Old Stock Canadians… Québécois de souche… Historical Anglophones… Model Minorities… No True Scotsman…
Am I a majority-minority or minority-majority?
Ironically, “one-way mirror” and “two-way mirror” are synonyms. Which side is reflective, which transparent is always a matter of perspective.
I once spent two days straight locked in friendly debate about “separatism” vs “souverainisme” with a Québécois traveller. A Haitian companion watched us slowly grind each other to depletion. “Your arguments are strong. But arguments are weak faced with a heart that does not
feel belonging.”
Once, I put a question to Gilles Duceppe whether cultural funding for anglophone artists could support Quebec identity. His cheeks flushed red at my insolence, my ignorance. He fixed me with an icy blue stare, shared a childhood memory about “les blokes,” then used a line Legault repeated this week about his pride that Quebec anglophones are Canada’s best-served minority.
My Take: By Geoff Agombar
