedly and often reflect the cultural moment in history.

The inherent danger is a propensity for wishful thinking. King, however, has a realistic approach to it without being prone to succumb to utopian scen- arios: “King’s works adapt and reconfigure these concerns without treating the border as space of utopian alterity. His characters actively try to reverse the discursive norms that have been used to entrench Western versions of nationalism and disempower Native peoples. At the same time, however, King’s texts also suggest an awareness of the limits of this approach” (Davidson, Walton, and Andrews 151). Native views of identity and belonging substitute the discourse of the non-Native majority. In “Borders” King’s “doubled vision, which is both informed by a postmodern desire to move beyond the confines of nation and national borders, and critical of the limitations of a utopian vision” (ibid.) is displayed when the Blackfoot mother is eventually allowed to enter the US after insisting on her Blackfoot identity. This incident, though, does not set a precedent.

King’s stories set at the border are unlike other border narratives as he paints a more realistic picture: “By showing the Canadian–U.S. border as a site in process, constantly being reconfigured, King’s work revises and subverts the heroism and linear teleology of many border narratives” (David- son, Walton, and Andrews 153). Canada’s identity and sense of self cannot be separated from the Canada–US border with its powerful symbolic value as a shield against American cultural imperialism. King places Canada in a triangular relationship with the US and First Nations to great effect for decentring preconceived notions:

King exploits uncertainties about Canada’s relationship to America in order to develop a sophisticated and ironic treatment of the border, and then uses this frame of ambivalence, at the same time avoiding an assimilation of Native tribal customs and traditions into a discourse of Eurocentric nationhood. His works refashion border studies by looking both within and beyond national borders to consider the legitimacy of internal claims of solidarity. (Davidson, Walton, and Andrews 153–54) Border studies need to take into account internal as well as external relations between all stakeholders involved in vital border relationships.

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Identity Construction and Canadian Identity Borderlands are an important locale for learning more about national identity. Literature specialist Claudia Sadowski-Smith contends that “the Canadian boundary with the United States has traditionally functioned as a stronghold for concepts of Canadian national identity” (12). Identity construction is hence closely associated with the Canada–US border; “the 49th parallel is a powerful cultural trope” (New 11). In the same vein, Lauren McKinsey and Victor Konrad argue that “Canadians tend to see the border as the edge of their culture and the shield of their identity” (20). Hugh Keenleyside once said, “The boundary between Canada and the United States is a typically human creation; it is physically invisible, geographically illogical, militar- ily indefensible, and emotionally inescapable” (Canada and the United States, 1929/qtd. in Konrad vii). This emotional inescapability is the key to understanding. The Canadian–American border has more than one function. Thus the US–Canadian border can take on multiple roles and is in this respect multidimensional. The border as dividing line between Canadians and Americans is clearly a sanctuary line for Canadian culture as understood by Canadians:

“Maintained borders, such as Canada’s with the United States, protect against assimilation” (Blaise 8). Marshall McLuhan depicts Canada as “a land of multiple borderlines, psychic, social, and geographic” (244). Can- adians see themselves in contrast to their southern neighbours:

That America has so often served as a useful defining contrast is part of what is meant by Canadians when they say that the border defines them. For this reason, in Canadian writing and in writing about Canada, that border, that literal demarcation of difference between the two countries, often takes on almost allegorical status. (Brown 20) Roger Gibbins delved deeper into these differing perceptions to conclude that only Canada resembles a borderlands society:

The border penetrates deeply into the Canadian consciousness, identity, economy, and polity to a degree unknown and unimaginable in the United States. Thus, Canadians and Americans do not share the international border in the same way, for Canada alone can be described as a “borderlands society.” (2) The border is consequently “as much a psychological as a physical one” (Blaise 4). Pertaining to psychological borders, Clark Blaise states that “psychological borders are, by their nature, unequally felt” (9), which might be yet another reason for the differing perceptions of the shared border in both the United States and Canada.

72 Beyond Border Binaries: Borderlines, Borderlands, and In-Betweenness in Thomas King’s Short Story “Borders”

Some scholars label the asymmetric Canada–US relationship as “imperial” due to a very big American cultural influence in Canada: “[T]he imperial relations between Canada and the United States are reflected in the United States’ current economic and cultural involvement in Canada” (Davidson, Walton, and Andrews 141). They see a clear link to identity constructions: Foreign trade, the ownership of businesses, and the circulation of television, film, and printed materials produced in ‘America’ and exported north of the border all have an impact on constructions of Canadian national identity” (ibid.). The asymmetry due to the different population distribution in Canada as compared to the United States is particularly felt in Canada as the perceived junior partner in this relationship: “Sixty percent of the Canadian population, currently thirty-two million people, live within one hundred miles of the US boundary and are constantly exposed to US hegemony in the cultural, political, and economic realms” (Sadowski-Smith 12). The term hegemony, indicating neo-imperialist actions, explains Canadians’ impulse to see the Canada–US border as a defence mechanism: “In the metaphorical approach common in Canada, the border often symbolizes Canadian efforts to resist US cultural, economic, and political intrusions. The border thus functions as a bulwark for definitions of Canadian particularities, which are almost always conceptualized as differences from its southern neighbor” (Sadowski-Smith 12). Nevertheless, despite this perceived inferior role with regard to the United States, Canada still needs to assume responsibility for Canadian imperialism: “Canada, in particular, has tended to position itself as historically vulnerable to the controlling whims of Britain and the United States, reinforcing the perception that Canada is not responsible for its own imperializing actions, a notion that is deconstructed in King’s texts, especially through depictions of the border” (Davidson, Walton, and Andrews 156). King makes use of that in his stories dealing with the border and what the border means for First Nations, since “Canada is embroiled in its own set of contradictions, especially regarding Native peoples” (ibid. 135). In the Canadian imagination, Natives nevertheless are an essential part of the Canadian mosaic. First Nations, Métis, and Inuit as well as the notion of the North play a prominent role in the Canadian psyche: “Native characters, paradoxically, strengthen Canadians’ conceptions of their own, unique cultural identity” (ibid.). Laura Peters postulates along the same lines:

Yet, the paradox contained within Canadian national identity is that it desires what it attempts to erase. The presence of the indigenous peoples serves as a constant reminder that Canadians are not indigenous in that they are not of the land, while the indigenous—as ‘Borders’ so powerfully reveals—are not Canadians. Thus, one could argue that Canadian citizens are immigrants while the indigenous are not citizens. (Peters 197)

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She puts it very directly that “in the Canadian context the “foreigner” is not foreign but indigenous” (Peters 197). Indigenous peoples are, according to Peters, the marginalized other, the foreigners though they were and are the first people present. With this situation, other groups who feel marginalized can also identify due to being non-members of the “two founding nations”: “Thus, the figure of the “Indian” provides a point of identification for other groups who, by virtue of their ethnicity, find themselves marginal in a multicultural country that privileges the ‘two founding nations’” (Peters 198).

Due to the asymmetric relationship and yet strong connection between Canada and the US, Canadians are hardly ever indifferent to the US whereas in the US there is a lack of interest in and knowledge about Canada. Both countries have their concerns, but in two diametrically opposed realms: identity and trade for Canada, and security for the US. These differences affect the perceived role of borders as well:

For Canadians the border is central to identity. There is substantial concern over the influence of the United States on virtually every aspect of Canadian life. […] Thus, the border is viewed somewhat optimistically, as a necessary if insufficient protective shield to help maintain Canadian sovereignty. […] However, regionalism and continentalism are as much territorial realities as is nationalism. The strong sense of awareness of this reality has for generations helped shape a unique Canadian nationalism. This nationalism is based on Canada as “not the United States.” (Loucky and Alper 17) The border safeguarding Canadian, particularly English Canadian identity, is of utmost importance in the minds of Canadians. Despite strong regional identities and political inklings of continentalism, Canada as a nation defines itself in negation towards the United States. Historian Sheila McManus highlights the important role borderlands play in comparison to heartlands regarding national identity:

Although “heartlands” are often assumed to be the source of a nation’s identity, the place where common values and beliefs are either forged or preserved, nations are in fact made and unmade at their borders. Heartlands can be heartlands only if the edges around them are already doing the work of defining whatever it is that is seen to separate one nation from another. (xi) In “Borders,” King addresses the linkage between borders, citizenship, and identity. The story is set in the Alberta–Montana borderlands. Histor- ian McManus, echoing the observations by King’s characters, describes her personal experience of the Alberta–Montana borderlands:

74 Beyond Border Binaries: Borderlines, Borderlands, and In-Betweenness in Thomas King’s Short Story “Borders”

As I crisscrossed the border between Alberta and Montana years later, the imaginary nature of this “international” border was again brought home to me: were it not for the Canada–U.S. Customs building (called “Coutts” on Canadian maps and “Sweetgrass” on American ones), there would be no way to tell when you had crossed the line. Although sections of the border are visible from the air, on the ground the constants in these borderlands are more striking than the differences: mountains to the west, dry prairies to the east, and a big sky always above you. These constants are a powerful reminder that this region was once part of a coherent territory. (xi) Historically speaking, these borderlands were integrated and the border was superimposed in the nineteenth century: “The land that would become the Alberta–Montana borderlands was home to interconnected communities, economies, and ecologies that could not be divided simply by proclaiming that a linear boundary ran through them” (McManus xii). This was Blackfoot/ Blackfeet territory: “American observers in the late nineteenth century referred to these groups collectively as the ‘Blackfeet,’ while Canadian writers called them the ‘Blackfoot’” (McManus xi). Depicting the special situation of indigenous peoples when crossing the Canada–United States boundary, King highlights the role that rules and regulations play and how public opinion and media coverage can create pressure to be more accommodating in implementing those rules and regulations. King shows the dignity and pride of First Nations and Native Americans in asserting their identities independent of the nation-state of which their Native nations became a part.

Native identities do not stop at the Canada–US border. As is the case with Thomas King who has a mixed heritage in more than one way:

As a writer born in the United States, but who considers himself Ca- nadian and holds Canadian citizenship, he embodies two nationalities. On a cultural level, moreover, his status throws those demarcations into question, since as a Cherokee who moved to Canada, he can be read as a Canadian writer and a Native writer, but he cannot be a Canadian Native writer because Cherokees are not ‘native’ to Canada. (Davidson, Walton, and Andrews 13) There is, however, a pan-Native heritage. Similar situations persist regarding claims for sovereignty, land, and cultural identities. King succeeds in pointing out the role of the imagination in Native relations with the majority. Natives are often marginalized and victimized yet acknowledging their own cultures and redefining the border superimposed on their territories can be empowering. They can in turn take hold of their imaginations regarding the border. King makes it clear in his work that the border is merely an illusion: “His texts, by writing and transgressing the border that divides Canada from the United States, show the forty-ninth parallel to be precisely that: a figment

75 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes of someone else’s imagination” (Davidson, Walton, and Andrews 13). This “figment” is a driving force to make Natives’ own voices heard. They acknowledge the fluidity and shifting nature of borders with its consequences: “And if a border is, in fact, inherently unstable and elastic, it follows that that which it demarcates is also flexible and rooted in particular historical and cultural moments. Consequently, national borders alter and what they delineate shifts” (Davidson, Walton, and Andrews 15–16). European and Na- tive perspectives on borders are diametrically opposed: “From a European cultural perspective, borders mark differences; from a Native view, borders are and always were in flux, signifying territorial space that was mutable and open to change. The borders that presently exist ignore the Native peoples, who are often cut off from one another as a result of a line that has been drawn through their lands” (ibid. 16). National borders are not only important for the Native presence, but also for the nation-state delineated by it: “Just as national borders separate First Nations people by ignoring (and erasing) their presence, so do those borders also obscure the acknowledged Nations they outline” (ibid.).

Canada and the United States need one another, or the other “somewhere else,” to define themselves. This is put in a very compelling way by scholars Davidson, Walton, and Andrews: “Undoubtedly, for Canada and the United States, the where of there is inevitably defined by somewhere else” (16). It is essential to keep the notion of an imaginary line in mind, because

borders exist only to the degree that they are defended and ... this imaginary line is especially defended by the way that each side imagines an identity in relation to the other across it—but differently. The asymmetrical working of the imaginary border is especially evident in the way Canadians tend, somewhat dubiously, to view Americans as the rampant example of what they do not want to become, whereas the American tendency is to see, just as dubiously, Canada as already so much like the United States (except less interesting) that it is hardly there at all. (Davidson, Walton, and Andrews 16) The liminal space in-between national borders such as Native lands and the stories associated with them are empowering and help transform interaction from that viewpoint: “[I]t suggests that from in-between, one can view either side, perhaps rejecting both, at the same time that those sides influence one’s spatial position. Telling stories is one way to explore and reconfigure such complex relations from a position of in-betweenness” (Davidson, Walton, and Andrews 17–18). In-betweenness is a strength, as is the fluidity of the border: “That the border is giddy becomes cause for celebration, not regret. [...] In King’s stories, fields can alter with changes in the frame of reference, lines can move, and edges and extremities can turn into thresholds,

76 Beyond Border Binaries: Borderlines, Borderlands, and In-Betweenness in Thomas King’s Short Story “Borders” especially for the next generation” (New 29). In “Borders,” borderlines and borderlands are transcended to go beyond limits and limitations.

“Borders”: Beyond Borderlines and Borderlands There are two main characters in “Borders.” One is the unnamed narrator, who is the younger brother of Laetitia, who is the catalyst for the plot. She had left the reserve in Canada to start a new life in Salt Lake City. Her father was American. The other protagonist is the mother, who embodies the tradition and pride of the Blackfoot nation. She addresses Laetitia in Blackfoot, whereas Laetitia responds in English. The use of the Native language as opposed to English strongly underlines the identity and sense of belonging these two individuals embrace. The mother identifies as Blackfoot, whereas her daughter sees herself as English-speaking mainstream Canadian or even American: ‘“You can still see the mountain from here,” my mother told Laetitia in Blackfoot. “Lots of mountains in Salt Lake,” Laetitia told her in English’ (King 133). King emphasizes traditional culture in his story.

Blackfoot is the core cultural identity of the mother as is evident in her cultural practices and language. There is a subtle critique of Americans as well, thus indirectly placing the Blackfoot mother on the Canadian side of the line. She adheres to the Canadian phenomenon of defining as non-American and espousing an air of superiority regarding the neighbours to the South. King emphasizes the distinct identity of the protagonists and their desire to differentiate themselves from the Americans. The narrator, the son, reports that he had to dress up as well as his mother “for my mother did not want us crossing the border looking like Americans” (135). The port of entry the mother and son use is at Coutts, Canada and Sweetgrass, US The son associates positive things with Canada and negative ones with the United States: “Just hearing the names of these towns, you would expect that Sweetgrass, which is a nice name and sounds like it is related to other places such as Medicine Hat and Moose Jaw and Kicking Horse Pass, would be on the Can- adian side, and that Coutts, which sounds abrupt and rude, would be on the American side” (136).

The border itself, that is the American border crossing, is described with a sense of foreboding and danger: “My mother […] drove all the way to the border in first gear, slowly, as if she were trying to see through a bad storm or riding high on black ice” (King 136). Since the boy’s father is from the US and the sister lives there, it is surprising to read about this sense of foreboding. This ultimately proves almost a self-fulfilling prophecy when the mother and son are neither allowed to re-enter Canada nor to proceed to the United States and are momentarily an actual example of “an Indian without a country” (King 145). After the television crews and cameras arrive, the mother and son can finally cross the border to visit Laetitia.

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The border guards are described as gun-crazy cowboys: “They were talking as they came, both men swaying back and forth like two cowboys headed for a bar or a gunfight” (King 134). Additionally that description draws attention to American border guards being armed in contrast to their Canadian counterparts, a situation only recently changing with the rebordering and thickening of the Canada–US border after 9/11. The motif of guns runs through the story, the narrator also mentioning that the female border guard, Inspector Pratt, has a gun. Later on, he describes her gun in more detail: “Her gun was silver. There were several chips in the wood handle and the name ‘Stella’ was scratched into the metal butt” (King 136).

The following dialogue between the mother and the US border guard shows the main emphasis being the answer to the citizenship and identity question:

“Morning, ma’am.” “Good morning.” “Cecil tells me you and the boy are Blackfoot.” “That’s right.” “Now, I know that we got Blackfeet on the American side and the Canadians got Blackfeet on their side. Just so we can keep our records straight, what side do you come from?” […] “Canadian side or American side?” asked the guard. “Blackfoot side,” she said. (King 135–36) The concerns at the border are not so much goods and customs any longer but establishing the identity and citizenship of people crossing the line. This focus increased further after 9/11 with the “thickening” of the Canada–US border. With the Jay Treaty, indigenous peoples have special border crossing rights. The border bisects tribes, bands, and indigenous nations, as is the case for the Blackfoot as shown in the quote above.

With the mother insisting on her Blackfoot identity, she and her son are stuck in the middle. They can neither go back to Canada nor cross the border into the United States. Quite literally they are stranded in what Homi K. Bhabha called “third space”: “By refusing to locate herself within the discourse of ‘nation,’ as defined by Canada and the United States, King’s female protagonist offers a third term that predates the creation of these two political entities” (Davidson, Walton, and Andrews 123). The setting of the duty-free store, located “between the two borders” (King 134), thus acquires a new meaning as a place of refuge, hybridity, and third space:

Most of that day, we wandered around the duty-free store, which wasn’t very large. The manager had a name tag with a tiny American flag on one side and a tiny Canadian flag on the other. His name was Mel. Towards evening, he began suggesting that we should be on our way. I told him we had nowhere to go, that neither the Americans nor

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the Canadians would let us in. (King 140) The boy and his mother are in-between and cannot escape that duality for the time being and they have to go back and forth between the Canadian and American borders. They end up once again for a second night in the duty-free parking lot: “The woman and her son are relegated to the in-between space of the Duty Free store until sufficient media attention forces the Canadian officials to allow them to return to Canada” (Peters 195). Furthermore, the post-modern notion of glorifying the modern being as nomadic and decentred is criticized by King:

“By relegating his protagonists to the Duty Free zone between Canada and the US, King challenges the post-modern celebration of Western identities as decentered and nomadic” (ibid. 196).

Storytelling and humour are important aspects of Native culture. Using stories infused with humorous elements, a sense of community is created while at the same time subverting the status-quo as maintained by the majority:

Stories create a sense of belonging and facilitate the exchange of ideas. But these narratives also become spaces of debate and potential subversion, spaces to claim and refashion knowledge to reflect a past, present, and future otherwise elided by the dominance of national borders and a long-standing colonial rhetoric, in which Natives—and their stories—have been marginalized. (Davidson, Walton, and Andrews 11) Native sovereignty is essential to maintaining the distinct cultural identities as individual nations, often reasserted in land claims to rewrite their colonial past: “Yet King also takes issue with the forty-ninth parallel, a political dividing line that systematically has erased prior tribal relationships and Na- tive land claims” (Davidson, Walton, and Andrews 12). In “Borders,” the situation of First Nations finding themselves barred from living in their entire homeland through a superimposed dividing line is illustrated very concretely:

“Borders” encapsulates the dilemma faced by the indigenous peoples of North America who have seen colonial borders/frontiers eclipse their longer-standing affiliations. Part of the central issue in the story is that the U.S./Canadian border has split the Blackfeet population nominally into Americans and Canadi- ans; their ethnic affiliation as a group has been placed under erasure. (Peters 195) The very identity and sense of belonging is dismissed. In King’s story, the mother uses the involuntary exile in no-man’s land to transmit some traditional values to her son. Though the young boy is preoccupied with food and possibly getting hamburgers from the manager at the duty free store, his mother begins with traditional storytelling. She looks at the starry sky with

79 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes her son and points out the constellation of stars that look like a fish. This is her starting point to talk about Coyote and indigenous creation stories: “Coyote went fishing, one day. That’s how it all started” (King 142). Claudia Sadowski-Smith argues that “the trickster-coyote signifies the dissolution of boundaries and a state of transition and change” (9). Most likely, it is the mother’s way to solve their border dilemma, by telling her son about Coyote. Her son realizes that his mother cares deeply about these stories by telling them slowly and repeating parts to facilitate him remembering them. This scene is a turning point in the short story, a breakthrough in their border dilemma as if the Coyote trickster did his magic. The question arises as to whether King places his short story “Borders” in the tradition of trickster border narratives by the mother’s evocation of Coyote and creation myths (144). In “Borders,” the trickster is explicitly mentioned in the plot and indeed sorts out the protagonists’ border issues: “Trickster border narratives portray the second coming of Trickster, who returns with the potential to reorder the chaos of the frontier for Native Americans” (Lape 15). The telling of the trickster story is juxtaposed with the arrival of the media and the eventual solution of their dilemma. It is like trickster’s second coming. At the same time, for once, the mother’s Blackfoot identity is valued and recognized as sufficient proof of citizenship and identity: “For a moment, ‘Blackfoot’ is publicly acknowledged as citizenship, the borderlands are thus briefly recognized as Blackfoot country spanning and overwriting the national border between Canada and the U.S.” (Sarkowsky 20). The Blackfoot homeland stretching beyond the Canada–US border is momentarily reinstated on its own cultural terms. The media arrives on the scene and covers the story. Through the powerful presence of the media and public opinion in this “standoff” (King 138) of “an Indian without a country” (142) the US border guard “was all smiles” (143) and the situation was turned around. Upon asking about the mother and son’s citizenship, despite her replying “Blackfoot,” he saluted them and let them pass:

“Citizenship?” “Blackfoot.” The guard rocked back on his heels and jammed his thumbs into his gun belt. “Thank you,” he said, his fingers patting the butt of the revolver. “Have a pleasant trip.” (King 143–44) Awareness, persistence and a strong sense of cultural identity are essential in claiming the original place in society. The mother could not change the rules permanently, but King shows that marginalized people can reclaim their original dignity and pride and reassume their roles: “Even though the mother’s courageous act only challenges rather than changes official border crossing rules, the story’s ending confirms the Blackfoot view of international borders. ‘Borders’ leaves us with the final image of a disappearing international

80 Beyond Border Binaries: Borderlines, Borderlands, and In-Betweenness in Thomas King’s Short Story “Borders” boundary, marked by flags as the obligatory symbols of nations, when the mother and son cross back into Coutts” (Sadowski-Smith 90).

The border is based on political will and public opinion, which in turn is also based on perceptions of each other, the issues at stake meeting at the border, and the significance of the border in the imagination of the people. History and politics as well as security, trade and transportation are but individual facets that together with the more elusive concepts of identity and the imagination approximate a more holistic view of the border, where there is a third space beyond border binaries.

Works Cited Alper, Donald K., and Bryant Hammond. Stakeholder Views on Improving Border Management. Research Report No. 8, December 2009. Border Policy Research Institute. Bellingham: BPRI/Western Washington University, 2009. Blaise, Clark. The Border as Fiction. Borderlands Monograph Ser. 4. Orono: Canadian–American Center, University of Maine, 1990. 1–12. Brown, Russell. Borderlines and Borderlands in English Canada: The Written Line. Borderlands Monograph Ser. 4. Orono: Canadian–American Center, University of Maine, 1990. 13–70. Davidson, Arnold E., Priscilla L. Walton, and Jennifer Andrews. Border Crossings: Thomas King’s Cultural Inversions. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003. Gibbins, Roger. Canada as a Borderlands Society. Borderlands Monograph Ser. 2. Orono: Canadian–American Center, University of Maine, 1989. Hele, Karl S., ed. Introduction. Lines Drawn upon the Water: First Nations and the Great Lakes Borders and Borderlands. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2008. xiii–xxiii. King, Thomas. “Borders.” One Good Story, That One. 2nd ed. Toronto: Harper Perennial Canada, 1993. 131–47. Konrad, Victor. “Common Edges: An Introduction to the Borderlands Anthology.” Introduction. Borderlands: Essays in Canadian–American Relations. Ed. Robert Lecker. Toronto: ECW, 1991. vii–xviii. Konrad, Victor, and Heather N. Nicol. Beyond Walls: Re-Inventing the Canada– United States Borderlands. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008. Lape, Noreen Groover. West of the Border: The Multicultural Literature of the Western American Frontiers. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2000. Lischke, Ute. “‘This is a pipe and I know hash’: Louise Erdrich and the Lines Drawn upon the Waters and the Lands.” Lines Drawn upon the Water: First Nations and the Great Lakes Borders and Borderlands. Ed. Karl S. Hele. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2008. 219–31. Loucky, James, and Donald K. Alper. “Pacific Borders, Discordant Borders: Where North America Edges Together.” Transboundary Policy Challenges in the Pacific Border Regions of North America. Ed. James Loucky, Donald K. Alper, and J.C. Day. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2008. 11–38. McKinsey, Lauren, and Victor Konrad. Borderlands Reflections: The United States and Canada. Borderlands Monograph Ser. 1. Orono: Canadian–American Center, University of Maine, 1989.

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McLuhan, Marshall. “Canada: The Borderline Case.” The Canadian Imagination: Dimensions of a Literary Culture. Ed. David Staines. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1977. 226–48. McManus, Sheila. The Line which Separates: Race, Gender, and the Making of the Alberta–Montana Borderlands. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005. New, W[illiam] H[erbert]. Borderlands: How We Talk About Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1998. Peters, Laura. “Thomas King and Contemporary Indigenous Identities.” Beyond the Borders: American Literature and Post-colonial Theory. Ed. Deborah L. Madsen. London: Pluto Press, 2003. 195–206. Rosenzweig, Paul. “Why the U.S. Doesn’t Trust Canada.” Maclean’s 12 October 2009: 33–35. Sadowski-Smith, Claudia. Border Fictions: Globalization, Empire, and Writing at the Boundaries of the United States. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2008. Sarkowsky, Katja. AlterNative Spaces: Constructions of Space in Native American and First Nations’ Literatures. American Studies: A Monograph Ser. 146. Heidelberg: Winter, 2007. Savage, Luiza Ch. “Canada’s Biggest Problem? America.” Maclean’s 12 October 2009: 28–31.

82 Nielan Barnes

Canada–US–Mexico Integration: Assessing (Im)Migrant1 Health Policy Convergence

Abstract This paper uses a comparative case study approach to assess convergence between three areas of Canadian, US, and Mexican policy that shape (im)migrant access to health and social services. These three areas include key policies and programs in relation to Immigration and Citizenship rights; Temporary and Foreign Labour Visa Programs; and Health and Human Services programs and policies. The paper takes a meso-level approach and compares policy and programming trends among public and private organizational actors and fields in Canada, the US, and Mexico at societal, political and technical levels. Ultimately, the paper finds that despite local level innovation, there is a large degree of agreement in all three policy areas, as well as increasing convergence at social, political, and technical levels. Theoretically, the paper contributes to recent debates about how to assess policy convergence, as well as debates about the impact of globalization on policy convergence. Practically, understanding local dynamics of immigration and health policy convergence serves to develop realistic and informed policy and programs at the international, national, and local levels.

Résumé À l’aide d’une approche comparative d’étude de cas, le présent article évalue la convergence entre trois secteurs de politique canadiens, états-uniens et mexic- ains, qui façonnent l’accès des immigrants aux services sociaux et de santé. Ces trois secteurs comprennent des politiques et des programmes clés en rapport avec les droits en matière d’immigration et de citoyenneté, les programmes de visa pour la main d’œuvre temporaire et étrangère, et les programmes et politiques des services de santé et services sociaux. L’article suit une approche de niveau moyen et compare les tendances en matière de politiques et de programmes parmi les acteurs et les champs d’activité d’organisations publiques et privées au Canada, aux États-Unis et au Mexique, aux niveaux sociétal, politique et technique. Enfin, le document constate qu’en dépit de certaines innovations au niveau local, il existe un degré important d’entente dans les trois secteurs de politique, ainsi qu’une convergence croissante aux niveaux social, politique et technique. Théoriquement, le document contribue aux récents débats sur la manière d’évaluer la convergence politique ainsi qu’aux débats concernant l’impact de la mondialisation sur la convergence politique. En pratique, le fait de comprendre les dynamiques locales de convergence de la politique en ma- tière d’immigration et de santé, sert à élaborer des politiques et des programmes réalistes et éclairés aux niveaux international, national et local.

IJCS / RIÉC 43, 2011 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

Introduction The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) significantly increased the flow of goods, capital, and labour between the US, Mexico, and Canada. Since NAFTA, however, North American trade and immigration policies, such as the Security and Prosperity Partnership, have not addressed the separate-but-connected issues of the need for labour in many economic sectors and whether to provide amnesty for the millions of undocumented migrants living and working in all three countries of North America. At the federal level, all three nations have been reluctant to reform immigration policy significantly. In the US, after the failure of immigration reform in 2005–2006, the federal government left immigration legislation to state and local jurisdictions (Progressive States Network 2008) where many controversial anti-immigrant laws have since been passed. In 2008 Mexico changed its Constitution in response to US pressure to lessen draconian sanctions against undocumented immigration and reduce human right abuses of migrants; and in 2009 Canada passed Bill C-50 to reduce flows of Mexican migrants. Aside from these policies, US, Canadian, and Mexican, provincial, state, and local actors have had a relatively large degree of slack to generate local-level policy and programs (Lune 2007). Consequently, throughout North America, migration flows have shifted away from county, city, and state jurisdictions that have passed anti- immigrant policies reducing social programs, and toward jurisdictions that have passed more encouraging measures or become Sanctuary Cities. Given the wide range of slack, the shifting nature of (im)migration and the emergence of a diverse range of both pro- and anti-immigrant local-level policy and program innovations, in what direction is policy moving?

This paper assesses convergence between three sets of Canadian, US, and Mexican policies that shape (im)migrant access to health and human services: immigration policies, temporary and foreign labour policies and visa programs, and health and human services policies. At the practical level, understanding immigration and health policy convergence helps to develop realistic and informed policy and programs. Theoretically, the paper contributes to recent debates about how to assess policy convergence, as well as debates about the impact of globalization and neoliberal economic policies on policy convergence.

In debates about policy convergence, many have criticized the assumption that modernization and globalization lead to a convergence of national policies governing areas such as environment, consumer health and safety, and regulation of labour (Bayrakal 2005; Drezner 2005, 2005; Blank and Burau 2006; Park 2002). In one of the few comparative health-policy-convergence studies, Blank and Burau (2006) examine policy convergence in nine industrial countries, showing that clusters of convergence exist primarily at the ideational level, whereas actual practices on the ground continue to vary

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widely across countries. The main problem with convergence theory is that the conceptual framework(s) of convergence studies remains vague. This paper uses Blank and Burau’s multi-level framework to “unpack,” assess, and compare levels of convergence across three policy domains. Blank and Burau suggest a framework that distinguishes between three substantive areas—the social, political, and technical—of health policy and their corresponding goals (intent to deal with common policy problems), content (formal policy), and instruments (institutional tools to administer policy) (see Table 1).

Table 1. Framework—Substantive and Procedural Aspects of Health Policy Convergence*

Substantive aspects of health Procedural Aspects of Health Policy Convergence policy convergence

Policy Goals (Intent) Policy Content Policy Instruments (Meaning) (Mechanisms)

Societal Level (Ideas)

Political Level (Legislation)

Technical Level (Instruments) *Source: (Blank and Burau 2006)

Park (2002) and Bayrakal (2005) also point out that some recent examples of globalization and policy convergence studies focused on “meso- level” interaction among non-state and sub-national actors and institutions, a point that Drezner (2005) and other researchers largely ignore as they focus on state-based regulatory mechanisms. Alternative (non-state and sub-national) regulatory mechanisms (including industry- and sector-specific voluntary agreements, self-regulatory standards, information-based disclosure requirements, and transnational civil society networks) are becoming an important supplement, if not substitute, for traditional state-based government policy making and as such are important for understanding policy innovation and convergence.

Research Methods This project utilized a case study approach (Yin 2003), combining qualitative ethnographic methods (participant observation, in-depth semi-structured interviews, archival research, policy analysis) to gather data for comparative analysis across numerous knowledge domains for each of the cases. Using a mixed methods approach to conduct comparative case studies has become common in the social sciences (Creswell 2003), particularly for researching complicated social and health problems (Needle, Trotter, et al. 2003).

The three cases consist of three separate but overlapping organizational fields (Dimaggio and Powell 1983). The primary research sites were regions in Canada, the US, and Mexico where large numbers of (Latino) transnational migrants and immigrants live as members of either sending or

85 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes receiving communities, and where there exist significant bi- and trilateral US–Mexico–Canada health initiatives. These regions were Ontario, Canada (Leamington, Windsor, Toronto, Ottawa); Central Mexico (State of Mexico, Federal District, Puebla); and California (Los Angeles, San Diego).

In-depth interviews were conducted with actors from three knowledge and action domains: (a) state public health policy and program decision- makers; (b) representatives of community-based NGOs; and (c) representatives of transnational organizations (foundations, development agencies, and international NGOs) working within and across North American borders on migrant and immigrant health. Participant observation also occurred at key events, including applied health forums, conferences, health policy planning meetings and civil society events in Mexico, Canada, and the US. Finally, a historical comparative analysis of archival data, such as health policy documents, conference and workshop proceedings, and organizational literature (including brochures, websites, annual reports, and internal documents) was conducted to provide a foundation for the multiple sources of qualitative ethnographic data. Data from interviews, participant observation, and archival documents were triangulated to generate a historical comparative analysis of trends, patterns, and explanations for levels of policy convergence (or divergence). Data was organized into three comparative matrixes to assess the societal, political, and technical aspects of policy convergence (see Tables 3a, 3b, 3c).2

Framework for Assessing Health Policy Convergence The analytic framework assesses (dis)agreement between policy goals, content, and instruments, at societal, political, and technical levels. The societal level refers to larger immigration policies that can shape (im)migrant access to citizenship and therefore to health and social services. At the social level it’s important to remember that the funding and administration of health services in the US, Canada, and Mexico are significantly different. Canada and Mexico mandate the constitutional right of citizens to health care and have socialized health care systems that are more “open” to migrants. The US, in contrast, operates largely on a private model with some public services and programs for the elderly, poor, and children, and in some cases for migrants.

At the political level, the focus is on (im)migrant policies and programs, such as the H-2 Visa Program in the US, the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) in Canada, and the Mexico–Guatemala Temporary Agricul- tural Worker Program. Existing within or alongside these temporary worker programs are policies and programs directed specifically at migrant health. For example, Canada’s SAWP mandates immediate access to health care for migrants by mandating that workers purchase private medical insurance for the first 90 days in Canada. After that, access to “free” provincial medical care

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begins. For Mexican (im)migrants in the US, the Mexican government provides information about health services through consular “Health Counters” (Ventanillas de Salud) and the Binational Health Week. Mexico also provides health care to returning Mexican (im)migrants via the Programa Paisano (Countryman Program), Vete y Regresa Sano (Leave and Return Healthy) and the Programa Salud del Migrante (Migrant Health Program).

The technical level focuses on the implementation of policy and the mechanisms by which actors do the actual work of “managing” (by enfor- cing, ignoring, or challenging) laws and policy and serving (or not) the (im) migrant population. At this level, the linkages (and disconnects) between policy convergence and sub-national, non-state actors become more evident, particularly the role of civil society actors in policy and program innovation and creating “alternative regulatory mechanisms” (Park 2002).

Population Focus It is estimated that more than 28 million Latin American and Caribbean people live outside their country of origin (Sohnen 2008). Yet only 3.7% of Latin Americans abroad have access to social security benefits and “advanced portability” regulated by bilateral agreements. Simply stated, immigration in North America is stratified into two main classes. The first class consists of those who have high levels of education and skills, work in the professional sector, and have permanent or temporary (i.e., the H-1B Visa in the US) legal status. The second class consists of temporary foreign labour with lower levels of education who work in manual fields or agricultural labour (i.e. the H-2A or H-2B Visa in the US), and those with undocumented status. The focus of this paper is on the second class of (im)migrants (see Table 2).

In the US, the size of the temporary worker population was approximately 6,151,042 in 2006–2007 (Wedemeyer 2006; Office of Immigration Statistics 2007). In Canada about 25,000 workers entered via the SAWP in 2007 (Gibb 2006). Mexico also relies on about 100,000 temporary labourers from Central America, who work in agriculture and construction (OIM 2003). In terms of undocumented labour, in the US, the size of the undocumented population is estimated at 11.6 million (Hoefer, Rytina, and Baker 2009). Canada’s undocumented population is much smaller, estimated at between 35,000–200,000 (Gibb 2006; Crepeau and Nakache 2006). Mexico’s undocumented population is estimated at 240,269, the majority of whom are from Guatemala and Honduras (OIM 2003).

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Table 2. Legal, Temporary, and Undocumented Immigrants in Canada, the US, and Mexico

Type Origin Canada US Mexico

Legal Mexico 36,225 (2001) 10.4 million (2007) n/a

Central America 108,085 (2001) 2.5 million (2007) 44,300 (2000)

Temporary Mexico 15,000 (2007) 6,146,122 (2006) n/a

Central America 8,405 (2001) 4,920 (2007) 79,253–100,000 (2001–2002) (Guatemala)

Undocumented Total 35,000–200,000 (2007) 11.6 million (2009) 240,269 (2005) Sources: Department of Homeland Security 2007; International Organization for Migration (IOM, 2003); Office of Immigration Statistics 2006; Pew Hispanic Center 2006; Gibb 2006; Batalova 2008.

Assessing Levels of Policy Convergence Societal Level The societal level encompasses the dominant values and norms that shape debates and changes in immigration and temporary labour policy, and health and social service policy. In general, despite sharing many of the same labour needs, each country has a distinctive stance toward immigration policy and assimilation (See “Policy Goals” in Table 3a). The US is considered a “melting pot” in which immigrants blend and assimilate; Canada is a multiculturalist “mosaic” of distinct cultures; Mexico, by contrast is highly nationalistic (Lazos 2008; Watson 2006; Waller 2006).

Table 3a. Framework for Assessing Health Policy Convergence—SOCIETAL LEVEL

Mexico US Canada

Policy Goals Nationalist Assimilationist/Melting Pot Multiculturalist/Mosaic

-Immigration reform -Increase labour mobility, decrease labour protection via visa programs -Securitization of borders and migration control/enforcement -The protection of human rights of migrants and the right to asylum

Policy Content -Limited Immigration reform

-Mexican law of 1974 (H.R.4437 vs. S.2611) (Bill C-50) -2008 population law -Reform visa programs -Reform visa programs -Anti-immigrant policies -Amnesty and regularization (reduction of social services)

Policy Instruments -Militarized/Securitized Border

-$ penalties prison, deportation -Deportation or amnesty/ asylum

A review of the main policy documents and debates in each country reveals that the tensions centre on “enforcement” versus “asylum” based approaches to deal with unauthorized immigrants (and their access to labour and health and social services; see Policy Content, Table 3a). On the enforcement side, all three nations have increased border security and enforcement as evidenced in the tri-lateral 2005 Security and Prosperity Partnership of

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North America, which promotes security integration and recommended the development of unified visa and refugee regulations by 2010 (Crepeau and Nakache 2006). However, only the US and Mexico have taken security implementation to the extent of militarizing their southern borders. Despite all three nations agreeing on the need for immigration reform to meet labour needs and resolve the problem of unauthorized migration, none have enacted any comprehensive measures, leaving large amounts of “slack” (Herold, Jayaraman, and Narayanaswamy 2006; Lune 2007) for local actors to interpret and innovate policy and programs at the state/provincial and local level.

In the US, the failure of immigration reform led to the introduction of another failed Bill, HR4437, one of a growing number of “enforcement only” immigration reform bills, making it a felony to be an undocumented non-citizen or to offer non-emergency assistance to an undocumented non-citizen. HR4437 sparked weeks of large nationwide demonstrations in support of immigrant rights and reform, including a national strike, school walk-outs, and consumer boycott on May 1, 2006 (Wedemeyer 2006). Bill HR4437 eventually died in the Senate, but Bill S.2611 was passed in its place, which has many of the same enforcement provisions as HR4437, but also includes a guest worker program that provides a path to residency and an amnesty provision that allows undocumented immigrants to become legal residents if they meet several requirements and pay a stiff fine. The enforcement approach of S.2611 includes implementation measures such as high profile workplace raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the temporary deployment of 6,000 National Guard troops to support the Border Patrol along the southern border, the hiring of 6,000 new Border Patrol agents by 2008, and building 700 miles of new fencing along the Mexican border (Wedemeyer 2006).

Amnesty approaches are less visible, but still popular in the US. The Pew Hispanic Center’s 2006 report on American public opinion finds that a significant majority of Americans see illegal immigration as a serious problem. However, a significant majority of Americans also believe that illegal immigrants are taking jobs Americans do not want, and favour measures to allow illegal immigrants currently in the US to remain in the country, either as permanent residents and eventual citizens, or as temporary workers who will eventually go home. American polls also indicate a majority in favour of amnesty (as permanent residents, eventual citizens, or temporary workers) over deportation (Pew Hispanic Center 2006). The proliferation of Sanctuary Cities (discussed further below) in the US is another indicator that amnesty approaches are widespread.

In comparison to the US and Canada, Mexico has the most restrictive immigration policy, denying until 2008 all fundamental rights to non-citizens and treating undocumented (im)migrants as criminals. In particular, Mexico’s

89 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes treatment of Central American migrants is characterized by violence and human rights abuses. For example, in March 2008, Univision.com reported that Central American migrants were being persecuted by the Mexican police. The report stated that “the level of brutality seen during a police operation against undocumented migrants near a train station in Central Mexico, where a local man was killed because of the color of his skin and the style of his clothes seemed Central American” was unprecedented (Abusos de ilegales en México 2008). Witnesses (citizens and migrants) and reporters have provided evidence that the police “hunt” migrants at night and sexually abuse female migrants; migrants regularly report to human rights workers how they are victims of police, soldiers, and citizens that rob, rape, beat, and even kill migrants. Despite—or perhaps because of—such extreme anti-immigrant sentiment, many Mexican civil society actors have organized to meet the legal, health, and human service needs of Central American migrants in Mex- ico (Tobar 2008).

Canada has a different history of immigration policy than either the US or Mexico. In the case of unauthorized migrants, Canada takes an amnesty- first approach, providing the undocumented with asylum as their case makes it through the immigration system. A big question for most undocumented cases is whether they can legitimately claim asylum or are simply economic migrants. Very few Mexican asylum cases are accepted because most are seen as economic migrants; however, while their case is making its way through the system, the migrant often gets “lost” in the country so that by the time the deportation order comes through, he or she is untraceable.

Despite its relative historical openness to immigration, the majority of Canadians (two-thirds according to a Citizenship and Immigration Canada poll) favour deportation of illegal immigrants, even if they had family ties, “because they did not follow the rules” (Aubry 2007). In contrast, American polls indicate a majority in favour of amnesty over deportation (Pew Hispanic Center 2006). Canada’s recent shift from a Liberal government (2003–2006) to a Conservative one in February 2006 has shaped its recent stance on immigration. Increasingly, Canada is following the US model of tightened security on the border and using ICE-style immigration raids of the employers of undocumented workers (No One Is Illegal 2009). This shift is indicated by changes in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act proposed by Bill C-50 in 2009, which give the Conservative government considerable power in deciding immigration quotas, giving priority to specific immigration categories, and refusing applications (No One is Illegal 2008; Campion-Smith 2008). Specifically, in an attempt to deal with the large number of Mexicans claiming asylum, Bill C-50 mandates a new, somewhat controversial visa requirement for Mexicans; no visa has been previously required for Canadians visiting Mexico.

