Michaud Affair
Encyclopedia
The Michaud Affair was a political controversy in Quebec
that began in 2000. It revolved around the comments of Parti Québécois
supporter Yves Michaud
, those of the Quebec Jewish community (through the B'nai B'rith
organization) and the subsequent censure
motion from the National Assembly of Quebec
members of parliament.
radio station CKAC. Talk show host Paul Arcand
asked: "Don't you feel that there is a lack of interest of a good part of the population on the question of sovereignty and the national question, people who have had enough, for whom it is all over, (who say) let's move on to something else?".
To which Yves Michaud replied: "Well, I will tell you an anecdote. I was... I went to get my hair cut about a month ago. There was a Liberal
senator
who I will not name who doesn't speak [French]... even though he represents a French-speaking riding and who asked me: 'Are you still a separatist, Yves?' I said 'Yes, yes I am separatist just as you are Jewish. It took 2000 years for your people to have its homeland in Israel.' I said: 'Me, whether it takes 10, 50, or 100 more years it can wait.' So he told me: 'It's not the same.'"
"It's never the same for them. So I said: it is not the same? The Armenians
did not suffer, the Palestinians did not suffer, the Rwandans
did not suffer. It's always (just) you. You are the only people who suffered in the history of humanity."
"After that, I was fed up. And here we are, I am completely indignant... that some suggested to rename the metro
station [named after] Lionel Groulx
, who was the spiritual father of two generations of Quebecers and is almost a Quebec idol. It's the B'nai B'rith
that did that, which was the extremist phalange... There has been world Zionism... "
The Senator mentioned was Leo Kolber
, Michaud later revealed.
, sent a memo to then Premier Lucien Bouchard
requesting that he stops Michaud from being the PQ's candidate in the Mercier riding.
On December 13, 2000, Michaud presented a memorandum to Quebec's "Estates-General on the situation of the French language". He abandoned some parts of his text to say this, in front of members of the B'nai B'rith
who were waiting their turn to speak:
"Groulx
invited us 'to have, like the Jews, their rough will to survive, their invincible spirit of solidarity, their imperishable moral armor'. And the historian was giving the example of the Jewish people as a model to be followed so that Quebecers affirm their own national identity and fully assume the heritage of their history. Groulx, who is one of the intellectual guides of two generations of Quebecers and one whose name some wanted to see removed from the Lionel-Groulx station
a few years ago, to probably replace it by the "Mordecai Richler
" station, the René Lévesque Boulevard
by, no doubt, "Ariel Sharon
" boulevard, the Jacques-Cartier Place by the "Galganov
" place, and so on. It is a little satirical, it is a little bit jokingly that I say that, but I think that some others are exaggerating and going a little too far. Immigrants, we want some. Yes, as much as possible and pushing up to the limit of our capacities to welcome them. Immigrants who will not only have rights but also responsibilities with regard to one of the most generous societies in the world which welcomes them with open arms and wallets, immigrants with responsibilities, that is, understanding and speaking our language, open to our culture, our way of working, of doing things, of interpreting the world in the French language and accompanying us on the road which leads us to the control of all the tools for our development (...)
There is an ethnic vote against the sovereignty of the people of Quebec. If we do not integrate our immigrants, well then, we will enter on the slope of the Louisianization, and folklorization of our society."
, presented to the National Assembly of Quebec
a motion condemning references to "an ethnic vote against the sovereignty of the people of Quebec" and speaking of B'nai Brith as "an extremist group against quebecers and against sovereignty", as expressed by Yves Michaud at the Estates-General.
The Premier at the time, Lucien Bouchard, affirmed that he had been aware of similar remarks made by Michaud three (sic) days earlier and that he had asked Michaud to tone down his remarks in the Estates-General. Since Michaud did not do so and even added fuel to the fire, Bouchard therefore condemned the remarks in the name of his party and the government. The motion was adopted unanimously by the National Assembly.
This Affair must be interpreted in the context of long-standing historical tensions between some more radical factions within the Quebec nationalist movement and the English-speaking and Jewish communities of Quebec ("anglophones"). Consequently, whereas most members of the Jewish and English speaking community and the general media consider Michaud's allegations to lean towards antisemitism, to Michaud supporters within the PQ and the sovereignist movement generally the Michaud Affair is the result of censorship and defamation against the "ethnic Quebecer" minority and its "rightful quest for political independence and autonomy". This question is an extremely emotional one for both the PQ's more radical ethnic-nationalist supporters and the more radical Anglophone federalists of Quebec.
(who held similar remarks in 1995 before resigning), and many others signed an open letter condemning the hasty resolution and supporting Michaud's, in the name of the right to freedom of expression and the distinction of power between the federal and provincial governments (hate speech laws being under the canadian federal jurisdiction). The letter was published in several newspapers.
The same day, Jacques Brassard, the parliamentary leader of the government at the time, answered also in an open letter to the newspapers, that the motion was not against Yves Michaud himself, but on his comments made as a public person seeking office in the government. He said that the National Assembly had the right to condemn unacceptable propositions made in a political context. He also reminded Michaud that freedom of speech was not a one-way proposition.
The event, which is said to have been a reason for Lucien Bouchard
's resignation on January 11, 2001, was not listed in B'nai Brith's annual compilation of anti-semitic events.
