What’s wrong with the Canadian empire?

Exactly that, it’s an empire. The only reason Quebec is in Canada today is because of a military invasion that occurred over 250 years ago. That is the fundamental fact about Canada: it is the product of war, of conquest, not consensus. And that war is still going on. The war of the Conquest (or the French and Indian war or the Seven Year war, as it is known to some) has never really ended. It continues in the ongoing low-intensity conflict the Canadian empire wages to preserve itself. As the great Clausewitz once wrote, war is about imposing your will on the enemy. This is exactly what the Canadian empire has been doing by (mostly) psychological means (with a few notable exceptions). Psychological war, after all, is still war.

The two main weapons in this war are intimidation for most Quebecers and bribery for a small clique willing to sell out their country for personal gain. The traitors are well-known. Trudeau, Chrétien, Dion, Desmarais, Charest and others do their utmost to preserve the empire because it’s profitable for them to do so. The intimidation was most clearly visible in the form of the War Measures Act during the October crisis which had nothing to do with fighting the FLQ and everything to do with terrifying people with the wrong political opinions. The intimidation may not always be overt, but it is always there. Not only the WMA serve as an example as to what might happen, but more significantly, the de facto impunity of the RCMP officers involved in various crimes and dirty tricks sends an even more insidious message. This impunity for those who commit crimes in the name of imperial unity sends the message that no mere laws will stand in the way. It undermines the very meaning of any “charter of rights”. Indeed, the WMA and the abuses surrounding it weren’t counter-terrorism but rather counter-terror.

However, not all intimidation comes from the state. The Canadian people themselves play an important part by approving, tacitly or otherwise, the repressive measures taken by Ottawa. Indeed, Trudeau never would have invoked the WMA if he didn't think he could get away with it politically. Likewise, the Canadian people strongly support the infamous anti-democracy law, euphemistically called the “clarity bill”. But sometimes, the relationship is inversed. Such as when enraged Anglos burned down the United-Canada parliament building in Montreal in 1849 because it was about to enact legislation compensating inhabitants of Lower-Canada who suffered losses during the revolts of 1837-38, this was not commanded by the government, but since it was carried out by “united empire loyalists” no one was punished. One can easily imagine that if Quebecers carried out actions one tenth as bad, the punitive results would have been very different. All this brings us back to the issue of impunity undermining the rule of law.

The dual combination of intimidation and bribery means that the Canadian empire rests on fear and greed. This is hardly surprising as all empires are about the management of fear. By definition, an empire is the domination of one nation by another nation through the use of force. Having no inherent legitimacy, empires maintain themselves by the chronic use of force or by threatening to use force, either explicitly or implicitly. For political reasons, it is profitable for empires to get members of the conquered nation to perform the repression. This is where bribery and greed come in. It’s in the empire’s interest to keep the subject nation divided, and this is precisely the role of the PLQ in Quebec. Naturally, all this bribery leads to corruption. While there is a lot of corruption in Quebec, it’s no accident that all those involved are federalists. The root cause of this corruption is that the PLQ and federalists in general, are more concerned with pleasing Ottawa and its unofficial viceroy (Paul Desmarais Sr.) than serving the interests of Quebec. And of course, they and their dependents expect to be generously rewarded for their services.

In closing, we return to where this article began: Canada is war. The war of the Conquest morphed into a system of domination of the Quebec people and an ongoing campaign of cultural genocide, both outside Quebec and within it. Talk of equality and freedom of choice by Anglos today is pure hypocrisy because they know perfectly well that in the present context it favors them and hastens our assimilation. But this hypocrisy, and the racism that accompanies it, is also a product of Canadian imperialism. Truman once said something to the effect that you can’t keep a people in the gutter without getting into the gutter yourself. He was referring to the plight of African-Americans in the 1950’s, but it also applies to how Canada dominates Quebec. Such domination not only makes Quebecers cynical and resigned, but makes Canadians hypocritical, racist and pretty creepy. The independence of Quebec would not only liberate Quebec, but it would also free Canadians of the mental straitjacket necessary to keep their empire together. On that day, Canadians will wake from their imperial illusions and see Quebec and themselves with clarity and lucidity.