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Access to Health and Human Services for (Im)migrants in the US, Mexico and Canada Debates about immigrant use of public health care show the conflict between the goal of providing care, and enforcement-based immigration policies that deny access to care (Field Costich 2002). In Mexico, the US, and Canada, access to health and human services for migrant workers is viewed by public health and civil society actors as a human and labour right. At the societal level, all three nations have signed international documents supporting protection of the human rights of migrants (Crepeau and Nakache 2006), but policy implementation and enforcement at the local level is difficult, particularly in southern Mexico and along the US–Mexico border. As a result, the vast majority of health and human service providers in each country enact a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy by ignoring existing statutory barriers to health care for undocumented (im)migrants. The discordance between public health practices and immigration policy opens up space for local-level innovation; such innovative practices are observed at the political and technical levels of the policy assessment framework.

Political Level (Anti) Immigrant Policy in Canada, the US, and Mexico The political level compares specific policies that structure immigration and health systems, including state and municipal immigration laws, temporary and foreign labour programs, and migrant health policies and programs (see Table 3b). Given the lack of comprehensive immigration reform at the national level in all three countries, each state and province has much leeway to pass laws and create programs that structure access to labour rights and health care for migrants.

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Table 3b. Framework for Assessing Health Policy Convergence—POLITICAL LEVEL

Mexico US Canada

Policy Goals Immigration and labour programs: Increase labour mobility Health services: Provide assistance to poor and undocumented

Policy Content: -Anti-immigrant -Pro-immigrant (Anti)Immigrant Immigration and Refugee -Mexican law of 1974 (denies -Policies deny access to Protection Act 2001 basic rights to all non citizens) social and health services -2008 population law (AZ HB 2699/HR 2779; CA Prop 187; GA HR 256; OK HB 1804)

Policy Content: Reform temporary labour visa programs Labour Programs

Mexico–Guatemala Temporary H2A and B Visa program -Seasonal Agricultural Agricultural Worker Program Worker Program (SAWP) (Canada–Mexico and Canada–Guatemala)

Policy Content: Access via: Access via: Access via: Health Services -Consular “health counters” -HRSA Migrant Health -Seasonal Agricultural -Binational Health Week Centers Workers Program—90 day -Programa Paisano wait for provincial services -Vete y regresa sano -Programa Salud del Migrante -Visa access to health services for Central Americans

Policy Instruments: -ICE raids by police and Labour immigration enforcement

n/a -Unions (US 2006; Canada 2008)

Policy Instruments: -Migrant/public health centres Health -Consulates -Community-based organizations

In the US, “States have displayed an unprecedented level of activity—and have developed a variety of their own approaches and solutions” (National Conference of State Legislators 2008). For example, according to the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) Immigrant Policy Project (NCSL 2006; NCSL 2008), “state legislators have introduced almost three times more bills in 2007 (1,562) than in 2006 (570) and the number of enactments from 2006 (84) has nearly tripled to 240 in 2007.” Much of the legislation focused on restrictions in the areas of employment, health, identification, drivers and other licenses, law enforcement, public benefits, and human trafficking. As a result of the climate of fear produced by anti- immigrant policies, many immigrants have stopped shopping or going to church and have closed bank accounts (Constable 2008; Southern Poverty Law Center 2007), and may also limit use of social and health services (Field Costich 2002). Another result is increasing internal migration away from anti-immigrant areas (such as Oklahoma and Arizona) to more immigrant friendly regions in the US (Archibold 2008; Pinkerton 2008).

In addition to fleeing conservative states for more liberal locales in the US, immigrants are also moving north, into Canada. Canada has had an historical commitment to immigrant and refugee rights, affirmed in 2001

92 Canada–US–Mexico Integration: Assessing (Im)Migrant1 Health Policy Convergence with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. In September 2007 the Windsor–Peel, Ontario area experienced an “explosion” of Mexican migrants claiming refugee status (Hall 2008; Waldie, Freeman, and Perkins 2007). However, Mexican applicants for refugee status in Canada are usually denied because they are seen as economic migrants, not refugees. Yet once in Can- ada, while waiting for their claim to clear the system (a process that could take years), the Mexican claimant is given a work permit and a health card, and as time passes, often becomes part of the growing non-status population living and working in Canada (Canadian Council for Refugees 2007; Goldring, Berinstein, and Bernhard 2007).

As stated above, Mexico has had the most restrictive immigration policy until 2008. Despite the change in law, the practice of illegal immigration is still viewed as a criminal act. In March 2008, because of media and civil society outrage, Jorge Bustamante (the “Relator Especial” for the Mexican Human Rights Commission) exhorted the Mexican Government to fulfill their responsibility on Mexico’s southern border. “What we do to the Central Americans that come into our country without papers,” he stated, “does not qualify us as an exemplar country. There are human rights violations worse than what happens to our countrymen in the US” (Ballinas and Becerril 2008).

Policy Content and Instruments: Temporary and Foreign Labour Programs in Canada, the US, and Mexico The current trend in immigration policies of most major countries is to reduce permanent settlement of unskilled labour in favour of “re-forming” temporary migration visa programs. The core for implementing US, Mexican, and Can- adian immigration and labour policy is visa programs that release a limited amount of temporary skilled labour (H-1) visas, as well as a larger number of temporary unskilled (agriculture H-2A and seasonal H-2B labour) visas. The effect is a two-tiered system that favours employer use of cheap, temporary, foreign labour. At the societal level, all three countries acknowledge that there is a need to reform existing temporary labour programs and policy in order to meet long-term demands for labour and prevent the abuse of workers. Yet at the political level, debates have focused on expanding and streamlining temporary visa programs in ways to make it easier for employers and the government to increase labour mobility and provide foreign workers with a fewer labour protections. Below, I outline the content of instruments of US, Canadian, and Mexican visa programs, including the rights and responsibilities of employers and workers, and program abuses and sanctions.

The US H-1, H-2A, and H2-B Visa Programs To (im)migrate to the US, individuals can apply for either an H-1 or an H-2 visa. H-1 visas are granted to highly skilled individuals (professionals). This paper focuses on workers entering with H-2A visas (seasonal agricultural

93 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes workers) and H-2B visas (temporary non-agricultural workers in industries such as forestry, construction, landscaping, services, meat and vegetable packing, fishing, tourism, etc.). In 2007 the US admitted 87,316 H-2A visa workers, 79,394 of whom were from Mexico (US Citizenship and Immigration Services 2008). The top receiving US states were North Carolina (25% of labour cer- tifications), Georgia (13.9%), and Virginia (9.2%) (Wedemeyer 2006). In 2007 the US also admitted 154,892 workers on H-2B visas, with 105,244 returning back to Mexico (US Citizenship and Immigration Services 2008).

Despite the fact that H-2A and H-2B visa holders are supposed to guarantee worker rights and protections, abuses are common (Wedemeyer 2006; Bauer 2007; Farmworker Justice 2008). For example, employers frequently use the non-agricultural H-2B labour certification to import agricultural workers (especially in the area of packing produce) because the H-2B visa is less costly to obtain than the H2-A visa. Other documented examples of the exploitation of H2-B workers include being cheated of wages, being denied overtime pay, being held captive by employers who “hold” worker identity documents, being forced to live in unhealthy conditions, and being denied medical benefits (Bauer, 2007). Workers are also often recruited by firms that charge them for visas (i.e. $2,500 for a Guatemalan worker, $20,000 for an Asian worker) and transportation; often workers go into debt just to get a visa to work in the US. “Workers are systematically exploited because the very structure of the program places them as the mercy of a single employer and provides no realistic means for workers to exercise the few rights they have” (Farmworker Justice 2008). As well, evidence from H-2B court cases shows that employers and recruiters discriminate by gender as they steer women into H-2B visas while reserving H-2A visas for men; employers and recruiters are also notorious for discriminating on the basis of age (Bauer 2007; Wedemeyer 2006). As documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, if guest workers complain, they face deportation, arbitrary firings, and blacklisting or other forms of retaliation (Southern Poverty Law Center 2007).

One of “the most unacceptable aspect of guest worker programs is the limitation placed on the mobility of imported workers within the labour market, which goes against the very grain of liberal democratic principles” (Griffith 2006). According to Griffith and others, the exploitative nature of the temporary and seasonal visa programs⎯linked to the unbalanced power relations between employers and workers⎯is akin to slavery or indentured servitude. Additionally, the implementation of guest worker programs is characterized by a lack of Department of Labour (DOL) enforcement of employer violations. Moreover, in cases where the DOL is aware of employer violations, it frequently takes no legal action (Bauer 2007; Wedemeyer 2006; Farmworker Justice 2008). The DOL has been silent despite the fact that since its inception the agricultural sector has used the H-2A program to import cheap foreign labour, even when there are domestic labour surpluses.

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The Canadian Seasonal/Temporary Agricultural Worker Program In 1974 Canada and Mexico formed the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Pro- gram (SAWP) Mexico–Canada (Trejo García and Álvarez Romero 2007) and in 2007 issued approximately 25,000 visas, 15,000 to Mexican workers. The general framework and implementation are similar to the US H-2A visa. Like the US program, Canada’s SAWP provides certain social protections to the migrant (pension plan contributions, vacation pay, workers’ compensation, health care). Again, employer abuses are amply documented, but accessing legal rights is problematic because workers are either uninformed or wary of claiming entitlements for fear of blacklisting and deportation (Farmworker Justice 2008; McLaughlin 2008; Preibisch 2007; Petrich 2005).

Mexico–Guatemala Temporary Agricultural Labour Program The temporary foreign worker flows of Central Americans on Mexico’s southern border have increased in number, geographic scope, and economic sectors from the mid-1900s to present (Trabajadores Migratorios Temporales en la Frontera Sur de México 2005). Low economic development and high poverty rates cause many Central Americans to migrate to Mexico’s southern border (and the US and Canada) to work in the agricultural sector. Most work is in the coffee sector in Chiapas, however, new labour markets in service and construction have emerged where migrants can earn double or triple the average salary. As in the US and Canada, the visa stipulates the migrant can only work for one employer, has the right to social security and medical care, and has the right to receive minimum wage. However, given the backlog and the deficiencies in the National Migration Institute’s (INM) ability to process documents (specifically Forma Migratoria para Visitante Agrícola (FMVA), many migrants arrive in Mexico without documents; furthermore the FMVA in Chiapas is granted within the Mexican territory, i.e., while Guatemalans are already in Mexico. Entering without documents is relatively easy, as the Guatemala–Mexico border has many puntos ciegos (blind spots) where an indeterminate number of both documented and undocumented workers cross in both directions daily (Herrera Ruiz 2003).

Given its level of disorganization, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) acknowledges that “the labor market across the border between Guatemala and Mexico has traditionally posed practices in which the minimum protection guarantees are diminished for labor rights of temporary migrant workers, affecting directly the social and economic labor conditions of the worker and his family” (OIM 2003, 4). Finally, in early 2008, the Mex- ican National Human Rights Commission opened investigation into the treatment of Guatemalan guest workers after media reports exposed bad working conditions, the use of child labour, and human trafficking (Hernández Navarro 2008; Abusos de ilegales en México 2008; Shepard-Durni 2008).

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Policy Content and Instruments: Health Programs for Migrants Alongside temporary and foreign labour visa programs, Mexico, the US, and Canada have developed a range of health policies and programs specifically for migrants with and without visas. Shared health problems have been a concern for the three countries since the early 1900s, when the first bilateral (US–Canada and US–Mexico) agreements were created to prevent animal-borne diseases. In the case of health policy, much more programming has occurred between the US and Mexico rather than the US and Canada or Canada and Mexico, largely because of rising rates of infectious disease (TB, hepatitis, HIV, etc.) in the populated, sister-city border areas shared by the US and Mexico (Collins-Dogrul 2007). In 1967 the Binational TB Com- mission was created, representing the first human health policy agreement between the US and Mexico. The next significant human health policy agreement, however, did not occur until the 1994 Border Health Commission Act, when the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) created the US–Mexico Border Health Task Force. To implement its migrant health programs, HRSA funds 1,612 migrant health centres distributed throughout the US. It is estimated that HRSA-funded health centre programs serve more than one-quarter of all migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the United States. In 2007 alone, HRSA-funded migrant health centres served more than 826,977 migrant or seasonal farmworkers and their families (HRSA 2007; Laws 2002).

In 2000 the US–Mexico Border Health Task Force created the first truly bilateral health organization—the US–Mexico Border Health Commission (USMBHC). Two of the most successful USMBHC health programs—organized with the Mexican government and health system—are the US–Mex- ico Binational Health Week and the Ventanillas de Salud (Health Counters) Program. As described above, the Health Counters are modules located in the Mexican consulates of 23 US states, where culturally competent outreach workers explain existing health insurance programs and inform the Mexican- origin population of available health services. The Health Counters program started in 2002 in the Los Angeles and San Diego consulates in collaboration with the Mexican consulate and community-based organizations.

In addition to providing services to Mexican migrants in both the US and Mexico, the Mexican Health Ministry provides services to the large population of Central American migrants on its southern border. The Ley Federal de Trabajo establishes the labour and health care rights of both nationals and foreign migrants. The temporary agricultural worker program between Mexico and Guatemala also establishes the right to health care for foreign migrants with a visa yet implementation of this policy is non-existent or weak at best. According to Rudolfo Casillas, a researcher with FLACSO, even though employers in Tapachula formed a network and signed an agreement with the

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Instituto México de Seguro Social (Mexican Social Security Institute, IMSS) to provide care to migrant workers, it left a significant number of migrants not covered. Additionally, many Central American migrants do not even know they have the right to access care or know how to access the IMSS system.

Compared to the long-term development of US–Mexico border health, Canada’s political and organizational response to migrant health is nascent yet robust. Unlike the US and Mexico, Canada’s visa program gives authorized migrants access to the Canadian public health system (for a fee) and many community health centres operate on a “don’t ask don’t tell” policy, providing services to all regardless of immigration status (Trejo García and Álvarez Romero 2007). Yet problems with accessing care still exist, in part due to language barriers and lack of knowledge of how to utilize the Canadian health system, but also because most migrants live and work in rural zones where health services are sparse and access is a problem even for Canadian citizens.

Technical Level Enforcers versus Providers The technical aspects of policy convergence include the actors, mechanisms, instruments, and strategies by which policy is implemented. In terms of the goals of policy at the technical level, all three countries converge on several points (see Table 3c): 1) the need to control (and reform) the (im)migration process; 2) the need to provide a limited amount of social services and health care to (im)migrant farmworkers; and 3) to shift the burden of care and enforcement to regional and local actors. An assessment of policy content at the technical level clearly indicates agreement toward expanding and shifting service provision and immigration enforcement to local and regional police, doctors, educators, employers, and community-based organizations (CBOs). The increasing involvement of regional and local Canadian, US, and Mexican civil society organizations in responding to (im)migrant health and human rights issues is a product of the global trends toward inclusive neo-liberalism in which North American countries have “shifted away from federal government control to greater roles for sub-national governments and civil society actors” (Mahon and Macdonald 2007).

While there are many technical aspects to implementing these policies, here I highlight the roles of “enforcer” and “provider” instruments (as mechanisms and/or actors). Unlike previous studies that indicate little convergence at the technical level (Blank and Burau 2006), this study shows considerable agreement (indicated by merged cells in the table) of technical-level policy goals, content, and instruments.

97 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

Table 3c. Substantive and Procedural Framework for Assessing Health Policy Convergence— TECHNICAL (ENFORCER/PROVIDER) LEVEL

Mexico US Canada

Goals: -Immigration control -Provide limited social services and health care -Shift burden of care and enforcement to regional and local actors

Content: Expand and shift service provision and immigration control/enforcement to local and regional police, doctors, educators

Instruments: Enforcer US–MEXICO US–CANADA -Border militarization -Border securitization -Plan Mexico/Mérida Initiative

-Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (2005) -ICE raids and deportation -Requirements for doctors, teachers, police, etc. to profile and report

Instruments: Provider -Reliance on CBO services and advocacy (don’t ask don’t tell) -Sanctuary City movement (State of Mexico; 120+ Sanctuary Cities in US; Toronto)

First, all three countries have enacted post 9/11 border security policies that support increasing control of their borders (Crepeau and Nakache 2006). As stated above, the trilateral 2005 Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America promotes security integration and recommends the development of unified visa and refugee regulations by 2010. While Canada has agreed to increase border security and harmonize visa requirements, it has not gone as far as the US and Mexico, both of which have effectively militarized their southern borders.

Alongside the amplification of local policing resources dedicated to immigration enforcement in North America, are increasing numbers of high profile raids by Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE) that target unauthorized (im)migrants (vs. employers). In the US, arrests of undocumented workers grew by 750% between 2002 and 2006; and there has been a trend toward large-scale immigration raids arresting between 99–1,200 workers at a time. These tactics have a humanitarian cost, resulting in the separation of children from parents, often for months at a time (Abraham 2008). Canadian immigration officials have adopted the US ICE-raid strategy and increased raids targeting (im)migrants (vs. employers), as evidenced by actions at a number of workplaces in Southern Ontario, arresting and detaining approximately one hundred unauthorized workers in Spring and Summer 2009 (No One Is Illegal 2009).

The Sanctuary City Movement As a response to rising anti-immigrant sentiment and the militarization of borders, citizens in a number of US, Canadian, and Mexican states and cities have established Sanctuary Cities (SRE 2007). In the US, the Sanctuary City movement is widespread—all but 22 states have sanctuary cities (there are just over 120 cities in total), and Oregon, Alaska, and Maine are Sanctu-

98 Canada–US–Mexico Integration: Assessing (Im)Migrant1 Health Policy Convergence ary States. Some innovative local strategies include a San Francisco (which passed its Sanctuary City ordinance in 1989) city-sponsored public service campaign to assure undocumented immigrants that they are welcome and safe (McKinley 2008). In another response to anti-immigrant legislation passed in Prince William, Frederick, and Anne Arundel counties in Maryland, where immigrants have become afraid to attend church, drive, or go to the bank for fear of having a run-in with the local police (Constable 2008), Prince George and Montgomery counties (in Maryland) have publicized their support for new service centres for migrants and/or have taken a hands-off approach to immigration enforcement (“Anne Arundel goes after illegals” 2007).

Sanctuary Cities are spreading across North America. Canada started its own Sanctuary City movement in Toronto in 2009, and in Mexico, the mayor of Ecatepec (a suburb in the state of Mexico where migrants catch a freight train that arrives at the US–Mexico border) declared his city a sanctuary for illegal immigrants from Central America (Tobar 2008). Sanctuary Cities are a destination of migrants and immigrants fleeing less immigrant-friendly locales; however, such cities bear the brunt of the costs and benefits of migrants and immigrants (Juozapavicius 2008).

Conclusion It is widely recognized that the North American economy benefits from migrant remittances, and that the labour market benefits as immigrants and migrants create more jobs and demand for goods and services (Fix 1994). It is less well-known that the migrant and immigrant labour-force pays a high price in terms of reduced well-being and productivity due to poor working conditions, exposure to pesticides, poor housing, and limited access to health services. Explanations for lack of access have typically focused on “internal” factors that reduce access to health care—problems possessed by the migrant or immigrant, such as financial, linguistic, and cultural barriers. Also important—but receiving less attention—are “external” factors that shape access to health care, such as 1) national sovereignty issues (who is “responsible” for migrants; legal/citizenship issues), 2) diversity of organizational actors and interests, 3) negative public opinion and anti-immigrant legislation. This paper assesses the external policy factors that shape migrant health and human service access.

At the societal level there is a strong degree of agreement between the US, Mexico, and Canada regarding the goals of immigration and migration reform, however given Canada’s multiculturalist immigration policy, the US and Mexico are closer in policy content and instruments. The political level also shows trilateral convergence regarding goals to increase temporary labour mobility while decreasing labour protection and providing limited services via public health and community-based organizations. Canada is also

99 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes moving closer to the US in terms of instruments—i.e., increasing use of ICE- like immigration raids and the increasing role and importance of community organizations in providing health and human services to farmworkers. Finally, a strong degree of agreement in policy goals, content, and instruments also exists at the technical level in terms of expanding immigration control and enforcement by shifting gate-keeping (profiling) duties to local and regional police, doctors, educators, and social service providers, as well as increase the use of ICE-like immigration raids and mass deportations. On the provider side, there is increasing reliance on community-based services and advocacy (via “don’t ask don’t tell” practices) and the spread of the Sanctuary City movement from the US to Mexico and Canada.

In sum, this policy convergence study assesses societal, political, and technical levels of society across various policy domains (goals, content, and instruments) and finds a large degree of policy convergence at all levels. How is such agreement possible given that ample federal slack provides space for developing a diverse range of local policy and program innovations? One possibility for the surprising amount of policy convergence is the spread of local information via transnational civil society networks that inform and shape policy and program innovation and implementation. This possibility assumes that civil society networks can play a role in developing policy and programs “from below” in ways that both challenge existing political power structures and produce policy convergence. Local actors have certainly been given a central role in program service provision, yet the degree to which civil society actors are integrated into—versus given a “parallel space” for— the policy-making process is a question that remains to be explored

Notes 1. (Im)migrant is spelled and punctuated as such to indicate that the paper addresses both migrant and immigrant 2. policies, as well as to indicate that in the case of the population under study migrant vs. immigrant status can be interchangeable. 3. Note: Policy convergence, or agreement, is indicated by merging cells in the tables.

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Playing Promotional Politics: Mythologizing Hockey and Manufacturing “Ordinary” Canadians

Abstract Over 15 years ago, Andrew Wernick described a new stage of promotion within the mainstream politics of advanced capitalist democracies through which political dialogue was effectively subsumed by the language and practices of contemporary marketing and image-making spectacles. In this article, we examine how the national sport of hockey and its associated traditions and cultural identities continue to be mythologized and deployed in the new millennium for the purpose of contemporary political promotional strategies. We argue that, as a central element of national popular culture, hockey remains the pre-eminent signifier of a particular ‘brand’ of Canadianness for the current federal Conservative Government as it massages its neoliberal political platform to a demographic of imagined, “ordinary Canadians”—a key concept of neoliberal discourse that is redefining citizenship and identity across contemporary Canada.

Résumé Il y a plus de 15 ans, Andrew Wernick a décrit un nouveau stade de promotion, au sein de la politique des démocraties capitalistes évoluées, dans le cadre duquel le dialogue politique était effectivement subsumé par le langage et les pratiques contemporaines de commercialisation et de créa- tion d’images. Ici, nous examinons la manière dont notre sport national, le hockey, et ses traditions et identités culturelles connexes continuent d’être des éléments mythiques et d’être déployés dans le nouveau millénaire à des fins de stratégies politiques promotionnelles contemporaines. Nous avançons que, en tant qu’élément central de culture populaire nationale, le hockey reste le signifiant d’une marque particulière de « Canadianité » pour le gouvernement fédéral conservateur actuel alors qu’il modèle sa plate-forme politique néolibérale pour en faire un élément démographique de Canadiens ordinaires – un concept clé de discours néolibéral qui redéfinit la citoyenneté et l’identité dans tout le Canada contemporain.

Introduction The CBC usually has a half-hour with the Prime Minister [PM] for his year- end interview. This year, however, the Corp. was offered 15 minutes … with Stephen Harper.... Now this is revealing as the Harper government is no fan of the media and many Conservatives especially don’t like the CBC, believing it is left-of-centre and does not treat the Harper government fairly. Com-

IJCS / RIÉC 43, 2011 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes pare this with CTV. The network got its usual hour-long interview…. The [CTV] … journalists asked the Prime Minister about his love/hate affair with the national media. Mr. Harper said he likes to do interviews “when I have something to say. Otherwise, I don’t.... think that’s what Canadians expect.… They don’t expect the prime minister to aspire to be a media star as an end in itself.” Meanwhile, the reluctant media star is appearing in two 15-second spots on TSN to promote the IIHF World Junior Championship, which is taking place over the holidays in the Czech Republic. The hockey-fan PM asks Canadians to watch the series. (Taber, “Stephane Dion” A6)

Political pundit Jane Taber’s year-end column in 2007 revealed a host of fascinating tensions within the Canadian political landscape. While high- lighting the PM’s well documented (e.g. Lawrence Martin) antagonistic—but carefully managed—relationship with the media,1 Taber identifies Harper’s less-than-subtle rebuke of the public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcast- ing Corporation (CBC), in favour of the privately owned CTV network. For many conservatives, including Harper, the CBC is a leftist public institution that holds little relevance in an age of globalization and media deregulation, a sentiment that has fuelled the Conservative Party’s (CP) ongoing attempts to “demonize” the CBC for its perceived partiality (Doyle). Ironically, Harper’s affection for the national game of hockey, like many middle-aged men who grew up in post-war Canada, was cultivated every Saturday night when he watched the CBC’s iconic program, Hockey Night in Canada (Johnson). Taber also adroitly illuminates a consistent media tactic in the political arsenal of both Harper and his Conservative strategists that we seek to excavate critically herein: the ongoing representation of Harper as a hockey fan and scholar of the game, and the (re)production of an imagined national culture as common sense in an effort to target various Canadian electoral constituencies.

Evidenced through the Taber quote is an extension of what Andrew Wernick has described as “promotional politics”—a new stage of promotion within the mainstream politics of advanced capitalist democracies through which political dialogue has been subsumed by the language and practices of contemporary marketing and image-making spectacles. These developments—and the personalization of political figures from across the political spectrum via well-rehearsed and enduring links between nationalism and the mythology (to use Roland Barthes’ terms) of hockey—are certainly not unprecedented in Canadian history.2 In the early 1970s, for example, former PM Pierre Trudeau advanced his domestic and foreign policy agenda and public image by vigorously championing the 1972 Summit Series between Team Canada and the USSR (Macintosh and Hawes). Even prior to the legend- ary series, Trudeau skilfully utilized the National Hockey League’s (NHL) refusal to allow Canadian players from the rival World Hockey Association to represent Team Canada as a promotional opportunity. In response to the

108 Playing Promotional Politics: Mythologizing Hockey and Manufacturing “Ordinary” Canadians

NHL’s contentious decision, Trudeau sent telegrams to the NHL, the NHL Players’ Association, and Hockey Canada:

You are aware of the intense concern, which I share with millions of Canadians in all parts of our country, that Canada should be represented by its best hockey players … in the forthcoming series with the Soviet Union. On behalf of these Canadians, I urge Hockey Canada, the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association to take whatever steps may be necessary to make this possible.… I would ask you to keep the best interests of Canada in mind and to make sure that they are fully respected and served. (qtd. in MacSkimming 17) As Scherer, Duquette, and Mason note, “such a provocative statement was little more than political posturing by Trudeau; the US-dominated NHL had regularly prioritized its economic agenda over Canadian national interest in numerous instances and would continue to do so in the near future” (172). However, Trudeau clearly recognized an opportune moment to articulate a populist and nationalist position in light of his invocation of the War Meas- ures Act in 1970 to quell nationalist forces within Quebec; the failed Vic- toria Charter of 1971; his new Foreign Policy for Canadians (1970), which championed Canada as an international player beyond the shadow of the US (Macintosh and Hawes); and, finally, an upcoming general election that was soon to be called. Beyond this, it should also be noted that Canada’s narrow victory over the USSR “provided the opportunity for many pundits and politicians to celebrate the result as a triumph not only for ‘Canadian virtues’ but also for capitalist liberal democracy—a point frequently portrayed by the players themselves” (Gruneau and Whitson 253).

We want to suggest, however, that there has been a discernable expansion of promotional politics in the new millennium. Indeed, if we return to our initial example, what appears to be on display is an increasingly complex vortex of promotion through which a number of interrelated circuits recursively promote each other in a condensed 15-second televised adver- tisement. That is, in addition to the promotion of an international hockey tournament and its sponsors was the brand marketing of a privately owned sports network, its associated advertisers in search of national audiences, and by extension junior hockey players who arguably exist as emergent national sporting celebrities and potential brands themselves. Moreover, the presence of the PM confirmed to viewers that this event was an event of national significance, thereby linking the politician with a dominant mythology associated with hockey that continues to emphasize patriotism, masculinity, and normality. Also promoted, then, were Harper’s identity and the CP brand as the political party of choice for “ordinary” Canadians who, like the PM, embrace the tradition of watching the World Junior Championships over the Christmas holidays. Such developments speak to the ascendancy of the

109 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes continual image-making practices of contemporary promotional politics in Canada, and by extension, the position of members of the chattering class, like Jane Taber, who play key roles in the circuitry of this new politics of impression management.

In the remainder of this article, we examine how hockey and its associated traditions and cultural identities continue to be deployed in the new millennium for the purpose of contemporary political promotional strategies. We argue that, as a key element of national popular culture, hockey remains the pre-eminent signifier of a particular “brand” of Canadianness for the current federal Conservative Government as it massages its neoliberal political platform to a demographic of imagined, “ordinary Canadians”—a key concept of neoliberal discourse that is redefining citizenship and identity across contemporary Canada (Mackey). Beyond transforming understandings of citizenship and further naturalizing the often unrecognized problematic link between hockey and Canadian identity, we posit that such promotional strategies also function to normalize powerful political elites “ordinary Can- adians” who, at least temporarily, appear on the same level as other citizens, thereby obscuring their class backgrounds and often “unseen” connections and access to the upper echelons of the Canadian business community. These networks have been carefully documented by a number of authors, including the Marxist scholar Leo Panitch who, many years ago, noted “a particularly striking characteristic of the Canadian state—its very close personal ties to the bourgeoisie” (11). Indeed, the vast majority of Canadians would likely be unaware of the close business connections of countless federal leaders, including Paul Martin, Jean Chrétien, and Brian Mulroney, each groomed for political power by billionaire Paul Desmarais Sr., head of Power Corporation (“Paul Desmarais”).

More recently, for example, these normally subterranean politico-economic articulations have been thrust into the public limelight. In 2007 at the North American Leaders’ Summit in Montebello, Quebec, Canadian, US, and Mexican leaders met to discuss the trilateral Security and Prosperity Partner- ship (SPP), which “outlines an agenda for greater cooperation in areas as diverse as security, transportation, the environment and public health” (Gov- ernment of Canada); arguably an agenda that facilitates the neoliberal objective of eliminating barriers to the movement of capital. Its critics maintain the SPP is the three governments’ response to intense corporate lobbying “to speed up the corporate goal of continental economic integration by linking it to US government security demands” post 9/11 (The Council of Canadians). Greeting these leaders were thousands of demonstrators protesting the meeting’s undemocratic and unaccountable nature (“Canada, U.S.”). Germane to our discussion, though, was PM Harper’s response to this democratic protest, which he dismissed as insignificant for “ordinary,” hard working Canadians: “I heard it’s nothing. A couple of hundred? It’s sad” (“Harper dismisses”);

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implicitly Harper assumed “there were no hockey dads [sic] or Tim Hortons customers among them” (Moore A15), two of the central characteristics sym- bolizing the CP’s “ordinary” Canadian.

Harper’s dismissal of such protests is not altogether surprising given his commitment to further entrenching a neoliberal agenda implemented by successive generations of Canadian political and business elites who, com- mencing in the 1980s and gathering full momentum in the 1990s (Cameron), have steered the nation’s political-economic agenda sharply to the right. These policies have targeted the welfare state, decimating publicly funded social programs (e.g., healthcare, education, social support programs for low- income families, etc.), privatizing public programs and institutions, increasing tax cuts, and de-regulating various areas, including labour (e.g., Human Resources and Social Development Canada). The most conspicuous effect of this agenda, however, has been the widening gap between rich and poor Canadians (Yalnizyan). Equally disconcerting is how dissension to this political platform, in terms of democratic rights to free speech through protest, has increasingly been circumvented by state forces (notably the police), taking its cue from state officials (i.e., elected representatives), through violent engagements evidenced by anti-globalization demonstrations dating back to Seattle 1999. Within such logic, dissenters are represented, particularly within political and conservative media discourses, as “extremists,” or in Harper’s case, as “un-Canadian.” Such representations signal “a form of government where corporate CEO’s are regarded as consiglieres and unionists and environmentalists [along with feminists, nationalists, poverty activists, etc.] are troublemakers” (Moore A15).

As Canadians confront what Henry Giroux has labelled the “terror of neo-liberalism”, it is vital, then, to examine when the mythological cultural/ sporting nation is conjured up by various politicos for promotional purposes so that “an affective unity can be posited against the grain of structural div- isions and bureaucratic taxonomies” (Rowe, McKay, and Miller 120). To that end, we offer a critical media analysis of the cultural work that hockey accomplishes for the CP’s public relations strategy that, since 2004, has endeavoured to soften Harper’s image as an uncharismatic, right-wing ideologue, making the PM more palatable to middle- and working-class Canadian voters. While Harper has actively pursued an association with a range of popular sporting practices (e.g., curling, the Canadian Football League, the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, etc.), hockey remains the key element in a promotional arsenal that has habitually marketed him as a passion- ate hockey fan, an avid and dedicated hockey historian, and an “ordinary” Canadian hockey Dad, thereby obscuring his ideological leanings and the effects of the CP’s neoliberal agenda on Canadians. Prior to engaging these issues, however, we map Stephen Harper’s ascendancy to Canada’s highest elected position.

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The Rise of Stephen Harper: The Right Strikes Back The emergence and rebranding of Stephen Harper as a federal political leader is a direct result of the recent reunification of the Canadian Right, in the form of the CP of Canada, and the downfall of the Liberal Party which, in the new millennium, imploded under the weight of a devastating sponsorship scandal. Regarding the former, it is important to note that since the late 1980s, the right-wing vote had been divided between the Reform Party/Canadian Al- liance Party and the PC Party, which, under PM Brian Mulroney, governed Canada from 1984–1993. Led by Albertan Preston Manning, the Reform Party was formed in 1987 by a range of Western interest groups disillusioned with, they argued, the PC’s favouritism towards Quebec, its lack of fiscal responsibility, and its failure to meet the needs of Western Canadians. For example, in 1989, at a Reform convention in Edmonton, Manning delivered his (in)famous “House Divided” speech that disparaged the PC government’s 1986 decision to award a billion-dollar maintenance contract for CF-18 fighter planes to Canadair of Montreal, even though a Winnipeg consortium’s bid was cheaper and judged by the federal government’s own experts to be technically superior. Manning opened his speech with a joke that played on the Calgary Flames’ Stanley Cup championship that temporarily disrupted the Edmonton Oilers’ legacy in the late 1980s:

Last year, in a magnanimous effort to redress regional disparities, Edmonton allowed Calgary to win the Stanley Cup. While it is Edmonton’s nightmare that this might be repeated this season, Les MacPherson of the Saskatoon Star Phoenix had an even worse nightmare. He dreamt that Mulroney and the federal government intervened after last year’s Stanley Cup final to give the cup to Montreal even after Calgary had won the series. (qtd. in Johnson 149) Although initially a PC supporter, Harper became disenchanted with Mulro- ney’s fashion of conservatism, and thus found a welcome home in the Reform Party. After delivering a powerful speech at Reform’s 1987 founding convention in Winnipeg, Harper became the party’s Chief Policy Officer. His speech offered a preliminary indication of his ideological leanings, and singled out the Canadian welfare state as having

grown a highly centralized political culture which is inherently and righteously biased against western Canada….[W]henever challenged, it wraps itself in a flag called “Canadian identity,” “Canadian nationalism,” “national unity,” or the “national interest”….The whole concept of “Canadian culture” no longer means the values and lifestyles of Cana- dians in a diverse country. Instead it means the protection of narrow arts and media interest groups based in Toronto. Unilingualism in Quebec is a legitimate desire—Maitres chez nous. In Manitoba, it is “redneck” and “racist.” (qtd. in Johnson 84)

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While not directly associated with the Reform Party’s extreme social conservative wing, Harper embraced a number of deeply conservative viewpoints, including opposing the legalization of same-sex marriages. Elected as a Calgary MP in 1993, Harper had a strained relationship with Manning and the Reform Party over the next four years. While Manning sought a more populist approach representing the rural resource-producing regions, Harper believed the Reform Party needed to target a broader constituency of Canadians by emphasizing conservative social values consistent with the traditional family, the market economy, and patriotism. These strategies, he anticipated, would appeal to those parts of the urban middle- and working- classes, and rural constituents who agreed with those values (Wells). As Harper saw it, “the real challenge is ... the social agenda of the modern Left. Its system of moral relativism, moral neutrality and moral equivalency is beginning to dominate its intellectual debate and public-policy objectives” (“Rediscovering the Right” 6). Significantly, this political discrepancy would foreshadow the terrain of cultural values upon which Harper and the newly formed CP would wage their promotional campaign for the hearts, minds, and ultimately votes of Canadians. However, after realizing that he was unlikely to defeat the more populist Manning, Harper quit the Reform caucus in 1997, and became president of the National Citizens’ Coalition, an “organization that stands for the defence and promotion of free enterprise, free speech and government that is accountable to its taxpayers” (National Citizens Coalition).

Despite his departure from the federal political landscape, Harper maintained close ties with other Western-based conservatives, and carefully followed the Reform Party’s trials and tribulations. During this time, he was a frequent commentator in the media; predictably, his columns found a home in the conservative-leaning National Post. His most infamous column appeared in 2001 as an “Open Letter” to Alberta Premier Ralph Klein. Titled “The Alberta Agenda,” Harper and other prominent conservatives, including University of Calgary3 political scientists Tom Flanagan and Ted Morton, argued that Alberta should: withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan and the Canada Health Act, collect revenue from personal income tax instead of the federal government , and create an Albertan provincial police force to replace the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Or, as the authors argued: “It is imperative to take the initiative, to build firewalls around Alberta, to limit the extent to which an aggressive and hostile federal government can encroach upon legitimate provincial jurisdiction” (qtd. in Flanagan 23). Nevertheless, the “Alberta Agenda” was widely vilified as the “firewall” document, and ultimately tarnished Harper’s political reputation as being an uncharismatic Westerner and a right-wing zealot: a persona that continues to haunt him to this day.

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By the end of the last millennium, the Reform Party had been disbanded and replaced by the Canadian Alliance Party, led by Albertan Stockwell Day. However, the right-wing vote continued to be split and conservative politics reached its nadir in November 2000 when Canadians awarded Jean Chrétien and the Liberal party its third consecutive majority government, although the Alliance remained the official opposition party. Still, the Alli- ance’s failure to make inroads in Ontario, Canada’s most populous region, along with growing concerns about Day’s leadership opened the door for Harper’s return to the federal political scene. After receiving encouragement from a range of conservative supporters, Harper resigned his NCC position, formally declared his leadership candidacy on 2 December 2001, and by March 2002 was elected leader of the Canadian Alliance. As Leader of the Opposition, Harper was well aware that he could not realistically defeat the Liberals without giving “unity a try” (Wells 49), which meant reaching out to the PC Party to unify the Canadian right. After protracted negotiations with PC leader Peter MacKay, in October 2003, the two parties announced that they would merge to form the rebranded Conservative Party of Canada. Equally significant, on 20 March 2004, Stephen Harper was elected its leader, completing a remarkable rise through the federal political ranks.

Selling Harper to “Ordinary” Canadians In June 2004, after an exhausting leadership campaign, Harper and his “little band of Calgary policy wonks” (Wells 71) lost a hastily called federal election to the Liberals and former Finance Minister Paul Martin who had succeeded Jean Chrétien as PM. The Conservatives remained the official opposition party having made some progress in Ontario, but were shutout in Quebec, the first time a centre right party had failed to win a seat in Quebec. Neverthe- less, the Liberals were only re-elected with a minority government thanks to revelations that between 1997 and 2002 up to $100 million of a $250 million sponsorship program was awarded to Liberal-friendly advertising firms and Crown corporations for little or no work. Despite this disturbing publicity, the Liberals inflicted considerable damage to the CP’s credibility in a number of attack ads that played on Harper’s image as a right-wing ideologue, and effectively accused the Conservatives of a “hidden agenda” in line with US interests.

While Harper was despondent over the loss, he responded by shifting his party closer to the political centre and attempted to reinvent his image to make him more palatable to non-Western Canadians—particularly in Ontario and Quebec—through a careful promotional orchestration. As one of the “Calgary School” players, David Bercuson, explained: “I think there was a sharp epiphany after the last election. The people around Stephen Harper realized the only way to win power was to transform themselves and their message” (Walkom F1). A key element in this promotional transformation

114 Playing Promotional Politics: Mythologizing Hockey and Manufacturing “Ordinary” Canadians was the Conservative Convention in March 2005. As one Conservative adviser recalled: “[i]t was a giant PR exercise. The goal was to go into the convention, come out of the convention, not fuck up, and come up with moderate centre-right policies and show the public that we were not a scary prospect” (qtd. in Wells 140). That summer, Harper took his PR exercise on the road and traveled across Canada in a promotional mission nicknamed the “Glad as Hell Tour.” As the CBC reported, Harper’s image makeover strategy was clear: “Conservative Stephen Harper will hit the festival and barbeque circuit across Canada this summer to persuade voters he’s a nice, warm guy with a good sense of humour” (qtd. in Johnson 426).

Beyond these significant reimaging and personalizing efforts, in 2005 the Conservatives began to rethink their advertising strategies to woo “ordinary” (a staple of Harper’s rhetorical devices) lower-middle- and working-class Canadians. As Wernick has observed, complimenting the rise of political advertising within a broader promotional culture has been the adoption of sophisticated techniques to analyse and predict voter presence—practices that were developed in the field of market research and are widely used throughout the advertising industry and the commercial market. Taking their cue from former Australian PM John Howard’s successful 1996 campaign manual, the CP’s focus on these demographics signalled Harper’s recognition that, just as centre-left parties have made inroads into wealthier and more urban sections of the electorate, Conservative success equally hinged on their ability to disconnect lower-middle- and working-class voters from their traditional centre-left positions (Montgomerie; Barns). The Conservatives were particularly impressed with Howard’s appeal to an imagined Australian constituency nicknamed “the battlers:” middle-class families struggling to raise their children on a modest income. The Conservatives thus rearticulated their appeal to Canadians through an advertising strategy revolving around groups of fictional people reflecting core voters, non-Conservative voters, and swing voters who might prove to be within their grasp. “Steve and Hea- ther,” identified as core voters, were a Protestant couple in their forties, who were married with three children and owned their own business. “Zoey,” cast as the non-Conservative voter, was a single, twenty-five-year old, organic- eating, yoga-practicing, urban resident. Swing voters, however, represented a particularly interesting snapshot of middle- and working-class Canadians to which the Conservative policy book made a number of appeals (Flanagan). “Mike and Theresa” were cast as having “a mortgage and two kids ... [who] moved out of Toronto to suburban Oakville because they hated the bustle of downtown” (Wells 214). “Dougie,” however, represented the “Conserva- tives’ fondest hope” (ibid.): single and a tradesperson in his late twenties, “Dougie” agreed with Conservative policies on crime and welfare abuse, but was “more interested in hunting and fishing than politics and often didn’t bother to vote” (Flanagan 224). Through this market demographic approach,

115 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes the Conservatives concluded that they could profitably target the likes of “Dougie” through a new round of brand advertising and enticements (e.g., a tax credit for his tools and an environmental tax exemption on the truck he drove to his fictional job).

