The 2009 Battle of the Plains of Abraham

250 years ago, on September 13, 1759, the British Army and Navy, under the command of General James Wolfe defeated the French Army, commanded by Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm. The battle took place on the Plains of Abraham, a plateau outside the walls of Quebec City. It lasted only an hour. Both commanders died as a result of wounds suffered in the fighting. The battle was an important one for the two foreign colonial powers, eventually leading to the British gaining France's possessions in eastern North America. [ Source: "Battle of the Plains of Abraham", Wikipedia]. The colonies became British instead of French.

250 years later, and over 140 years since the birth of the Dominion of Canada, there are some who apparently are still having difficulty coping with France's defeat on the Plains of Abraham. A small group of Quebec separatists, known as "Le Reseau de Resistance du Quebecois", were outraged when they learned that the National Battlefields Commission, a Federalist body set up in 1908 to "highlight and preserve" the Plains of Abraham as a major historical park and tourist attraction in Quebec, planned to stage a re-enactment of the battle to commemorate its 250th anniversary. According to the group's leader, Patrick Bourgeois, the re-enactment would be disrespectful to "Quebecers and our ancestors" and if proceeded with would result in protests and civil disobedience. According to reports, the group's website promised tourists a visit "they would not forget for a very long time" if the re-enactment went ahead. Faced with this pressure and threats, the National Battlefields Commission has decided to back down and cancel or modify the re-enactment program.

That a small group of diehard separatists raised such a fuss over the planned re-enactment is neither surprising nor upsetting. That is after all their raison d'etre -to get hot and bothered over everything that has anything to do with the Federal government. That the major Quebec and Federal separatist parties - the Parti Quebecois and the Bloc Quebecois - supported the "resistance fighters'" opposition to the re-enactment is more disturbing. The Battle of the Plains of Abraham apparently has been re-enacted three times before, without incident. But it was the Federal government's involvement in this program which was the problem this time around. This was "federalist propaganda" (to what end I am not sure), and was "disrepectful".

It was also disheartening to see that the tactic of threats has worked. The fact that the insulted separatists were prepared to risk Quebec City's most valuable resource - its tourist industry - to illustrate the depth of their hurt feelings demonstrates the bankruptcy of thought in Quebec's separatist movement.

The separatist leader, Patrick Bourgeois, stated that the re-enactment "showed disrespect for Quebecers and our ancestors". Exactly to which Quebecers was Mr. Bourgeois referring? The demographics of Quebec indicate that only about 30% of Quebecers indicated in a recent census (see Wikipedia: Demographics of Quebec) that their ethnic origin was French, compared to the 68% who identified themselves as Canadians. Quebec is a population of immigrants; with hundreds of thousands of Quebecers coming to settle there from all parts of the world. My family for example came to Quebec at the beginning of the 20th century, coming there not from France but from Eastern Europe. The notion that the re-enactment of a battle between two foreign colonial powers that took place 250 years ago disrepects the "ancestors" of today's Quebecers, demonstrates the same type of zenophobia and chauvinism of exclusion which Premier Jacques Parizeau became infamous for when he blamed the defeat of the referendum on separation on money and the "ethnic vote".

Ironically while the Quebec separatists were defending the honour of the French army by trying to prevent the re-enactment of its defeat on the Plains of Abraham, the leader of today's France, President Nicolas Sarkozy, was being skewered by those same separatists for comments he made about Quebec and Canada. During a visit by Quebec's premier, Jean Charest, to Paris, Sarkozy stated he preferred a united Canada. The leaders of both of the separatist parties who were so outraged over the insult to Quebecers and their ancestors posed by the re-enactment of the 1759 Battle, now accused the President of France of denigrating Quebecers and their movement by his ignorant statements. So it looks like Quebecers are being insulted and disrespected by both sides - by a Federal agency for tarnishing the reputation of 18th century France and by the President of 21st century France.

Details as to what will take place on the Plains of Abraham in 2009 will be released on Tuesday. It is unclear as I write what the Commission has in mind. Perhaps this time around, Montcalm will win - we will see. I will let you know.