Toula Drimonis: “Cheap nationalism”, pillar of the CAQ government

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An article published last week by La Presse detailing how the Quebec government blocked federal aid that would have provided food assistance to vulnerable seniors shocked me.

The aid would have provided 1,000 meals per week, but the CAQ government blocked this essential aid, apparently to claim interference in provincial jurisdiction. As if Quebec taxpayers were not also Canadian taxpayers and therefore not also entitled to these funds.

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In the article, the director of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve community organization affected by this provincial-federal standoff rightly expresses his frustration at seeing his group deprived of nearly $800,000 that could have directly helped 200 Quebec seniors over a period of 18 months.

Journal de Montréal columnist Josée Legault criticized the government’s approach in a scathing op-ed, stating that “by depriving cities and organizations of federal subsidies — or delaying them unnecessarily — instead of asserting itself constructively, the Quebec government is resorting to cheap nationalism.”

She is right.

It might be argued that government officials were simply complying with existing legislation that is intended to prevent or minimize federal interference in areas considered to be provincial jurisdiction. But that would be a cop-out.

Fundamentally, politics is about people. The word itself comes from the Greek “citizen,” and citizens must always be at the heart of any public policy or political decision. Politics must ultimately aim to improve people’s lives, not play chess at their expense.

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Cheap nationalism has unfortunately been part of the CAQ government’s strategy since it came to power.

Premier François Legault’s “Quebec First” nationalism has often been limited to a certain type of Quebecer, and Bills 21 and 96 have made clear that under this government, secularism and linguistic protection in the province often involve the marginalization and vilification of religious communities and minority language groups.

While it could have chosen compassion and inclusion, the CAQ government has often chosen an exclusive populism that flatters the insecurities and fears of voters, rather than their aspirations.

In the family reunification file, he chose to be unnecessarily cruel, by reducing the number of applications he will process and depriving fellow Quebecers of their loved ones for years.

Another example of cheap nationalism that penalizes the most vulnerable is the unrealistic six-month deadline imposed by Bill 96 for newcomers (including asylum seekers) to access government services in another language, after which these services must be provided only in French. This is a punitive requirement, especially since the Quebec government’s resources for francization are sorely lacking.

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The CAQ’s cheap nationalism has also seeped into the language used in the health field, as the recent changes brought about by Bill 96 and the subsequent directive from the Ministry of Health to clarify these changes have caused immeasurable confusion and stress within the English-speaking community. And for what purpose? None of these measures appear to offer any concrete benefits for the French language.

Similarly, the CAQ government has chosen to undermine and harm the province’s English-language higher education institutions, even though they are very Quebec institutions that train and employ Quebecers.

In this latest example of cheap nationalism, the government has chosen to block financial aid from the federal government instead of finding a way to use these funds to improve the lives of the most disadvantaged Quebecers.

Instead of doing what a government should do—improve people’s lives—it prioritized Quebec’s assertiveness while simultaneously depriving vulnerable citizens of support.

I want a government whose pride does not come from attacking Ottawa, but from working hard for the well-being of all Quebecers.

Toula Drimonis is a Montreal journalist and the author of We, the Others: Allophones, Immigrants and Belonging in Canada. She can be reached at X @toulastake

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