On 1 November 2005 Justice John Gomery’s report on the Liberal sponsorship scandal greeted Canadians. While it exonerated Paul Martin, it concluded that a “culture of entitlement” existed within the federal government, and described an elaborate kickback scheme designed to benefit the Liberals’ Quebec-wing. These revelations prompted Harper to initiate a motion of non- confidence that was seconded by the New Democratic Party’s Jack Layton, forcing Martin to call an election for Monday, January 23. The Conserva- tives were well prepared and had gained valuable electioneering experience from their 2004 election foray. Promoting their policy platform under the rubric “Stand up for Families” (Porter), they proposed cutting the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and replacing the Liberal’s embryonic “Universal Childcare Program” with a “Choice4 in Child Care Plan,” while simultaneously rebranding Harper’s identity so as to appeal to various swing voters. Building on earlier strategic reformulations, the Conservatives released their advertising strategy to target their imagined “ordinary” Canadians. Entitled “Stand up for Canada,” the ads featured a woman asking a series of scripted questions, and receiving equally scripted answers from Stephen Harper about pensions, taxes, and government ethics as the sponsorship scandal continued to engulf the Liberals. Despite their simple, direct, and hokey nature (Wells), the advertisements represented an important discursive shift in Conservative strategy and explicitly addressed core and potential swing voters; in Fla- nagan’s terms, they were targeting working people who “get their coffee at Tim Hortons” (225) rather than Starbucks. Conservative pundit Tim Powers likewise utilized a hockey analogy to explain the new ad strategy: “There’s a school of thought that we’re more Don Cherry than Giorgio Armani. And the ads reflect that. Look at the success that Don Cherry has had with Rock’em Sock’em Hockey [videos]. A low-tech production, but a messenger with a product people wanted” (qtd. in Wells 182). Underscoring this point, Pla- mondon maintained that to pursue the lunch bucket crowd, “Harper would [need to] look and talk more like Don Cherry than Adam Smith” (425). Such comments provide a window to the CP’s framing and reimagining of Harper through symbols of Canadian identity and aspects of national popular culture to capture swing voters like “Dougie” with his “workaday concerns” (Wells 221). It also gestures to the type of “ordinary” Canadian envisioned within both the CP imaginary and neoliberal discourse. Significantly, “Dougie” is likely white, presumably heterosexual, and from a working-class background: arguably the exact constituency of Canadians for whom the deeply conservative and hypermasculine Don Cherry still holds considerable appeal. Moreover, Dougie is cast as a neoliberal citizen—an economic actor and

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consumer who seeks neither special status nor special treatment from the state and has the ability to provide for his own needs and to service his own ambitions (Brown).

Harper’s tactics are noteworthy on three additional fronts. First, they point to the ascendency of the discourse of marketing in contemporary promotional politics, which has been transformed into a continual advertising campaign that is increasingly fought via the terrain of popular culture. Second, Harper’s relatively recent embrace of popular symbols of Canadian identity (e.g., hockey and Tim Hortons) is ironic. Prior to this shift, he was at pains to admit that such things as Canadian identity and culture5 even existed (“Federal leaders”). Third, is the profoundly penetrating, essential- izing, and divisive “us versus them” binary logic that frames Harper and his Conservative colleagues’ understanding of the Canadian populace and rival political parties: the Tim Hortons (vs. the Starbucks) electorate, the “Dou- gies” (vs. the “Zoeys”) demographic, or more recently, supporters of popular cultural practices (e.g., hockey vs. what could be termed the more “high- brow” performing arts community6). As with all binaries, the Conservative “Other” is framed through mutually exclusive oppositional terms that work to devalue and denigrate critical perspectives and rival images, which can be seen in Harper’s approach to non-Tim Hortons, pro-CBC, anti-Don Cherry, non-hockey loving Canadians who are represented as not being sympathetic to a neoliberal vision.7 Central to the workings of the CP’s very public discursive “us versus them” strategy then is a “cultural war” (Chase and Vu; Taber, “CBC Clears”) that continues to foment in an effort to not only attract particular swing-voters, but also to pin down what it means to be a “real” Canadian in terms of the terrain of values, ideology and convictions; areas in which, as Caplan argues, “Canadians have [historically] disagreed [upon].”

On 23 January 2006, the Conservatives were elected with a minority government, 31 ridings short of a majority. While the Conservatives made substantial inroads into Ontario and Quebec, they took only a handful of seats in Atlantic Canada and were shut out in Canada’s three largest cities (Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver), a profound indication of the urban–rural divide that the Conservative Party has agitated through its culture war approach to promotional politics. Despite deploying attack ads that “revealed” Harper’s ties to right-wing groups in the US, the Liberals were unable to recover from the Gomery report’s damning revelations. However, Harper’s victory cannot be solely attributed to public anger over the sponsorship scandal; rather over the course of the last two decades, a salient shift has occurred in Canadian political ideology, public policy, and attitude (Cameron). Since the 1990s, parties on the political right have been steadily climbing in popularity and influence; the merger between the Canadian Alliance and the PC Party ultimately solidified this trend. As journalist Paul Wells argued, “Harper’s victory wasn’t a fluke. It accelerated a decade-long trend by which conservative

117 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes parties slowly displaced the Liberals as the party of the average working Canadian” (264).

Massaging the Voter: Manufacturing Harper’s Hockey Identity MP’s Christmas cards have been arriving in mailboxes during the past couple of weeks…. Stephen Harper’s card shows him gazing at a collage of photos of himself from the past year—the Prime Minister with his family, hoisting the Stanley Cup, holding up a hockey jersey, posing with the Queen and various foreign leaders. (Smyth A3)

Building on his successful electioneering strategy, Harper has continuously sought to entrench his popularity with “ordinary” Canadians and various swing voters by vigorously promoting his identity as a hockey fan, proud hockey Dad, and dedicated hockey historian. Less than a month after being sworn in as PM, Harper’s identity as a hockey fan and “ordinary” hockey Dad was reinforced in an article that discussed how the RCMP now drive Harper to hockey rinks to watch his son, Ben, play hockey. The article featured pictures of Harper taking his son to his hockey practice, sitting in the stands with the other “ordinary” hockey parents. In the article, Harper noted: “No matter how tired I am, no matter how many things I have on my agenda, if I can find time, I can always get up and always make it to the hockey rink” (“Stephen Harper”). Notably, the story also emphasized a range of comments from other parents about Harper’s presence, including one father’s observation that the PM is: “A regular guy like all the rest of us, he still walks, talks and chews gum the same way as we do” (ibid.). Central to these media narratives is the Conservative frame of not only the “ordinary Canadian” juxtaposed to the “elite” ones favoured by the Liberal Party, but also the “ordinariness” of Harper and his family (Taylor; Smyth). As the conservative blogger, Stephen Taylor8 has remarked, “Ben and Rachel are the ordinary kids in hockey and gymnastics, Stephen and Laureen are such an ordinary couple that one or the other may forget an anniversary, similar to ... any other ordinary Canadian couple.” Discursive promotional strategies like these function to obscure class differences and the growing socioeconomic divide between “ordinary” Canadians and their counterparts in Canada’s business establishment and political circles who, in Zygmunt Bauman’s terms, have seceded from the Canadian commons, and now exist in a “socio-cultural-bubble” that has in- sulated them from any real awareness of how low middle- and lower-income families actually live, and the deleterious effects neoliberal social policies have on their lives.

In a similar vein, Harper’s routine tapping into national symbols, like hockey, is evidenced through his (self-)promotion as a hockey historian. For example, in 2006, while attending hockey games in Toronto and Calgary respectively, Harper was referred to as a “hard-core hockey fan” who is a

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“member of the Society for International Hockey Research,” and is currently “penning a book about the pre-NHL history of the game”9 (“PM’s hockey”). Despite these plaudits, Harper readily admitted the challenge of being PM and completing this endeavour: “My original plan was to have that published by the end of this year, but I have to admit, that since Jan. 23, I’ve been spending a little less time on it than before so we’ll have to see” (ibid.).10 Four days after this coverage, Harper granted an exclusive one-on-one interview to The Sport Network’s (TSN) Gord Miller, reiterating his identity as a proud hockey Dad, while extolling: “I love my job as Prime Minister, but if you could be a hockey player, I mean, what could be better than that” (“Prime Minister”).

Harper’s fondness for representing himself via an affective national symbol is far from unintentional; rather it illustrates his skilful adaptation of the promotional strategies of the George W. Bush administration. Indeed, in May 2006, Harper met with Frank Luntz, a US Republican pollster, communications adviser, and adjunct fellow at the conservative think-tank, the Hudson Institute. Credited with both having a momentous impact on contemporary US political and public discourses, and with being the mastermind behind the Republican rise in fortunes dating back to its 1994 sweep of Congress, Luntz was also the wordsmith underpinning Bush’s carefully crafted successive wins and his administration’s policies (Berkowitz, “Spurned by” and “Politics”; Mason). Notably, Luntz claims to be in the “language guidance” profession: “my job is to look for the words that trigger the emotion. Words alone can be found in a dictionary or telephone book, but words with emotion can change destiny, can change life as we know it” (Mason A5). Luntz’s central promotional strategy is thus to use carefully tested and often repeated simple messages, in conjunction with key words, images, pictures and national symbols in order “to deflect suspicions of unpopular policies” (Moxley; “Tories influenced”). In 1997, for example, he fashioned a communications how-to guide, Language of the 21st Century, which became the Republican Party’s “language bible” (Mason). However, its reach also stretched north of the 49th parallel as Luntz’s tactics have been readily observed in the Harper Government’s repertoire of communication strategies (Berkowitz, “Spurned by” and “Politics”; “Tories influenced”; Dobbin; Mason). Luntz’s interest in Canadian politics and his relationship with Western Canadian economic and social conservatives dates back to Reform Party days when Preston Man- ning’s political advisers hired him as an official election pollster and strategic adviser; his focus was to coach Manning on the art of negative political cam- paigning (Walker).11

Harper’s 2006 meeting with Luntz occurred the day before the Repub- lican pollster (Doskoch) gave the keynote address at the tenth-anniversary conference of the Civitas Society (Gairdner), described as “the premier venue in Canada where people interested in conservative, classical liberal and liber-

119 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes tarian ideas can not only exchange ideas, but meet others who share an interest in these rich intellectual traditions” (Civitas Society). Its founder, William Gairdner, described the conference as such: “there were about 250 members of Civitas there from all across Canada drawn from a membership that constitutes a kind of lonely platoon of conservative/libertarian thinkers, journalists, professors and policy wonks who are pretty excited to find one of their own as Prime Minister of Canada” (Gairdner). As Gairdner alludes to, the Civitas Society has particularly close ties to the PM; Harper’s former chief of staff Ian Brodie (2006–2008) is a director, and Harper’s mentor and former campaign manager, Tom Flanagan, was a founding director and past president.

Luntz’s speech, “Massaging the Conservative Message for Voters,” was a communications blueprint offering a range of promotional strategies for “tailoring a conservative message and selling it to moderate voters” (Mox- ley); its objective was to solidify the conservative minority government with a view to expanding it to a majority in the next election. The pillars of Luntz’s “message” to Civitas members were accountability, opportunity (read: the neoliberal favourite of “choice”), security, and families. “Mas- saging,” for its part, encompassed language, images, and national symbols. As Luntz explained, “language is your base. Symbols knock it out of the park…” (Mason). To this end, Luntz encouraged Harper to link his identity and right-wing agenda to national symbols like hockey: “If there is some way to link hockey to what you all do, I would try to do it” (qtd. in Thompson A6). According to Luntz, these types of personal appeals to national popular culture play a critical role in appealing to “average voters,” the “Mikes and Theresas” and “Dougies” of the Conservative playbook, who may not traditionally vote Conservative: “You have a gentleman who may well be the smartest leader intellectually. Now, that is half the battle. The other half of the battle is to link that intelligence to the day-to-day lives of the average individual” (qtd. in Thompson A6).

Lakoff’s work on framing within political and public discourses is constructive in making sense of Luntz’s counsel to Civitas, and the CP of Canada. Lakoff argues that central to deconstructing contemporary political discourse is understanding how issues are framed through particular values which resonate within the type of promotional politics described by Wernick. As Lakoff elucidates, “politics is about values; it is about communication.… And it is about symbolism” (8); the positioning of an issue follows “from one’s values, and the choice of issues and policies should symbolize those values” (8).12

Luntz also encouraged the CP to promote neoliberal policy initiatives through carefully manipulating discourse by deploying less threatening cultural terms like “tax relief” rather than “tax cuts”, and “personalization” instead of “privatization.” Such discursive initiatives arguably represent

120 Playing Promotional Politics: Mythologizing Hockey and Manufacturing “Ordinary” Canadians an Orwellian version of Newspeak designed to massage Canadian voters, particularly as they are uncritically transmitted via either right leaning corporate media conglomerates, or through alternative (i.e., “unfiltered”) media sources. Neoliberalism is, in this instance, clearly much more than an economic theory; it “constitutes the conditions for a radically refigured cultural politics” (Giroux 107) that reinforces dominant values, social relations, and understandings of citizenship.

Given Luntz’s long-standing relationship with the CP and its political forerunners, it is likely that prior to the Civitas Society’s Conference Harper was well aware of the promotional value of reframing potentially unpopular conservative policies by linking them to national symbols like hockey. Consider, however, Harper’s media activity following Luntz’s presentation on 6 May 2006. Two days afterwards, Harper appeared during the Game 2 second intermission of the Ottawa Senators–Buffalo Sabres NHL playoff series, where he spent the entire time posing for photos with other hockey fans, shaking hands, and signing autographs (St. Martin). Such practices juxtapose interestingly with Harper’s assertion, noted earlier, that Canadians do not expect their Prime Ministers “to aspire to be a media star as an end in itself” (Taber, “Stephane Dion” A6), not least of which would contradict Harper’s rebranding process and the strategy of appealing to “ordinary” Canadians through national symbols.

Returning to our initial remarks about Luntz’s discursive philosophy, such articulations are apparent in Conservative attempts to “massage” and market various right-wing policies to appeal to moderate voters who are encouraged to embrace new identities as neoliberal citizens. For example, in a 2006 move to address the childhood “inactivity” and “obesity” “epidemics,” federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, clad in skates and a hockey jersey after playing hockey with a group of peewees in his home riding of Whitby, Ontario (Department of Finance), announced a Children’s Fitness Tax Credit, providing families with up to $500 per child for registration fees. At a tax rate of 15.5%, the savings amounts to $77.50. Yet, as McDermott points out, like other policies emphasizing tax cuts rather than investing in public programs, such initiatives ultimately serve to entrench further class differences by predominantly supporting families whose children are already registered in sports programs. Indeed, a tax credit is a moot point for families that cannot afford registration fees in the first place. Thus, while the tax credit failed to achieve its stated objective (to increase children’s sport and physical activity involvement), it did serve important promotional purposes for the CP in its bid to secure the votes of Canadian families.

Characteristic of a neoliberal agenda is an anathema for governmental regulations, viewed as roadblocks to economic growth. Nowhere is this ideology so conspicuous for Stephen Harper than in the case of global warming

121 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes and Canada’s commitment to the Kyoto Accord. In a 2002 fundraising letter to Canadian Alliance members, Harper decried the accord as an “economy destroying … socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations” (“Harper letter”). Harper’s perspective is unsurprising given his connections to the Alberta oil industry, and his resolute commitment to aggressive oil sands development (McQuaig). Harper’s opposition to the Kyoto Accord followed him into office where he demonstrated his environmental disdain through frequent denials of global warming, and his appointment of Rona Ambrose13 as Canada’s environment minister. In 2006 Ambrose announced that Canada would not meet its Kyoto commitments; instead, it would focus on implementing a “Made in Canada”14 solution to climate change. Oppos- ition Liberals, who had originally committed Canada to the Kyoto Accord, responded by introducing a private member’s bill to force Canada to maintain its Kyoto commitment. Significantly, Harper skipped this bill’s parliamentary vote to fly to Toronto on the Department of National Defence’s executive jet with his son to watch the Maple Leafs season-opener against the Ottawa Sen- ators (McGregor).15 The Harper government’s dismissive attitude towards global warming, however, soon underwent a seismic political shift as polls indicated the importance of this issue to Canadian voters (“Harper letter”).

On 5 January 2007, TSN interviewed the PM during the first intermission of the gold medal game of the World Junior Hockey Championships between Canada and Russia. Referenced, yet again, as a hockey historian, he offered his analysis of both the opening period and various rules and regulations, including his preference for games to be decided in an overtime period versus a shoot-out. Following a 4–2 Canadian victory, TSN covered a congratulatory phone call from Harper to Canadian Head Coach Craig Hartsburg, while the next day various newspapers carried a photo of Harper calling from his office with the Canadian flag behind him. Harper’s hockey appearance, arguably, served to draw attention away from his removal, a day earlier, of the much maligned Ambrose from her environment portfolio to neutralize national and international criticism against his government’s Kyoto Accord abandonment and the introduction of the Luntz inspired “Made in Canada” solution: the Clean Air Act. Lamenting Canada’s rapidly declining environmental reputation, the Act was resoundingly attacked by opposition parties and environmentalists (Simpson). Harper’s approach to pressing environmental concerns, however, has not deterred the PM from various promotional efforts designed to massage his party’s position on the environment. When former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, widely lauded for implementing stringent greenhouse gas emissions caps, came to Ontario in 2007 to sign an agreement coordinating fuel efficiency standards to reduce greenhouse gases, Harper used it as an occasion to meet the governor. While a similar agreement was not forthcoming at the federal level, Harper and Schwarzenegger managed

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to discuss the Ottawa Senators–Anaheim Ducks Stanley Cup finals and ex- changed hockey jerseys in a photo op (“Arnie to”).

Perhaps the CP’s most conspicuous (and long-lasting) attempt to pin down and promote what it means to be an “ordinary” Canadian has transpired through its replacement of the Liberal’s Citizenship and Immigration study guide used by immigrants in their preparations for taking their citizenship exams. Friesen and Curry gesture to the culture war in which the CP has been engaged with their observation that “[t]he monarchy and the military ... are given much greater prominence in the new document. The land, the environment and healthcare, mainstays of Canada’s self-image through the past two decades, are largely ignored” (A1). In assessing the new guide and the re- envisioned “Canadian” projected through it, the Canadian historian Margaret Conrad remarked “[i]t’s kind of like a throwback to the 1950s. It’s a tough, manly country with military and sport heroes that are all men.... It’s a tougher Canada than the one the Liberals depicted” (ibid.). Conrad’s observations point to not only the CP’s masculinized representation of Canada, but also to its continued strategic deployment of hockey as an apparatus through which to promote the party’s brand, its leader, and its policies, as well as a medium through which it attempts to forge dominant understandings of “ordinary” Canadian identity.

Such efforts clearly continue to be played out on the cultural terrain of values. For example, in contrast to the new citizenship guide’s numerous references to hockey (13 in total),16 Jason Kenney, the Minister of Citizen- ship, Immigration and Multiculturalism ordered the removal of all references to gay rights in Canada from an earlier iteration of it, including its decrim- inalization in 1969, and the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2005. Yet The Globe and Mail’s Tabatha Southey (along with potentially many other Canadians) represent fissures to the CP’s attempts at solidifying for political gain what it means to be an “ordinary” Canadian through popular cultural symbols when she sardonically notes:

Canada ... is one of only seven countries in the world in which same- sex and opposite-sex marriages have equal standing in law. However, we are one of only four countries in the world in which hockey cards are routinely traded. Before you judge Mr. Kenney ... who, either by inattention or design, included hockey-card information and excluded any reference to same-sex marriage, take a moment to imagine that you come from a country in which it’s not acceptable to trade hockey cards. Imagine you were raised somewhere you’d be discriminated against or beaten senseless or risk untimely death because of your hockey-card collection—or that you yourself, while uninterested in collecting cards, beat other people in your homeland with impunity the second you discovered they owned a deck. (F2)

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These developments, it can be suggested, further reinforce how the notion of the “ordinary” Canadian—as a key concept of neoliberal discourse—can be mobilized politically “to re-define citizenship and to naturalise the exclusion of some citizens from notions of national belonging without direct reference to culture, race, sexual preference and gender” (Mackey 21).

Conclusion Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s reticence toward the media apparently doesn’t apply to sportscasters. Harper invited TSN’s Gord Miller to 24 Sus- sex Drive on Wednesday night so he could be filmed watching Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final. The Prime Minister hasn’t held a news conference in Ottawa this year, and only rarely stops on the staircase outside the House of Commons to deliver a message to the news media. His relationship with the parliamentary press is charitably described as frosty…But when it comes to hockey, Harper is expansive and accommodating. (“Harper makes” A13).

In this article, we have endeavoured to illuminate the symbolic role of hockey in a new stage of promotional politics in Canada. There are, as we noted earlier, no shortage of examples of politicians from across the political spectrum who have recognized the importance of maintaining popular associations with the national sport of hockey and, indeed, other elements of national popular culture. Still, unlike earlier eras of promotional politics where PMs such as Diefenbaker, Pearson, and Trudeau recognized the promise of sport in general, and hockey in particular, to fashion political interests regarding national unity and international prestige (Macintosh and Hawes), under Harper’s tenure there has been an expansion of these meticulously calculated practices that are now deployed exclusively for personal image- making and advertising.

The expansion of promotional politics has been spurred, of course, by substantial technological and political-economic changes to the Canadian media landscape: notably, the advent of the 24-hour news cycle and the com- mercialization of the Internet, affording infinite possibilities for (virtual) public engagements, including, but not limited to, mainstream online news sites. To this we can add the ascension of marketing discourses that occurred in the 1990s through the confluence of database marketing (i.e., compiling customer databases), one-on-one marketing (i.e., using technologies to foster enduring customer relationships through strategies like personalized communication) and the Internet, which provides the technology to further transform customer communication processes into real-time interactions (Neuman). All of these developments, in conjunction with the CP’s masterful execution of Luntz’s promotional blueprint of often repeated messages invoking national symbols, have been fully exploited by the CP for promotional purposes as the party solidifies strategic affinities amongst key elements of national popular

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culture, the PM’s political persona as an “ordinary” Canadian hockey fan, and the CP as the political choice of middle- and working-class Canadians.

We have also argued that such strategies have fluidly unfolded against a backdrop where citizens are being encouraged to embrace understandings of neoliberal citizenship as various national institutions representing real points of connection for all Canadians are being dismantled; where, as Raymond Williams argues, “the active promoters, the ideologists and the agents” of these processes “speak to the rest of us, at least from one side of their mouths, about traditional values of settlement, community, and loyalty” (Resources 186). Here Williams’ words assume a prescient quality in relation to the contemporary Canadian political landscape: while seemingly paying homage to Canadian community and identity through its promotional deployment of Canadian symbols of popular culture, in practice the Harper government has all the while implemented a neoliberal program designed to erode the fabric of this community and identity.

What further marks Stephen Harper and the CP’s promotional political strategies as unique is the manner in which this has been accomplished: through a focused commitment to neutering democratic processes, as we noted at the beginning of this discussion. Democracy, as Canadian political scientist Michael Byers asserts: “should be the marketplaces of ideas…. Mar- kets, of course, depend on the free flow of information and basic norms of good conduct…. For some reason, Stephen Harper either doesn’t understand this, or doesn’t care.” Occurring alongside this democratic deficit, the CP’s unremitting promotional agenda continues to unfold on a variety of fronts: the conspicuous visibility of the PM during the 2010 Olympic Games in Van- couver; his frequent photo-ops with professional hockey players, including national icon Wayne Gretzky; and the use of hockey imagery and sporting rhetoric to massage Canada’s military presence in Afghanistan (see Scherer and McDermott; Scherer and Koch).

Still, there are no guarantees with respect to how Canadians encode these promotional strategies both in relation to what it means to be an “ordinary” Canadian, and to the neoliberal agenda the former attempts to massage. Fault- lines in these attempts to secure power can, in fact, be detected on at least two fronts: first, are the occasional opinion editorials (even within mainstream media) “pulling back the curtains” on the CP’s strategy “that a good way to distract voters is to talk as much as possible about hockey” (Smith); and second, what has become apparent is that Harper and his hypermasculine image (e.g., as someone who “walks his own talk” [Gairdner]) and policies are much more palatable to some Canadians than others: repeated polls suggest that Canadian women are less inclined to support him (Delacourt, “Macho Symbols”).17 These trends may reveal various aspects of the organization of power in Canada, and the privileging of hockey by groups of dominant white

125 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes men who continually articulate national cultural values in “a manner that reflects and promotes their interests and that continues to place their image at the centre of a shared national identity” (Adams 82).

Finally, these developments also point to a number of issues facing the Canadian Left. Here it may be helpful to return to an observation made by Stuart Hall over two decades ago about the willingness—and success of the Right—to maintain a popular presence and connect with British citizens via the terrain of popular culture: strategies that the Left largely neglected. Indeed, as we have argued throughout this article, Hall’s concerns arguably hold true in the contemporary Canadian context where the CP, in terms of promotional politics, has unquestioningly outmanoeuvred its political rivals who have struggled to establish a more active cultural presence.

It can be granted that those on the Right have considerably more resources to devote to such imaging strategies and, beyond this, are likely fluent in the language and practices of marketing, and have well-established “commercial” networks with the private sector. Moreover, it becomes increasingly difficult for the Left to challenge market-based policies and definitions of neoliberal citizenship via the terrain of a promotional political culture that has been effectively subsumed by the very same logic of advertising that continually nourishes understandings of possessive individualism and mobile privatization as common sense. Yet, as Williams once remarked, the market can only provide so much support for citizens, let alone nourish collective identities: for “other human needs, beyond consumption, other relationships and conceptions of other people are necessary” (Towards 190). While the subversion of a promotional political culture is by now increasingly unlikely, the challenge for the Left, then, will be to embrace elements of national popular culture that open up new possibilities for more enduring kinds of common interest and points of connection.

Notes 1. Since becoming PM, Harper has solidified his persona as a micro-manager intent on limiting the flow of public information, particularly through the mainstream media. Two examples illustrate this. First, is the Access to Information Commissioner’s 2008–2009 Report assessing 24 federal departments’ responses to public information requests, largely by the media. Thirteen departments were rated below average, unsatisfactory and/or “red alert” (notably Foreign Affairs whose performance “was so poor that the OIC [Office of the Information Commissioner] could not rate it against its established criteria” (OIC, “Out of Time” and “Interim Information”). Second, is the government practice of using Message Event Proposals (MEP), a communications tool for vetting public events requests. MEPs are a “political tool for literally putting words in the mouths of cabinet ministers, federal bureaucrats, low-profile MPs on the barbecue circuit, and seasoned diplomats abroad.... All major news organizations ... [in Canada] have had requests

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for information dissected by individual MEPs” (Blanchfield and Bronskill). Harper’s approach to government-media relations enacts what Rosen calls a “decertification of the press,” which he suggests has two faces.The first is to put journalists in a diminished position (i.e., “Don’t answer their questions, it only encourages the askers to think they’re legitimate interlocutors ... for the public”). The second involves describing government efforts to inform the public as purely factual while dismissing mainstream media as inherently biased. Ultimately, through tapping into alternative media venues, notably provided through the Internet (e.g., blogs, YouTube, etc.), decertification has become an important strategy the Harper government deploys “to get its message out” to the public unencumbered by what are perceived to be the mainstream media’s negative filters. 2. The images, symbols, and language of sport in general, and hockey in particular have served as levers of political legitimacy for innumerable Canadian politicians. Former Progressive Conservative PM John Diefenbaker, for example, allowed a CBC television crew into his home to film him and his wife watching the final game of the 1972 Summit Series (“Paul Henderson scores”). In 1949, as Liberal Secretary of State, Mike Pearson (who would eventually become PM) noted the political ends of sport particularly at an international level (Macintosh and Greenhorn). Pearson also played for the Oxford Blues while at Oxford University during the 1920s (Smith) and subsequently coached the University of Toronto Varsity Blues’ hockey team. More recently, Liberal PM Jean Chrétien donned a pair of hockey skates for a segment in the National Film Board documentary “Shinny: The Hockey in All of Us.” After the 2002 Olympic men’s and women’s hockey teams won gold medals—Canada’s first Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey in 50 years—Chrétien sought to capitalize on the national mood: “In two golden weeks of triumph, the game that we have always called our own, that we have shared with the world, has become ours again. In the past two weeks, in homes and schools, at work and at play, Canadians have once again been united in a way that only hockey can bring us together” (“Golden nation”). Others, like former Liberal MP and Montreal Canadiens goaltender Ken Dryden have unassailable links to hockey in addition to his other impressive credentials as a writer, lawyer and executive. We are grateful to the anonymous reviewer who drew our attention to these, and other, examples. 3. Tom Flanagan, along with Ted Morton, Barry Cooper, Roger Gibbins, Rainer Knopff, and David Bercuson, form a group of political scientists from the University of Calgary known as the “Calgary School,” who are attributed with facilitating Harper’s swift rise to lead the CP and ultimately become PM. McDonald describes the “Calgary School” as being bound by a “neo- conservative agenda [that] read as if it has been lifted straight from the dusty desk drawers of Ronald Reagan: lower taxes, less federal government, and free markets unfettered by social programs such as Medicare that keep citizens from being forced to pull up their own socks.” 4. Nikolas Rose’s discussion of freedom is relevant here. Central to the workings of a neoliberal rationality is an understanding of freedom whereby the individual is represented as an autonomous, entrepreneurial self who has “the capacity to realize one’s desires ... to fulfill one’s potential through one’s own endeavours, to determine the course of one’s own existence through

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acts of choice” (84). The neoliberal subject is thus conceived in terms of self-responsibility (versus social responsibility) and self-actualization through choice. “Choice,” within conservative discourse, is thus far from innocent. 5. Harper rarely uses the term “culture,” which was noticeably absent in the CP’s policy document (Dobbin). A 1997 CBC interview provides insight into Harper’s views on Canadian culture. When asked “is there a Canadian culture?” Harper responded: “Yes in a very loose sense. It consists of regional cultures within Canada, regional cultures that cross borders with the US. We’re part of a worldwide Anglo-American culture. And there is a continental culture” (ibid.). Such an understanding of culture aligns well with the globalized economic relations being pursued through neoliberalism. 6. In explaining why no members of Harper’s Conservative cabinet would be attending the 2008 Governor-General’s Performing Arts Award Gala, a Conservative MP noted that “he and many of his fellow Tories don’t get ‘jacked up’ by meeting arts and cultural celebrities, but would if they were honouring ‘hockey players’” (Taber, “Why Tories” R4). More recently identified has been Harper’s strategy of fostering a culture war within public discourse (Chase and Vu). 7. According to a poll conducted for the Vancouver Sun, a CanWest Media daily, Stephen Harper’s political fortunes are grounded in male Tim Hortons voters who view HNIC’s Don Cherry as a “national icon,” watch more sports, and are most likely to fear a terrorist attack (O’Neil). 8. Taylor is an example of the CP’s attempt to “decertify” the mainstream media as a source for political information and analysis, thereby allowing its message “to get out” “unfiltered” (Delacourt, “PM Can’t”). 9. A Google search of “Stephen Harper” & “hockey book” (16 June 2010) returned 311 hits, which included links to all mainstream Canadian media outlets (The Globe & Mail, National Post, Macleans, CBC, CTV, Financial Post, and The Toronto Star) as well as online sites (including personal blogs, Hockey News, NHL, and interestingly the Afghanistan News Center). Consciously or not, such forums serve to reproduce the CP strategy of articulating national symbols to Harper and the CP. 10. Azpiri notes Harper’s regularity of mentioning his hockey book in interviews. Azpiri goes on to disclose that when pressed for details regarding the book, Harper admitted that he “only spends about 15 minutes a day working on it.” As Azpiri observes: “it sound[s] more like a hobby than a serious work of historical research.” Regardless of whether a book comes to be published, Harper’s (and wittingly or unwittingly the media’s) tactic of repeated invocation of it not only keeps in circulation but ultimately solidifies his promotional image of a hockey-loving Canadian. 11. Former Reform Party policy manager under Manning, Dimitri Pantazopoulos, described Luntz as “one of the few outside sources who has (sic) a real influence on party direction” (Vardy 12). 12. Harper’s understanding of the centrality of values to politics and his deft enactment of Luntz’ key pillars to effective messaging is evidenced in a response he made while appearing on CanWest Media’s Global National, regarding his reticence to interact with the media: “I have no desire to be a celebrity or media star. I’m not in People magazine, talking about my hopes and fears as an individual…. While I don’t go on interviews and unburden my inner soul, at the same time I think Canadians know about me what most people

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know about me. I think they know that I’m a family man, they know that I’m a hockey fan. They know the kind of values I have, whether they agree with them or disagree with them” (qtd. in Mayeda and Martin A1, emphasis added). 13. Prior to running as a federal Conservative, Ambrose, whose father was an oil industry executive (MacDonald), was the Alberta (Canada’s most vocal Kyoto critic) conservative government’s senior intergovernmental officer. Her responsibilities encompassed fiscal, social, and constitutional policy issues, including Alberta’s position on the Kyoto Protocol (“Ministers in”). 14. A “Made in Canada” climate change solution reproduces Luntz’s “Made in America” one. 15. The CP repetitively conveyed to the public that it paid for the jet expense to Toronto and Harper`s two platinum level ($182 per seat [Kernaghan]) seats next to Leafs’ owner, Larry Tanenbaum (McGregor). The flight, ticket cost, and company shared at the game arguably debunk Harper’s pose as an “ordinary” Canadian. His appearance at the game, however, did provide another Harper- hockey photo-op. 16. For example, as stated in the guide: “Many young Canadians play hockey at school, in a hockey league, or on quiet streets road hockey or street hockey and are taken to hockey rinks by their parents. Canadian children have collected hockey cards for generations” (Citizenship and Immigration Canada 39). 17. This is unsurprising given the fact that few women are visible in the CP which: decreased funding to the Status of Women Canada by 37% resulting in 12 of its 16 regional offices being closed (Gergin); changed the government criteria for funding women’s groups; and removed the word “equality” from its objectives. It also cancelled the court challenges program (which determined whether laws contravened women’s rights), refused to adopt pay equity legislation, cancelled funding for a national child-care program (“1,000 protesters”), and recently responded, via a female Conservative Senator, to feminist critiques of its controversial G8 Maternal Health initiative that excluded abortion rights for women in developing countries, by telling them to “shut the fuck up on this issue.... If you push it, there will be more backlash” (“Senator drops”). The effects of such decisions are evidenced in international gender equality rankings: the World Economic Forum gender gap index ranked Canada in seventh place in 2004; by 2009 it had dropped to 25th on the list of countries regarding their gender equality records (Gergin).

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gc.ca/eng/med-roo-sal-med_nr-cp_2010_5.aspx> 20 June 2010. O’Neil, Peter. “‘Harper’s Canadians’ Prefer Double-Double, Cherry on Top: Poll.” Edmonton Journal, 3 February 2007: A8. “PM’s Hockey Book Shut Out by Job Duties.” CBC.ca, 14 April 2006. 20 April 2007. Panitch, Leo, ed. “The Role and Nature of the Canadian State.” The Canadian State: Political Economy and Political Power. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1977. 3–27. “Paul Desmarais’ Web of Influence over Canada.” LifeSiteNews.com 2 May 2003. 8 May 2008. “Paul Henderson has scored for Canada.” CBC Digital Archives 28 September 1972. 23 April 2011. Plamondon, Bob. Blue Thunder: The Truth about Conservatives from Macdonald to Harper. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2009. Porter, Anna. “The Harper Government: Towards a New Social Order?” Global Research.ca 22 May 2006. 24 April 2008. “Prime Minister Stephen Harper Talks Hockey with Gord Miller during TSN Exclusive.” BCE.ca 18 April 2006. 20 June 2007 . Rose, Nikolas. Powers of Freedom: Reframing Political Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Rosen, Jay. “From Meet the Press to Be the Press.” PRESSthink 21 March 2005. 9 July 2008. Rowe, David, Jim McKay, and Toby Miller. “Come Together: Sport, Nationalism, and the Media Image.” MediaSport. Ed. Lawrence Wenner. London: Routledge, 1998. 119–33. Scherer, Jay, and Jordan Koch. “Living with war: Sport, citizenship, and the cultural politics of post-9/11 Canadian identity.” Sociology of Sport Journal 27 (2010): 1–29. Scherer, Jay, and Lisa McDermott. “The cultural politics of war: Sport, militarism, and Canadian identity.” Paper presented at the 2009 Conference of the International Sociology of Sport Association, 15–18 July 2009. Utrecht, Holland. Scherer, Jay, Greg Duquette, and Dan Mason. “The Cold War and the (Re) articulation of Canadian National Identity: The 1972 Canada–USSR Summit Series.” In East Plays West: Essays on Sport and the Cold War, edited by David L. Andrews and Stephen Wagg. London: Routledge, 2007. 171–94. “Senator Drops F-Bomb over G8 Abortion.” CTV.ca 3 May 2010. 10 June 2010. Simpson, Jeffrey. “Turning Our Back on the UN.” The Globe and Mail, 21 May 2008: A13. Smith, Stephen. “Will the Paul Henderson of Politics Stand Up?” The Globe and Mail 23 April 2011. 26 April 2011. Smyth, J. “No Offence Sent; Garth Turner’s Troll the Most Animated of Political

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Greeting Cards.” National Post 20 December 2007: A3. Southey, Tabatha. “Offside Calls on Jason Kenney.” The Globe and Mail 13 March 2010: F2. St. Martin, Romeo. “Harper Night in Canada.” PoliticsWatch 9 May 2006. 19 April 2008. Stephen Harper Balances Job, Hockey Dad Duties.” CTV.ca 1 March 2006. 20 July 2007. Taber, Jane. “CBC clears pollster, criticizes ‘paranoia-tinged’ Tories.” The Globe and Mail 19 May 2010. 11 June 2010. ———. “Why Tories are Blowing Off G-G’s Arts Party.” The Globe and Mail 3 May 2008: R7. ———. “Stephane Dion Gives Us Something to Chew On.” The Globe and Mail 22 December 2007: A6. Taylor, Stephen. “Harpers and Dions contrasted.” Stephen Taylor—Conservative Party of Canada Pundit, 12 June 2007. 7 May 2008. Thompson, Elizabeth. “U.S. Guru Tells Tories to Talk Hockey.” Edmonton Journal 7 May 2006: A6. “Tories Influenced by U.S. Pollster: Activists.” CTV.ca 14 May 2006. 21 April 2008. Vardy, Jill. “Reform Seeks a Policy Boost.” Financial Post 4 September 1993: 12. Walker, William. “First of Four Parts.” Toronto Star 13 April 1992: A15. Walkom, Thomas. “Is He a Changed Man?” Toronto Star 7 January 2006: F1. Wells, Paul. Right Side Up: The Fall of Paul Martin and the Rise of Stephen Harper’s New Conservatism. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2006. Wernick, Andrew. Promotional Culture: Advertising, Ideology and Symbolic Expression. London: Sage Publications, 1991. Williams, Raymond. Towards 2000. Harmondsworth: Pelican Books, 1985. ———. Resources of Hope. London: Verso, 1989. Yalnizyan, Armine. “The Rise of Canada’s Richest 1%.” Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. December 2010. http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/ files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2010/12/Richest%201%20 Percent.pdf> 10 February 2011.

134 Meena Sharify-Funk

Governing the Face Veil: Quebec’s Bill 94 and the Transnational Politics of Women’s Identity

Abstract During the last decade, a new pattern of cultural contestation has emerged in a range of “Western” contexts where there has been significant Muslim immigration. From Belgium and France to Quebec, Canada, anxieties concerning the integration and acculturation of Muslim minority communities have led to increased preoccupation with symbols associated with extremism and with practices deemed threatening to women’s rights. Muslim face veils such as the niqab and burqa now figure prominently in political debates, and are the subject of campaigns to reassert fundamental values by defining appropriate as well as inappropriate ways for women to construct and express their identities. Using Quebec’s Bill 94 as a case study that illustrates patterns also evident in other countries, this article explores the transnational politics of women’s identity behind current efforts to “govern” the face veil. Attention will be given to international precedents that have inspired proponents of legislation denying face-veil wearers essential government services (including public employment, educational opportunities, and health care), as well as to surprising anti-Bill 94 coalitions that have emerged within Quebec and in the larger Canadian context.

Résumé Au cours de la dernière décennie, un nouveau modèle de contestation culturelle a commencé à se manifester dans une gamme de contextes « occidentaux » qui ont reçu une immigration musulmane importante. Depuis la Belgique et la France jusqu’au Québec (Canada), les sujets de préoccupation concernant l’intégration et l’acculturation des collectivités de minorité musulmane ont amené à se préoccuper davantage des symboles associés à l’extrémisme et à des pratiques jugées menaçantes pour les droits des femmes. La question du voile facial porté par les Musulmanes comme le niqab et la burqa s’introduit en force dans les débats politiques et fait l’objet de campagnes visant à réaffirmer les valeurs fondamentales en définissant les moyens, ap- propriés et inappropriés, par lesquels les femmes construisent et expriment leur identité. Se servant du projet de loi 94 du Québec comme d’une étude de cas illustrant des modèles que l’on retrouve également dans d’autres pays, le présent article explore les politiques transnationales de l’identité des femmes qui sous-tendent les efforts actuels pour « régir » le port du voile facial. On portera une certaine attention aux précédents internationaux qui ont inspiré les promoteurs de la législation visant à refuser aux porteuses du voile facial des services gouvernementaux essentiels (notamment l’emploi dans la fonc-

IJCS / RIÉC 43, 2011 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes tion publique, les possibilités d’éducation et les soins de santé); on portera également attention aux coalitions contre le projet de loi 94 qui ont pris naissance au sein du Québec et dans le contexte canadien plus vaste.

On 24 March 2010, Minister of Justice Madame Kathleen Weil introduced Bill 94 to the National Assembly of Quebec, a piece of legislation proposed in order to “establish the conditions under which an accommodation may be made in favour of personnel members of the Administration or certain institutions or in favour of person to whom services are provided by the Administra- tion or certain institutions” (Parliament of Quebec, National Assembly, 2). The stated purpose of this Bill was to clarify standard practices associated with the provision of public services, for exemption from this ruling might be denied. The principled grounds for rejecting all forms of face covering is presented in section 4 of the Bill, which cites Quebec’s Charter of Hu- man Rights and Freedoms “as concerns the right to gender equality and the principle of religious neutrality of the State whereby the State shows neither favour nor disfavour towards any particular religion or belief” (ibid. 4). The pragmatic basis for the new ruling is provided in section 6, which contains both the clause stating that individuals must “show their face during the delivery of services” and the ruling that mandates a denial of accommodation requests when considerations of “security, communication or identification warrant it” (ibid. 5). If passed, Bill 94 would require that all employees of the government and public services show their face at all times, and that all people making use of government or public services (including public and some private schools, health care services, social services, and childcare services) would similarly be expected to have uncovered faces at the time of service delivery. Although the principal targets of the legislation are not mentioned in the text of the Bill, the legislation is generally understood to be aimed at Muslim women who wear the niqab (full-face veil), and would essentially prohibit niqabi women from accessing public services.

While in the immediate wake of the tabling of the legislation there seemed to be overwhelming popular and political support for the Bill, a number of religious groups, academics, and civil society organizations have voiced strong criticism. Members of the public were invited to submit briefs to the government, and by the May 7 deadline over 60 submissions had been made (Dougherty, “Bill 94”). Public hearings commenced on May 18 and, while originally scheduled to last for 3 weeks, were suspended on May 20. While the official reason given for suspending the hearings “was the need to turn the committee’s attention to the more pressing matter of parliamentary ethics,” observers have suggested the government began to reconsider the Bill after criticism and opposition voiced during the hearings (ibid.). The absence of a specific, declared date for renewed hearings has left the future of the legislation in question.

136 Governing the Face Veil: Quebec’s Bill 94 and the Transnational Politics of Women’s Identity

Although the ultimate fate of Bill 94 remains to be determined, the dynamics associated with the Bill thus far reveal a great deal about the contemporary cultural politics of Quebec. As the first substantive action of the Charest government on issues of majority–minority relations since the Bouchard-Taylor inquiry into reasonable accommodation, Bill 94 signals continuing tension surrounding notions of visible cultural difference, particularly with respect to Islam. While many aspects of the scenario are specific to Quebec, the Bill 94 debate nonetheless provides a window into a pattern of identity construction, boundary demarcation, and identity conflict that has parallels in many contemporary North American and European contexts.

Whatever the outcome, Bill 94 raises profound questions concerning identity, belonging, cultural boundaries, and the challenges of community building in a time of renewed insecurity. Is a new symbolic politics of “otherness” and exclusion reshaping the contours of the public sphere, or is the current salience of themes pertaining to an “Islamic other” a passing phenomenon? To what extent are cultural and political identities in Quebec and other “Western” contexts being reconstructed in relation to a feared Mus- lim “other”? Does the new preoccupation of some feminists with socially marginal but symbolically potent expressions of conservative Islamic gender relations constitute a reorientation or change in the character of feminism itself, or merely a contingent and largely defensive shift in emphasis? Given the very limited extent to which the Bouchard-Taylor Commission—a highly visible project of officially sanctioned intercultural dialogue—changed the character of popular discourse in Quebec, what other means of advancing inclusive community are possible at a time when the defence of cultural boundaries has become a salient political theme?

Theoretical Context: Boundary Maintenance and Cultural Community In The Symbolic Construction of Community, Anthony P. Cohen observes that human collectivities construct their notions of community and in-group solidarity symbolically, relying heavily on “contrasts” with other groups to establish a sense of uniqueness. Community, Cohen writes, “expresses a relational idea: the opposition of one community to others or to other social entities” (12). Furthermore, consciousness of community is inescapably associated with the perception of boundaries.

As the expansive literature on ethnicity and nationalism attests (Smith; Hutchinson and Smith), deep differences in values and beliefs are not an essential prerequisite for identity-based conflict dynamics. Actual differences in cultural practices may play a role in exacerbating tensions, yet it is the symbolic meaning of divergent practices rather than the practices themselves that shape their significance for intergroup polarization and conflict mobilization. Symbolic meaning, moreover, is determined by in-group narratives and

137 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes categories more often than through intergroup communion and dialogue. As Cohen writes,

[A]lmost any matter of perceived difference between the community and the outside world can be rendered symbolically as a resource of its boundary. The community can make virtually anything grist to the symbolic mill of cultural distance, whether it be the effects upon it of some centrally formu- lated government policy, or a matter of dialect, dress, drinking or dying. The symbolic nature of the opposition means that people can “think themselves into difference.” (117)

While other authors are more optimistic than Cohen concerning the possibility that encounters between communities might lead to mutual learning and transformation of meaning (Inayatullah and Blaney; Kymlicka and Bashir), rhetoric concerning the encroachment of an “other” on cultural boundaries has undeniable mobilization potential in a wide range of conflict situations. The more visible the apparent differences, the greater the potential challenge for those who would aspire to build bridges, reconstruct meanings, and establish new, cross-cutting bonds for a more inclusive communal whole.

A variety of factors has given renewed prominence to identity-based boundaries and divides in recent years, in Canada as well as in many other national contexts. The combined forces of globalization, mass migration, and post-9/11 security politics have created an atmosphere in which longstanding debates about topics such as multiculturalism, rights, and liberal democratic norms (Kymlicka and Bashir; Levey and Modood; Taylor; Stein) have taken on a new edge. Increasingly, visible manifestations of cultural difference evoke heightened concern not just about physical security, but also about the security of a larger sense of “self” that is now threatened by an influx of cultural, ethnic, and religious “otherness.” Such identities are now subject to securitization (Buzan, Waever, and de Wilde) with problematic consequences for visible minorities and immigrant groups as partisans of “traditionally authentic” national culture seek to fortify communal boundaries, and as rhetorically targeted minority groups increase their own insularity and defensiveness in response to increasing scrutiny (Moghdessi, Rahnema, and Goodman). As Cohen would predict, reassertion of an idealized “we” necessarily presupposes sharp contrasts with the qualities and practices of an antithetical “they,” inviting reciprocal practices on the part of those placed in the outsider camp.

In Canada, the renewed salience of “we”/“they” contrasts in public life is not limited to debates surrounding such unsettling matters as the potential for homegrown terrorism, or to more traditional mechanisms of boundary maintenance with the United States. Use of intercultural contrasts has also become apparent in conversations concerning immigrant integration and the

138 Governing the Face Veil: Quebec’s Bill 94 and the Transnational Politics of Women’s Identity rights and responsibilities associated with citizenship. Although a majority of national media outlets still appear to favour an inclusive, multicultural, and multiracial understanding of the contemporary Canadian “we,” conceptions of Canadian identity are nonetheless being reconfigured in subtle ways that underscore stark differences between liberalism, modernism, individual rights, and gender equality on the one hand, and the values of conservative or radical Muslims on the other. In many respects the discourse of women’s rights has itself become securitized through its frequent invocation in relation to foreign war (e.g. Canadian troops in Afghanistan) and threats posed by religious extremists (Hunt and Rygiel). Whereas traditional feminism was frequently regarded as a subversive challenge to the under-representation of women in public life, feminist claims to gender equality are now being deployed in a new context to reinforce fundamental distinctions between “us” and “them.” Nowhere in Canada is this dynamic more evident than in Quebec.

Debates over veiling in Quebec provide fascinating opportunities to explore the contestation of identity in a setting where both majority and minority populations experience identity insecurity. Even as members of the Quebecois community construct identity vis-à-vis both the Canadian Anglophone majority and new immigrant communities (whose neo-traditional mores evoke a “they” contrast not just from abroad, but also from Quebec’s own conservative cultural past), minority communities—especially visibly observant Muslims—face the daunting task of attaining membership within a new “we” without severing a sense of authenticity and lived connection to their communities of origin. The fact that Islam has become a new “they” for many in the dominant culture makes the challenge of belonging all the more difficult.

In exploring Bill 94 as a political initiative driven more by “we”/“they” identity contrasting and identity insecurity than by pragmatic policy concerns, this paper seeks insight into dynamics of intercultural communication (conducted more often in monologue than in a dialogical format) that are by no means unique to Quebec or to Canada at large. These dynamics dem- onstrate not only the significant potential for polarization in contemporary, culturally diverse industrialized democratic polities, but also suggest the possibility of surprising new alliances that contest the boundaries of dominant symbolic conceptions of community and invite new efforts to imagine a more inclusive and flexible “we.” The present analysis therefore seeks to interpret controversies and coalitions surrounding Bill 94, with the intent not only to highlight the fissures between different communities and their manners of constructing cultural identity, but also to illuminate ways in which the terms of debate might be altered or reframed in ways that foster shared identity and inclusive community.

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Historical Background: The “Reasonable Accommodation” Debate and the Politics of Veiling The introduction of Bill 94 and the varied responses the Bill has evoked cannot be understood in a vacuum. While broader international debates about the place of Islam and Muslims in Western societies undeniably affect opposing camps within Quebec, the specific terms of debate in Quebec must also be understood in relation to the province’s unique history and experiences pertaining to secularism, interculturalism/ multiculturalism, and gender equality.

Owing to the legacy of Anglophone conquest, multiculturalism has always been contested in the province of Quebec. Although originally intended as a federal policy that, in combination with bilingualism, would preserve the long-term integrity of the Canadian state, acceptance of multiculturalism has been tempered by anxieties about gradual erosion and eventual erasure of Francophone identity and culture within the context of a predominantly Anglophone country with a steady influx of diverse immigrants (Venne). Preoccupation with pure laine (literally, “pure wool”) Quebecers’ insecure minority status within Canada has therefore generated considerable ambivalence about the broader implications of multicultural policy and has at times reduced empathy for other Canadian minority groups.

In addition to the insecure cultural status of Quebecers within the Can- adian federation, close historic ties with France are an additional influence on attitudes toward minority cultures in general, and toward Islam and Muslims in particular. Two specific factors inherent in the modern French experience, and articulated in relation to the unique circumstances of Quebec, contribute to the formation of perceptions and value claims behind current reasonable accommodation controversies. The first factor is laïcité, the French conception of a strongly secular state and public culture1; the second is the French colonial presence in Muslim North Africa, and the subsequent post-colonial experience of economically driven North African migration to France proper.2 While both are products of historical developments subsequent to Anglophone predominance in Canada and the eclipse of “New France” as a political project, the persistence of a common Francophone cultural and intellectual sphere renders core constructs of French culture and history con- sequential (though by no means determinative) for Quebec.

Despite geographic distance, the French experience and example continues to resonate in Quebec. While the secular-religious dynamic within Quebec was largely settled in favour of secularism during the mid-twentieth- century “Quiet Revolution,” formulations of laïcité that reflect France’s more tumultuous struggle for a secular state are present alongside less assertive forms of secularism. French notions of a unifying secular ethic have particular appeal among those who fear that new immigrants, especially Muslims,

140 Governing the Face Veil: Quebec’s Bill 94 and the Transnational Politics of Women’s Identity

may reverse the historically recent political marginalization of religious institutions as well as significant gains in gender equality. Attunement to current French realities also heightens anxiety about rapid demographic change and culture gaps, while providing concrete examples of state policies intended to reassert a common, secular civic culture. Public controversy in Quebec surrounding Muslim head coverings, for example, dates not to the post- September 11 era, but rather to the 1990s; Quebec-based incidents associated with the expulsion of girls from school for wearing headscarves followed a pattern similar to previous events in France.

A series of provincial and federal events have underscored and exacer- bated deeper questions concerning the security of Quebecois identity, making this debate especially charged in the last decade. A 2002 Supreme Court ruling, for instance, to overturn a decision made by the council of commissioners of the Commission Scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys and allow Gurbaj Singh Multani to wear his kirpan to school, was perceived by some Quebecers as a federal government attempt to impose multiculturalism on Quebec, and prompted increased media attention to the issue of reasonable accommodation (Bouchard and Taylor, “Building” 33, 50). In 2005–2006, there was a dramatic increase in media coverage of “reasonable accommodation” issues: many citizens were concerned about the transition to frosted windows at a YMCA located in a Hasidic Jewish community, unsettled by sensationalis- tic and inaccurate coverage of Muslim ritual prayers at a sugarhouse, and provoked by various incidents in which hijab-wearing Muslim girls were barred from participating in sporting events. The controversies came to a head in January 2007 when the town council of a small, homogeneous village named Hérouxville announced a “Life Standards” act, declaring that a range of extreme practices—many of them, such as stoning women and wearing face veils, stereotypically associated with Muslim radicalism—would not be accepted within the community.

The Bouchard-Taylor Commission In light of this increasingly polarized media coverage and the prospect that the Action Démocratique du Québec (ADQ) party’s anti-immigrant policies could lead to significant gains in impending elections, Premier Charest sought to defuse the “reasonable accommodation crisis” by appointing two well-known public intellectuals, Charles Taylor and Gérard Bouchard, to chair a commission to investigate “accommodation practices related to cultural difference” in early 2007. While Bouchard and Taylor would later conclude the so-called “crisis” to be largely a “crisis of perception,” they noted that the wave of accommodation cases in the media “clearly touched an emotional chord among French-Canadian Quebecers in such a way that requests for religious adjustments have spawned fears about the potential loss of the most valuable gains of the Quiet Revolution, in particular gender

141 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes equality and secularism” (“Building” 18). Many Quebecers also expressed fear that reasonable accommodation requests might undermine the intercultural integration model that the province has adopted as an alternative to federal multiculturalism. A broader identity “malaise” also shaped sentiments regarding reasonable accommodation; fear for Quebec’s status as a French- speaking minority in English North America and tension between Montreal and “the regions” were at the heart of the debate (ibid. 17, 33).

Although the commission was set up to investigate the management of cultural differences, the overwhelming majority of cases raised in debate have to do with religious and not merely cultural diversity. In their Consulta- tion Document, Bouchard and Taylor state: “In a word, it is, in particular, the management of diversity, especially religious diversity that appears above all to pose a problem” (“Seeking” 3). Religious groups and religious practices and symbols, then, often became the centre of debate, with concerns about Muslims particularly prominent.

In the wake of 11 September 2001 and the resulting suspicion of Mus- lims worldwide, Quebec’s relatively small community of Muslims received great attention. Particular Muslim practices—most notably the hijab and requests for prayer rooms—drove much of this attention, leading many Muslim groups to explain their traditions publicly in an effort to correct misconcep- tions and defend the place of Muslims in a pluralist Quebec. Acknowledging the salience of cases involving Muslim women in their report, Bouchard and Taylor note that it is often Muslim women’s attempts to integrate that make them more visible and therefore vulnerable to Islamophobia. They argue that “the way to overcome Islamophobia is to draw closer to Muslims, not to shun them. In this field, as in others, mistrust engenders mistrust. As is true of fear, it ends us [sic] feeding on itself” (“Seeking” 235).

After accepting submissions from various groups and holding public consultations, Bouchard and Taylor produced a lengthy report and series of recommendations for the province in May 2008, rooted in a vision of “open secularism.” Their recommendations included demands to better define terms such as “interculturalism” and “secularism”; to promote employment opportunities for immigrants more effectively; to increase representation of underrepresented groups in government and public services; to combat anti- Semitism, Islamophobia, and racism; and, importantly for Bill 94, to make government spaces religiously neutral. To this end, Bouchard and Taylor recommended that the crucifix be removed from the National Assembly, and that certain public servants in positions of authority, such as judges, not be allowed to wear symbols of religious expression.

142 Governing the Face Veil: Quebec’s Bill 94 and the Transnational Politics of Women’s Identity

Post-Bouchard-Taylor Developments The Bouchard-Taylor report received mixed reactions, and although the report spelled out a series of recommendations, the government showed little enthusiasm to follow up on any of them. In effect, Bill 94 was the first piece of legislation related to reasonable accommodation tabled since the Com- mission’s completion, aside from a motion in Parliament (accepted by all parties) not to remove the crucifix from the National Assembly, contrary to the report’s recommendations. Although the Commission served to dampen debate about minority communities for a time, subsequent events have served to reignite and perpetuate the debate in largely unchanged terms. In Novem- ber 2009, the story of Naema Ahmed, an Egyptian immigrant who was asked to leave her French class in Montreal when she refused to remove her niqab (and was later expelled a second time after enrolling in another school), was in April 2010 followed by a similar story of another niqabi woman. These events ignited a polarizing debate about head coverings; Chantal Hébert maintains that Quebec’s French media played a decisive role in shaping and fuelling this debate. On one side of the debate, many argued that in demanding a right to wear the niqab, largely depicted as a symbol of oppression, Muslims had gone too far and that the government was right to put an end to accommodation demands, a position that most Quebecers seemed to support. On the other side, however, critics pointed out problems with focusing too narrowly on the practice of a small minority of Muslim women, and argued that prohibiting niqabi women from accessing public services would only serve to isolate them, making integration more difficult.

The prevalence of anti-niqab public sentiment provided a favourable environment for introducing Bill 94, although Madame Weil, who introduced the Bill, maintains that the legislation had been in the works since November 2009 and was not merely an effort to capitalize on developments in the domain of public opinion. However, she has acknowledged that “the resurgence of reasonable accommodations certainly didn’t hurt her cause, and neither have the poll numbers” (Patriquin and Gillis 21).

According to the results of a recent Angus Reid poll, widely cited in the media, anti-niqab sentiment in Canada extends far beyond Quebec. While 95 percent of Quebecers support the Bill, 75 percent of non-Quebecers likewise support the Bill (Patriquin and Gillis 20). Support outside of Quebec is highest in Alberta (82 percent) and Ontario (77 percent) (ibid. 22). In Atlantic Canada, 73 percent of people supported the Bill, while BC saw 70 percent approval, and Manitoba and Saskatchewan had the lowest rates of support at 65 percent (Scott, “Majority”). The poll also found that men were more likely to support the Bill than women (83% vs. 77%), and people over 55 were more likely than those under 35 (86% vs. 69%). The vice president of public affairs

143 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes for Angus Reid, who conducted the poll, noted that it is very rare to have such a high level of public support for a government measure (Scott, “Majority”).

International Cases of Face-Veil Bans While Bill 94 is very much a product of the specific Quebec milieu, it is also part of larger international debates about the place of Muslims in the “West,” about “War on Terror” security concerns, and about the place of religious expression in secular states—debates that have played out in different countries across Europe, as well as in various Muslim-majority countries. In late April 2010, Belgium’s Chamber of Representatives became the first Western European assembly to impose a nationwide ban on full-face veils in public, despite the fact that only 30 Belgian women are estimated to wear the niqab. Other Belgium municipalities, such as Brussels, already had local anti-veil legislation, “[b]ut legislators explained that they wanted to ‘send a signal’ to fundamentalists Muslims and preserve the dignity and rights of women” (Cody A06). Similar proposals have been introduced in the Netherlands and Italy. Although less certain to pass, both countries also have local bans on face veils in effect. In Switzerland, where the construction of minarets was banned in November 2009, the Justice Minister also recently suggested that the government might use similar administrative powers to forbid face veils, while exempting Persian Gulf tourists (Cody A06). In July 2010, 183 Spanish parliamentarians voted to reject a proposed face-veil ban while 162 supported the proposal or abstained, though the Socialist government said it supports a ban in government buildings. The Bill was tabled by the opposition Populist Party, framed as a measure to protect women’s rights (“Spain’s legislators”).

In France, the country with the largest Muslim population in Western Europe, issues of secularism, identity, and the hijab have dominated public debate for years, in a tone sometimes mirrored in Quebec (although Bou- chard and Taylor go to great lengths to contrast France’s more rigid version of secularism with Quebec’s “open secularism” model). On May 11, France’s National Assembly also voted to declare full-face veils “‘contrary to the values of the republic,’ which legislators described as the first step toward enacting legislation similar to Belgium’s” (Galloway and Taber). On July 13, France’s lower house of parliament voted to ban the full-face veil in public, with 336 voting in favour of the bill, and only one voting against. Because the bill has received widespread public and political support (only the Socialist Party has dissented, offering a counter-proposal to limit the ban to public buildings), it is expected to be approved by the Senate in September (“Face veil ban approved”). Anyone caught wearing the full-face veil will be fined $190, and will be required to enrol in a “citizenship course.”3

Despite the existence of broad support for a French niqab ban, objec- tions have also been voiced. Many human rights groups, including Amnesty

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International (“Crowd protests”), have come out against the Bill, and some legal scholars expect the Bill may not withstand a constitutional challenge (“French Deputies”). It is estimated that less than 2000 women in France wear the face veil. In addition to various bans in different European countries stoking the fires of Islamophobia and leading to increasing hostility and resentment of Muslims (Galloway and Taber), Muslims themselves are often divided on the issue, with some worried about the image of Islam conveyed by wearers of the niqab, and others who argue that anti-niqab laws could in fact liberate some women from the niqab (Malik).

Both India and Egypt, non-European countries with sizeable Muslim populations, have also passed legislation limiting the wearing of the niqab. In January 2010, the Supreme Court of India ruled that burqa-clad women cannot be issued voter ID, rejecting the argument that Islam required them to wear the veil (Mahapatra).4 In Egypt, where an increasing number of veiled women and a growing population who have turned to more conservative interpretations of Islam have come into conflict with the more moderate, officially sanctioned brand of Islam, a number of state attempts to ban the niqab have recently captured headlines. The most recent of these occurred in January 2010, when the government banned students from wearing the niqab while writing exams and students protested by arguing that the ban not only infringes on their religious rights, but also “supports rape and sexual harassment” (“Egypt court”). Likewise, on 20 July 2010, Syria banned students from wearing the niqab while attending university in order to promote “moderation.”5

Responses to Bill 94 Support for the Bill: Central Arguments As is perhaps to be expected, responses to Bill 94 have been mixed. A number of important political leaders, public figures, lawyers, academics, and religious groups have come out in favour of the Bill, while polls suggest that an overwhelming majority of the public is also supportive of the legislation. Those who support Bill 94 have grounded their rhetoric around two central themes: the need to be “reasonable” and set limits to accommodation practices for purposes of security and identification; and the need to protect “Quebec values,” especially gender equality and secularism. Subsidiary to these central themes, the following arguments have also been advanced in support of the Bill:

The Need for “Reasonable” Limits to Accommodation Practices: As the Bill itself stipulates, supporters of the Bill have most often framed their position as a response to the need to set “reasonable” limits to accommodation practices, often depicting the legislation as a kind of reasonable compromise, one that accounts for security and identification concerns, and legitimate accommodation requests, without constituting a complete ban on the niqab

145 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes or other religious symbols as has been sought in some European countries. Justice Minister Weil, who introduced the Bill, described it as “the Quebec government’s first foray into legislating what can and cannot be reasonably accommodated.” She further described the Bill as a “‘common sense piece of legislation’—a happy medium between what she calls the ‘pur et dur secularism of France and the Parti Québécois’ and carte blanche for every religious whim and practice in state institutions” (Patriquin and Gillis 21). In the wake of some backlash at the public hearings, Weil again underlined the “reasonable” nature of the government’s position saying: “don’t worry, we are a reasonable society, we are going to have an adult conversation about this” (ibid. 23). This language of sensible compromise is also evidenced in Bouchard, Ignatieff, and Harper’s responses to the Bill. Bouchard, for instance, said that while “the host society has a duty to make all efforts for those immigrants to [accommodate] them... society does not have the duty to [accommodate] you wherever you go” (Scott, “Veiled Threat”). At the federal level, a spokes- person for the Prime Minister’s Office said “the law proposed by the Quebec government makes sense”6 (Galloway and Taber) while Ignatieff has called the proposed Bill “a good Canadian balance,” noting that accommodation on both sides must be “reasonable” (Galloway and Taber) At a recent public event, he noted: “The Quebec government is trying to make sure that in civic and public spaces that freedom of religion is respected, but at the same time on the other side citizens come forward and reveal themselves when they are demanding public service”7 (Galloway and Taber).

In conjunction with the idea that Bill 94 is “reasonable” and “bal- anced,” the practical concerns of security, identification, and communication are frequently mentioned as justifications for requiring individuals to give and receive public services with their faces uncovered. Roksana Nazneen of the Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC), one of the few religious groups to support the Bill, spoke for many with her argument, “You can’t interact with someone who is invisible. We cannot expect our government to provide parallel services to accommodate only a few” (Patriquin and Gillis 22). Nazneen’s comments follow up on an MCC call in 2009 for a nation-wide ban of “‘masks, niqabs and the burka in all public dealings,’ suggesting such garments were examples of Saudi-inspired Islamic extremism” (ibid. 23).

Significantly, Mario Conseco, a vice-president of Angus Reid Public Opinion credits the Bill’s framing in relation to security/identification/communication concerns as the reason for the Bill’s widespread public support. Indeed, Conseco suggested that

the breadth of the consensus suggests a turning point: a moment at which Canadians are reaching the limits of our vaunted self-image as tolerant and inclusive. After years of collisions between institutions and the demands of religious minorities, he says, the public portion of

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the debate increasingly boils down to matters of basic fairness: why should one group be excused from accepted requirements of security, identification, and communication, while another is not?” For Conseco support of the Bill is not because Quebec legislation is becoming intolerant, but more because Quebec legislation is framed in practical matters of security and identification, instead of attacking one religious minority (ibid. 22).

Protecting Quebec’s Values: Although the Bill was presented as a response to security, communication, and identification concerns, a significant portion of public debate about the Bill has revolved around questions of gender equality and secularism, two principles seen to be paramount Québécois values, which have frequently driven the debate on reasonable accommodation in the past. Politicians both within and outside of Charest’s government have supported the Bill on these grounds (Haque and Bullock 1). Charest, for instance, says the law “reflects his government’s commitment to ‘open secularism’” but “[t]he niqab and burka are considered unacceptable in part because they interfere with security, identification and communication” (Hamilton; Gal- loway and Taber). Outside of Charest’s government, Saguenay Mayor Jean Tremblay said he supports a ban of the niqab in public services, while PQ leader Pauline Marois has called for a complete ban on religious symbols in public institutions, including the hijab (Galloway and Taber).

Indeed, Charest described the Bill as “a matter of ‘drawing a line’ to defend Québec values... [which] follows a policy Mr. Charest’s government introduced in 2008 requiring new immigrants to sign a declaration promising to learn French and respect Québec’s ‘shared values’” (Hamilton, “Cultural Insecurity”). Interestingly, Charest has used Bouchard-Taylor’s language of “open secularism” to justify the legislation (Galloway and Taber).

Perhaps the biggest flashpoint for debate surrounding the Bill, however, is the argument that the Bill is needed to help uphold the Québécois value of gender equality. This argument is rooted in the assumption that the niqab is indicative of women’s oppression, even though the Bill does not make specific mention of the niqab. Minister for the Status of Women Christine St-Pierre, who helped draft the Bill, has called niqabs “ambulatory prisons,” and said niqabs and burkas are “an attack on women’s rights [and] unacceptable in our society” (Patriquin and Gillis 23). Similarly, PQ immigration critic Louise Beaudoin said religious head coverings are an example of the “submission of women, of regression, and a subjugation of all our freedoms” (ibid. 21). Elsewhere, articles have claimed that “[s]ome feminist groups have applauded the move, saying the garments are symbolic of the oppression of women” (Galloway and Taber), while National Post writer Don Martin said that “keeping women covered head-to-toe is a clear affront to gender equality in Canada wrapped in obvious elements of religious extremism.”

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Opposition to the Bill: Central Arguments Compared to the arguments advanced in support of Bill 94, groups and individuals that have opposed the Bill have used a much wider range of critiques. They have challenged the Bill’s constitutionality, and have criticized its ramifications for religious freedom and gender equality, its negative effect (actual if not intended) on niqabi women, and its apparent dependence on Islamophobic sentiment (which, critics suggest, is implicated in the Bill’s widespread popularity). Those who have voiced strong opposition to the Bill comprise interesting coalitions of sometimes surprising figures, ranging from separatist politicians to Women’s Rights groups, Jewish groups, lawyers, and a range of academics.

Violation of Charter Rights: Perhaps the strongest and most frequently mentioned argument against Bill 94 is the challenge that the Bill constitutes a violation of the rights stipulated in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Quebec Charter of Human Rights, and the Universal Declara- tion of Human Rights. Most frequently, groups have mentioned that the Bill is a violation of the right to freedom of religion, expression, and conscience, while some have also pointed out that the Bill violates women’s rights, and compromises conceptualizations of “equality,” creating a hierarchy of rights. Based on these challenges to the Bill under the Charter, a number of prominent lawyers and law professors, such as Clayton Ruby, Robert Leckey, and Mari-Claire Belleau have suggested that the Bill is unlikely to withstand a Charter challenge, as reasonable accommodation is not supposed to be denied unless undue hardship is created, and the government would not likely be able to show that a breach of rights and freedoms is necessary. Ruby, for instance, a Toronto-based defence lawyer, says the Bill is “hard to justify,” as “it’s a blow at what somebody else conceives their religion to be. Freedom of religion is guaranteed, and it’s been a very strict guarantee, as long as you’re not hurting anyone” (Vallis). Leckey, a constitutional law professor at McGill University, is likewise critical of the Bill for its differential effect on one particular religious minority, noting that “the law may seem neutral but it’s clear that there’s a differential impact on practitioners of a particular religion” (Patriquin and Gillis 23).8 Third year McGill University law student, Daniel Haboucha (2010), explains that in order for the Bill to withstand a legal challenge, the government would have to show that (i) the means are rationally connected to the objective (gender equality and integration); (ii) the Bill infringes on the rights and freedoms to as little an extent as possible, and (iii) that there is proportionality between the infringement of religious freedom and the Bill’s objective. Haboucha notes that the government may be able to establish the first point, would have more difficulty with the second, but would likely fail in establishing proportionality. Haque and Bullock (2010) also explain that to withstand a Charter challenge, the Bill would have to “withstand scrutiny according to the Oakes test, whereby limitations on

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rights or freedoms may be deemed appropriate if it can be established that: (i) the legislative objective is pressing and substantial; (ii) that there is a rational connection between the legislative means chosen and the objectives sought; and finally (iii) that the infringement must be a minimal impairment on the right or freedom in question.” They contend that the Bill would not be able to meet such a challenge, as “(i) the issue is not pressing, as the number of niqabi women in Québec is small; (ii) the objectives sought (gender equality and integration) are not rationally connected to the outcome of the Bill (further isolation); and (iii) the right in question is maximally impacted, as it forces a person who would rather not, out of a deep seated religious conviction, show their face.”

Freedom of Religion: Under this argument, groups and individuals point out that it is not the duty of the state to decide how a person exercises their religious rights (Arnold) and that individuals should retain the right to practice their religion in the best way they see fit, as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others. Significantly, a number of groups also point out that freedom of dress is also an important aspect of religious freedom that needs to be protected, and that requiring women to not wear the niqab is as bad as requiring someone to wear it.

In addition to a number of civil society organizations, Muslim as well as other religious groups like the Quebec Jewish Congress (QJC) and the Canadian Muslim Federation have been among those who have criticized the Bill from the perspective that it violates freedom of religion. In agreement with the QJC’s position, that wearing religious symbols, including the niqab, is a matter of personal choice (Arnold), the Canadian Muslim Federation sees the niqab as a choice not unlike “dyed blue hair or piercings.” The Canadian Muslim Federation has additionally called the proposed law “Islamophobic and discriminatory” (Dougherty, “Bill 94”).

The most coordinated opposition to Bill 94 under the freedom of religion argument has come from a coalition of different civil society organizations collectively known as No/Non Bill 94.9 The group states that its position de- rives from legislation that protects freedom of conscience, religious expression, and equality under the law—rights and freedoms guaranteed equally to men and women. Introducing the coalition at a recent meeting, Zahra Dhanani, a METRAC10 lawyer, said:

We believe that the response to gender inequality and gender discrimination must be created in partnership by the very women who experience gender inequality and gender violence. It’s no longer okay for legislators who have no idea what it means to be a Muslim woman, who have no idea what it means to have been born and raised wearing the niqab to decide whether women wear the niqab or not.11

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A coalition meeting at Ryerson in early May 2010 drew 150 people. The group has launched a petition, submitted a brief to the government, and encouraged members to speak out and challenge their MPs to oppose the bill (Cole). Excerpts of the coalition’s petition read as follows:

No Bill 94 Coalition is made up of concerned individuals, organizations and grassroots movements that are demanding that the proposed Quebec legislation, Bill 94, be withdrawn immediately. ...Bill 94 specifically targets Muslim women who wear the niqab (face veil). The bill is an exaggerated response to a manufactured crisis that will allow the government to deny women services to which they are entitled. A truly democratic society is one in which all individuals have the freedom of religious expression and a right to access public services.

Although touted as a step toward gender equality, Bill 94, if approved, will perpetuate gender inequality by legislating control over women’s bodies and sanctioning discrimination against Muslim women who wear the niqab. Instead of singling out a minuscule percentage of the population, government resources would be better spent implementing poverty reduction and education programs to address real gender inequality in meaningful ways...

If Premier Charest’s government is truly committed to gender equality it should foster a safe and inclusive society that respects a woman’s right to make decisions for herself. Standing up for women’s rights is admirable. “Rescuing” women is paternalistic and insulting. Further marginalizing Muslim women who wear niqab and denying them access to social services, economic opportunities and civic participation is unacceptable.

… No Bill 94 Coalition is made up of concerned individuals, organizations and grassroots movements that are demanding that the proposed Quebec legislation, Bill 94, be withdrawn immediately.12

Women’s Rights and Gender Equality: Related to this final point, groups have also questioned the constitutionality of the Bill on the grounds of gender equality. Here, groups are extremely critical of those who invoke gender equality as a justification for the Bill, arguing instead that limiting how a woman is allowed to dress is an infringement on her rights, and is especially troubling when a woman’s choice of dress may lead her to be barred from accessing social services. Rather, opponents of the Bill point out that the Bill seems to impose one interpretation of “gender equality” (one that sees the niqab as a symbol of oppression, not as a woman’s religious choice) over another, in a way that ends up being paternalistic and does nothing to advance women’s rights or women’s empowerment. Dana Olwan (2010), for instance, says the logic on which the Bill is based grants the state, and men, the right to legislate something that they should not, and assumes that Muslim women

150 Governing the Face Veil: Quebec’s Bill 94 and the Transnational Politics of Women’s Identity are oppressed. Olwan also warns that “[b]y extending the Canadian state an unauthorized invitation into Muslim women’s closets, the proponents of Bill 94 maximize state control over women’s bodies and day-to-day choices of dress and religious practices.” The No/Non Bill 94 Coalition is particularly critical of the paternalism inherent in the Bill, and argues that “the response to gender inequality and gender discrimination must be created in partnership by the very women who experience gender inequality and gender violence.” As one editorial notes: “To force women to reveal their faces—or, for that matter, wear short skirts or have their hair down—as a condition for accessing public services, including health care, is no way to protect their rights. Bill 94 will do little more than drive the couple of dozen Quebec women estimated to wear the niqab back into their homes where, if they are being repressed already, they will have even less access to assistance” (“Que. Prohibition”).13

Writing in a similar vein, commentators such as Soha Elsayed point out that “to liberate women, we need to empower them,” and suggest that creating daycare spaces rather than taking them away from veiled women would be a better approach (Monteiro). Victoria Tahmabesis says framing the question as one of gender equality does not make any sense, as equality has to do with autonomous decision making and equal access to employment and education opportunities.14 Haque and Bullock (2010) also point out that the Bill denies in advance requests for same-sex service, even though requests for same-sex service are routine for people of many different backgrounds. They note that in Ontario, the government allows such requests by niqabi women, and this has not been a problem.

Equality: In addition to questioning the Bill on the grounds of violating religious freedom and women’s rights, opponents of the Bill have also noted that the Bill may be challenged under the equality clause in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a clause that guarantees all rights are equally protected for all citizens (Vallis). Mohammed Fadel, for example, argues that the Bill has negative effects for how Canadians define equality, as denying certain people access to public services severely undermines the idea that we are all equal citizens.15 Others, including an association of Jewish jurists known as the Lord Reading Law Society, have pointed out that in this is case the right to religious freedom is being trumped by other rights. The Society maintains that in creating a “hierarchy of rights,” the Bill makes “the equality of men and women more important than religious and other freedoms” (Arnold).16 Interestingly, Louise Beaudoin, the PQ Immigration critic has suggested doing just that—i.e., amending the Quebec Charter to establish a hierarchy of rights by giving priority to gender equality, secularism, and the primacy of French (Dougherty, “Reasonable”).

Bill 94 as Islamophobic: A second kind of argument made in opposition to Bill 94 is that the Bill is discriminatory and Islamophobic. The Canadian

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Muslim Federation, for instance, called the bill “Islamophobic and discriminatory” (Dougherty, “Bill 94”) while Farheen Khan suggested the Bill was an example of systematic Islamophobia.17

Groups and individuals who advance this argument point out that the Bill is based in fear and stereotypes about Islam, and are also critical of the Bill for singling out niqabi women and targeting only Muslims.

A range of groups and individuals have also criticized Bill 94 because it is based on negative stereotypes about the niqab and Islam, and is rooted in a culture of fear and the “War on Terror” narrative that has gained voice since 9/11. Salam Elmenyawi, for instance, argued that the Angus Reid poll results are a result of the emotional climate surrounding the issue, and all the “negative stereotypes that have been on the airwaves” surrounding the niqab (Scott, “Majority”)— a sentiment with which the authors of the Mac- leans article “About Face” agreed, suggesting that poll results may reflect an underlying suspicion of Islamic traditions (Patriquin and Gillis 22). Likewise, Dana Olwan (2010) argues that the “War on Terror” narrative—accompanied by the narrative of Muslim women as oppressed—legitimates the Bill and underlies arguments made in support of the Bill. An organizer at a No/Non Bill 94 Coalition meeting noted that one motivation for the coalition was the weariness with the argument that the Bill was about gender equality, when in fact it was “actually about racism and about saying to people that they [niqabi women] don’t belong here.”18 Also at that meeting, Anver Emon said he found the language of security problematic, as it seemed to transfer fears related to the war on terror onto niqabi women. Emon said, “When suddenly the covered Muslim woman is seen as a threat to our security I think we’re actually imposing on her a concern that we just can’t solve somewhere else… on people that we cannot find because they’re in some hilltop.”19 Likewise, Jasmine Zine said the Bill is part of a ‘culture of fear’ gaining legitimacy in Canadian society, and has warned that the Bill is the beginning of a process in which Muslim women are targeted because of their dress (Monteiro).

Targets Muslims: Another critique of Bill 94 related to the theme of Islamo- phobia is that the Bill singles out niqabi women, and seems to be an attack specifically on the Muslim community. This critique revolves around the fact that although the Bill doesn’t mention the niqab or burka, in practice the Bill targets the handful of Muslim women in Quebec (estimated between 24 and 90) that wear the niqab. This has led many Muslims to feel targeted, as the scope of the law is disproportionate to the number of women who wear the niqab (Patriquin and Gillis 21). Considering that one of the conclusions of the Bouchard-Taylor report was that “the way to overcome Islamophobia...‘is to draw closer to Muslims, not to shun them,’” Graeme Hamilton rightly points out that legislation that singles out the Muslim community will certainly not help overcome Islamophobia (“Cultural Insecurity”).20

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Negative Repercussions: An additional argument made against Bill 94 focuses on the negative effects that the Bill would have if passed, with various people pointing out that the intent of the Bill (better integration, gender equality, etc.) is incongruous with the Bill’s effects. Elmenyawi, for example, notes that “if we are talking about integration, then this is actually much worse, because it will prevent [Muslims] from integrating or changing their ideas... we should leave society to self-adapt, let them either explain themselves to their fellow citizens or adapt and change their ways” (Hamilton, “Unveil Quebec”). Nuzhat Jafri of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women further suggests that the Bill undermines a practice of accommodation that has traditionally been managed in an individualized manner between a service provider and a client. In calling for “systematic solution” to a problem that is not systematic, Bill 94 would have negative effects for both niqabi women and their children.21

In addition, a number of people have also pointed out that the Bill would have a negative impact on the entire Muslim community. Elmenyawi, for instance, said “passing a law that targets Muslims would cause a deep and lasting rift within Quebec society that would leave long scars,” while Brahim Benyoucef noted that the Bill “had sparked ‘consternation and worry’ in Que- bec’s Islamic community” (Dougherty, “Quebec”). Likewise, Asmaa Hussein says the impact of the Bill is a continued feeling of marginalisation among Quebec’s Muslims, “the feeling of continuously living with the internalized image of being part of an outsider or immigrant group.”22 This point may be evidenced in the fact that the niqabi women who have spoken out by participating in panels and meetings on the Bill, have clearly stated that the niqab is their own choice and that they are capable of thinking and speaking for themselves. Some have also noted that the Bill does not make sense to them, as removing their niqab for reasons of security or identification has never been a problem.23

With sensitivity to the potential for negative repercussions that the Bill has for Muslims, while Gérard Bouchard may have said that granting niqabi women access to government services is “a step too far,” he also stated that the controversy surrounding the November 2009 case of Naema Ahmed should have remained an internal affair. And although he publicly lent support to the CEGEP (usually translated as Quebec’s College of General and Vocational Education) that expelled Ahmed because her requests were affecting other students at a public talk at McGill University, he also highlighted his belief that Quebecers should reaffirm their commitment to both liberalism and national identity, and that these things are not incompatible (Bouchard).24

The critique that the Bill might have negative repercussions for Que- becois society has also been advanced by media columnists and a small number of politicians. Haroon Siddiqui of The Toronto Star, for instance,

153 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes has blasted Charest’s government, commenting that had this attitude existed earlier, many other religious minorities in Canada—Hutterites, Orthodox Jews, Sikhs, etc. probably wouldn’t be here. He further writes that it is “scary ... when majorities in democracies feel threatened by a tiny minority” (Sid- diqui, “Quebec’s witch hunt”; Siddiqui, “Picking on”). Interestingly, both Lucien Bouchard, the former PQ Premier of Quebec, and Gilles Duceppe, leader of the Bloc Québécois (the federal version of the PQ), have broken party ranks and offered warnings in a similar vein. While the provincial PQ have said the bill does not go far enough, Duceppe has said that he supports Bouchard-Taylor’s “open secularism” model, not the rigid model of France that the PQ has also adopted. Although Lucien Bouchard has not officially condemned the Bill, he has publicly warned his party against playing identity politics, stating a preference for the “inclusive” Quebec that the father of modern Quebec separatism, René Lévesque, envisioned (Siddiqui, “Picking on Muslim women”).

Analysis and Conclusions While the fate of Bill 94 has not yet been decided, the political dynamics surrounding the Bill are quite revealing with respect to ongoing debates concerning cultural identity, social values, and the boundaries of community. Even if the Bill is ultimately withdrawn from the legislative process, these underlying debates are likely to persist. What does it mean to be Québécois? Which values are most essential? Who is irremediably “other”? Such questions have considerable staying power.

Bill 94’s popularity in Quebec as well as in the larger Canadian context is broad but not necessarily deep. Anxiety concerning Muslim immigration is easily awakened, in ways that predispose many to redrawing boundaries in ways that exclude cultural symbols experienced as threatening. Nonetheless, vigorous opposition to the Bill on the part of intellectuals and civil society organizations suggests potential resilience among protagonists of liberal multiculturalism and of an open approach to cultural differences within which Québécois as well as Canadian identities are regarded as works in progress rather than as finished products. Although the reflexive popularity of Bill 94 is worrisome, the strength and rapid mobilization of the activist networks opposed to the Bill offers long-term promise for those who hope to build a more secure basis for Muslim identity and belonging within Canada.

There are good reasons, of course, for advocates of inclusion and dialogue in Quebec to feel discouraged by developments surrounding Bill 94. Despite the extensive and often quite visible work of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission and its Final Report, the terms of debate surrounding “reasonable accommodation” seem to have changed little. For instance, “secularism” and “gender equality” are evoked in support of the Bill in the same way these

154 Governing the Face Veil: Quebec’s Bill 94 and the Transnational Politics of Women’s Identity terms were articulated during the Bouchard-Taylor Inquiry. Despite Bouchard and Taylor’s attempts to encourage a more precise, official definition of “open secularism,” the term’s usage remains vague and inconsistent. The principal difference between the “reasonable accommodation crisis” that prompted the Bouchard-Taylor Inquiry and the political discourse that prompted Bill 94 is that Bill 94 focuses more obviously on one small minority of Muslim women, whereas the preceding, “reasonable accommodation” debate framed discussion of concerns about Muslim minority practices within a larger context, in which concerns about other non-mainstream cultural and religious practices were also considered. Because Bill 94 is the first piece of legislation to address the issue of “reasonable accommodation” since the Bouchard-Taylor report, it would appear that this generously funded, government-mandated inquiry had very little impact either on public opinion or on the policies of the Charest government. Bouchard and Taylor’s constructive recommendations concerning positive measures to ease social and economic integration of immigrants appear to have been ignored, whereas statements concerning religious neutrality have provided a rationale for policies that selectively target a specific group, in a manner consistent with popular calls to reassert of cultural boundaries.

Like the Bouchard-Taylor Commission, the process surrounding Bill 94 has again placed a burden of explanation on the shoulders of Muslims, in ways that have a particularly strong impact on women—especially niqabi women, but also wearers of the hijab. The Commission sparked a large out- pouring of responses from Muslim groups and individuals, impelled by the inquiry process itself to defend and explain themselves. Quite frequently, discussion turned to the hijab, and many Muslim women felt compelled to explain that wearing the hijab was their own choice rather than a symbol of oppression. This same compulsion to explain is evident in this case. Though explicit attention has shifted from the hijab to the niqab, fear of a “slippery slope” is pervasive. Most women speaking about Bill 94 do not wear the niqab, with some even stating it is not a religious requirement and they do not support it. With the exception of the MCC, however, all groups have sought to explain that the niqab is a personal choice born of religious conviction, and not a symbol of oppression. While the case has shown that, in some respects, the Muslim community is internally diverse; for the most part members of the community appear united in a conviction that the new legislation is driven by harmful stereotypes. Both men and women appear to have responded to the issue in equal numbers, and some niqabi women have stepped forward in unconventional ways.

To its detractors, Bill 94 is less an act of policy leadership than an effort on the part of the Charest government to capitalize on popular anxieties and sentiments that would otherwise provide political fodder for opposition parties. Such allegations concerning the political nature of the Bill would appear

155 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes to have some basis in reality. Although the sentiments behind the Bill arguably are driven not merely by Islamophobia but also by long-term debates about cultural identity in Quebec, the manner in which the Bill emerged on the political scene mirrors the timing of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission. The Commission, it can be argued, sought to respond to the so-called “reasonable accommodation crisis” in the run-up to a provincial election when Charest faced a politically dangerous public outcry. It succeeded, for a time, in calming both the political debate and the associated media wars concerning reasonable accommodation. Bill 94 similarly follows a series of symbolically potent events, and once again provides the Charest government with a means of preventing losses to political competitors who are at least as willing (and, indeed, often more eager) to enter the fray of identity politics.

The central role of identity politics and boundary demarcation in Bill 94 is quite clear in the public debate that surrounds it. Although the wording of the Bill evokes issues of “security, identification and communication” as the principal rationale for new legislation, the widespread support for the Bill appears rooted in less pragmatic considerations. In contrast to early efforts to frame the Bill as a “reasonable” response to unreasonable calls for accommodation, the most salient issues in the larger debate are gender equality, secularism, and religious freedom—i.e., value positions associated with attempts to define the boundaries and content of political community. Neither defenders nor opponents of the Bill appear to be taking “pragmatic” arguments about public safety and reliable delivery of services as seriously as broader debates about cultural identity and values.

Interestingly, both opponents and supporters of the Bill have evoked “gender equality” and “secularism” in defence of their positions. Ironically, both sides seem to be drawing on the same modern liberal discourse to support diametrically opposed views. For the most part the debate has remained squarely within a Western, liberal, human rights framework. The argument of many Bill 94 supporters proposes that certain practices must be curbed in an effort to protect liberal social values from erosion and displacement, while opponents argue that Bill 94 itself represents a threat to the liberal values upon which political community in Quebec is based. For supporters, the niqab is “a bridge too far”—a substantive embodiment of an alien system of cultural values that cannot be welcomed in Quebec. Opponents of the Bill seek to counter this argument and bolster their own legitimacy as “Québécois” by positioning themselves within the same liberal discourse, in much the same way that many Muslim groups drew on the language of secularism, gender equality, and freedom of religion in briefs submitted to the Bouchard-Taylor Commission. Further investigation into this liberal framing of the debate represents a potentially fruitful area for future research, together with comparative study of how niqab debates have been framed in some Muslim-majority countries.

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The various responses to Bill 94 seem to reveal something about changing perceptions of multiculturalism in Quebec and in the rest of Can- ada. A number of authors and critics of the Bill have pointed out that, like the larger reasonable accommodation debate, the Bill seems to arise from Quebec’s cultural insecurity—an impulse to preserve a Francophone culture in a predominantly English-speaking North America, combined with a fear of change and multiculturalism (Hamilton; Kay). Other polls have suggested, however, that negative sentiment towards immigration and cultural diversity is prevalent in other parts of Canada as well—as suggested by the Angus Reid poll that found overwhelming national support for Bill 94. Beyond Bill 94 specifically, one poll from the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies found that 50% of people think that newcomers should give up traditions and become more like the rest of us, up from 36% in 2007 (Patriquin and Gillis 22). Another poll suggested that by 2007 only 69% of Canadians said that multiculturalism helped foster Canadians’ sense of identity and citizenship, down from 80% in 2001. Dana Olwan (2010) characterizes this underlying sentiment in the following terms:

More than anything, Bill 94 reveals some deep anxieties and fears felt in Quebec specifically but resonating throughout Canada. The main, but unstated, question underpinning this bill is one about Canada’s identity: What is Canada’s face, its writers appear to ask? What will Canada look like a year, a decade, or a century from now? Which, or more importantly, whose values will it honor and uphold?

Similarly, Anver Emon says the crux of the debate over Bill 94 seems to be about what it means to be Canadian, noting that “when you have the influx of immigration [and] multiculturalism debates… the concern then is who are we?”25 However opportunistic the timing of the Bill may have been, it cannot be understood without a broader consideration of the changing demographics of Quebec and of Canada as a whole, within a context of heightened post- 9/11 anxieties and insecurities.

Another dimension of the Bill 94 debate that merits attention is its impact on the Muslim minority community. A deep sense of sadness, regret, and frustration is evident in the reactions of Muslim groups to the Bill, a sadness born of the feeling that the Bill touches on deeper issues of identity and belonging in which Muslims are repeatedly cast as outsiders who do not belong in Canada. As Olwan (2010) suggested, the Bill is about what the face of Canada is to look like. She continues, significantly, to point out that “the unstated premise here is that the more Muslims are allowed into Canada, the less western (and Christian) Canada will become.” Significantly, Emon notes that the problem with the debates that have emerged in response to the Bill is that the Bill “doesn’t define [who ‘we’ are]... It just says who we are not. And that’s the problem”—i.e., the Bill says the “we” of Canada does not include

157 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes niqabi women.26 The result of all of this seems to be a culture of displacement and “not belonging” which was much less evident in the hearings of the Bouchard-Taylor commission.27

Although Bill 94 has already heightened intercultural polarization in Quebec and to some extent in Canada as a whole, discussion of the matter would be highly incomplete without noting that the introduction of the Bill has also spurred the creation of surprising alliances and coalitions. Even as efforts to advance the Bill give rise to real concerns about how far the pen- dulum of identity politics might swing, counter-movements of diverse actors suggest that the idea of a dynamic multicultural community—defined not so much by whom it excludes as by its willingness to achieve distinctiveness through inclusiveness and solidarity—still maintains vitality in Canada. The range of actors in the No Bill 94 coalition is certainly an unlikely combination of groups, and invites speculation concerning what partnerships and alliances might persist in the future, as Canadians continue to debate the identity, values, and purpose of their multicultural society.

Given the absence of a definitive decision with respect to Bill 94 and the likelihood that the underlying issues will be contested for some time, definitive conclusions are not possible. What is clear, however, is that identities and boundaries of community in Canada are being contested and renegoti- ated with great vigour. Despite the heightened potential for marginalization and alienation among minority communities, reinforcement of negative, “us vs. them” contrasts is not the only possible outcome. The Bill 94 debate also has the potential to produce new syntheses within which cultural newcomers more fully integrate values and symbols of their new home, and in which defenders of past Canadian cultural syntheses make space within their identities and worldviews for tolerating forms of cultural expression once regarded as irreconcilably “other.”

Notes 1. Though not necessarily anti-clerical in nature, present French understandings of laïcité have been shaped by intellectual currents of the French Revolution as well as by decades of contestation, especially during the nineteenth century, over relations between the state and the Catholic Church. Conflicting claims were ultimately resolved through firm establishment of a constitutional separation of church and state: the state was declared independent of all religious institutions, and religious institutions free from state intervention in matters of doctrine. Believed to ensure freedom of religious thought within the private sphere, this principle nonetheless presupposes a largely homogeneous domain of public citizenship, within which a common value system, identity, and language of expression prevail. This domain is made possible through removal of religious influences from all public institutions, including schools. 2. Although some scholars have argued that the existence of hierarchical relations premised on a “civilizing mission” (mission civilisatrice) left an enduring

158 Governing the Face Veil: Quebec’s Bill 94 and the Transnational Politics of Women’s Identity

cultural imprint on French attitudes toward Muslim peoples, an in-depth exploration of colonial attitudes towards North African Arab Muslims is beyond the scope of the present study. What is less disputable, however, is that contemporary intercultural relations have been profoundly shaped by large-scale North African (mostly Algerian) migration to France. Driven by the desire for gainful employment, the settlement of North Africans in France has been accompanied by considerable social conflict, economic disappointment, and cultural tension. Among North African migrants, economic marginalization, discrimination, and unemployment have generated trends toward significant minority culture discontent, heightening dissatisfaction with established cultural norms and orthodoxies. Discontent and dissatisfaction have at times found expression in doctrines and symbols of Islamic revivalism, producing considerable anxiety amongst members of the majority culture and controversies over matters such as the wearing of veils (now forbidden) in French public schools. 3. Men who force their daughters or wives to wear a face veil could be fined up to $37,754 and face a yearlong jail term. 4. Interestingly, Muslim community leaders and scholars urged the Muslim community not to oppose the Supreme Court decision, saying the veil is part of culture and not necessarily a religious requirement (Wajihuddin). 5. The relevant bill extends an earlier ban on teachers wearing the niqab in lower and infant schools (UPI). Officials say the ban comes at the request of parents concerned that their children be able to learn in settings free of extremism. 6. Don Martin, a columnist for the National Post, also suggested that “legislating our society’s gender equality over misogynist religious fashion imports would be good policy and politics for the federal Conservatives.” 7. While such remarks have not been particularly controversial, some have criticized Ignatieff for his stance; Lysiane Gagnon, a writer for the Globe and Mail, lamented that his position seems to debark from the Liberal party’s liberal values, and speculated that the stance was driven in no small part by broad public support for the Bill. 8. Similarly, Belleau, a law professor at Laval, “said she was worried that in affirming the neutrality of the state, the bill is not neutral toward ‘a practice by only women of one religion’” (Dougherty, “Bill 94”). 9. The coalition has been endorsed by AQSAzine, Assaulted Women’s and Children’s Counsellor/Advocate Program at George Brown College (AWCCA), The Centre for Women and Trans People at U of T, The Centre for Women and Trans People at York, the Miss G Project for Equity and Education, Frontline Partners with Youth Network, Metro Action Committee on Violence Against Women (METRAC), Native Youth Sexual Health Network (NYSHN), OPIRG Kingston, OPIRG York, Ryerson Student Union, Simone de Beauvoir Institute, and the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario (SALCO), Springtide Resources, and Urban Alliance on Race Relations (UARR). See the coalition’s website: . 10. The Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children. 11. This quote by Zahra Dhanani was stated at the No to Québec Provincial Bill 94 Coalition Meeting at Ryerson University, May 2010. To see full conversation go to .

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12. Petition available online at: . 13. Feminist author Greta Hoffman similarly suggests that forcing women to remove their niqab and ‘become like us’ would be “doing a tremendous violence to them” (Scott, “Veiled Threat”). 14. Tahmabesis was a panellist at the closing panel on Bill 94 at Veiled Constellations Conference, University of Toronto, 5 June 2010. 15. Mohamed Fadel was panellist on the closing panel at Veiled Constellations Conference, University of Toronto, 5 June 2010. 16. The Society has also stated that the Bill “goes against the grain of every position taken by the Canadian Jewish community nationally, and in Québec, in the past, in that it targets in fact, if not in name, a specific religious group, namely the Muslim community, with respect to an activity which represents no danger to the rest of society” (Arnold). It argues that state shouldn’t legislate who can exercise religious rights, and are concerned that “many other important religious practices, rituals, and customs which would normally not be considered to be unacceptable, may be unintentionally caught by this legislation” (Arnold). 17. Farheen Khan was a panellist in the closing panel on Bill 94 at Veiled Constellations Conference, University of Toronto, 5 June 2010. 18. This comment was made at the No to Québec Provincial Bill 94 Coalition Meeting at Ryerson University, May 2010. To see full conversation go to . 19. Ibid. 20. In a similar vein, Salam Elmenyawi, head of the Muslim Council of Montreal, called the Bill “very troubling” as it “points a finger” at the Muslim community (Hamilton, “Unveil”). 21. Nuzhat Jafri was a panellist for the closing panel on Bill 94 at Veiled Constellations Conference, University of Toronto, 5 June 2010. 22. This comment by Asmaa Hussein was made at the No to Québec Provincial Bill 94 Coalition Meeting at Ryerson University, May 2010. To see full conversation go to . 23. Minnat-Allah Aboul-Ella, a niqabi woman who participated on a panel at a public meeting in Kitchener, “told the audience that she is insulted when people assume that she is a victim who needs to be rescued from a fundamentalist husband.” She noted that wearing the niqab was, for her, “the best way to serve [her] creator,” and part of her “sense of Islam and [her] identity,” while also noting that she has never refused to remove her niqab for security reasons (Monteiro). The Macleans article on the Bill also featured the story of Shama Naz, a niqabi woman from Montreal, who said that it was “common sense” for her to take off her niqab in certain situations. The article explains that Naz, a graduate of Concordia, had wanted to return to school, but if the Bill is passed, she likely will not go back to school, and may not even stay in Quebec. 24. Julius Grey, a constitutional lawyer from Montreal, has also come out in support of the Bill, arguing that this is a case of accommodation becoming unreasonable (Scott, “Veiled Threat”). He said the law is narrow enough to withstand a court challenge, as it allows women “a considerable amount of religious modesty by wearing a hijab” (Vallis). He notes that the law clearly

160 Governing the Face Veil: Quebec’s Bill 94 and the Transnational Politics of Women’s Identity

violates freedom of religion but, like other rights, that right is not absolute and in this case should be superseded (ibid.). 25. This comment by Anver Emon was made at the No to Québec Provincial Bill 94 Coalition Meeting at Ryerson University, May 2010. To see full conversation go to . 26. Ibid. 27. This sense of marginalization is well expressed in Asmaa Hussein’s comment at the No to Québec Provincial Bill 94 Coalition Meeting at Ryerson University, May 2010, about “continuously living with the internalized image of being part of an outsider or immigrant group,” despite having been born and raised in Canada.

Works Cited Arnold, Janice. “Jewish legal group rejects anti-niqab law.” Juif.org. 13 May 2010. Bouchard, Gérard, and Charles Taylor. “Building the Future: A Time for Reconciliation.” Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, 2008. Print. ———. “Seeking Common Ground: Quebecers Speak Out.” Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, 2007. Print. Bouchard, Gerard. “Gérard Bouchard donne raison à Québec.” 3 March 2010. Web. 20 May 2010. Buzan, Barry, Ole Waever, and Jaap de Wilde. Security: A New Framework for Analysis. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1998. Cody, Edward. “Anti-Islamic sentiments surface in wake of restrictions on veils.” The Washington Post. 15 May 2010: A06. Print. Cohen, Anthony P. The Symbolic Construction of Community. New York: Routledge, 1985. Cole, Susan G. “Non Bill 94.” Now Toronto. 4 May 2010. Web. 20 May 2010. “Crowd protests Quebec niqab ban.” Montreal Gazette. 17 April 2010. Web. 20 May 2010. Dougherty, Kevin. “Quebec ‘veil bill’ hearings may soon end.” Montreal Gazette. 19 May 2010. Web. 5 June 2010. ———. “Bill 94: Maybe Premier Charest is listening.” Montreal Gazette. 22 May 2010. Web. 15 June 2010. ———. “‘Reasonable accommodation’ debated as Quebec niqab bill hearings being.” National Post. 18 May 2010. Web. 21 May 2010. “Egypt court upholds exam veil ban.” Al Jazeera. 3 January 2010. Web. 5 June 2010. “Face veil ban approved by French legislators.” CBC World News. 31 May 2010. Web. 13 July 2010. “French deputies pass face veil ban.” Al Jazeera. 20 May 2010. Web. 14 July 2010. Gagnon, Lysiane. “When Liberals were liberals.” The Globe and Mail. 5 April 2010. Web. 19 May 2010. Galloway, Gloria, and Jane Taber. “Tories, Liberals back Quebec’s veil ban.” The Globe and Mail. 26 March 2010. Web. 31 May 2010. Haboucha, Daniel. “What’s wrong with banning the niqab?” Legal Frontiers: McGill’s Blog on International Law. 10 April 2010. Web. 15 May 2010. Hébert, Chantal. “Quebec media have power to stir niqab debate.” Toronto Star. 5 April 2010. Web. 31 May 2010. Hamilton, Graeme. “Unveil, Quebec says.” National Post. 25 March 2010. Web. 20

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May 2010. ———. “Cultural insecurity behind Quebec’s proposed veil law.” National Post. 25 March 2010. Web. 15 May 2010. Haque, Ayesha, and Katherine Bullock. Response to Quebec’s Bill 94: It is not the solution. Toronto: The Tessellate Institute, 2010. Print. Hutchinson, John, and Anthony D. Smith. Nationalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Hunt, Krista, and Kim Rygiel, eds. (En)Gendering the War on Terror: War Stories and Camouflaged Politics. London: Ashgate Publishers, 2006. Inayatullah, Naeem, and David L. Blaney. “Knowing Encounters: Beyond Parochialism in International Relations Theory.” The Return of Culture and Identity in IR Theory. Ed. Yosef Lapid and Friedrich Kratochwil. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1996. 65–84. Kay, Barbara. “Why Quebec is banning the burka.” National Post. 19 May 2010. Web. 25 May 2010. Kymlicka, Will, and Bashir Bashir. Eds. The Politics of Reconciliation in Multicultural Societies. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Levey, Geoffrey Brahm, and Tariq Modood. Secularism, Religion and Multicultural Citizenship. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Mahapatra, Dhananjay. “Lift veil for voter ID, SC tells burqa-clad women.” The Times of India. 23 January 2010. Web. 20 May 2010. Martin, Don. “Endorsing Quebec’s proposed veil law would be good politics for Conservatives.” National Post. 25 March 2010. Web. 5 June 2010. Malik, Zubeida. “France’s Muslims split on burka ban.” BBC Radio. 15 March 2010. Web. 21 May 2010. Moghdessi, Heideh, Saeed Rahnema, and Mark Goodman. Diaspora by Design: Muslim Immigrants in Canada and Beyond. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009. Monteiro, Liz. “Open discussion about Quebec’s possible Niqab ban draws 200 at Kitchener City Hall.” The Record [Kitchener-Waterloo]. 27 April 2010. Web. 20 May 2010. Olwan, Dana. “The Unfairness of Bill 94 unveiled.” Rabble.ca. 12 May 2010. Web. 20 May 2010. Parliament of Quebec, National Assembly. “Bill 94: An Act to establish guidelines governing accommodation requests within the Administration and certain institutions” (Quebec: Quebec Official Publisher, 2010), Patriquin, Martin, and Charlie Gillis. “About Face.” Macleans. 12 April 2010: 20–23. “Que. Prohibition on face-covering unreasonable law.” The Star Phoenix [Saksatoon]. 13 April 2010. Web. 15 May 2010. Scott, Marian. “Veiled threat: Niqab new flashpoint in tolerance debate.”National Post. 7 March 2010. Web. 31 May 2010. ———. “Majority agree with Quebec’s veil law, poll finds.” National Post. 27 March 2010. Web. 20 May 2010. Siddiqui, Haroon. “Picking on Muslim women smacks of hypocrisy.” Toronto Star. 4 April 2010: A19. Print. ———. “Quebec’s witch hunt against niqabi minority.” Toronto Star. 28 March 2010: A17. Print.

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Smith, Anthony D. National Identity. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1991. “Spain’s legislators reject veil ban.” CBC News. 20 July 2010. Web. 25 July 2010. Stein, Janice Gross. Uneasy Partners: Multiculturalism and Rights in Canada. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2007. Taylor, Charles. Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994. Vallis, Mary. “Would veil law survive a Charter challenge?” National Post. 25 March 2010. Web. 20 May 2010. Venne, Michel. Vive Quebec!: New Thinking and New Approaches to the Quebec Nation. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, 2000. Wajihuddin, Mohammed. “Veil can be lifted for ID check: Clerics.” The Times of India. 23 January

163 Call for submissions

Canadian Literature

“Canadian Literature seeks to When Canadian Literature celebrated its th When Canadian Literature celebrated its th anniversary in , an international establish no clan, little or large.” anniversary in , an international group of group of scholars representing Universities came to Vancouver, Canada to —George Woodcock, 1959 scholars representing universities arrived in discuss the future of Canadian literature, both the journal and the eld. While “Beginning again aer eighteen Vancouver, Canada, to discuss the future of each subsequent editor—W.H. New (– ), Eva-Marie Kröller ( - years, [CL] still takes as its Canadian literature, both the journal and the eld. ), Laurie Ricou (–), and Margery Fee (–present)—have le subject, as its rst editorial Associate Editor Laura Moss writes: “It seems their stamp on the journal, George Woodcock’s desire to disallow language and announced, ‘Canadian writers and their work and setting, relevant that in our gathering we made no giant geography from denying access to the journal and the eld remains strong. We without further limitations.’” proclamations about the future of Canadian writing, have an editorial board with scholars—representing more than —W.H. New, created no lists of key words or authors, damned Universities—from around the world, publish articles in English and French, and no forms of writing as old-fashioned, and came are still the premiere journal in the eld of Canadian literature. “Aer years of publication, CL—under its three editors, away with no group manifesto.” George Woodcock, W.H. New, In our second half decade, we plan on continuing to provide the highest quality and Eva-Marie Kröller—is still We are interested in articles on all subjects relating criticism on the literature of Canada. We want your articles. We are a peer- the nest journal published on reviewed journal, but our articles typically appear in print within a year of their Canadian literary studies.” to writers and writing in Canada. Articles published —David Staines, in the journal engage with current critical and original submission date. Articles submitting to the journal are read and theoretical conversation both inside and outside reviewed by at least two experts in the eld; – of submissions end up in “Our aim is to listen as intently Canada. Articles should follow current biblio- print. We consider new works and theoretical approaches equally important as as possible to as great a range of graphic format. Maximum word length for articles we do the classics. We want to know what Canadian litearture means to Canadi- writers as possible, and to heed what scholars and writers from is words which includes notes and works cited. ans as much as we want to know what it means to non-Canadians. around the world tell us about what’s worth listening to.” Articles submitted to the journal are vetted in a Canadian Literature interested in articles on all subjects relating to writers and —Laurie Ricou, double blind peer review process by experts in writing in Canada; we do not adhere to one theoretical approach alone. Articles “[CL believes] that puzzling out the eld. Approximately of submissions are should follow current bibliographic format. Maximum word length for social meanings is vitally accepted for publication, with most appearing in articles is words which includes notes and works cited. Please see important, and one of the best print within a year of their original submission date. http://canlit.ca/submit for more details. places to focus that eort is in the production and study of literature, broadly dened.” Please see http://canlit.ca/submit for submission —Margery Fee, details and calls for papers. Photo courtesy of margolove on Flickr. Donica Belisle

Virtue and Vice: Consumer Culture in English Canadian Fiction Before 1940

Abstract This article explores references to commodities and consumption in English language fiction either written by Canadians or published in Canada between 1890 and 1940. It confirms and expands existing research into Canadian consumer history by showing that consumer themes were central to authors’ portrayals of class, gender, and morality. Suggesting that fiction offers important historical perspectives on English Canadian culture, it demonstrates that as Canada became an industrial, urban, and capitalist nation, consumer desire and display became central to English Canadian fiction writers’ portrayals of identity, status, and opportunity.

Résumé Le présent article explore les références aux produits de base et à la consommation dans les romans en langue anglaise écrits par des Canadiens ou publiés au Canada entre 1890 et 1940. Il confirme et fait connaître les recherches actuelles dans l’histoire du consommateur canadien en montrant que le consumérisme occupait une place centrale dans la manière dont les auteurs décrivaient la classe, le genre et la moralité des personnes. Sug- gérant que la fiction offre des perspectives historiques importantes sur la culture canadienne anglaise, il démontre que, à mesure que le Canada est devenu une nation industrielle, urbaine et capitaliste, le désir de consommer et de paraître est devenu essentiel aux auteurs canadiens-anglais de fiction pour décrire leurs protagonistes en fonction de leur identité, de leur statut et des possibilités qu’ils rencontrent.

In Robert Stead’s bestselling 1918 adventure novel, The Cow Puncher, Calgary resident Mr. Duncan warns rancher Dave Elden about the dangers of fashionable clothing. “You can run into intoxication on fine raiment,” he says. “It has virtue in it, but just beyond the virtue lies the vice” (Stead 113). Suggesting that moderation was the best approach to dress, he articulated a common early twentieth-century view of consumer culture. According to several English Canadian fiction works published between 1890 and 1940, consumer goods were an acceptable but treacherous path toward human fulfillment. New garments, furniture, magazines, and other items could make one’s life richer and more satisfying, but they could also contribute toward class exclusion and alienation from self and community.

IJCS / RIÉC 43, 2011 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

Mass consumer society, or a society characterized by the large-scale production, distribution, and consumption of consumer goods, did not emerge in the United States, Western Europe, and Canada until the 1950s and 1960s. Yet 1890 to 1940 was a crucial period in Western consumer history. Despite working and rural people’s limited access to consumer items, this era saw the rise of mass factory production, improved commodity distribution networks, mass advertising, low prices, and increased consumer desire (Stearns, de Grazia, Monod, Belisle). In their attempts to investigate the human condition, to entertain, and to sell books, writers as diverse as Lucy Maud Montgomery, Stephen Leacock, and J. G. Sime explored the place of commodities, shopping, and consumption in Canadian life. Offering commentary on what they believed to be immorality of increased materialism, or, on the flip side, the pleasure of low-priced commodities, they put forward their thoughts on the rise of consumer capitalism.

In his history of popular culture in eighteenth century France, Allan Pasco suggests that fiction sources differ from non-fiction ones in that they allow authors freedom to examine contemporary issues in creative and pro- longed ways (382). Pasco does not argue that fiction sources are better than non-fiction ones, but rather that when used alongside non-fiction texts, they broaden historical understandings of the past. This article proceeds in a similar spirit. Existing studies of Canadian consumerism between 1890 and 1940 reveal that as mass production and distribution brought prices down, and as transportation and communication innovations made consumerism possible, people all over the country began to associate material goods with modernity. Advertisements for such commodities as cigarettes, alcohol, and tourist pack- ages attached a range of meanings to commodities, including the conflation of material goods with success, acceptance, and happiness. When the federal government began measuring living costs in the early twentieth century, it too demonstrated that Canadians’ access to goods was a component of modern citizenship (Dawson, Dubinsky, Johnston, Liverant, Monod, Rudy, Wright).

This article corroborates and expands existing knowledge of Canadian consumer history during this transformative era. Showing that fiction writers inserted portrayals of consumer goods and consumer behaviour into broader narratives about class, morality, and gender, it suggests that as consumer capitalism expanded between 1890 and 1929, and then faltered between 1930 and 1939, consumerism became for many fiction writers an important indicator of social, moral, and gender status. Authors used consumer goods and desire to describe characters’ class, virtue, and gender. They also used the themes of commodity display, consumer inequality, and consumer conflict to probe the English Canadian ideals of democracy and equality. Readers, importantly, appreciated these efforts. As Clarence Karr argues in his study of Canadian literary production, distribution, and consumption between 1890 and 1925, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Robert Stead, Arthur Stringer, Ralph O’Connor

166 Virtue and Vice: Consumer Culture in English Canadian Fiction Before 1940 and Nellie McClung became famous partly because their narratives tackled pressing issues of modernization, including urbanization, industrialization, and consumerism (5). Through an in-depth study of readers’ letters to these authors, Karr shows not only that readers responded on an intimate level to these writers’ fiction, but also that many used favourite writers’ plots, themes, and messages to cope with challenges in their own lives (160–61).

The following discussion of consumerism in English Canadian fiction between 1890 and 1940 is based on a wide-ranging study of English language novels and short stories either written by Canadians or published in Canada. As research on late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literature undertaken by such scholars as Carole Gerson, W. H. New, Clarence Karr, Janice Fiamengo, Carrie MacMillan et al., Lindsey McMaster, James Doyle, and Lorraine York reveals, between the 1920s and 1980s Canadian literary critics disparaged works written in the reform and romance traditions; didacticism and melodrama were particularly frowned upon. Nevertheless, the English Canadian literary landscape between the 1890s and 1930s was highly diverse. Into the Depression, romance, adventure, and reform titles, together with modernist ones, were well received by both English Canadian readers and critics. English Canadian literature between the late nineteenth century and World War II also included many more female authors than those represented in pre-1980s anthologies, reviews, and course lists. As MacMil- lan et al. put it, “some [female] fiction writers have been ignored or dismissed by the critical academy not because they were naïve, awkward, or coarse, though popular, but because the academy itself in the early twentieth century … was an all-male group, unable to see or appreciate the language, concerns, and structures of women’s writing” (MacMillan et al. 11).

Using the above findings as a guide to the English Canadian fiction landscape between 1890 and 1940, research for this article proceeded by selecting a sample of approximately 50 titles. Criteria for inclusion included region, gender, decade, and genre. Specifically, titles were chosen that reflected a diversity of fiction published in different decades by male and female authors living in western, central, and eastern Canada. Titles from the main prose fiction genres of the period were also selected. These include romantic works, or titles that featured chivalry, heroism, and melodrama; realist works, or titles that offered gritty portrayals of everyday life; and didactic works, or titles that made obvious attempts to inspire social and moral reform. By including such criteria, the sample enabled comparisons of portrayals of consumerism and consumption across decades, regions, genders, and genres.

Then, after reviewing these selected titles, a dozen were chosen for extended discussion. It is true, as Pasco argues, that when using past fiction to glean insights into past cultures, historians should employ as large a sample size as possible. Pasco himself has examined over 100 fiction titles for his

167 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes research (373). At the same time, however, it is also true that large samples have the potential to generate superficial content analyses at the expense of rich investigations. Indeed, as is illustrated by such excellent studies as Faye Hammill’s Literary Culture and Female Authorship in Canada, 1760–2000, Rachel Bowlby’s Just Looking: Consumer Culture in Dreiser, Gissing, and Zola, and Gayle Green’s Changing the Story: Feminist Fiction and the Trad- ition, all of which make either one author or one literary work the focus of each chapter, it is often necessary to restrict one’s sample size in order to examine particular themes, tropes, and devices in depth. Here, a balance has been sought between breadth and focus. This article’s review of twelve titles affords comparison across regions, genres, and decades, but it also enables meaningful inquiries into specific passages.

Chronologically speaking, the earliest title under investigation is Roland Graeme, Knight (1892) by Christian writer and activist Agnes Maule Machar of Kingston. A reform novel with a melodramatic plot, Roland Graeme received favourable Canadian reviews (McMaster, Working, 53–54). Romance novel Kerchiefs to Hunt Souls (1895) by Halifax writer Amelia Fytche, is another early title; it received positive US reviews but remained obscure in Canada (MacMillan 49–54). For the 1900 to 1910 decade, two works published in 1908 are included. International bestseller Anne of Green Gables, set on Prince Edward Island and written by PEI literary star Lucy Maud Montgomery, as Karr puts it, is a “regional idyll” that remains in print to this day. The reform-oriented romance novel Sowing Seeds in Danny set in Manitoba and authored by feminist politician Nellie McClung, is today less well-known than Anne, but during the early twentieth century it ranked alongside it in terms of sales (Karr 128, 54). Books chosen from the 1910s include one bestselling romance novel, Vancouver writer Isabel MacKay’s House of Windows (1912); one bestselling collection of humorous sketches, Montreal writer and McGill University Political Economy Professor Stephen Leacock’s Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich (1914); one bestselling adventure novel, Manitoba writer Robert Stead’s The Cow Puncher (1918); and one fairly obscure collection of realist short stories, Montreal writer Jessie G. Sime’s, Sister Woman (1919). Of these, Arcadian Adventures, a satire of the rich set in a fictionalized Chicago, and The Cow Puncher, a coming-of-age book set in Winnipeg, were the most commercially successful; Sime’s work, about the struggles of single women due to industrialization and urbanization, was not as widely read but did receive some favourable critical reviews (McMaster, Working Girls, 50–59).

For the interwar period, four pieces are examined. These include the realist, critically acclaimed, and award winning novel Wild Geese (1925) by Martha Ostenso, who was born in Norway and grew up in the US and Manitoba. The novel itself is set in rural Manitoba and depicts the struggles of a wife and children trying to break free from an authoritarian and tight-

168 Virtue and Vice: Consumer Culture in English Canadian Fiction Before 1940 fisted husband and father. Also included is an obscure anti-modern adventure novel, The Magpie (1923), written by Ontario-raised University of Manitoba English Professor Douglas Durkin. Penned in the aftermath of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, The Magpie is critical of both socialism and capitalism; the only solution to modernity’s maladies, it suggests, is a return to the family farm. Representing the increased popularity of working class and realist themes during the Great Depression, finally, are two short stories that appeared in the leading left periodicals of the day, The Masses and The Can- adian Forum. The fantastical short story, “Dream of the Air-Meter” (1933), by the largely unknown author Leonard Spier, appeared in the former; it is an anti-capitalist tale of class oppression. The realist short story with a domestic setting, “The Party” (1931), by US-born Toronto author Mary Quayle Innis, appeared in the latter; it evokes a working class housewife’s agony over her desire to attain unaffordable dreams of material abundance.

These twelve titles, of course, only skim the surface of the vast amount of English Canadian fiction produced between 1890 and 1940. They provide insights into how female, male, popular, obscure, and critically acclaimed authors living in western, central, and eastern Canada depicted consumerism and commodities, but their limited number does not capture the entirety of themes pertaining to consumerism and commodities that no doubt emerged during this period. Future researchers are therefore urged to conduct further investigations. Examination of fiction by writers not included herein is one important avenue of inquiry; explorations of how politics and religion influenced authors’ fictional representations is another. Where possible, the following analyses take into account authors’ religious and political leanings; they also show how political and religious themes, such as democracy and asceticism, surface within particular texts. At the same time, this article foregoes lengthy inquiries into individual authors’ beliefs in favour of offering detailed analyses of specific references to consumption, both within and across titles. Such emphases allow insight into how a range of both well- known and obscure writers living in different places and times across Canada imagined consumerism and commodities. In this way, they enable deeper understandings of how a diversity of anglophone Canadians perceived and lived through the emergence of modern Canadian consumer capitalism.

Consumption and Class Disparity Of all the consumerist themes present in the works under consideration, class features most prominently. To denote characters’ social positions, authors returned repeatedly to the issue of consumerism. They did so not only to suggest that certain characters were rich or poor, but also to comment upon what they believed were the injustices created by material inequality. Authors in fact frequently conflated the issues of class inequality and consumer inequal-

169 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes ity, suggesting that as Canada modernized, consumerism played an important role in class distinction and segmentation.

Two of the most famous books that emerged from this period—Mont- gomery’s idyllic Anne of Green Gables and McClung’s reform-oriented Sowing Seeds in Danny—featured impoverished adolescent heroines whose imaginations and good deeds captured their fellow characters’ hearts. Or- phaned Anne Shirley is introduced wearing a “yellowish white” wincey that is too small and clutching a “shabby,” broken carpetbag containing her self-proclaimed “worldly goods.” McClung’s Pearlie Watson is “a pathetic little figure in her brown and white checked dress,” who stores her “worldly effects” in a birdcage. To ease the hurt of material deprivation, both Anne and Pearlie develop strong imaginations. When Anne wears her wincey, she pretends she is wearing “the most beautiful pale blue silk dress” and feels “cheered up right away.” Likewise, Pearlie one day looks up at the sky and imagines she sees a blue hat and cap, with white cloud puffs for edging. “I kin just feel that white stuff under my chin,” she says (Montgomery 20–21, 23; McClung 118–19, 128).

Readers’ hearts are meant to go out to Anne and Pearlie, not only because they are poor, but because they creatively cope with inequality. Montgom- ery’s and McClung’s efforts to win readers’ affection through their heroines’ deprivation indicates that by the early twentieth century, differing levels of consumption were fostering feelings of class injustice. Encouraging readers to identify with Anne and Pearlie, Montgomery and McClung tapped into readers’ own insecurities about the expanding world of goods and likely into readers’ frustrations over their own inabilities to afford status-laden commodities. The ongoing success of Montgomery’s novel suggests that readers admire Anne’s determination to achieve joy, success, and fulfillment despite her lower-class status. Anne in particular epitomizes modern English Can- adian femininity: believing happiness and dignity to be rightfully hers, she uses wits and kindness to achieve them.

Montgomery and McClung differed in that Montgomery wrote for entertainment but McClung for reform (Karr 9). Pathos in Montgomery’s work draws the reader into the narrative, but in McClung’s it is a critique of class disparity. Anne’s experiences of deprivation, such as her lack of puffed sleeves among her well-sleeved classmates, are not calls for reform; but Pearlie’s inability to attend school and church due to lack of appropriate clothing and footwear are (Montgomery, 96–97; McClung 13, 19–20). McClung was not the only author who used fiction to call for an alleviation of material deprivation. In Roland Graeme, Knight, Machar includes a poverty-stricken and ill single mother named Cecile Travers who lives with her small child in a “bare” and “wretched little room” (18). She is a dispirited soul who eventually succumbs to alcoholism. Machar intends readers to identify not with

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her, but with the affluent Nora Blanchard. After visiting the Travers’ home, Blanchard awakens to class disparity. She “went to her dainty, quiet room … and, lying down on the soft luxurious bed … tried to close her tired eyes,” but she could not sleep because she was haunted by images of poverty (69–70). To rectify the young mother’s condition, Blanchard takes in her child, sends her to a hospital, and funds her medical care. Blanchard also begins helping Mrs. Travers’ wage-earning friend, Lizzie. She gives her a warm winter coat and purchases her a house in the country so she could escape her industrial job. Capping off Blanchard’s good work is her creation of a Girls’ Clubhouse, to which her friends donate furniture, musical instruments, and food; and at which they host tea parties for working class girls (140, 173–74, 280).

According to Roland Graeme, Knight, charity is the answer to material inequality. Without questioning or destabilizing her own class position, Blan- chard helps Lizzie and Mrs. Travers achieve a higher quality of life. Another nineteenth century novel, Kerchiefs to Hunt Souls, puts forth a more radical view. Heroine Dorothy Pembroke leaves her comfortable Canadian teach- ing post and travels to Europe for adventure and edification. To pay for her journeys, she intends to become a governess in Paris. Yet she is unable to find respectable employment. Her financial situation deteriorates and, at the novel’s end, she is forced to choose between singlehood and destitution, on the one hand, and marriage and material comfort, on the other. She chooses the latter, with disastrous results: her rich but immoral husband is already married. She then contracts a mysterious illness, but is finally rescued by her faithful Canadian friend, whom she does not love but whom she marries to attain security (191, 259–60).

Kerchiefs to Hunt Souls follows romantic convention in that it features a hapless heroine who lives by her wits and is rewarded with wealth and marriage. Yet as American historian Nan Enstad shows, writers who worked with this formula did sometimes offer critiques of class and gender injustice (Enstad 59–61). Throughout Kerchiefs, Fytche is critical of material disparity. She opens her novel with a storm so fierce that “the bitter cold crept into the hovels of the poor, killing the old and feeble, chilling the sick and puny, and making desperate the unemployed and starving.” In contrast, the “wealthy, those whom kind providence had apparently taken under especial protection,” enjoyed the tempest, for it “served to heighten for them the pleasure of warm fires and other creature comforts within” (12–13). Stating that fate was the only thing separating the poor from the rich, Fytche sets up her theme of unjust hardship, which Pembroke experiences for the remainder of the novel. In another passage, Fytche condemns bourgeois women’s attitudes toward the poor. When Pembroke’s reserves run out, she moves into a cheerless boarding house operated by female philanthropists. She becomes roommates with Alice Jeffreys, who is trying to find a position. At one point Jeffreys tells Pembroke, “I detest the charities of the rich; money is the standard by which

171 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes you are measured; if you are poor, they think you have no fine feelings, are not sensitive, so patronize you, intrude upon your privacy, give you gratuit- ous advice upon things you know much more about than they” (198–99). Unlike Machar, who argues charity is the answer to hardship, Fytche suggests that decent employment is the only proper way to end deprivation. In this instance, it is the mainstream bestseller and not the moralist work that offers the more radical solution to class inequality.

With the 1919 publication of her collection of short stories, Sime lent her voice to the literary critique of material disparity. In “Adrift,” a dressmaker and prostitute named Emilie explains her actions to a female dress client. She relates that she is always visiting rich women’s houses, where she sees “lovely things.” The clothes she makes for rich women are “like clouds at night—like flowering trees” (31–32). Emilie creates such wonderful- gar ments, but she cannot afford their materials. Determined to buy them for herself, she sells her body. In her view, prostitution is better than deprivation (33–34). Through Emilie, Sime highlights class injustice. Both upper- and working-class women appreciate beautiful clothes, but only the rich can attain them legitimately. Like Anne and Pearlie of Montgomery’s and McClung’s novels, Emilie is a modern woman who takes action to gain personal fulfillment through commodities; but unlike them, she is a tragic figure. According to the narrator, she becomes “ill” and grows “old” prematurely (34). Sime hence offers a bleaker view than do Montgomery and McClung. Whereas the two latter authors proposed that individuals could overcome class inequality, Sime suggests that for low-waged women, class is an insurmountable barrier to health and happiness.

Fictional portrayals of material inequality reached an apogee during the Great Depression. During this decade, when by 1933 one out of every four workers had lost their jobs, authors decried uneven access not only to luxuries but also to essentials (Morton and Copp 139). In “Dream of the Air Me- ter” (1933), Leonard Spier critiques capitalism’s commodification of food, heat, and water and also condemns the state’s taxation of such items. The story opens with the narrator walking down a road. He sees a man wearing a machine that is choking him. The machine has a coin slot, so the narrator inserts some money and the choking stops. After inquiring as to why the man would wear the contraption, he learns that “in this land, not only soil, gas, electricity, food and water were monopolized by corporations and taxed by the state, but likewise the air!” The narrator then smashes the air meter, an action that injures the man, but also frees him from the machine. At this point, the narrator awakens and realizes he had been dreaming (46, 48). Implying it was time for readers also to wake up and revolt against capitalism, “Dream” is an indictment of the commodification of essential goods and services. It is also one of the most radical critiques of inequality offered by the works in this study.

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Portraying social injustice in material terms, English fiction authors before 1940 indicated that consumption was becoming increasingly tied to class status in Canada. They also reminded readers that Canada did not live up to its reputation as a land of equality and opportunity. In several works, desti- tute characters suffer because of their lack of commodities. McClung and Montgomery were optimistic about individuals’ abilities to overcome class deprivation, but others were less confident. Sime and Spier each proposed that Canadians could not surmount class without inciting radical change. This difference stemmed partly from authors’ intended audiences. McClung and Montgomery wanted the widest readership possible and may have dulled their critique. Yet this difference also reflects broader political currents. Whereas liberals tended to believe that individual agency alone was necessary for social success, leftists tended to argue that class was a significant obstacle to low-income people’s achievement of higher living standards. Moreover, as many English Canadian fiction works of this era reveal, commodities were becoming important enablers of human comfort, dignity, and edification.

The Morality of Consumption When they suggested that material deprivation caused suffering, pre-1940 authors implied that equalized access to commodities would improve Can- adian lives. In this sense, they demonstrated their congruence with other organizations of this period that pushed for broadened access to goods and services, including the CCF, a social democratic party established in 1932 that sent seven members to parliament in the 1935 federal election. It also included the Housewives League, a late 1930s organization affiliated with both the CCF and the Communist Party (Guard, Sangster). Some authors’ support for material equalization also belied a belief that consumerism was a desirable way of life. In their suggestions that all Canadians should have access to goods, they hinted that commodities were positive additions to Canadian culture.

Along with the above-mentioned novel by Stead, Ostenso’s Wild Geese offers a cautious endorsement of consumption. When teacher Lind Archer arrives as a boarder at the Gare family farm in northern Manitoba, the contrast between her elegant appearance and that of her female hosts is obvious. Whereas the sixteen-year-old Judith Gare wears overalls and men’s work boots, Archer’s attire includes a “wide lacy hat,” “trim outer clothing,” “dainty silk underthings,” and earrings (60, 16). Archer attempts to help Judith become more than an overworked farm labourer. She brings her to a friend’s house to listen to a phonograph, she makes her a dress, and she gives her feminine undergarments. At the book’s end, Archer helps Judith escape the farm; Judith marries her lover and obtains a house in town. Consumer goods were not the sole means by which Judith achieved freedom, but they

173 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes did symbolize dignity and femininity, two things that Judith’s father had denied her (71, 226, 277–88).

McClung also portrayed consumerism as beneficial. At the end of Sow- ing Seeds in Danny, Pearlie’s good deeds are rewarded with a substantial gift of money. In the book’s sequel, The Second Chance, she uses it to buy her siblings new clothes. Upon returning home from shopping, the children are so excited that their parents forbid them to take their “cherished possessions to bed.” Yet “when the lights were all out … one small girl in her nightgown went quietly across the bare floor … to feel once more the smooth surface of her slippers and to smell that delicious leathery smell” (16–17). Stressing the tactile delights of slippers, McClung reveals an aesthetic appreciation for goods. McClung also remarks on how phonographs and magazines enhanced prairie living. One character’s phonograph becomes “an unending source of comfort and pleasure to him as well as to his neighbours and friends”; another character, who had previously filled her evenings with “neverending needle- work,” was now spending “most of her time” reading “books and magazines” (The Second Chance, 239–40; 137–38; 254).

Stead, Ostenso, and McClung operated under the twofold assumption that lives without ornamentation and comforts were bleak, and that commodities helped create edification and refinement. Indeed, the virtuous Mr. Duncan’s house in The Cow Puncher is furnished with the hallmarks of middle-class refinement, including “a piano and a phonograph; leather chairs; a fireplace with polished bricks … thick carpets …and painted pictures” (102). Since it is in these writers’ works that the theme of consumerism versus starkness emerges most strongly, it is possible that prairie conditions contributed to their endorsements. When people of Western European descent settled in western Canada in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, most believed they were civilizing an untamed region. European institutions such as churches, stores, and schools domesticated the wilderness, as did individual homes. In this context, white settlers perceived well-furnished homes as desirable. Exacerbating this trend was the complete lack of amenities with which so many pioneers contended. Arriving from settled areas in Western Europe, Canada, and the United States, thousands of prairie newcomers cleared their own land and built their own homes (Broadfoot). The incorporation of consumer goods into prairie households symbolized a connection to civilization and modernity.

Despite Stead’s, McClung’s, and Ostenso’s embrace of consumption, it is true that other English Canadian writers put forth indictments of materialism. As Bettina Liverant observes, “authors from Leacock to Callaghan … cast doubt on the moral character of those able to display items of current fashion or luxury. Those who were materially well-off … were often lacking in inner virtue” (277). From 1890 onward, conservative and progressive writers

174 Virtue and Vice: Consumer Culture in English Canadian Fiction Before 1940 alike suggested that consumerist characters were superficial and greedy. In Roland Graeme, Knight—conservative due to its suggestion that charity will alleviate the gap between rich and poor—Nora Blanchard’s mother asks her what she will wear to a party. Blanchard responds, “I couldn’t think of getting anything more now; I have all I really need.” After her mother states that new dress orders help seamstresses, Blanchard wonders if the “world” had lost the virtue of “self-sacrifice” and replaced it with “selfishness” (84–85, emphasis in original).

Stephen Leacock also viewed consumerism as decadent. In Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich (1914), an entire chapter is devoted to the excess of wealthy cottage life. The narrator states that “the Newberrys belonged to the class of people whose one aim in the summer is to lead the simple life.” Because Mr. Newberry’s “idea of a vacation was to get right out into the bush, and put on old clothes, and just eat when he felt like it,” he built “Castel Casteggio.” The road leading to the cottage was “private property, as all nature ought to be.” With gardeners, servants, “sweeping piazzas and glittering conservatories,” it “was an ideal spot to wear old clothes in, to dine early (at 7:30), and, except for tennis parties, motor-boat parties, lawn teas, and golf, to live absolutely to oneself.” The Newberrys’ daughter wears an “old dress,” which is two weeks old and “worth the equivalent of one person’s pew rent at St. Asaph’s for six months.” Underscoring the gap between rich and poor, Leacock here suggests the Newberrys are shallow and vain. Indeed, when a cash-strapped niece visits the castel, she brings “a pair of brand new tennis shoes (at ninety cents reduced to seventy-five), and white dress … and such few other things as poor relations might bring with fear and trembling to join in the simple rusticity of the rich” (84–93).

Leacock’s critique was biting, but this conservative humorist did not declare an all-out war against the bourgeoisie. Other writers on the opposite end of the political spectrum did however. In The Magpie, Douglas Durkin uses the romance novel formula to condemn an immoral capitalist class. At the book’s beginning, farm-raised Craig Forrester moves to the city to work in the grain exchange and find a wife. He meets both goals but finds his new life meaningless. His wife Marion is materialistic and obsessed with social standing. Before a party, Forrester attempts to hug her but she pushes him away, saying he will ruin her dress. This incident reveals the shallowness behind commodity display, as does the revelation that Marion is having an affair with Forrester’s co-worker, Claude. In the novel’s climax, Forrester travels to Claude’s apartment for a confrontation. Claude’s place is richly furnished in “fine velour”; it also has a “polished table,” “upholstered couch,” and “tall lamp with shade of figured silk.” Finding Marion among this luxury, and learning that Claude has swindled him at work, he has a nervous breakdown. Calling them both “‘liars,’” he

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picked up a vase … and crushed it between his hands. … He lifted the table … and reduced it to splinters … He tore bric-a-brac from its place … and crumpled it in his fingers. He tore the curtains from the arch that led into the hall and ripped them to ribbons. He seized the tall lamp … snapped the slender pedestal … and sent the pieces crashing into the mirror against the wall. (320)

After destroying Claude and Marion’s sumptuousness, Forrester pays all the debts Claude has created for him, sells his house and car, and—“penniless” but “free”—leaves the city. The end of the novel has him returning to his father’s homestead, where he plans a simple and honest life (133–35, 330).

Durkin’s critique of materialism is partly class based. Those who are showy and consumerist in his novel are members of Winnipeg’s business community, which helped crush the General Strike of 1919. The book occurs after this six-week work stoppage, but it contains references to its events. Marion’s mother, Mrs. Nason, refuses to let the mother of a former striker “pour tea for the guests of the society” of which Mrs. Nason “was president.” Forrester eventually abandons politics, but another character named Jean- nette commits her life to fighting capitalism. She first became “awake,” she said, after her husband died in the war. “And one of the first things I saw clearly was the fact that they took him from me—they did—the Nasons of the world, the kindly intentioned men and women who are kind so long as their sense of security is not disturbed.” She would like to “put the Nasons where their pampered daughters and their degenerate sons and their faddish wives would have to work for a starvation wage or go begging.” Jeannette here articulates class resentment against businessmen’s wives and children, whose work-free positions appear lazy and luxurious. She also voices a moralist critique of consumption. Viewing the Nasons as shallow and selfish, she sees their showiness as corrupt. The Magpie’s narrator is similarly critical of display. In a description of a woman at a party, he states that she was “over- dressed” and “almost vulgar in her appearance, as if she was quite willing that the world should know that her husband was blessed with a substantial income” (133–35, 330, quotes 320, 130).

According to The Magpie, people consume for selfish enjoyment and status display. At the same time, the book reserves most of its scorn for female consumers, particularly Marion, her female houseguests, and her mother. These women’s love of clothes, entertaining, and propriety symbolizes their superficiality and selfishness. By portraying middle-class women as profligate consumers, Durkin suggests that consumption is not only about class privilege, but about the fulfillment of base feminine desires. This perspective is similar to that of some left theorists, including Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, who suggested in Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947) that consumers were passive, dim-witted, and feminine (Huyssen 44–53).

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Durkin’s portrayals also dovetail with some leftist depictions of rich women. As American historian Daniel Opler writes, “much of the Communist literature of the 1930s” showed wealthy women as “extravagant, wasteful, and unfeeling” (59). Such perspectives sprang from the left’s valorization of the hardworking producer class, and its concomitant denigration of what was perceived as the lazy and effeminate capitalist class (McCallum 62). This framework in turn was related, first, to the left’s attempt to re-dignify labour under the denigration of capitalism; and second, to a deep-rooted Western conflation of femininity with insatiability (Kowaleski-Wallace 3–8). As The Magpie makes clear, when these different theoretical currents came together in English Canadian thought, they disparaged both women and consumption. Indeed, Durkin’s masculinist condemnation of desire and display indicates that as consumer capitalism gained strength in the early twentieth century, certain English Canadian intellectuals projected their misgivings about consumption onto women.

Consumerism and Gender As disempowering as certain leftists’ equation of femininity with consumerism might have been, their concerns are not surprising. The history of capitalism, many historians show, is deeply gendered. Such central political economic tracts as Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations (1776) portrayed consumption as a passive, feminine counterpart to the active, masculine pursuit of production (de Grazia 1–10). As well, capitalism’s acceleration in the nineteenth century had different implications for men and women. When agrarian livelihoods declined, families moved into cities. Urban men became breadwinners who worked long hours away from home, and urban women became homemakers who raised children and managed households. As industrialization expanded, both cash and low-priced goods became more available. To save time, homemakers began purchasing goods in the consumer marketplace. By the early twentieth century, the connection between homemaking and consumption was firmly in place.

Pre-1940 English Canadian fiction confirms this historical conflation of women’s domestic labour with consumption. Kitchens are sites of traditional manufacture—Mrs. Bjarnnason’s kitchen in Wild Geese has a “warm, good smell” and a homemade braided rug adds cheer—but characters also incor- porate store-bought goods into their routines (50). Nellie Slate in Sowing Seeds in Danny uses “baking powder instead of tartar and soda,” and prefers buying tinned “goods” to making her own (184). Women’s clothing production also blends the traditional with the new. Characters purchased fabric and accessories, and modelled their clothes after styles in magazines, but they still either sewed their own attire or had someone make their clothes for them. Mrs. Lynde of Anne of Green Gables copies the latest fashions to make attractive clothes for Anne (98).

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In contrast to Durkin’s depiction of consumer interests as corrupt, female authors tended to portray women’s consumer skills as admirable. In The House of Windows, Isabel MacKay celebrates the consumer skills of her female heroines, sisters Ada, Celia, and Christine Brown. When a friend visits the sisters’ apartment, she is delighted by its appearance. The narrator states, “the curtains, which were of some dainty, figured stuff, had been made to fit, and were surmounted by a graceful valance of the same material” (19). They were poor, but the sisters had purchased, made, and arranged décor to create beauty and comfort. MacKay thus suggests the sisters’ domestic artistry was evidence of their womanliness. Female writers also evinced characters’ femininity by referring to attractive outfits and hairstyles. When Dorothy Pembroke of Kerchiefs to Hunt Souls goes to London, she allows herself one “extravagance” and purchases a “visiting costume.” It includes a “lovely, tender, apple-green cashmere and silk frock, black-lace hat with cream roses, black parasol with … chiffon flounce, long, black undressed kid gloves, and black ostrich boa.” This detailed description suggests that Fytche included this passage not only to highlight Pembroke’s artistic femininity but also to please her readers, who were presumably interested in such matters.

MacKay’s and Fytche’s celebration of fashion and beauty arose partly from literary convention. In romance novels, heroines are meant to fulfill readers’ yearnings for adventure and success. Since many Canadian women depended upon their looks to gain husbands and economic security, beauty was an important component of femininity during these years. Yet the romance genre was not the only reason behind fiction authors’ valorization of fashion and beauty. Sime’s realist Sister Woman also portrays these skills positively. Altabelle, the heroine of “Mr. Johnston,” is a penniless drugstore clerk who “looks like the countess of Malmesbury” every day. To achieve her beauty, she buys a black suit once a year, launders it meticulously, and changes her shirts and accessories according to the seasons (122–23). In this passage, Sime expresses admiration for working class women who maintain their dignity and beauty without spending a lot of money. She also suggests women’s fashion and beauty talents represent skill and creativity.

Perhaps because of their own encounters with shopping, homemaking, and fashion, female authors were more sympathetic than male authors toward consumption. Particularly striking in this regard is Mary Quayle Innis’ short story “The Party.” Wanting to prove her financial security to her friends and family, a working-class housewife named Ethel hosts a get-together. She purchases a new bedspread, lamp, cushions, dress, and playing cards for the occasion; she also has dessert catered by the most expensive eatery in town, leaving the boxes on the counter so her guests would know where she purchased them. It would have been easy for Innis to cast Ethel as superficial, but Innis instead demonstrates that Ethel was both creating an image for her guests and fulfilling her desire for a beautiful home.

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[S]he wasn’t only showing off … it was that once, just once, she wanted to have everything absolutely perfect. Every day she was buying round steak and looking for a really good dollar cleaner. Just this once she wanted to have the kind of bedspread and lamp shade you saw in the movies, the kind of refreshments they probably served at the government house. Just once she wanted to feel like one of the society women in the picture section of the newspaper. (154)

Contrasting the glamorous lifestyles of the bourgeoisie with the lived experiences of working-class homemakers, Innis suggests that commodity display is a complex blend of status communication and wish fulfillment. It is, furthermore, hard labour. When polishing her floor before her guests arrive, Ethel is “depressingly certain that the society hostesses in the paper didn’t have backs that ached the way hers did” (154). Offering an early feminist critique of the unpaid work of home décor, “The Party” is a nuanced portrayal of consumerism.

“The Party” is also significant in that it explores the conflict between husbands and wives over spending choices that emerged alongside the expansion of consumer capitalism (Liverant 269). As she prepares for the gathering, Ethel hopes her husband “wouldn’t notice” their new décor. Yet “the first thing he said” when he arrived home from work was, “‘where’d you get that?’ pointing at the [new] lampshade.” He remained angry all evening and, after the guests left, told her he had been laid off from work. Innis intends this statement to heighten Ethel’s sense of consumer guilt, as well as to illuminate housewives’ lack of financial autonomy. Ethel spends her days looking after her toddler, keeping house, and cooking suppers for her breadwinner husband. For one day, she takes time away from her wifely duties. When she puts on her dress “before the mirror,” she “had a moment of clear happiness.” It “too was new, something she had kept from Todd” (153–54; 155). Through new décor and dress, then, Ethel hopes to achieve fulfillment. Yet because her husband does not care about new goods, and because he worries about financial stability, he is critical of her purchases. In “The Party” Innis captures the gender conflicts that highlighted women’s subordinate familial positions that accompanied the rise of consumer capitalism.

If Innis’ critique of gendered consumer conflict is subtle, McClung’s is overt. The Second Chance (1910) opens with a farmer named Mr. Perkins refusing to give his eighteen-year-old daughter Martha two dollars to purchase a magazine. He justifies his decision by stating he bought her an “eighteen- dollar wallaby coat last year.” Reflecting on her father’s position, Martha weeps. “All her early rising and hard work,” and “all her small economies,” had saved her father the “wages of a hired man.” And yet “she had not been able to get even two dollars when she wanted it” (3–4). In this passage, Mc- Clung not only makes reference to the Biblical Martha, whom Jesus admon-

179 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes ishes for spending too much time on housework (Luke 10:38–42), she also suggests that patriarchal familial control was detrimental to women. In the name of thrift, Mr. Perkins does not give his daughter any financial revenue for her work. His power over the family economy means that the grown- up Martha was dependent upon him for comfort and edification. If women wanted to take control of their own situations, McClung implies, patriarchal familial control had to be overthrown.

Ostenso’s Wild Geese offers an even more sustained argument for unfettered access to commodities for wives and daughters. Interestingly, Douglas Durkin, author of the anti-consumerist The Magpie, was Ostenso’s English professor and lover when she wrote this novel (Arnason 304). There is no evidence that Durkin and Ostenso discussed consumerism, but the different portrayals of consumption in their books do underscore the centrality of gender to consumerism in the 1920s. Caleb Gare, the head of Wild Geese’s main family, covets wealth. In ways reminiscent of McClung’s Mr. Perkins, he uses his four grown children as free labour. Believing they will abandon him if he allows them to experience leisure or pleasure, he forces his daughters to wear overalls and men’s boots. He treats eyeglasses and false teeth as luxuries, and refuses to purchase these items for his daughter Ellen and wife Amelia, though their health is failing. He does all the family shopping and, learning that his daughter Judith is going to sell her calf in the fall to buy a new coat, instead sells her calf in the spring and pockets the money. Caleb hence wields his financial power as a tool of emotional abuse. When, at the end of the novel, he dies while trying to save his crop from a wildfire, it is fitting that Amelia and her children achieve the ability to purchase consumer goods. A neighbour visits the Gares some months later, and Amelia serves “her with excellent coffee, bought in the city” (306).

In The Second Chance and Wild Geese, fathers and husbands who deny daughters and wives access to consumables are ignorant of women’s needs for happiness and education. Such depictions suggest that McClung and Os- tenso believed women’s dignity and fulfillment depended upon certain commodities, whether they be as important as eyeglasses, as simple as magazines, or as luxurious as lacy underclothes. Since both of these writers had spent their adolescent years on the plains—McClung in Manitoba and Ostenso in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Manitoba—it is probable that patriarchal control of the family purse contributed toward their consumerist portrayals. A survey of 364 farmwomen conducted by the United Farm Women of Mani- toba in 1922 revealed that while many of the province’s farms had modern implements, their domestic life remained rudimentary. Women hauled water in buckets, cooked without electricity, and washed laundry by hand, but men used “tractors, combines, binders and threshing machines” (Sundberg 194). Such findings spurred the United Farm Women to argue for immediate

180 Virtue and Vice: Consumer Culture in English Canadian Fiction Before 1940 improvement of rural domestic conditions, and no doubt also contributed to gender tensions throughout the region.

Importantly, though, neither Ostenso nor McClung fully embraced consumerism as a means to fulfillment. In Wild Geese, Mrs. Sandbo and her daughter are so fashion obsessed that they remain ignorant of deeper matters (128–29). McClung also cautions against consumer excess. A character named Arthur in The Second Chance must choose between two women, Martha and Thursa. Both wear fashionable clothing and cosmetics, but their personalities are different. Martha can “bake and scrub and sew and keep things tidy”; she is also considerate. In contrast, Thursa loves shopping and urban entertainment more than farm life. Arthur is at first smitten by Thursa, but eventually finds her too shallow, and chooses the selfless Martha (246).

Non-prairie female authors also suggested that moderation was the best approach. Sime may have been supportive of Adelaide’s consumer skills in “Mr. Johnston,” but in another short story from Sister Woman, “The Social Problem,” she suggests a well-lived life must include non-commodified pur- suits. The main character, Donna, is an appearance-obsessed woman who chooses to maintain her looks over all other activities. She therefore misses opportunities for personal and social fulfillment and resembles “a beautiful tropical bird” in a “cage” (215). In expressing their preference for temperance, English Canadian women writers implied that successful consumerism entailed judgement and restraint. At the same time, romance novelists Fytche and MacKay, adolescent fiction writers Montgomery and McClung, and realist authors Innis, Ostenso, and Sime all recognized that consumption could be a path toward women’s comfort, edification, and happiness. So strong was McClung’s and Ostenso’s support for women’s unfettered access to commodities that they portrayed fathers and husbands who denied wives and daughters access to consumables as oppressive. As long as women were in charge of their consumer urges, they could safely enjoy the fruits of industrial capitalism.

The Triumph of Moderation As consumer capitalism emerged and accelerated in Canada between 1890 and 1930, and then faltered during the 1930s, fiction authors responded by incorporating portrayals of commodities and consumption into their writings. Sampling twelve English language prose titles representing works penned by authors of different decades, genders, regions, styles, and levels of fame, we find that English Canadian writers were deeply concerned about the ethics of consumption. Authors’ individual portrayals differed, but together their works indicate that consumption was becoming central to notions of class, morality, and gender. They also indicate that many English Canadians were ambivalent about consumer issues. At times, authors embraced consumerism, seeing it as

181 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes a step toward human comfort, leisure, and enlightenment, but at other times, authors denigrated consumerism, viewing it as decadent and immoral, and portraying material disparity as evidence of inequality and corruption.

It might be expected that works intended for a mass audience would valorize consumerism and that works intended for an intellectual audience would denigrate it, but both popular and literary writers endorsed consumption as an acceptable path toward happiness and edification. So long as it was approached in moderation, popular authors McClung, Montgomery, and Stead, as well as realist authors Sime, Ostenso, and Innis suggested that the use and pursuit of commodities could make Canadians’ lives more fulfilling. This study also reveals that authors living in western Canada, central Can- ada, and eastern Canada all displayed sympathy toward consumer interests. Therefore although the country’s two largest cities, Toronto and Montreal, were dominant consumerist centres during this period, it was also true that consumer culture was expanding in other regions.

Three prairie novels were especially supportive of consumerism. Ac- cording to Stead’s The Cow Puncher, McClung’s The Second Chance, and Ostenso’s Wild Geese, commodities eased the starkness of prairie life, improved one’s education, and in McClung’s and Ostenso’s cases, provided freedom from the miserliness of husbands and fathers. These depictions suggest that the settlement conditions of isolation, outdoor labour, loneli- ness, men’s familial authority, women’s financial dependence, and poverty contributed to an atmosphere in which consumer goods became symbols of comfort, modernity, and for women, independence. In contrast to those who to this day nostalgize pre-1940 prairie life as less modern than urban life, these books indicate that consumerism was an important feature of English Canadian prairie culture during this period.

Consumerism was so prevalent in Winnipeg, in fact, that Douglas Dur- kin condemned it in his 1923 The Magpie. Evincing a masculinist distaste for consumption, this novel delivers a class-based critique of consumerism that is hostile toward bourgeois women. The Magpie is unique in this study in that it merges an anti-female perspective with a socialist one, but other authors were also wary of consumerism’s class components. Conservative writers Machar and Leacock, feminist writers McClung, Innis, and Sime, and socialist writer Spier each suggested that consumer inequality was indicative of class privilege. The authors may have put forth different solutions to ending material disparity, but all agreed that consumption was an intricate component of class in Canada, and crucial to social opportunity and success.

Commodities were also central to constructions of gender identities. According to The Magpie, producerist masculinity during this period was partly defined through opposition to the consumerist and the feminine. Other

182 Virtue and Vice: Consumer Culture in English Canadian Fiction Before 1940 ideal masculinities presented in pre-1940 English Canadian fiction were more amenable to consumption. Stead’s Mr. Duncan, Dave Elden’s middle class role model in The Cow Punchers, lived in a well-furnished home and urged Elden to wear tasteful, well-fitting garments. Consumerism was even more important to femininity. In pieces by Fytche, MacKay, Montgomery, McClung, Sime, and Ostenso, well-decorated homes and attractive bodily ornamentation underscored female heroines’ womanly virtues.

Even as female authors celebrated consumerist femininity, they cau- tioned readers to exercise moderation. Works by McClung, Sime, Ostenso, and Innis include female characters who put their love of shopping and fashion above their responsibilities to themselves and their communities. According to these writers, personal fulfillment and community harmony arose not only from consumerism, but from mothering, loving one’s husband, and doing good works. In this view, consumerism was necessary but must never become one’s raison d’être. As consumer capitalism expanded in early twentieth-century Canada, these female authors urged their audiences to keep a portion of themselves outside the marketplace.

In his analysis of the movement against alcohol consumption in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Canada, historian Craig Heron demonstrates that by the 1920s many members of the bourgeoisie and working class were beginning to view prohibition as “prudish.” In 1919, therefore, provincial governments began modifying laws banning alcohol, choosing instead to legalize liquor and regulate its distribution. “The new watchword,” Heron writes, “was ‘moderation’” (213, 270–71). A similar process occurred in the realm of consumption in English Canadian literature between 1890 and 1940. During this period, a few English Canadian writers depicted consumerism as immoral, arguing that it promoted vanity and selfishness. More, however, proposed that if commodities were pursued and displayed in tasteful moderation, they could enhance one’s gender identity as well as provide status, comfort, edification, and fulfillment. For these writers, the keys to proper consumption were decorum and self-discipline. Excessive and out-of-control consumer appetites, they asserted, threatened individual well-being and de- stabilized the social order. To be a successful consumer of goods and services between 1890 and 1940, one had to exercise not only taste, but also restraint.

Works Cited Adorno, Theodor W., and Max Horkheimer. Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments. 1947. Ed. G. S. Noerr. Trans. E. Jephcott. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002. Arnason, David. Afterword to Wild Geese by Martha Ostenso. 1925. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1994: 303–309. Belisle, Donica. Retail Nation: Department Stores and the Making of Modern Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2011.

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Bowlby, Rachel. Just Looking: Consumer Culture in Dreiser, Gissing, and Zola. London: Methuen, 1985. Broadfoot, Barry. The Pioneer Years: Memories of Settlers Who Opened the West. Toronto: Doubleday, 1976. Dawson, Michael. Selling British Columbia: Tourism and Consumer Culture, 1890– 1970. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2004. De Grazia, Victoria. “Introduction.” The Sex of Things: Gender and Consumption in Historical Perspective. Eds. Victoria de Grazia and Ellen Furlough. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. 1–10. Doyle, James. Progressive Heritage: The Evolution of a Politically Radical Literary Tradition in Canada. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2002. Dubinsky, Karen. The Second Greatest Disappointment: Honeymooning and Tourism at Niagara Falls. Toronto: Between the Lines, 1999. Durkin, Douglas. The Magpie. 1923. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1974. Enstad, Nan. Ladies of Labor, Girls of Adventure: Working Women, Popular Culture, and Labor Politics at the Turn of the Twentieth Century. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. Fiamengo, Janice. The Women’s Page: Journalism and Rhetoric in Early Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008. Fytche, M. Amelia. Kerchiefs to Hunt Souls. 1895. Sackville: Mount Allison University Press, 1980. Gerson, Carole. A Purer Taste: The Writing and Reading of Fiction in English in Nineteenth-Century Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1989. Good News Bible: The Bible in Today’s English Version. Toronto: Canadian Bible Society, 1979. Green, Gayle. Changing the Story: Feminist Fiction and the Tradition. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991. Guard, Julie. “Women Worth Watching: Radical Housewives in Cold War Canada.” Whose National Security? Canadian State Surveillance and the Creation of Enemies. Eds. Gary Kinsman et al. Toronto: Between the Lines, 2000: 73–88. Hammill, Faye. Literary Culture and Female Authorship in Canada, 1760–2000. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2003. Heron, Craig. Booze: A Distilled History. Toronto: Between the Lines, 2003. Huyssen, Andreas. After the Great Divide: Modernism, Mass Culture, Postmodernism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986. Innis, Mary Quayle. “The Party.” 1931. Voices of Discord: Canadian Short Stories from the 1930s. Ed. Donna Phillips. Toronto: New Hogtown Press, 1979: 151–57. Johnston, Russell. Selling Themselves: The Emergence of Canadian Advertising. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000. Karr, Clarence. Authors and Audiences: Popular Canadian Fiction in the Early Twentieth Century. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2000. Kowaleski-Wallace, Elizabeth. Consuming Subjects: Women, Shopping, and Business in the Eighteenth Century. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997. Leacock, Stephen. Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich. 1914. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1959.

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Liverant, Bettina. “Buying Happiness: English Canadian Intellectuals and the Development of a Canadian Consumer Culture.” Diss. University of Alberta, 2008. Machar, Agnes Maule. Roland Graeme, Knight: A Novel of Our Time. 1906. Ottawa: Tecumseh Press, 1996. Mackay, Isabel Ecclestone. The House of Windows. London, New York, Toronto, and Melbourne: Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1912. MacMillan, Carrie. “Research in Nineteenth-Century Canadian Women Writers: An Exercise in Literary Detection.” Re(dis)covering Our Foremothers: Nineteenth- Century Canadian Women Writers, ed. Lorraine McMullen. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1990: 49–54. Macmillan, Carrie, Lorraine McMullen, and Elizabeth Watson. Silenced Sextet: Six Nineteenth-Century Canadian Women Novelists. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1992. McCallum, Todd. “‘Not a Sex Question’? The One Big Union and the Politics of Radical Manhood.” Labour/Le Travail, 42.2 (Fall 1998): 15–54. McClung, Nellie. Sowing Seeds in Danny. 1908. Toronto: Thomas Allen and Son, 1965. ———. The Second Chance. Toronto: William Briggs, 1910. McMaster, Lindsay. Working Girls in the West: Representations of Wage-Earning Women. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2008. ———. “The Urban Working Girl in Turn-of-the-Century Canadian Fiction.” Essays on Canadian Writing 77 (Fall 2002): 1–25. Monod, David. Store Wars: Shopkeepers and the Culture of Mass Marketing, 1890– 1939. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996. Montgomery, Lucy Maud. Anne of Green Gables. 1908. Halifax: Nimbus Publishing, 1998. Morton, Desmond, and Terry Copp. Working People: An Illustrated History of the Canadian Labour Movement, rev. ed. Ottawa: Deneau Publishers, 1984. Opler, Daniel. For All White-Collar Workers: The Possibilities of Radicalism in New York City's Department Store Unions, 1934–53. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2007. Ostenso, Martha. Wild Geese. 1925. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1994. Pasco, Allan H. “Literature as Historical Archive.” New Literary History 35 (2004): 373–94. Rudy, Jarrett. The Freedom to Smoke: Tobacco Consumption and Identity. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2005. Sangster, Joan. “Consuming Issues: Women on the Left, Political Protest, and the Organization of Homemakers, 1920–1960.” Framing Our Past: Canadian Women’s History in the Twentieth Century. Eds. Sharon Cook et al. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2001. 240–47. Sime, J. G. “Adrift.” Sister Woman. 1919. Ottawa: Tecumseh Press, 1992. 22–34. ———. “Mr. Johnston.” Sister Woman. 1919. Ottawa: Tecumseh Press, 1992. 116–37. ———. “The Social Problem.” Sister Woman. 1919. Ottawa: Tecumseh Press, 1992. 207–15. Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations. 1776. Bantam Classics, 2003. Spier, Leonard. “Dream of the Air Meter: A Revolutionary Fable.” 1933. Voices of

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Discord: Canadian Short Stories from the 1930s. Ed. Donna Phillips. Toronto: New Hogtown Press, 1979. 46–48. Stead, Robert J. C. The Cow Puncher. Toronto: Musson Book Company, 1918. Stearns, Peter. “Stages of Consumerism: Recent Work on the Issues of Periodization.” The Journal of Modern History 69 (March 1997): 102–17. Sundberg, Sara Brooks. “A Female Frontier: Manitoba Farm Women in 1922.” Prairie Forum 16.2 (Fall 1991): 185–204. Wright, Cynthia. “‘Feminine Trifles of Vast Importance’: Writing Gender into the History of Consumption.” Gender Conflicts: New Essays in Women’s History. Eds. Franca Iacovetta and Mariana Valverde. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992. 229–60. York, Lorraine. Literary Celebrity in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007.

186 Research Note Note de recherche

Myreille Pawliez

Narratologie et étude du personnage : un cas de figure. Caractérisation dans Dis-moi que je vis de Michèle Mailhot

Résumé Dans le but d’étudier, en profondeur et essentiellement dans le cadre de la narratologie, le dispositif des personnages dans Dis-moi que je vis, un roman « psychologique » de Michèle Mailhot publié au Québec en 1964, on propose, puis applique, un nouveau modèle où le personnage est conçu comme une entité fictive de langage et de paroles. S’inspirant des travaux de Genette, Barthes, Ewen, Rimmon-Kenan, Bal, Hamon et Doležel, on combine les notions de distance modale, de focalisation et d’instance narrative à celles d’identification et de qualification pour examiner comment se construisent les personnages et l’univers. Ce faisant, on est en mesure d’expliquer pourquoi les analystes précédents pensent que, Josée, la protagoniste-narratrice, est un personnage lucide, voire ultra-lucide. On démontre, également, que l’étude du personnage, loin d’être incompatible avec la narratologie, gagne à y avoir recours.

Abstract In order to provide, within a narratological framework, an in-depth study of the characters of Dis-moi que je vis, a “psychological” novel by Michèle Mailhot published in 1964 in Quebec, a new model in which the character is viewed as a fictional semantic and enunciative entity is proposed and applied. Taking the works of Genette, Barthes, Ewen, Rimmon-Kenan, Bal, Hamon and Doležel as a starting point, the notions of focalisation and narration are combined with those of identification and qualification to examine how the characters and their world are created. This approach makes it possible to explain why previous analysts think that Josée, the protagonist-narrator, is lucid, if not ultra-lucid. It also proves that the study of characters, far from being incompatible with narratology, can benefit from it.

L’œuvre romanesque de Michèle Mailhot (1932-2009) a été publiée au Québec entre 1964 et 1990. Son premier roman, Dis-moi que je vis1, écrit à la première personne et au présent, est le soliloque2 introspectif d’une jeune femme (Josée) qui, au cours d’une nuit passée sans dormir à côté de Pierre, son mari, s’interroge sur sa vie tout en se remémorant certains moments. En proie à un malaise intérieur depuis plusieurs années, rien ne semble la rendre heureuse, pas même la voiture offerte en cadeau par Pierre, le voyage en Flo- ride avec sa compagne Laure, l'été passé à la campagne ou sa courte liaison

IJCS / RIÉC 43, 2011 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes avec Jean. Pourtant, la protagoniste prend progressivement conscience de la nécessité de se libérer des conventions sociales, et finit par comprendre que le bonheur est un état précaire sans cesse à renouveler.

Les analyses sociologiques et psychologiques existantes relèvent, à l’instar de l’article de Suzanne Paradis (312-317), la lucidité de Josée qui lui permet de s'émanciper progressivement de son assujettissement conjugal. Maïr Verthuy décrit Josée comme une héroïne qui se penche sur l'insigni- fiance de sa vie et sur une société matérialiste de laquelle on n'échappe que par l'alcoolisme et les aventures extraconjugales (133). Pour Jean Anderson, Josée est un personnage « ultra-lucide » aliéné par l'institution du mariage et la société technologique et de consommation qui refuse de se laisser déshu- maniser (93-105). L’approche de ces travaux importants ne permet cependant pas de séparer clairement ce qui incombe à la narratrice ou à la protagoniste dans ce roman écrit à la première personne.

Vu la sensibilité et l'acuité particulières avec lesquelles les personnages sont peints, la lucidité et l'authenticité avec lesquelles la nature humaine est relatée dans Dis-moi que je vis, on vise à étudier la pleine dimension des personnages et du milieu dans lequel ils évoluent dans le cadre de la narratologie structuraliste qui, paradoxalement, se défie du personnage, mais offre les outils pour dissocier protagoniste et instance narrative3.

Narratologie structuraliste et étude du personnage Issue du mouvement formaliste russe des années 1920 et du développement structuraliste de la linguistique qui a débuté, en France, dans les années 1950, l’approche narratologique structuraliste des textes littéraires est centrée sur le récit. Celui-ci est traité comme un tout cohérent existant par lui-même où l’on trouve les marques linguistiques sur lesquelles repose l'analyse. Ne pouvant considérer ni l’auteur réel (personne qui écrit le livre dans la réalité) ou impliqué (image mentale de l'auteur construite par le lecteur), ni le lecteur réel (personne qui lit l'ouvrage dans la réalité) ou impliqué (image mentale du lecteur construite par l'auteur), ni le personnage comme un être réel, l'ana- lyste peut s’intéresser, par le truchement du récit, aux rapports entre histoire et récit, aux phénomènes de point de vue, de narrateur (instance fictive qui prend en charge la narration dans le récit) et de narrataire (instance fictive à qui la narration s'adresse ou destinataire fictif de l'acte narratif).

C’est dans ce courant qu’est apparue la théorie littéraire narratologique de Gérard Genette4, qui a, par la suite, dominé la scène internationale. Adop- tant la position selon laquelle la signification d'une œuvre est créée par le jeu combinatoire de trois niveaux narratifs, Genette distingue l'histoire, qui fait référence à l'enchaînement des événements qui constitue l'infrastructure que l'on peut extraire du récit; le récit, qui correspond à l'énoncé tel qu'il se présente linéairement; et la narration, qui est l'acte narratif (fictif) qui produit

190 Narratologie et étude du personnage : un cas de figure. Caractérisation dans Dis-moi que je vis de Michèle Mailhot.

le discours et par extension l'ensemble de la situation fictive dans laquelle il prend place. Cette approche, essentiellement textuelle, privilégie le récit que Genette conçoit comme l'instrument qui médiatise les autres niveaux, et à partir duquel on est en mesure d’examiner les relations temporelles entre l'histoire et le récit (temps), la manière dont l'information narrative est vue ou perçue dans le récit (mode), et les problèmes d'énonciation (voix) qui se situent au niveau des relations récit-narration et des rapports histoire-narration5.

Malheureusement, tout comme les narratologues structuralistes qui s’insurgent contre les analyses traditionnelles dans lesquelles on traite le personnage comme une personne réelle, Gérard Genette ne considère pas le personnage comme un élément narratif intrinsèque et n’y fait allusion qu’indirectement quand le personnage assume un rôle au niveau de la narration ou de la focalisation. Cette prise de position typique a été remarquée par Rimmon-Kenan qui explique que « les structuralistes ne peuvent guère intégrer le personnage dans leur théorie à cause de leur adhérence à une idéo- logie qui “décentre” l'homme et qui va à l'encontre des notions d'individualité et de profondeur psychologique6 ».

Par ailleurs, les analyses formalistes de Propp et de Greimas7 réduisent les personnages à une fonction ou un rôle abstrait; aussi ces typologies sont peu adaptées à l'étude des romans dits « psychologiques » où les personnages ont beaucoup plus de profondeur. On préconise donc de repousser un tant soit peu les limites de la narratologie structuraliste pour rendre compte des personnages dans des romans complexes tels que Dis-moi que je vis tout en restant dans le cadre de la théorie de Genette.

Vers une conception narratologique du personnage Pour étudier le personnage d’une manière qui soit compatible avec la narratologie structuraliste, il faut avoir recours à une méthodologie qui puisse mettre en avant les faits de caractérisation, autrement dit, qui puisse éclairer comment, par le truchement du récit, se bâtissent les personnages.

Dans cette optique, Barthes a esquissé une théorie textuelle sémique dans laquelle on analyse les sèmes qui permettent de construire les traits du personnage à partir du récit :

Lorsque des sèmes identiques traversent à plusieurs reprises le même Nom propre et semblent s'y fixer, il naît un personnage. Le personnage est donc un produit combinatoire : la combinaison est relativement stable (marquée par le retour des sèmes) et plus ou moins complexe (comportant des traits plus ou moins congruents, plus ou moins contradictoires), cette complexité détermine la “personnalité” du personnage. (S/Z 74)

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Toutefois, cette approche indicielle8, parce que basée sur un découpage du texte en unités narratives peu clair, est difficilement applicable. On retient néanmoins de ces recherches l'idée fondamentale que le personnage est un concept linguistique qui s’élabore sur les indices sémiques éparpillés tout au long du récit.

Par la suite, la classification des indicateurs textuels de Ewen (i-ii), les travaux sur la qualification sémantique du personnage de Rimmon-Kenan (58-70) et de Bal, ainsi que les propos d’Hamon (115-180) et de Doležel (221-242) ont institué la notion de caractérisation directe (explicite) et de caractérisation indirecte (implicite). Il en ressort que, si la caractérisation directe peut transparaître dans le discours des personnages, le personnage est le plus souvent décrit par l'instance responsable de la narration (description physique, psychologique ou sociale, commentaires de l'instance narrative). Il peut, également, être caractérisé indirectement par ses actions (action unique, répétitive ou itérative; potentielle ou réalisée), par son nom (prénom, surnom), par son statut social (généalogie, rôle social ou familial), et par son environnement ou son habillement. De plus, l'emplacement de l'indication textuelle peut être significatif, tout comme la fiabilité, l'amplitude et l'évolu- tion de la caractérisation.

Sur le fondement de ces travaux et pour observer le réseau des personnages d’un roman avec la perspective de Genette, on a conçu un modèle9 qui allie le principe de construction sémique du personnage à son élaboration narrative.

Un modèle sémantico-narratologique Une méthode qui puisse incorporer les notions narratologiques de Genette à l’étude sémique du personnage se doit de concevoir le personnage comme concept sémantique et narratif que l'on ébauche à partir d'indices textuels. Empruntant le terme de Barthes, on estime que le personnage est « un être de papier », autrement dit une entité qui s'inscrit linguistiquement et narrativement dans un récit, s'élabore sémantiquement comme référent fictif et anthropomorphe, et évolue dans une diégèse (univers de l’histoire), elle aussi fictive. Le personnage est donc à la fois être de langage caractérisé par un réseau de traits sémantiques qui apparaissent linéairement dans le récit (Rim- mon-Kenan 59-70), et être de paroles qui fait partie d'un texte énonciatif. Cette vision sémantico-narratologique du personnage conduit à une métho- dologie multidimensionnelle qui tient compte de la configuration textuelle, sémantique et narrative du personnage, et qui a pour objectif d’appréhender le système des personnages dans son entier.

Pour ce faire, il convient, d’abord d’examiner « l'étiquetage » (la chaîne de signifiants dans le récit) pour chaque personnage, ce qui nécessite de faire l'inventaire des marqueurs10 détectables dans les occurrences lexicales et grammaticales du récit, tant du point de vue de la nomination que de la

192 Narratologie et étude du personnage : un cas de figure. Caractérisation dans Dis-moi que je vis de Michèle Mailhot.

qualification. Il faut ensuite considérer leur organisation et fréquence pour dégager l’ensemble de signification interne qui se construit soit par référence (dénotation), soit par inférence (connotation), établissant ainsi la caractérisa- tion idiosyncrasique de chaque personnage. Il est aussi essentiel de se deman- der si ces désignations relèvent du discours narrativisé (récit d’événements, actions ou pensées, qui revient entièrement à l’instance narrative), transposé (récit de paroles médiatisées par l’instance narrative, au style indirect ou indirect libre), ou rapporté (récit de paroles attribuables au personnage, au style direct) pour établir ce qui est imputable à l’instance narrative et/ou au protagoniste et conclure sur la crédibilité de cette caractérisation. Il ne reste ensuite qu’à dégager le système des personnages et de leur univers en incor- porant et scrutant toutes les caractérisations.

En somme, en intégrant les notions de Gérard Genette de distance modale (discours narrativisé, transposé et rapporté) , de focalisation et d’instance narrative à l’identification et à la description sémiques des personnages, on met en relief les procédés textuels sémantiques et narratifs sous-jacents au dispositif des personnages. Cette méthodologie met fin à l'idée que « l'insuf- fisance du discours de la narratologie sur le personnage est patente » (Jouve 11). Et, si l’on a délaissé les approches sémiologiques11 axées sur « l’effet- personnage »12, c’est que, mettant en jeu le lecteur, elles dépassent les confins de la narratologie structuraliste.

Analyse sémantico-narratologique des personnages de Dis-moi que je vis On propose d’appliquer ce modèle pour mettre en avant l’agencement textuel sémantique et narratologique des personnages de Dis-moi que je vis tout en sachant que, puisque Josée perçoit les événements et relate sa propre histoire et ses pensées, elle est à la fois protagoniste, foyer de focalisation et instance narrative; et que le discours transposé à la première personne, dans lequel protagoniste et instance narrative sont généralement inextricables, domine très fortement le récit. S’articulant autour des personnages principaux, l’analyse se concentre sur l’héroïne Josée, son mari Pierre, son amant Jean, et sa compagne de voyage, Laure, avant d’aboutir à une perception globale des personnages et de leur univers.

On constate avant tout que le premier mot du récit « Nous », qui réfère quelques lignes plus bas à « il/lui », suggère indirectement au sein du discours narrativisé que « je » correspond probablement à une femme :

Nous lisons tous les deux, du moins on fait comme si, et consciencieu- sement, en n’oubliant pas de tourner une page après quelques minutes de silence. Peut-être lit-il vraiment, lui? Je le regarde du coin de l’œil et il me paraît songeur. (9)

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Ceci se confirme dès la dixième ligne lorsqu'il est dit dans le discours transposé que « je » trompe Pierre, son mari :

Pauvre Pierre […] ça me fait du chagrin de le savoir trompé. (9) C'est donc ça un mari trompé? (11) Ainsi, le personnage est tout de suite qualifié par son statut de femme mariée à Pierre et par le fait qu'il a quelques remords à l'avoir trompé. Plus loin dans le récit, d'autres aspects de sa situation familiale sont indirectement révélés dans le discours transposé où l’on apprend que cette femme est âgée de 30 ans (31-32, 71-72, 97) et qu’elle n’a pas d’enfant (85). S'il est envisa- geable que le nom du personnage, qui narre sa propre histoire, ne soit jamais divulgué, il se trouve que son prénom est mentionné, une seule fois, par Jean, dans une bribe de conversation rapportée très tardivement dans le récit en style direct : « Josée, vous êtes si belle quand vous aimez. Je me rappelle le jour de votre mariage… » (124). Sans doute n'est-il pas anodin que Josée soit ainsi identifiée dans le discours rapporté de celui qui deviendra son amant au moment même où il fait allusion à son mariage. Par ailleurs, dans des fragments en discours rapporté, certains personnages dévoilent comment ils perçoivent Josée. Pierre trouve sa femme « belle » (13), exactement comme Jean (124, 126, 145). Il s'énerve aussi de son insatisfaction perpétuelle (46-47, 115), comme Jean s'irrite de ses états d'âme (145). Laure lui envie sa pureté et son bonheur (86). Mais la protagoniste-narratrice rejette intérieurement et avec dérision leurs vues, rétorquant dans le discours transposé :

Et maintenant, je ne suis plus belle? (124, à Jean) Je suis ingrate comme une mayonnaise qui tourne. On me donne tous les soins qu'il faut, on me demande d'être seulement une bonne mayonnaise et puis, flop, je suris par méchanceté pure, par refus têtu de ta grâce de cuisinier, si bien outillé, si électriquement outillé. (47, à Pierre) En outre, dans le discours transposé, Josée ajoute avoir été une « [p] etite épouse soumise, admirable petite épouse docile, humble, chaste, zélée, patiente, charitable et résignée » (54). Elle se compare à une marionnette actionnée par son mari (125) ou à Pénélope qui attend Ulysse (127), et juge avoir été « fidèle et menteuse » (72). Tout ceci explique sa passivité (34, 132), sa mauvaise humeur (77), sa « tristesse chronique » (93, 128). Dans le discours narrativisé, elle réaffirme se sentir « impuissante » (38) et compare sa maladie à une « torpeur » (43). Dans le discours transposé, elle dit être une « sainte refoulée » (85), se moque de cette « vertu apostolique » (93) et conclut que :

Mais plus les vertus sont tristes plus elles sont précaires et la mienne râlait. […] J'étais une femme de petite vertu. (93)

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Constatant, comme protagoniste et narratrice, les paradoxes du mariage (27, 30, 31-32, 54-56, 98) et découvrant le côté illusoire de l'amour (120- 122), Josée examine le rôle assigné à la femme et à l'homme (par exemple, 47-48, 72) et les modèles qui l'entourent, ridiculisant son amie Louise13:

Mon amie Louise, Louise la parfaite, était, en cette science charitable, vraiment insurpassable. Elle témoignait, dans ces réunions, d’une si admirable compassion pour les angoisses de ses amis, elle y mettait une telle souplesse d'esprit que son corps, comme entraîné par le mouvement de sa miséricordieuse bonté, se penchait vers la souffrance de tout le poids de son vaste sein. Jamais je n'ai vu une image plus concrète, plus physique, de la miséricorde. Les mérites accumulés dans son corsage de bonne mère nourricière débordaient sur ces grands enfants mal-aimés, rangés autour d'elle comme une portée de chiots. (50-51) Sans contredit, Josée dénonce avec force dérisions l’archétype de la femme idéale symbolisée par Louise. Tout comme Jeannine, qui manifeste ouvertement dans ses propos son mécontentement quant à son rôle d’épouse (94-95), Josée admet, dans le discours transposé, faire partie de toute une catégorie d'épouses insatisfaites de leur situation :

Pauline, Jeannine, Sylvie, Lise, toutes cernées d'abîme et prises de ver- tige. Et moi, pareille à elles, tout à l'heure ravie d'avoir identifié mes démons intimes et maintenant effarée de les voir rôder partout, insaisissables et mauvais, grugeurs de petites joies et de grandes espérances à qui on jette en pâture, pour les amadouer, tous ses espoirs un à un, toutes ses illusions une à une, pour ne garder que des regrets soumis. (97)

À la recherche d'un équilibre, et prenant pour modèle Laure14, Josée finit par prendre un amant, mais s’aperçoit qu’elle est devenue en deux mois « une maîtresse » (140) au « masque durci » (140), à l'air triste et désabusé (131- 132, 140, 141, 143). Déçue par la vie, la protagoniste-narratrice fouille les grandes civilisations du passé (24, 133-135) et sonde ses contemporains dans la rue ou le bus (44, 130, 133, 134, 135-138), un peu comme un archéologue cherche à décrypter une société pour lui donner du sens :

En l'an 1964 avant Jésus-Christ une femme pouvait se promener ainsi sur une route de Grèce. Éperdue comme moi. Dépassée, cherchant dans ce fouillis des jours, un coin où reposer son cœur, un autel où immoler sa vie. A-t-elle trouvé? Sans doute pas, ça se saurait. Une trouvaille comme ça ne se perd pas. On cherche encore : pas trouvé le secret de la vie, le pourquoi de cette interminable lignée de morts. (134) Par ailleurs, il apparaît dans le discours transposé que Josée évolue dans un milieu montréalais15 bourgeois (9, 15, 16-17, 46-47, 49,

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50, 64-65, 66-71, 82, 100-101, 117-118) qu’elle perçoit comme une « cage chromée » (49). À en juger par les références aux automobiles et à l'autobus (19-20, 36, 46, 61, 134, 137), au téléphone (9, 138), aux doubles fenêtres d'aluminium (66), aux appareils ménagers élec- triques (47), aux loisirs16, au luxe17, aux affiches publicitaires (134), à la révolution sexuelle de la femme occidentale (87) et au travail des ouvrières (46), il est question des années 1950 et 1960, décennies qui ont vu naître au Québec l’essor industriel, la société de consommation et de loisirs de masse, le travail et l'émancipation des femmes. Les prénoms mêmes des personnages, la teneur de leurs propos et la situation professionnelle des maris sont d’ailleurs révélateurs de cette époque charnière d'après-guerre au moment où la société québécoise s’industrialisait et où une bourgeoisie francophone émergeait. Ce que confirment, du reste, la mention du « creusage de la Bersimis » (16)18, l’allusion ironique à « l'an 1964 avant Jésus-Christ » (134) et le fait que le roman sort précisément en 1964. Or, Josée, dans le discours transposé, et parfois le discours narrativisé, observe (117-118) et critique âprement ce conformisme bourgeois et hypocrite au sein duquel se cachent alcoolisme et adultère (15, 67, 68-71,79, 82, 94-96). Pierre, posé comme personnage dès le premier mot par l'entremise du pronom « Nous », est identifié par son prénom dans le discours transposé19 dès la septième ligne. Il transparaît rapidement, aussi dans le discours transposé, qu'il travaille dans la finance et qu’il n’est pas au courant de la liaison de sa femme20. Mari trompé, confiant et intéressé par l'argent, son attachement aux valeurs matérielles et sa sollicitude comme époux sont confirmés par ses actions (37, 47, 68, 103). Ses paroles montrent qu'il s'estime bon pourvoyeur et bon amant et qu'il pense être le mari parfait (13, 47, 64, 65, 66, 68, 120, 123). Cependant, le discours transposé laisse entrevoir un autre Pierre. Josée admet qu'il est attentionné (27), qu'elle l'a aimé et qu'elle l'aime toujours (10, 56, 78). Si elle reconnait qu'il n'a pas changé (37, 121), elle lui reproche, souvent avec dérision, d'être trop sûr de lui (30, 65, 66-67, 68, 77, 78, 84, 114, 126), d'être matérialiste (62, 65, 121), de se contenter des petits plaisirs quotidiens (15, 115, 117), et de la traiter comme un objet à sa disposition :

Il faut le voir, lui, quand il a congé : une vraie broyeuse de travail qui avale du vide. Il s'affaire comme un bulldozer en mal de montagne à bousculer. (49) Mille prétextes […] parviennent toujours à sauvegarder sa divine image d'homme modèle. (65) [I]l m'exhibe avec fierté, comme une preuve de son heureux génie. (67) Son numéro de pattes en l'air ressemblait au geste de Tarzan, qui crie victoire, le pied sur sa victime. Et la jungle d'applaudir. (126)

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En même temps, elle se reproche d'avoir été aveuglée par l'amour et d'avoir, elle aussi, succombé aux pressions sociales (30, 153) et se demande ce que ferait Pierre s'il se savait trompé (28-29, 65-66, 122).

Jean, troisième personnage à apparaître, est introduit dès la treizième ligne dans le discours narrativisé :

Nous lisons tous les deux […]. Tandis que Jean jubile : il m'a télé- phoné avant le souper avec sa voix des plus beaux soirs, enveloppante, chaude… (9) L’opposition entre « Nous » et « Jean » est significative, d’autant plus que la conjonction « tandis que », comme, par la suite, le discours narrativisé, implique une certaine concurrence entre Pierre et Jean : Il [Pierre] a tout fait chavirer d'un coup. […] Une fois la lumière éteinte, je respire mieux. Pierre ne voit pas mes yeux ouverts qui regardent Jean. (13) J'ai aimé ton mirage [Pierre] et maintenant que le désert se livre, je cherche seulement une autre oasis. […] J'ai aimé Jean dans un éblouis- sement de sable, quand la soif me faisait si mal qu'il me fallait à tout prix croire à l'eau pour que je ne crève pas. Il me désaltère en ce sens qu'il me fait oublier ma soif, qu'il la reporte. (122) Indéniablement, Jean est présenté, dans le discours narrativisé et trans- posé, comme l'adversaire de Pierre, l’intrus qui s'immisce dans le couple Josée-Pierre. Ce qui est aussi impliqué dans le passage en discours transposé où Josée songe à sa trahison et fait part de ses remords (10-12). Jean est, en plus, dépeint dans le discours narrativisé (17, 140), le discours transposé (18, 20, 21-23), et même le discours rapporté de Pierre (125), comme grand séducteur. Josée, aussi bien comme protagoniste que narratrice, a pleinement conscience de cette réputation et l’a choisi comme amant précisément pour cette raison :

J'avais là, sous la main, un spécialiste de la plastique des cœurs ratatinés. Intéressé bien sûr. Moi aussi. Je connaissais ses nombreuses clientes mais sa réputation était telle que celles qui se voyaient repoussées souffraient plus de leur rejet que les intimes, de leur nombre. Exactement ce qu'il me fallait : l'expérience toute nue, sans complications sentimentales. (20) Josée avoue aussi, dans le discours transposé, qu’il lui redonne la joie de vivre :

Mon ange de courage […] qui me donne cette ardeur nouvelle […]. (13) Jean, tendre et frivole, qui m'apprenait la saveur des moindres gestes. (159)

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Pourtant, comme le suggère la dérision ou l'autodérision qui perce dans la plupart des passages en discours transposé relatifs à Jean, Josée comprend, à la fin de la nuit, qu'il n'a été qu’un substitut passager, bien peu différent de Pierre :

Je me suis accrochée de toutes mes forces à cette illusion, mais le mal était fait. Il m'a fallu toute cette semaine pour le reconnaître. Cette nuit-là je n'ai pas voulu l'admettre. Il est si difficile pour une femme de quitter un amour qui fut merveilleux. […] J'aurais aimé, ce soir-là, que tu [Jean] te reposes contre moi, à ne rien faire, à ne rien dire […]. Mais tu m'as prise, et Pierre a surgi aussitôt. (154-155) Le personnage de Laure est introduit plus tardivement dans le récit par la phrase rapportée de Pierre où il la présente incidemment et simplement comme l’épouse de Léo :

« Pourquoi ne fais-tu pas un voyage? […] Justement, Léo me disait que sa femme allait en Floride… » (68) Le personnage ne prend corps que plusieurs pages plus loin dans le discours transposé, quand Josée, un peu en écho de Pierre, mentionne son surnom et l’a priori qu’elle en a – identification et qualification qui sont immédiatement révisées :

Elle s’appelait Laurette, la femme de Léo. Laurette! un nom aussi stupide que l’idée que j'avais d'elle avant de la mieux connaître. J'imaginais Laure comme j'imaginais toutes, à vrai dire, les femmes des maris : servantes dévouées, chastes et généreuses. Sans surprise, en somme. Or, voici que la dite Laure […], que Laure laisse éclater sa gaine de conformisme devant moi. […] Depuis Laure, je ne juge plus personne. (72-73) Le changement en narration simultanée amorcée par « or » marque un éclatement de cette image d’épouse loyale et soumise, comme l’atteste ce segment en discours transposé :

Quand Laure a posé son masque, je n'en revenais pas de son vrai visage. Son vrai visage? Je ne sais même pas. Un masque de Floride peut-être bien, en plus des masques de Montréal, des salons, des chambres conjugales. Une série de masques. Si nombreux qu'à la fin on se dit que ce ne sont pas de vrais masques, mais des attitudes de rechanges selon les lieux et les personnes. Fausseté? Mensonge perpétuel? Non. (73-74) Laure, la femme caméléon, est donc l’opposé de Louise, dont la perfection immuable étonne Josée :

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Quand Louise la parfaite me demandait : « Mais où est ta vérité, qui es-tu à la fin? » avec une pointe de colère m'enjoignant de choisir, une fois pour toutes, ma personnalité, je la regardais étonnée. Est-ce que je sais, moi, qui je suis? À quel moment précis de ma vie je pourrais m'arrêter et dire : « Tiens, là, ça y est, ça c'est du moi tout pur : photographie et passe à la postérité! » (74) Pour Louise, ce n'est pas pareil. Son affaire est entendue. Elle s'est installée de plein pied [sic] dans la perfection, elle est égale d'un bout à l'autre de sa vie. Elle ne se fait pas, elle est toute faite d'avance, comme le café instantané. On met de l'eau et on a la vraie saveur du vrai café. Demain, on la couvrira de feu, de grêle ou de vent et Louise donnera de la Louise. C'est son genre, inébranlable, d'ores et déjà sanctifié. (74-75) En fait, dans le discours narrativisé, on apprend qu’à Miami, Laure passe ses nuits dehors à boire à l'excès (76) et raconte à Josée ses nombreuses liaisons. Dans le discours transposé, il est précisé que Laure, âgée de 34 ans, a deux enfants (85), est malheureuse (76, 84) et n'aime pas son mari (78). Dans son premier monologue, Laure elle-même convient que sa vie est vide, qu'elle boit trop et qu'elle est une putain, que les autres et ses enfants, âgés d'une douzaine d'années, la jugent sévèrement. Elle rapporte aussi avoir été très pieuse et raconte comment à 24 ans, elle vivait avec son mari et ses deux enfants en « demi-sommeil » (148) jusqu'à ce qu'un seul baiser l'ait libérée et conduite à sa première infidélité (145-148). Avec virulence, elle condamne l'hypocrisie des curés et des sociétés américaine et canadienne (85-88). Indubitablement, sa situation passée et ses réflexions se rapprochent en de nombreux points à celles de Josée, comme Laure le remarque dans son second monologue :

J'étais assez comme toi [Josée], il me semble. Pardonne-moi mais je le crois vraiment. Tu sais, entre une femme fidèle et une autre qui ne l'est pas, la marge est infime. (146) Avec le recul du temps, Josée reconnaît qu’elle a changé au contact de Laure :

De la Floride à ici, il y a une année, des rides, cent mille désillusions et, quand même, la certitude et la joie d'une progression. […] Tout cela grâce à Laure, à sa métamorphose, à son évolution, à ses masques, à n'importe quoi que l'on veut et qui s'appelle la vie. Laure qui s'est mise à vivre avec une fougue que je ne lui soupçonnais pas et qui me stupéfiait, cramponnée que j'étais aux manettes d'un idéal figé. (75-76) En somme, la protagoniste, Josée, est une jeune femme d'une trentaine d'années mariée à Pierre depuis environ dix ans qui évolue dans un milieu bourgeois montréalais francophone des années 1950-1964. Comme personnage-témoin et personnage-narratrice, elle ne cesse de s'interroger sur

199 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes la société et le rôle assigné à l'homme et à la femme au sein du couple et s'irrite de l'image que lui renvoient son mari et son amant – celle de la jeune épouse, belle et comblée, mais ingrate. Comme pour beaucoup de ses amies mariées, le rôle qu'il lui faut assumer ne lui convient pas. Elle blâme Pierre de se conformer à son rôle d’époux et ridiculise le modèle de la femme idéale symbolisé par Louise :

Il n'y a que Pierre et Louise qui soient (ou se croient) parfaits, et les deux sont insupportables. (90) Au contact de Laure, Josée découvre progressivement que, sous les images contradictoires de l'épouse parfaite et de la femme déchue qu’elle donne, Laure, au fond, lui ressemble : même conformisme au départ, même insatisfaction comme femme mariée, mêmes désillusions en ce qui concerne l'amour et la société, et même dégoût de l'hypocrisie. Espérant trouver quelqu’un qui soit plus à l'écoute de son individualité et de ses désirs, et prenant exemple sur Laure, la protagoniste choisit de prendre un amant, Jean. Dépeint comme le rival de Pierre, Jean est réduit au rôle du séducteur volage et insouciant. Paradoxalement, c’est lui qui « baptise » Josée tout en faisant référence à son statut d'épouse, et qui insuffle le renouveau au sein du couple Josée-Pierre :

Mon ange de courage [Jean] n'est plus un fantôme mais une vivante réalité qui me donne cette ardeur nouvelle dont Pierre profite. (13) Sans mon mari, je suis sûre que Jean aurait moins d'attrait. Quelle révélation : du mariage qui donne de l'éclat au péché et rend presti- gieuse une simple affaire courante. (27) Pierre par ricochet profitait de ces leçons. (152) Évidemment, Jean comme trait d'union, c'est un peu cocasse. (153) De plus, la protagoniste, en faisant l'expérience avec Jean du baiser libé- rateur, ressemble encore plus à Laure. Subsistent néanmoins quelques diffé- rences. Laure n'aime pas son mari, a multiplié les amants et se sent honteuse, tandis que Josée affirme toujours aimer Pierre (10, 56, 78) et n'éprouver ni honte, ni déchéance, à l’avoir trompé :

Jamais comme elle [Laure], je n'éprouverai cette sensation de déchéance et de honte. (145) L’aventure avec Jean s’étiolant après deux mois, Pierre retrouve sa place initiale auprès de Josée qui réalise, à la fin de sa nuit blanche, que le bonheur n’existe qu’au prix d’un effort personnel de tous les instants qui se construit auprès de Pierre :

Aucune vérité n'est si solide qu'elle ne nécessite, chaque matin, un acte de foi renouvelé. Se reprendre, jour après jour, pour rafraîchir l'offrande de la veille, recréer à neuf, sans cesse, l'amour une fois donnée. Un long effort de tous les instants, pour amasser des gerbes à

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brûler dans la joie des sens ardents. (158-159) Me reste le souvenir de Jean […]. Me reste toi, Pierre, endormi dans ta longue patience. (159) Des personnages et un univers vus au travers d’un prisme Émerge du récit un ensemble complexe de personnages dont la caractéri- sation est axée sur la question des rapports homme/femme et dans lequel s’établissent sémantiquement et narrativement des analogies (Josée/Laure, Louise/Pierre, Pierre/Jean) et des oppositions (Louise/Laure, Laure/Josée, couple Josée-Pierre/couple Josée-Jean).

La construction sémantique archétypée de Louise et de Jean dresse le portrait de la femme idéale et du séducteur type. En revanche, le portrait que Pierre fait de lui-même comme mari parfait est remis en cause par Josée qui dénigre ce rôle stéréotypé auquel il adhère depuis leur mariage. Les stéréo- types contradictoires de l’épouse modèle et de la femme déchue attachés à Laure éclatent quand la « vraie » Laure, plus compliquée, se dévoilant dans ses deux monologues, s’avère assez semblable à Josée. Cette dernière, perçue de l’extérieur par son mari et son amant comme une jeune femme belle, mais ingrate, montre, en fait, un sens de l’observation et un sens critique très aigus qui l’amènent à se questionner et à dénigrer, avec force dérision, les rôles stéréotypés représentés par Louise, Pierre, Jean, et même Laure :

[…] tous des esclaves : Louise la parfaite, de l'inaltérable opinion qu'elle a d'elle-même; Pierre, de l'orgueil de tenir un rang, Laure de l'idée surfaite qu'elle a de la vertu des autres. Tous enchaînés à une idée fixe qui écrabouille ce qui ne lui appartient pas. Pour chacun un pilier, une tyrannie, l'exaltante certitude de posséder la vérité. […] Elles sont à vous, les clôtures de vos propres cerveaux, pas du mien. Laissez-moi tresser la mienne en paix, large, large, enserrant la terre et que je m'y meuve à l'aise sans que la cervelle m'éclate de regrets. (114) Clairement, en dix ans de mariage, la protagoniste a évolué : de jeune épouse vertueuse et subjuguée, elle est devenue une épouse déprimée puis infidèle, tout comme Laure. Cependant, contrairement à sa compagne de vacances, elle n’en éprouve aucune honte. Au petit matin, la protagoniste-narratrice comprend que, pour se réaliser en tant qu’individu, elle doit construire sa vie en toute liberté.

Sur le plan narratif, la narration autodiégétique inclusive en « nous » de l’incipit met d'emblée en place le couple Josée-Pierre dont l'unité est immédiatement remise en cause par l’apposition du fragment sur Jean, posé comme l’intrus au sein du couple. Aussi, le changement abrupt en narration simultanée dans le passage de Laure fait éclater le stéréotype de l'épouse modèle. Dans les deux monologues de Laure, le « je » référant à Laure qui

201 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes miroite le « je » référant à Josée participe à l’analogie entre les deux personnages. Mais surtout, par le truchement du discours transposé à la première personne, où protagoniste et instance narrative se fondent, la subjectivité de Josée imprègne toutes les caractérisations, les teintant par son omniprésence. En effet, si la caractérisation opère un tant soit peu au niveau du discours rap- porté des personnages et du discours narrativisé, elle se fait principalement par le biais du discours transposé qui établit, avec dérision, le portrait de Josée et des autres et met en place l’univers dans lequel ils vivent.

Dis-moi que je vis, le soliloque introspectif d’un personnage témoin et narrateur En définitive, dans Dis-moi que je vis, les personnages et l’univers créés s’élaborent principalement par le truchement du discours transposé à la pre- mière personne qui prédomine et qui permet d’appréhender, d’une part, le cheminement psychologique de la protagoniste; et d’autre part, les souvenirs (événements ou pensées du passé) et les pensées présentes narrés par l’instance narrative. Ainsi peut-on dire que, dans une certaine mesure, Dis-moi que je vis est un Bildungsroman, un roman dans lequel se dessine le développe- ment psychologique de la protagoniste. Mais, le récit est, par-dessus tout, le soliloque introspectif de Josée, à la fois personnage-témoin lucide en pleine évolution et personnage-narrateur ultra-lucide en plein questionnement, qui s’autocritique, qui dénigre le milieu bourgeois et hypocrite de l’après-guerre à Montréal, et qui dénonce les stéréotypes sociaux en rigueur représentés par Louise, Pierre, Jean et Laure.

En appliquant le modèle sémantico-narratologique proposé, on a mis en évidence les caractéristiques sémantiques et narratives du récit qui concou- rent à la construction de l’univers et des personnages de Dis-moi que je vis. De la sorte, on a été en mesure de clarifier pourquoi les autres analystes ont estimé que Josée est un personnage soit lucide, soit ultra-lucide. On a aussi pu mieux appréhender l’univers et les personnages en établissant ce qui, au niveau des discours, relevait de l’instance narrative, de la protagoniste, ou d’un autre personnage. Ce faisant, on a prouvé qu’il est possible de faire l’étude des personnages d’un roman dit « psychologique » dans le cadre de la narratologie de Genette.

Notes 1. Dorénavant, seule la pagination sera indiquée, entre parenthèses, dans les références à Dis-moi que je vis. 2. Entendu dans le sens défini par Frances Fortier & Julie Grasse : « le soliloque suscite bien souvent des interpellations directes où le je s'adresse explicitement à un tu, figure inexistante dans le monologue » (243). 3. Pour une analyse étendue du roman, de son contexte sociologique et de son importance littéraire, consulter Myreille Pawliez, Une étude sémantico-

202 Narratologie et étude du personnage : un cas de figure. Caractérisation dans Dis-moi que je vis de Michèle Mailhot.

narratologique de Dis-moi que je vis (1964) et du Portique (1967) de Michèle Mailhot. Colimaçon et oscillation dans les soliloques de Josée. 4. Voir « Discours du récit » et Nouveau discours du récit. 5. Pour une synthèse complète de cette théorie, se référer à Myreille Pawliez, « Une autre approche à la littérature : pour une utilisation de la théorie narratologique de Genette ». 6. Ma propre traduction de : « Structuralists can hardly accommodate character within their theories, because of their commitments to an ideology which “decenters” man and runs counter to the notions of individuality and psychological depth » (30). 7. Établies pour étudier les contes où les personnages sont très stéréotypés. 8. Voir « Introduction à l'analyse structurale des récits » (7-57). 9. Pour une première ébauche, voir Myreille Pawliez, « La caractérisation dans Béatrice vue d’en bas de Michèle Mailhot ». 10. Ici, les termes marqueur, désignateur, dénominateur, caractéristique, attribut, trait, sont interchangeables. 11. Se rapporter aux travaux de Thomas Docherty, James Phelan et Vincent Jouve des années 1990. 12. Terme de Vincent Jouve. 13. Louise est associée au moins sept fois à la perfection, surtout dans le discours transposé, mais aussi dans le discours narrativisé (50-53, 74-75, 90-91, 95, 114). 14. « Laure m'apparut comme une manière de missionnaire qui avait poussé hardiment jusqu'aux terres inconnues souvent visitées par l'imagination de chacune » (94). 15. Voir l'allusion directe à Montréal (74), ainsi que les références à la rue St- Jacques (49, 133), à la rue Sherbrooke (133) et à la rue Ste-Catherine (133), toutes situées au centre de Montréal. 16. Cinéma (40-41), vacances (68, 82, 103-104), sorties au restaurant (116-117). 17. Baignoire (101), hôtel de Miami (82). 18. La centrale hydro-électrique Bersimis 1, en chantier depuis 1953, est mise en service en 1956. Bersimis 2 est mise en chantier en 1956. Jean Provencher (175, 178). 19. « Pauvre Pierre » (9). 20. « ça me fait du chagrin de le savoir trompé » (9), « confiant, donc ignorant de [la] trahison » (10). « C'est donc ça un mari trompé? » (11).

Bibliographie Anderson, Jean. « Fuir pour survivre : aliénation et identité chez Michèle Mailhot » Voix et Images 10.1 (1984) : 93-105. Bal, Mieke. Narratology. Introduction to the Theory of Narrative (1985). Trad. Christine van Boheemen. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 1997. Barthes, Roland. S/Z. Paris : Le Seuil, 1970. « Introduction à l'analyse structurale des récits » Poétique du récit. Dir. Barthes, Kayser, Booth et Hamon. Paris : Le Seuil, 1977. 7-57. Doležel, Lubomir. « Possible Worlds and Literary Fiction » Possible Worlds in Humanities, Arts and Sciences. Dir. Sture Allén. Berlin-New York : Walter de

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Gruyter, 1989. 221-242. Ewen, Yosef. « The Theory of Character in Narrative Fiction » Hasifut 3 (1971) : 1-30 [en hébreu], i-ii [résumé en anglais]. Fortier, Frances et Julie Grasse. « Formes et effets du soliloque dans le récit québécois contemporain » Texte 27-28 (2000) : 239-265. Genette, Gérard. « Discours du récit » dans Figures III. Paris : Le Seuil, 1972. 65-267. Nouveau discours du récit. Paris : Le Seuil, 1983. Hamon, Philippe. « Pour un statut sémiologique du personnage » Poétique du récit. Dir. Barthes, Kayser, Booth, Hamon. Paris : Le Seuil, 1977. 115-180. Jouve, Vincent. La Lecture. Paris : Hachette Supérieur, 1993. Mailhot, Michèle. Dis-moi que je vis. Montréal : Cercle du livre de France, 1964. Paradis, Suzanne. « Michèle Mailhot : Josée, Laure » Femme fictive, femme réelle, le personnage féminin dans le roman féminin canadien-français (1884-1966). Québec : Garneau, 1966. 312-317. Pawliez, Myreille. « Une autre approche à la littérature : pour une utilisation de la théorie narratologique de Genette » New Zealand Journal of French Studies 19.2 (1998) : 5-17. « La caractérisation dans Béatrice vue d’en bas de Michèle Mailhot » Revue de l’Université de Moncton 34.1-2 (2003) : 173-206. Une étude sémantico-narratologique de Dis-moi que je vis (1964) et du Portique (1967) de Michèle Mailhot. Colimaçon et oscillation dans les soliloques de Josée. Lewiston-Queenston-Lampeter : The Edwin Mellen Press, 2010. Provencher, Jean. Chronologie du Québec. Montréal : Boréal, 1991. Rimmon-Kenan, Shlomith. Narrative Fiction: contemporary poetics. London: Methuen, 1983. Verthuy, Maïr. « Michèle Mailhot: a cautionary tale » Gynocritique : démarches féministes à l'écriture des Canadiennes et Québécoises. Dir. Barbara Godard. Toronto : ECW Press, 1987.

204 Review Essay Essai critique

Christopher G. Anderson

Review Essay: Immigration, Immigrants, and the Rights of Canadian Citizens in Historical Perspective

Bangarth, Stephanie D. Voices Raised in Protest: Defending Citizens of Japanese Ancestry in North America, 1942–49. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2008. Caccia, Ivana. Managing the Canadian Mosaic in Wartime: Shaping Citizenship Policy, 1939–1945. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2010. Champion, C.P. The Strange Demise of British Canada: The Liberals and Canadian Nationalism, 1964–68. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2010. Iacovetta, Franca. Gatekeepers: Reshaping Immigrant Lives in Cold War Canada. Toronto: Between the Lines, 2006. Kaprielian-Churchill, Isabel. Like Our Mountains: A History of Armenians in Canada. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2005. Lambertson, Ross. Repression and Resistance: Canadian Human Rights Activists, 1930–1960. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005. MacLennan, Christopher. Toward the Charter: Canadians and the Demand for a National Bill of Rights, 1929–1960. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2004. Roy, Patricia E. The Triumph of Citizenship: The Japanese and Chinese in Canada, 1941–67. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2008.

For some time now, concerns have been raised that Canadians—and more particularly, new Canadians—are losing or have lost sight of the values that give meaning to being Canadian. For example, Andrew Cohen warns that with our commitment to diversity “we risk losing our centre of gravity and our fragile sense of place as Canadians” (163). Jack Granatstein claims that because they do not have a proper understanding of the past, Canadians are unaware of “the common fund of knowledge, traditions, values, and ideas that help to explain our existence” (165). His call to focus on the responsibilities that bind us together more than the rights said to keep us apart is shared by Rudyard Griffiths: “The powerful emotion of loyalty—not abstract ideas about individual freedom or the rights of man—is the terra firma of our political history” (4).

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From another perspective, uncertainty over what it means to be Canadian is understood to stem from the retreat of a collective commitment to the national community channelled through government policies and laws. With the rise of neoliberalism, Janine Brodie concludes, “citizens are [increasingly] expected to shape themselves into self-sufficient market actors who provide for their needs and those of their families” (41). Moreover, Sandra Rollings-Magnusson, Alexandra Dobrowolsky, and Marc Doucet contend that in a post-September 11 context, core characteristics of Canadian national identity have been brought into question through “a disturbing number of illustrations of national security preoccupations severely impinging on freedom and liberty, not only undermining civil liberties but also undercutting broader citizenship, equality, and human rights” (23). This has affected some, Sharryn Aiken maintains, more than others: “While the government’s anti- terrorism agenda has had a corrosive effect on the rights of everyone living in Canada, the primary victims have been immigrants, refugees, and citizens of Arab and Muslim descent” (180).

Although these two perspectives anchor contemporary concerns to different sources, each underscores the need to situate the intersection of rights and Canadian citizenship in historical perspective. But this is easier said than done, as Canada possesses a surprisingly thin historiography with respect to rights and citizenship, especially in the context of Canada as a country of immigration. This is changing, however, as a number of works have appeared that address these themes—either directly or indirectly—and thereby allow the outlines of a fuller account to be drawn. Indeed, the eight texts examined in this review provide evidence of underappreciated depths and dimensions to debates over what it means to be Canadian, and what it means to pursue liberal-democratic citizenship amid ethnic diversity. Although this review seeks to indicate the full scope of each work, its main objective is to situate them within this broader narrative, which necessitates first broaching the subject of Canada’s British liberal heritage.

The importance of appreciating the enduring Britishness of Canada is the focus of C. P. Champion’s The Strange Demise of British Canada. “[T]he British tradition is not something foreign,” he insists, “it is a constitutive part of Canadian identity” (226). In analyzing the efforts of the governments of Lester B. Pearson to recast the country’s self-understanding by sidelining traditional “British” symbols and promoting new “Canadian” ones in the 1960s (as seen, for example, in the displacement of the Red Ensign for the Maple Leaf flag), Champion joins authors such as Phillip Buckner, who challenge the well-worn interpretation that this was all part of a transformation from “colony to nation.” Champion shows how the institutionalization of these new forms of Canadian nationalism are better viewed as complex continuations from, rather than simple rejections of, British traditions: “decision-makers did not seek to betray or abandon their British heritage so much as to assign to it

208 Review Essay: Immigration, Immigrants, and the Rights of Canadian Citizens in Historical Perspective a new and less dominant role in national life” (13). He draws on a wealth of published and unpublished records to delineate how Pearson, his supporters, and his opponents understood and reflected being British/Canadian. As he traces the influence of religion, war, and schooling on the development of their British/Canadian identities, and explores how these arose with respect to the flag debate and policies aimed at “Canadianizing” the military, he underlines the persistent centrality of core dimensions of the country’s British liberal heritage, including “the long tradition of freedom and dignity of the individual,” among other basic liberties (80, quoting Frank Underhill).

However, in consciously recounting this history from the perspective of those who sought and failed to preserve a more prominent place for British markers in Canadian civic and political life, he adopts the polemicist’s habit of overemphasizing the faults of those he opposes (like Pearson) and the strengths of those he supports. For example, in a very informative chapter on how Conservatives and Liberals courted “the ethnic vote” in the 1950–60s, Champion writes that the former “made important gestures towards ethnic representation in high office,” while the latter (and ethnic leaders that supported them) traded in “outright appointment-seeking along ethnic lines” (150; 153). More fundamentally, this determination to tarnish the “winners” unfolds within an unresolved tension: if the “new” Canadian symbols con- stituted an adaptation of “the British spirit in the local context,” and if “the post-1960s civic identity might in some respects be a fulfillment … of the British heritage,” (228, emphasis in original; 39) then why speak of its demise, however strange, instead of situating these symbols more firmly within processes of adaptation and maintenance? Unfortunately, with his sights set more on problematizing Pearson’s legacy, Champion does not do enough to place his insights within a larger historical narrative of the transformation of Britishness in Canada.

The need for such an undertaking is great, however, for as Janet Ajzen- stat and others have observed, compared to Britain and the United States, Canada has a poorly developed understanding of its own British liberal roots. As a result, scholars—and more generally, Canadian citizens—are left with an unnecessarily limited understanding of politics both past and present. A good example concerns the 1885 Chinese Immigration Act, a law that aimed at preventing Chinese immigration to Canada. While it is rightly and widely identified as an example of Canadian racism, the fact that strenuous arguments were made against it at the time in the Senate on British liberal grounds—that it was regarded as “[s]o utterly inconsistent with the well understood rights which every human being has when he steps on British soil,” as Senator Alexander Vidal declared on 13 July 1885—has been completely overlooked. This sentiment so dominated debates on the question between 1885 and 1887 that government supporters had to engage in procedural trickery to see the law passed and amended against the will of the majority of senators (see

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Anderson).1 Without this kind of knowledge, Canadians lack adequate historical benchmarks against which to assess how the intersection of rights, citizenship, and international migration has evolved over time.2

In the absence of a more general analysis that explores such aspects of Canadian history, it is necessary to turn to a disparate set of texts that address different dimensions with respect to particular immigrant communities. As William Janzen has written concerning the Doukhobors, Hutterites, and Mennonites, this allows for greater appreciation of how the presence of such groups has “forced the Canadian political system to address the subject of the limits of liberty in ways that are important … for what they reveal about that system” and, by extension, what it means to be Canadian (4). Such insights are abundant in Isabel Kaprielian-Churchill’s monumental Like Our Mountains. In the context of the discrimination and persecution faced by Armenians during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century within the Ottoman Empire, and the genocide of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians (out of a population of 2–2.5 million) between 1915 and 1923, Kaprielian- Churchill provides a definitive history and analysis of the cultural, economic, political, and social maintenance and adaptation of the Armenian community within Canada over the course of more than a century. In the process, she contributes to the development of a fuller understanding of the nature of rights in Canada.

During the first half of the twentieth century, Canadian officials generally considered Armenians as “Asians,” and therefore subject to the extensive restrictions put in place to prevent, for example, East Indian immigration. Armenian arrivals were therefore few in number, even after the genocide began. Isolated from their homeland, Armenians often lived economically precarious lives within tight-knit communities defined by a willingness to provide mutual aid and an approach to politics that was split between regulating their own within Canada and maintaining connections with, and seeking to assist, Armenians abroad. “When Armenians came to Canada,” Kaprielian- Churchill writes, “they carried with them centuries of experience of being a minority and well-honed traditions and techniques of ethnonational survival” (xxiii). They also adapted to their new surroundings as they “experienced freedom and began to understand the meaning of equality” (99). This history, then, provides an important reminder that all immigrant groups (including, as Champion argues, the British) have undergone processes—incremental, intermittent, and uneven—of identity adaptation and maintenance. In this light, the history of Armenians in Canada reinforces a frequently overlooked fact: that citizenship has never been about the wholesale adoption of a clearly defined Canadian identity but instead constitutes “a mid-point in the integration process, not … the end-point” (Kymlicka 199).

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These processes, moreover, worked both ways, as the majority population’s national identity received more precise articulation even as it developed through its own (limited) interaction with the Armenian experience. This can be seen in the response of Canadian citizens to the genocide, which entailed a considerable mobilization of funds for survivors (one appeal received over $300,000), pressure on the government to resettle orphans, and support for political autonomy for Armenian territories in Europe after the First World War. Such humanitarian work was most prominently channelled through the Armenian Relief Association of Canada, the “first public interdenomina- tional, interethnic nongovernmental organization … to assist refugees abroad and to help them to migrate to Canada” (Kaprielian-Churchill 145). How- ever, as the need for assistance grew so did the forms of restriction pursued by officials. This provides insight into the meaning of the rights extending from British liberalism. These have evolved considerably over time and have been, to no small degree, the product of an engagement with ethnic diversity, although not always in ways that reflect well on Canada. Thus, Kaprielian- Churchill concludes that in its dealing with Armenians during the first half of the twentieth century, “the Canadian government rejected the principle of individual rights and freedoms, specifically the individual’s right to safety and security” (156).

Canada’s restrictive response to the plight of those fleeing the Armenian genocide was soon repeated in the case of Jewish refugees in the 1930–40s, documented in Irving Abella and Harold Troper’s landmark study None Is Too Many. However, as early as the 1920s a political debate over what it meant to be a British liberal country (which had receded soon after the passage of the 1885 Chinese Immigration Act) was revived. Although this occurred in response to restrictive legislation against British immigrant workers after the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, it had expanded into a discussion over the rights of Canadians and non-Canadians in Canada by the time of the Great Depression. It would eventually be transformed into a debate over the meaning and protection of human rights, one that continues to inform being Canadian to this day. This shift—long overlooked in the historiography on rights in Canada, which has centred on the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms—is now well documented in Christopher MacLennan’s Toward the Charter and Ross Lambertson’s Repression and Resistance.

MacLennan recounts the emergence and expansion of demands for a written bill of rights in Canada between 1929 and 1960. The roots of this movement are found in domestic reactions to government actions that undermined or denied rights and freedoms based in British liberalism that extended as far back as the Magna Carta of 1215. These infringements, he shows, “had a catalytic effect on the agitation for civil liberties protection in Canada” (14). Thus, in response to restrictions on freedoms of assembly, association, free speech, and the press with respect to communist and socialist organiza-

211 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes tions, and limited due process protections for immigrants facing deportation during the Great Depression, calls were made for a written bill of rights as early as the 1930s. Although inhibited by internal disputes between and within groups, and a perception that it was being fostered by leftist radicals, the movement grew during the war years as “Depression-era civil libertar- ians launched a vigorous campaign against the government’s abrogation of freedom of speech, habeas corpus, and freedom of the press and its use of arbitrary detention” (20). With the postwar arrests, detentions, and trials that followed revelations of a Soviet spy ring in Canada, MacLennan writes, “[t] he suggestion that Canada needed a national bill of rights now [became] a political demand rather than an intellectual argument” (44).

Although many of the rights issues covered by MacLennan have been studied before (for example, Quebec’s Padlock Law and the wartime Defence of Canada Regulations), he establishes new linkages between them by tracing the organizational and political response of advocates for a written bill of rights. Another marked contribution lies in his exploration of the role played by bureaucrats, especially within the Department of Justice, in convincing the government that such a bill of rights would encroach upon provincial jurisdiction and contravene the British tradition of parliamentary supremacy, arguing that the latter already provided effective rights protection. Canada nonetheless found itself in an increasingly uneasy position at the end of the Second World War, MacLennan shows, as it “attempted to reconcile its public support for the UN’s efforts to promote international human rights with a rather determined policy to avoid any commitment to their protection” (61). This aspect could have received more attention in the text, for although Can- ada was clearly a “reluctant liberal” (Nolan; also see Schabas) when the 1946 Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created, its effects on both state and non-state actors in Canada (as well as the effects of other international human rights instruments) remains poorly understood. MacLennan’s narrative ends with John G. Diefenbaker’s 1960 Bill of Rights, which the prime minister—in vain, as it turned out—hoped “would guarantee the equality of all Canadians and thus … create the necessary conditions for the country to become unified as ‘one Canada, One Nation’” (122).

A perfect companion to MacLennan is Lambertson’s study of human rights activism in Canada, covering the same period and basic issues (i.e., from the Padlock Law to the Bill of Rights) but in greater detail and with more of a grassroots perspective on the formation of human rights policy communities. His analysis cuts impressively deep and wide into the archival record to explore the impact of such activism on state policy. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of rights in Canada. Lambertson finds that “activists were on the whole moderately successful” in achieving their rights-based goals, but that contextual factors such as “a favourable ideological climate, which in turn was based upon a number of other factors,

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especially at the economic level,” (379; 380) were key. He also underscores “the power of even apparently unsuccessful political struggles” when they are made part of “our collective memory” (379). The effectiveness of human rights work, therefore, should not simply be viewed in terms of “winners” and “losers” but also in terms of how it both reflects and informs the values understood to define Canadian identity.

Lambertson adds important dimensions to understanding the relationship between rights and citizenship through the prism of ethnic diversity, especially in his consideration of the contributions of Jewish organizations to the development of a legislative framework for rights protection. “The modern regime of human rights in Canada,” he states, “has its roots in these early statutes” (241). Although others are now expanding on this history (for example, see Patrias; Walker), Lambertson provides the most extensive analysis of the advocacy strategies and coalition-building involved. As Jewish organizations came to realize at the end of the war that “the courts were unwilling to expand existing laws so as to provide new forms of protection against racial and religious discrimination,” more effort was made to secure legislation to overcome discrimination in the workplace and the property market, for example (206). In the process, the Canadian Jewish Congress in particular nurtured coalitions with civil liberties associations, religious organizations, labour unions, and others, and also lent support to minority groups facing discrimination. Lambertson devotes a chapter to the Dresden, Ontario case, where Blacks were routinely refused service at some restau- rants and barbershops, and attendance at some churches. In detailing such human rights legislation campaigns, Lambertson concludes that “[m]uch of the impact of these organizations came from reasoned argument and moral suasion, rather than from brute political power” (381). This influenced the development of Canada’s postwar identity by forcing majority populations, and more particularly governments, to confront rights-based issues that had long been kept out of the political realm, which produced a wider discussion concerning the intersection between rights and citizenship than might have occurred otherwise.

Alongside Jewish organizations, another major factor in the evolution of rights in Canada at the end of the war stemmed from government efforts to remove Japanese Canadians (including the Canadian-born) to Japan. The displacement, internment, and attempted “repatriation” of Japanese Canadians have been addressed in such texts as Ken Adachi’s classic, The Enemy That Never Was. However, the rights-based dimensions of these events receive more focused attention in two recent works: Stephanie Bangarth’s Voices Raised in Protest, which compares American and Canadian wartime policies toward the Japanese with an emphasis on the role of civil society actors, and Patricia E. Roy’s The Triumph of Citizenship, which completes her trilogy

213 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes on the politics and public opinion of Chinese and Japanese immigration to Canada since the late 1850s.3

Although “almost no Canadians publicly opposed the wartime relocation and forcible removal of the Japanese Canadians from the west coast,” Ban- garth observes that with government “repatriation” plans, opponents quickly “recognized the threat to civil liberties posed by any deportation of Canadian citizens” (34; 47). In response, a broad range of actors—including civil liberties groups, religious organizations, academics, politicians, and media commentators, as well as Japanese Canadians themselves, among others—sought to coordinate their opposition. This created new links between minority groups, as “African American and Jewish groups … came to recognize that the struggles of the Japanese resembled their own” (114). A great strength of Bangarth’s work is her focus on civil society actors, especially Japanese Canadians, and how they engaged with one another and the state. Indeed, she suggests that the community was farther ahead than others in terms of “articulating their rights. They were responsible for revealing the link between discriminatory policies directed at them specifically and the problem of racial prejudice in general” (146). Through her comparative focus on the United States, Bangarth also explores possible effects of the lack of a written bill of rights; it likely left the community open to a wider range of rights infringements due to the authority vested in parliamentary supremacy, but it may also have produced more extensive coalition-building since resistance required a broader range of political tactics, a process that carried on into the postwar period.

The Canadian government’s “repatriation” policy eventually went before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, which confirmed the state’s authority to deport Canadian-born citizens. In the process, Bangarth writes, Japanese Canadians and their supporters came to understand “that the courts were concerned only with the legality of the orders, not with the moral justice or injustice of the policy” (179). In the long term, the government’s formal apology and offer of redress to Japanese Canadians in 1988 suggest that the activists and their supporters possessed a better understanding of Canadian values at the end of the war than did those in power. And as Ban- garth observes, the fact that “there were public debates and individuals who were appalled at the policies … weakens the excuse” that times were different or that choices were made in the absence of clear ethical alternatives (6). In providing such historical perspective, her work raises challenging questions of how future generations will interpret the ways Canadians today are developing the relationship between legality and moral justice in responding to such issues as the recent arrival of Tamil asylum-seekers in boats off the coast of British Columbia in 2009 and 2010.

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At the end of the Second World War, the “repatriation” issue renewed the civil liberties movement. Indeed, as Roy observes, “the revulsion of many Canadians to forcing Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry to go to Japan after the war stimulated interest in human rights and the value and rights of Canadian citizenship” (7). It did not lead, however, to an all-out commitment to equality. In keeping with the high standards set in her previous two volumes, Roy provides a detailed analysis of government policy and public opinion with respect to Chinese and Japanese migration to Canada from 1942 to 1967. With her broader focus, she is able to carry the effects of the “repatriation” issue further forward into the postwar evolution of Can- adian citizenship. As she demonstrates, it ensured that debate over Canadian identity would not simply revolve around such symbolic measures as a new flag or passport but would address more substantive concerns like equality and due process in the context of being Canadian.

In some ways, relatively rapid progress was made after the war. Antagon- ism toward Chinese Canadians, for example, had diminished considerably, especially as attention became focused on the Japanese. Chinese associations, including Chinese Canadian war veterans, worked with various groups to secure their franchise rights. The resonance of their message was underscored by the passage of the 1946 Canadian Citizenship Act: “Every Canadian citizen should, by virtue of that citizenship, have the right to vote,” one Vancouver newspaper opined (quoted in Roy 173). The Chinese and East Indians were enfranchised in British Columbia in 1947 (which eliminated a raft of discriminatory provisions based upon the provincial voters’ list, including being left off the federal list), but restrictions remained at the municipal level until 1948, and the Japanese had to wait until 1949. Such progress with respect to citizens was not matched, however, with openness to increased immigration. Thus, while the 1923 Chinese Immigration Act, which had essentially reduced Chinese immigration to zero, was soon repealed, “Asian” immigration continued to be restricted. It was not until the 1960s that steps were taken to reduce official discrimination in Canadian immigration policy. Although some resistance was societal, Roy shows that it was prominent at the bureaucratic level: “Officials in the immigration department did not share the same liberal ideas” that politicians were increasingly coming to adopt (292).

The commitment to an equal and inclusive citizenship therefore took some time to develop and required changes from both majority and minority populations. However, as Roy observes, “Caucasians only had to set aside their prejudices; [other immigrant groups] had to be good citizens and had to campaign actively to secure the rights due to them as Canadian citizens” (305). While the works reviewed above reveal much about the latter processes, considerable light is shed on the outlooks of majority Canadians during and after the war in Ivana Caccia’s Managing the Canadian Mosaic in Wartime and Franca Iacovetta’s Gatekeepers.

215 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

When ethnic diversity in Canada during the war is considered at all, the focus tends to be on presumed national security issues such as the Japanese Canadian “repatriation” policy or the internment of Italian Canadians. An important development has thereby been overlooked, in which decision- makers sought to provide a new foundation for Canadian identity that took into account its ethnic diversity. As Caccia observes, a concern over “foreigners” (then the favoured term for non-British immigrants) “triggered in some native-born Canadians a strong sense of moral duty to protect and preserve the values of the British tradition and its particular liberal way of life, a duty they took as a civic responsibility” (19). With the onset of the war, officials recognized the need to address immigrant communities specifically to mobil- ize support, creating the Committee on Cooperation in Canadian Citizenship and the Nationalities Branch of the Department of National War Services.4 In tracing the histories of these agencies and providing intellectual studies of some of the main actors, Caccia reveals that national integration (and not just national security) was a prominent concern among decision-makers, and that many of the ideas debated continue to shape the politics of multiculturalism in Canada.

Although academics and bureaucrats involved in these agencies often disagreed over how to promote greater integration, Caccia shows, their policy preferences generally exhibited a common tension, as “[s]tereotyping, paternalism, and assertions of unqualified Anglo-Saxon and Protestant superiority over the continental Europeans competed with a liberal, universal principle that valued individual personality over the cohesiveness of a particular cultural group” (210). Although internal disagreements and weak political support undermined their work, it nonetheless shaped the future management of ethnic diversity. For example, in response to the paternalistic approach taken by officials, a number of groups felt compelled “to speak publicly on their own behalf about issues that concerned both their communities in Canada and their homelands” (159). Such mobilization was supported by government efforts to promote the recognition of the wartime participation of “foreigners” at home and in the armed forces abroad. It was also facilitated as ideas about the immutable and hierarchical nature of culture and race were increasingly challenged, especially in light of the discrimination inherent in Nazism. As a result, “[t]he identification of their various cultural characteristics as ‘foreign’ or ‘strange’ gradually lost, in the political discourse, the demeaning connotation of ‘otherness,’ along with its consequence of inevitable social exclusion” (211).

Indeed, as the war ended, Caccia finds that “[a]n optimistic and ideal- ist view of an all-inclusive Canadian citizenship [appeared] as a potentially essential trait of ‘Canadianism’” (212). This gained traction with the onset of the Cold War, as the integration of ethnic and immigrant communities was seen as essential in both the fight against communism and the reception

216 Review Essay: Immigration, Immigrants, and the Rights of Canadian Citizens in Historical Perspective of some two million immigrants (mostly European) by the early 1960s. As Iacovetta rightly states, this immigration and Canada’s response to it fundamentally altered the nature of being Canadian, as “Canadians from different social and political backgrounds contemplated the meanings of family, morality, citizenship, and democracy” (11). Although political dimensions of this Cold War story have been examined before (for example, in Reg Whitaker’s Double Standard), Iacovetta explores how efforts at moral and social regulation fed into the political integration and identity formation of Canadians during this period. She analyzes how various gatekeepers—bureaucrats, journalists, social workers, health officials, and ethnic organizations, among others—engaged with newcomers, promoting “conventional ideals of proper gender roles, the family, and sexual behaviour [to] cultivate good citizens who would be as cognizant of their civic duties to the state and wider society as of their individual rights and social entitlements” (50).

While Canada’s postwar citizenship model reflected British liberal ideals, for immigrants in particular, it was also founded on more coercive ideas of conformity and loyalty. Iacovetta’s work is remarkable for its continual assessment of the power relations navigated between gatekeepers and newcomers, keeping the agency of immigrants firmly in view. For example, in a fascinating exploration of how experts sought to promote integration into “Canadian” consumer, gender, and nutritional norms by altering immigrant food practices, she shows how immigrant women “generally responded in selective and pragmatic ways to Canadian health experts and to homemaking campaigns, even if they could not entirely control the terms of these encounters” (150–51). Iacovetta also reveals how gatekeepers often focused more on the loyalty of immigrants than their rights, and “willingly intruded into people’s lives and regulated or punished those who transgressed dominant norms” (290). It is an approach, she suggests, that has reappeared in Canada since 2001 through “the equating of certain family values and uncritical acceptance of the national security state with respectability, loyalty, and democracy” (292).

As with the texts reviewed above, Iacovetta’s work provides numerous opportunities for thinking through the intersections of rights and citizenship at the outset of the twenty-first century (especially in the context of Canada as a country of immigration) by subjecting the past to critical analysis. In doing so, support can be found from all of the authors for the main claim of those cited at the outset—that to understand what it means to be Canadian today it is necessary to develop a fuller appreciation of the past. They also confirm that the importance of the rights anchored in British liberal traditions cannot be underestimated, as they underpin the rule of law and parliamentary government in Canada, which in turn provide the foundations for legal and political citizenship. As stated in the government’s new citizenship guide, Discover Canada, they “reflect our shared traditions, identity and values”

217 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

(Citizenship and Immigration Canada 8). However, they do so in complex and unsettled ways. In this context, defining Canadian citizenship in terms of “the immutable beliefs about the nature and purpose of Canadian society that our forebears fought to establish over generations” is extremely problematic (Griffiths 96). The evidence provided in the works reviewed here shows how such beliefs have evolved significantly over time, often in response to the activism of ethnic/immigrant Canadians and their supporters. Loyalty to a partial and reified past would seem, then, to offer fewer possibilities for a better understanding of being Canadian in the here and now than an appreciation of how all Canadians, in their engagement with one another and with non-Canadians, continue to refine and redefine the rights and responsibilities that mark Canadian citizenship. These works, individually and collectively, shed much-needed light on this process.

Acknowledgements: The author would like to thank the Faculty of Arts at Wilfrid Laurier University and Sheelah Stratton for their financial and editorial assistance, respectively."

Notes 1. Those who opposed the law frequently held racist views of Chinese immigrants as well but a commitment to core British liberal values enabled them to consider a broader range of policy options. 2. For example, when the government issued a formal apology to the Chinese community in 2006 for Canada’s past discriminatory actions, Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated that such measures were, although legal at the time, “inconsistent with the values that Canadians hold today” (Office of the Prime Minister). They were also, however, inconsistent with values that Canadians held in the 1880s. In producing such a sharp dichotomy between then and now, this interpretation not only presents an inaccurate understanding of the past but it also suggests that discriminatory values no longer feature in contemporary Canadian civic and political life. 3. Both MacLennan and Lambertson address the importance of the government’s “repatriation” policy as well. The previous two volumes in Roy’s trilogy are A White Man’s Province, covering 1858–1914, and The Oriental Question, which takes the analysis to 1941. 4. “The branch was the first government office to be devoted exclusively to relations with the country’s culturally diverse communities, originally conceived … to provide administrative support” to the committee (Caccia 116).

218 Review Essay: Immigration, Immigrants, and the Rights of Canadian Citizens in Historical Perspective

Works Cited Aiken, Sharryn J. “Risking Rights: An Assessment of Canadian Border Security Policy.” Whose Canada? Continental Integration, Fortress North America and the Corporate Agenda. Ed. R. Grinspun and Y. Shamsie. Montreal: McGill- Queen’s University Press, 2007. 180–208. Ajzenstat, Janet. The Canadian Founding: John Locke and Parliament. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2007. Anderson, Christopher G. “The Senate and the Fight Against the 1885 Chinese Immigration Act.” Canadian Parliamentary Review 30.2 (2007): 21–26. Brodie, Janine. “The Social in Citizenship.” Recasting the Social in Citizenship. Ed. E.F. Isin. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008. 20–43. Buckner, Phillip. “Whatever happened to the British Empire?” Journal of the Canadian Historical Association 4 (1993): 3–32. Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship. Ottawa: Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2009: 27 Aug. 2010 . Cohen, Andrew. The Unfinished Canadian: The People We Are. Toronto: Emblem Editions, 2008. Granatstein, J.L. Who Killed Canadian History? Rev. ed. Toronto: Phyllis Bruce Books Perennial, 2007. Griffiths, Rudyard. Who We Are: A Citizen’s Manifesto. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2009. Janzen, William. Limits on Liberty: The Experience of Mennonite, Hutterite and Doukhobor Communities in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990. Kymlicka, Will. “Immigration, Citizenship, Multiculturalism: Exploring the Links.” The Political Quarterly 74.s1 (2003): 195–208. Nolan, Cathal J. “Reluctant Liberal: Canada, Human Rights and the United Nations, 1944–65.” Diplomacy & Statecraft 2.3 (1991): 281–305. Office of the Prime Minister. “Prime Minister Harper offers full apology for the Chinese Head Tax.” 22 June 2006. . Patrias, Carmela. “Socialists, Jews, and the 1947 Saskatchewan Bill of Rights.” Canadian Historical Review 87.2 (2006): 265–92. Rollings-Magnusson, Sandra, Alexandra Dobrowolsky, and Marc G. Doucet. “Security, Insecurity, and Human Rights: Contextualizing Post-9/11.” Anti- Terrorism: Security and Insecurity After 9/11. Ed. S. Rollings-Magnusson. Black Point, NS: Fernwood Publishing, 2009. 13–31. Schabas, William A. “Canada and the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” McGill Law Journal 43.2 (1998): 403–41. Walker, James W. St. G. “The ‘Jewish Phase’ in the Movement for Racial Equality in Canada.” Canadian Ethnic Studies 34.1 (2002): 1–29.

219

Authors / Auteurs

Christopher G. ANDERSON, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3C5, Canada.

Nielan BARNES, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, California State University, Long Beach, PSY, Room 141, 1250 Bellflower Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90840 USA.

Donica BELISLE, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Women's and Gender Studies at Athabasca University, 1 University Drive, Athabasca, Alberta, T9S 3A3, Canada, [email protected].

Angela BUONO, Assistante de Recherche, Università di Napoli « L'Orientale » - Dipartimento di Studi Americani, Culturali e Linguistici, Largo San Giovanni Maggiore, 30 - 80134 Napoli, Italia.

Evelyn P. MAYER, Ph.D. Candidate, FTSK Germersheim / Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Postfach 11 50, 76711 Germersheim, Germany.

Lisa MCDERMOTT, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta, P412 Pavillion, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H9, Canada.

Myreille PAWLIEZ, Senior Lecturer in French, School of Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand, [email protected].

Muriel SACCO, doctorante au GERME et au CENA de l’Université Libre de Bruxelles, Institut de sociologie (CP 124) Avenue Jeanne, n° 44, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgique.

Jay SCHERER, Ph.D, Associate Professor, University of Alberta, Physical Education & Recreation Faculty, E4-25 Van Vliet Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H9, Canada.

Meena SHARIFY-FUNK, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Religion and Culture Department, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3C5, Canada.

Katrin URSCHEL, Ph.D, sessional instructor, Department of English, National University of Ireland, Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland.

221 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANADIAN STUDIES

Call for papers

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44 Americanity, Continentalism and Globalisation / Américanité, continentalité et mondialisation

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44 Américanité, continentalité et mondialisation / Americanity, Continentalism and Globalisation

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Information and Guidelines for Contributors

General Information The International Journal of Canadian Studies is a multidisciplinary scholarly journal published by the International Council for Canadian Studies. The Coun- cil is comprised of twenty-one national and multi-national Canadian Studies associations and six associate members in thirty-nine countries.

Readers of the Journal are scholars from various disciplines who teach and conduct research in the field of Canadian Studies, within Canada as well as outside the country. Accordingly, contributors should take into account the multidisciplinary, international character of the Journal’s readership.

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227 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

Review Essays The Journal does not publish standard book reviews; instead, it publishes broad review essays (10-15 pages) dealing with one important work or with a group of books or other materials related to a specific topic. The emphasis should be on the scholarly significance and the interpretive dimensions of the works rather than on a narrow and specialized discussion of details. These review essays will be particularly useful for international readers and to those readers whose area of specialisation differs from the books reviewed. Contributors are asked to propose a topic to the Editorial Board before submitting a completed essay for consideration.

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REFERENCING MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION (MLA STYLE) The International Journal of Canadian Studies is grateful to the Academic Writing Help Centre (AWHC) at the University of Ottawa (www.sass.uOttawa. ca/writing ) for giving the authorization to use the following.

1. In-Text Citation in MLA Style • Parenthetical references in the body of the paper identify specific sources that are in the Works Cited list. • Basic parenthetical references use only the author’s surname and the page numbers that are being referenced: (Gibaldi 142-143). • If the reference entry begins with two or three names, give the surnames of each person: (Orwell, Green, and Blasky 25). • If there are more than three authors, either use the first author’s last name followed by “et al.”, or give all the last names: (Johnson et al. 961) or (Johnson, Brook, Williams, Hoff 961). • If the list contains more than one work by the same author, add the title, shortened or in full, after the author’s name: (Joyce, Portrait 112).

228 Information and Guidelines for Contributors

• If the author’s name appears in your text, you do not need to include it in the parenthetical reference. • In order to cite a source within a source—that is, a source that is quoted within another source—cite the text that quotes from another source as normal, preceded by “qtd. in” in the parentheses. For example, if you refer to a passage by Smith that you read in an article by Bryce: However, Smith insists that “only fools would believe such a thing” (qtd. in Bryce 43).

2. List of Works Cited in MLA Style - General Information • The list is called Works Cited, not References or Bibliography. • The entries are listed in alphabetical order, by the authors’ surnames. • If there is no author, use the title. Alphabetize titles according to the first word after “a,” “an,” or “the.” • Use the full first name of authors, whenever possible, rather than initials. • Double-space the entire Works Cited. • Titles of works are all capitalized. • Titles of articles are in quotation marks; titles of books, journals, websites are italicized. • Hanging indents—the first line of each entry is not indented, but every line beyond the first of each entry must be indented one-half inch. • Any information that is unavailable can be left out of the entry, but you must provide as much information as possible to identify the source.

Note • Quotation marks to close a quote come before the parenthetical reference. Then, the reference itself comes before the punctuation mark that concludes the sentence, clause, or phrase that contains the borrowed material: “Quote” (Author 5). • For quotes of more than 4 lines, indent one inch on the left, double-space, do not use quotation marks and put necessary reference information outside the punctuation at the end. For example:

As Klammer and Schulz explain,

The possessive pronouns (traditionally considered to be in the genitive case) occur in two forms. One set functions as the personal pronouns do, substituting for a noun phrase; this use is called the nominal (noun substitute) function. The other form has a determiner function: It pre- cedes and specifies the referent of a noun. We will discuss determiners more fully in the next chapter. (91)

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3. List of Works Cited in MLA Style - Basic Referencing Formats Book Author. Book Title. Place of publication: Publisher, Year .

Shaw, Harry. Errors in English and Ways to Correct Them. New York: HarperCollins, 1993.

Book with an editor (usually classical works of literature) Author. Book Title. Ed. (Editor). Place of publication: Publisher, Year. Shakespeare, William. All’s Well that Ends Well. Ed. Arthur E. Case. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1958.

Work in an anthology Author. “Title.” Anthology Title. Ed. (Editor). Place of publication: Publisher, Year. Pages. Poe, Edgar Allen. “The Raven.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 6th edition. Ed. Nina Baym et al. New York: Norton, 2002. 1450-1454.

Article in a periodical Author. “Article Title.” Periodical Title volume. Issue/number (Year): Pages.

Budd, Louis J. “On to the Centennial.” American Literature 76.4 (2004): 653-63.

Online article in a periodical (from a database) Author. “Article Title.” Periodical Title volume. Issue/number (Year): Pages (if available). Database Title. Date of access and . Diala, Isidore. “André Brink and Malraux.” Contemporary Literature 47.1 (2006): 91-113. Project Muse. 19 Jul. 2006 .

Internet publication (that does not have a paper version) Author. “Page/Article Title.” Website Title. updated/e-published date. Sponsoring Organization. Date of access and . National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “National Institutes of Health Plan for HIV-Related Research Fiscal Year 2007.” Office of AIDS Research. 20 June 2006. Office of AIDS Research, National Institutes of Health. 24 Jul. 2006 .

Webpage/website with no author/editor “Page title.” Website Title. Year. Sponsoring Organization. Date of access and .

230 Information and Guidelines for Contributors

“Renaissance Art.” Art World.com. 2002. Art World. 15 March 2006 .

4. Annotated Bibliography Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th edition. New York: Modern Language Association, 2003.

The text on which MLA style is based. It contains information on grammar, punctuation and capitalization as well as the rules for referencing material in the body and in the bibliography of a paper.

Modern Language Association. “What is MLA Style?” Modern Language Association. 2006. Modern Language Association. 4 August 2006 .

The website of the Modern Language Association. The site provides information about the MLA Handbook. Its “Frequently Asked Questions” section contains valuable information about MLA referencing style.

Warlick, David. Citation Machine.net. April 2006. The Landmark Project. 24 May 2006 .

A website for APA or MLA style, which produces an entry for the reference page when the necessary information is entered. It is generally accurate, but make sure to check each entry to make sure there are no small errors.

231 Canadian Public Policy is Canada’s foremost journal examining economic and social policy. The aim of the journal is to stimulate research and discussion of public policy problems in Canada. It is directed at a wide readership including decision makers and advisers in business organizations and governments, and policy researchers in private institutions and universities. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of many public policy issues, the contents of each volume aim to be representative of various disciplines involved in public policy issues.

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For more information, please contact University of Toronto Press - Journal Division 5201 Dufferin Street, Toronto, ON M3H 5T8 Tel: (416)667-7810 Fax: (416)-667-7881 Email: [email protected] www.utpjournals.com Renseignements et directives aux auteurs

Renseignements généraux La Revue internationale d’études canadiennes est une revue savante multidisciplinaire, publiée par le Conseil international d’études canadiennes, un organisme qui regroupe vingt et une associations nationales et plurinationales d’études canadiennes et six membres associés dans trente-neuf pays.

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Essais critiques La revue ne publie pas de comptes rendus. Elle présente des essais critiques (de 10 à 15 pages) aux perspectives plus vastes traitant soit d’un ouvrage important, soit d’un groupe d’ouvrages sur un sujet spécifique. L’accent devrait être mis sur l’apport scientifique et les dimensions interprétatives des travaux plutôt que sur une critique spécialisée de questions de détail.

Ces essais critiques seront particulièrement utiles aux lecteurs internationaux et à ceux dont le champ de spécialisation est différent de celui des livres examinés. Il est recommandé de soumettre, au Comité de rédaction, une proposition avant de remettre le texte au complet.

Quelques consignes • Les textes soumis doivent suivre les normes établies par la Modern Language Association (MLA) (voir pages suivantes pour plus de détails à ce sujet) • Les textes doivent être tapés à double interligne, en police de 12 points minimum et en format de traitement de texte Word ou compatible avec ce format (p. ex. Wordperfect ou RTF). • Afin de préserver l’anonymat des auteurs lors du processus d’évaluation, nous demandons aux auteurs d’inscrire leurs coordonnées sur la première page du texte et de s’assurer qu’aucune référence dans le texte ne permettra de les identifier. • Les notes, s’il y en a, doivent être placées à la fin du texte et avant la bibliographie; il faudrait éviter de les surcharger d’informations. • Tous les titres doivent être cités dans leur langue de publication. • Dans les textes rédigés en français, ne pas laisser d’espace avant le point- virgule, le point d’exclamation et le point d’interrogation. • Dans les textes rédigés en français, laisser une espace insécable avant le deux-points, après le guillemet ouvrant et avant le guillemet fermant.

234 Renseignements et directives aux auteurs

RÉFÉRENCER LE STYLE MLA – MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION La Revue internationale d’études canadiennes tient à remercier le Centre d’aide à la rédaction des travaux universitaires (CARTU) de l’Université d’Ottawa (http://www.sass.uottawa.ca/redaction) pour lui avoir donné l’autorisation de s’inspirer du texte qui suit.

1. Les références dans le texte selon le style MLA • Placez les références entre parenthèses dans le texte. Celles-ci indiquent un renvoi à la bibliographie qui se trouve à la fin du travail. • La référence inclut le nom de famille de l’auteur et le(s) numéro(s) de page(s) que l’on cite : (Gibaldi 142-143). • S’il y a deux ou trois auteurs, indiquez le nom de famille de chacun : (Orwell, Green, and Blasky 25). • S’il y a plus de trois auteurs, indiquez soit le nom de famille du premier auteur (selon l’ordre alphabétique) suivi de « et al. », soit chacun des noms de famille : (Johnson et al. 961) ou (Johnson, Brook, Williams, Hoff 961). • Si la bibliographie comprend plus d’un livre du même auteur, ajoutez le titre, en entier ou en version abrégée, à la suite du nom de famille de l’auteur : (Joyce, Portrait 112). • Si le nom de l’auteur est mentionné dans votre rédaction, il n’est pas nécessaire de le noter dans la référence. • Afin de citer une source emboîtée, c’est-à-dire une source qui est elle- même citée dans l’ouvrage que vous consultez, référencez la source que vous avez consultée entre parenthèses, précédée de la mention « citée par ». Par exemple, si vous vous référez à un passage de Freud que vous avez lu dans un article de Jung : L’étude de Freud (citée par Jung 56), dans la liste des références, n’indiquez que la source que vous avez lue.

2. La bibliographie selon le style MLA – Information générale • Les ouvrages sont énumérés en ordre alphabétique, selon le nom de famille de l’auteur. • S’il n’y a pas d’auteur, utilisez le titre de l’ouvrage. Placez les ouvrages en ordre alphabétique en laissant tomber les articles (le, la, les, un, une, des) en début de titre. • Indiquez le prénom de l’auteur plutôt qu’une initiale, lorsque c’est possible. • Écrivez la bibliographie à double interligne. • Écrivez le premier mot du titre en lettres majuscules. • Placez les titres d’articles entre guillemets; les titres d’ouvrages, de périodiques et de sites Web en italiques.

235 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

• Mise en retrait : La première ligne de l’entrée n’est pas mise en retrait, mais les lignes suivantes de la même entrée sont mises en retrait de 1.3 centimètre (0,5 pouce). • Toute information manquante peut être omise, mais il est important de fournir autant d’information que possible afin d’identifier la source.

N. B. • Les guillemets qui marquent la fin de la citation sont généralement placés avant la référence. Le signe de ponctuation qui termine la phrase est placé après la référence : « Citation » (Auteur 5). • On met les citations de plus de 4 lignes en retrait de la marge de 2,5 centimètres (1 pouce), à double interligne et sans guillemets. Dans ce cas-ci, l’information sur la source est placée à la fin de la citation, à l’extérieur du signe de ponctuation final :

Ainsi, Pierre Bourdieu écrit (1968) :

La familiarité avec l’univers social, constitue pour le sociologue l’obstacle épistémologique par excellence, parce qu’elle produit con- tinûment des conceptions ou des systématisations fictives, en même temps que les conditions de leur crédibilité. Le sociologue n’en a jamais fini avec la sociologie spontanée. (p. 35)

3. Les formats de notices bibliographiques selon le style MLA Livre Auteur. Titre du livre. Ville de publication: Maison d’édition, année. Durkheim, Émile. Le suicide. Paris: PUF, 1983.

Livres avec éditeur (habituellement, des œuvres littéraires classiques) Auteur. Titre du livre. Éd. (éditeur). Ville de publication: Maison d’édition, année. La Fayette, Madame de. La Princesse de Clèves. Éd. Jean Mesnard. Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1980.

Texte dans une anthologie Auteur. « Titre. » Titre de l’anthologie. Éd. (Éditeur). Ville de publication: Maison d’édition, année. Pages. Nelligan, Émile. « Sérénade Triste. » Anthologie de la poésie québécoise. 6e édition. Éd. Lucien Dufour. Québec: PUL, 2002. 1450-1454.

236 Renseignements et directives aux auteurs

Article dans un périodique Auteur. « Titre de l’article. » Titre du périodique volume. numéro de publication (année): Pages. Savard, Louis. « Les poésies de la génération X. » Littérature et société 76.4 (2004): 653-63.

Article dans un périodique électronique (d’une base de données) Auteur. « Titre d’article. » Nom de périodique volume. numéro de publication (année) : Pages (si disponible). Nom de la base de données. Date de consultation et . Latreille, Claude. « Nelligan et le spleen. » Littératures revisitées 47.1 (2006): 91- 113. Érudit. Le 19 juillet 2006 .

Publication Internet (qui n’ont pas de version papier) Auteur. « Nom de l’article/de la page. » Site Internet. Date de publication/de révision. L’organisme qui subventionne le site. Date de consultation et . Santé Canada. « Santé et sécurité au travail. » Santé de l’environnement et du milieu de travail. Le 20 juin 2004. Santé Canada. Le 24 septembre 2006 .

Page/Site Internet sans auteur/éditeur « Titre de la page. » Site Internet. Année. L’organisme qui subventionne le site. Date de consultation et . « L’art de la renaissance. » ArteFact.ca. 2002. ArteFact. Le 15 mars 2006 .

Autres types de notices bibliographiques Il se peut qu’une source dont vous vous servez ne corresponde pas aux types d’entrées bibliographiques présentées dans le MLA Handbook. Des informations peuvent être manquantes, ou la source peut être dans un format inhabituel. Dans une telle situation, on doit donner autant d’information que possible et tenter de respecter le plus possible le format du style MLA qui correspond le mieux à la source en question.

4. Bibliographie commentée Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6e édition. New York : Modern Language Association, 2003.

En anglais seulement. C’est l’ouvrage de référence en ce qui concerne le style MLA. Il donne des informations essentielles en ce qui a trait à la grammaire, à la ponctuation et aux règles de l’utilisation des sources.

237 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

Modern Language Association. « What is MLA Style? » Modern Language Association. 2006. Modern Language Association. Le 4 août 2006 .

En anglais seulement. Le site Internet du Modern Language Association. Ce site offre de l’information au sujet du MLA Handbook. La section « Frequently Asked Questions » fournit des informations utiles.

238 Canadian Studies Journals Around the World Revues d’études canadiennes dans le monde

The American Review of Canadian Studies. Quarterly/Trimestriel. $60; $25 (Student/Étudiant; retired membership/membres retraités); $105 (Institu- tions). Association for Canadian Studies in the United States, 2030 M Street, NW, Suite 350 Washington, DC 20036 USA. ARCS orders are now handled through Routledge, c/o Taylor & Francis, Inc. Editor/Rédacteur : John L. Purdy, Western Washington University.

The Annual Review of Canadian Studies. Yearly/Annuel. Japanese Associa- tion for Canadian Studies, Department of Engligh Literature and Languages, Tsuda College, 2-1-1 Tsuda-machi, Kodaira-shi, Tokyo 187, Japan. Editor/ Rédactrice Masako Iino, Tsuda College.

Australasian Canadian Studies. Biannual/Semestriel. Annual subscriptions are also available for libraries and other institutions – enquiries to/Abonne- ments annuels disponibles, prière de contacter : [email protected]. Editor/ Rédactrice : Dr. Robyn Morris, University of Wollongong.

British Journal of Canadian Studies. Biannual/Semestriel. Available through membership to the British Association for Canadian Studies/Disponible aux membres de l’Association britannique d’études canadiennes. BACS, Room SB212, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU. Editor/Rédac- trice : Heather Norris-Nicholson, Manchester Metropolitan University.

Interfaces Brazil/Canadá. Biannual/Semestriel. 15$ Cdn. Revista da ABE- CAN. ABECAN/Associação Brasileira de Estudos Canadenses. Editora da FURG. Rua Luis Loréa, 261, Centro. Cep: 96200-350 Brazil. www.revis- tabecan.com.br. Editora: Nubia Jacques Hanciau, Fundação Universi- dade Federal do Rio Grande, Brasil.

Central European Journal for Canadian Studies. Annual/Annuel. Central European Association for Canadian Studies. József Attila University, Dept. of Comparative Literature, Egyetem u.2, H-6722 Szeged, Hungary. Editor- in-Chief/Rédactrice en chef: Katalin Kurtösi, University of Szeged.

Études canadiennes/Canadian Studies, revue interdisciplinaire des études canadiennes en France. Semestriel/Biannual. Membre régulier, France : 55 euros — étranger : 60 euros. Étudiant, France 25 euros — 30 euros. Association française d’études canadiennes, Bât. de la Maison des sciences de l’homme d’Aquitaine, Domaine Universitaire, 33607, Pessace, France. Rédacteur en chef/Editor-in-Chief: Patrice Brasseur, Université d’Avignon.

239 International Journal of Canadian Studies Revue internationale d’études canadiennes

Indian Journal of Canadian Studies. Yearly/Annuel. Indian Association of Canadian Studie, J 391, New Rajinder Nagar New Delhi 110 060. India. Editor/Éditeur : R.K. Dhawan, University of Delhi.

The Journal of American and Canadian Studies. Yearly/Annuel. Sophia Uni- versity, Institute of American and Canadian Studies, 7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102, Japan. Editor/Rédacteur : Tomoyuki Iino, Sophia University

Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d’études canadiennes. Three times per year. $80 (Individual); $60 (Student/Étudiant); 130$ (Institutions). Plus 5% GST in Canada/TPS de 5 p. 100 en sus au Canada. Outside Canada, payment is required in American dollars/À l’extérieur du Canada, les frais sont en dollars américains. Journal of Canadian Studies, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario, K9J 7B8. Managing Editor/ Directrice de la Rédaction : Kerry Cannon

Korean Review of Canadian Studies. Biannual/Semestriel. Articles are published in Korean and English/Publication de langue coréenne et anglaise. Korean Association for Canadian Studies (KACS), Sookmyung Institute for Multicultural Studies (SIMS), 415 Queen Sunheon Building, 52 Hyochan- won-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Korea, 140-742. Editor/Rédacteur : Seokwoo KIM, University of Seoul.

Québec Studies. Biennial/Bisannuel. Regular Membership : $100.00. International Regular Membership: $125.00 Student/Unaffiliated Scholar Membership (in the US): $75.00 International Student/Unaffiliated Scholar Membership: $100.00. Journal prices are $25.00/issue for US delivery or $30.00 for international delivery. ACQS Secretariat, 154 College Avenue, Orono, ME 04473. Editor/Rédactrice : Jane Moss, Duke University.

Revista Mexicana de Estudios Canadienses. Biannual/Semestriel. 70$. Asociación Mexicana de Estudios Canadienses. Facultad de Estudios Inter- nacionales y Políticas Públicas. Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa Prol. Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez s/n, Culiacán, Sin., 80040, Mexico, Director/ Directeur : Jorge Antonio Hernández Velázquez, Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Occidente.

Revue internationale d’études canadiennes/International Journal of Can- adian Studies. Biannual/Semestriel. 65$ (Institutions) ; 40$ (Regular/ régulier); 25$ (ICCS members, retirees and students/Membres du CIEC, retraités et étudiants). Outside Canada, please add 10$/Abonnés à l’extérieur du Canada, prière d’ajouter 10$. Plus HST in Canada/TVH en sus au Canada. IJCS/RIÉC, 250 City Centre, S-303, Ottawa, Ontario K1R 6K7. Rédacteur en chef/Editor-in-Chief: Claude Couture, University of Alberta.

240 Canadian Studies Journals Around the World Revues d’études canadiennes dans le monde

Rivista di Studi Canadesi. Annual/Annuel. 30.000 lire ; Foreign/Étranger, 40.000 lire. Rivista di Studi Canadesi, Grafischena, n. 13147723, Viale Stazione 177-72015 Fasano di Puglia, (Br-Italia). Director/Directeur : Giovanni Dotoli, Università di Bari.

Zeitschrift für Kanada Studien. Biannual/Semestriel. €14. Augsburg, Germany: Wißner Verlag. Editors/Rédacteurs : Ingrid Neumann-Holzschuh, Wilfried von Bredow, H. Peter Dörrenbächer.

Journal, Centro Cultural Canadá. C.C. 1122 - 5500, Córdoba, Argentina. Editora: Elsa Zareceansky

Revista Venezolana de Estudios Canadienses, Embajada de Canada, Torre Europa, Piso 7. Ave. Francisco de Miranda, Apartado 63.302, Caracas 1060, Venezuela. Rédactrice/Editor : Vilma Elizabeth Petrash

241

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