During an interview for Voir magazine for the week of March 1, 2001, Robert Libman stated that he did not think Yves Michaud was an anti-semite and that his remarks had been distorted.
Some less-involved observers in the media have expressed the view that although Michaud's comments were borderline and controversial as they could be interpreted as trivialization of the Shoah, the comparisons made by his accusers to notable antisemites like Ernst Zündel
were excessive and exaggerated Michaud's intent.
Michaud has been battling in court to defend his reputation since that time.
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
that began in 2000. It revolved around the comments of Parti Québécois
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...
supporter Yves Michaud
Yves Michaud
Yves Michaud is a prominent Quebec public figure, a sovereignist and pur et dur supporter of the Parti Québécois.-Background:...
, those of the Quebec Jewish community (through the B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith International |Covenant]]" is the oldest continually operating Jewish service organization in the world. It was initially founded as the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith in New York City, on , 1843, by Henry Jones and 11 others....
organization) and the subsequent censure
Censure
A censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. Among the forms that it can take are a stern rebuke by a legislature, a spiritual penalty imposed by a church, and a negative judgment pronounced on a theological proposition.-Politics:...
motion from the National Assembly of Quebec
National Assembly of Quebec
The National Assembly of Quebec is the legislative body of the Province of Quebec. The Lieutenant Governor and the National Assembly compose the Parliament of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other British-style parliamentary systems.The National Assembly was formerly the...
members of parliament.
CKAC Interview
What has been called the "Michaud Affair" started on December 5, 2000, in an interview on the MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
radio station CKAC. Talk show host Paul Arcand
Paul Arcand
Paul Arcand is a radio host, journalist and film producer. He was a popular francophone radio host for many years. His latest film is "Québec sur ordonnance" a documentary filmed with a point of view, on the subject of Quebeckers taking ever more prescribed medication...
asked: "Don't you feel that there is a lack of interest of a good part of the population on the question of sovereignty and the national question, people who have had enough, for whom it is all over, (who say) let's move on to something else?".
To which Yves Michaud replied: "Well, I will tell you an anecdote. I was... I went to get my hair cut about a month ago. There was a Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
senator
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
who I will not name who doesn't speak [French]... even though he represents a French-speaking riding and who asked me: 'Are you still a separatist, Yves?' I said 'Yes, yes I am separatist just as you are Jewish. It took 2000 years for your people to have its homeland in Israel.' I said: 'Me, whether it takes 10, 50, or 100 more years it can wait.' So he told me: 'It's not the same.'"
"It's never the same for them. So I said: it is not the same? The Armenians
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
did not suffer, the Palestinians did not suffer, the Rwandans
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
did not suffer. It's always (just) you. You are the only people who suffered in the history of humanity."
"After that, I was fed up. And here we are, I am completely indignant... that some suggested to rename the metro
Montreal Metro
The Montreal Metro is a rubber-tired metro system, and the main form of public transportation underground in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada....
station [named after] Lionel Groulx
Lionel Groulx
Lionel-Adolphe Groulx was a Roman Catholic priest, historian and Quebec nationalist. -Early life and ordination:Groulx was born at Chenaux, Quebec, Canada, the son of a farmer and lumberjack, and died in Vaudreuil, Quebec. After his seminary training and studies in Europe, he taught at Valleyfield...
, who was the spiritual father of two generations of Quebecers and is almost a Quebec idol. It's the B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith International |Covenant]]" is the oldest continually operating Jewish service organization in the world. It was initially founded as the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith in New York City, on , 1843, by Henry Jones and 11 others....
that did that, which was the extremist phalange... There has been world Zionism... "
The Senator mentioned was Leo Kolber
Leo Kolber
Ernest Leo Kolber, is a Canadian businessman, company director, philanthropist and former Senator.Born in Montreal, Quebec, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1949 and a Bachelor of Law in 1952 from McGill University. He was called to the Bar of Quebec in 1952...
, Michaud later revealed.
Estates-General
On December 12, 2000, the director of B'nai B'rith's Quebec chapter, Robert LibmanRobert Libman
-Background:Born in Montreal, Quebec, he is the son of David Libman and Goldie Aronovitch. He attended Herzliah High School, Vanier College, and received a Bachelor of architecture from McGill University in 1985...
, sent a memo to then Premier Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard, is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat, politician and former Minister of the Environment of the Canadian Federal Government. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1996, and the 27th Premier of Quebec from January 29, 1996 to March 8, 2001...
requesting that he stops Michaud from being the PQ's candidate in the Mercier riding.
On December 13, 2000, Michaud presented a memorandum to Quebec's "Estates-General on the situation of the French language". He abandoned some parts of his text to say this, in front of members of the B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith International |Covenant]]" is the oldest continually operating Jewish service organization in the world. It was initially founded as the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith in New York City, on , 1843, by Henry Jones and 11 others....
who were waiting their turn to speak:
"Groulx
Lionel Groulx
Lionel-Adolphe Groulx was a Roman Catholic priest, historian and Quebec nationalist. -Early life and ordination:Groulx was born at Chenaux, Quebec, Canada, the son of a farmer and lumberjack, and died in Vaudreuil, Quebec. After his seminary training and studies in Europe, he taught at Valleyfield...
invited us 'to have, like the Jews, their rough will to survive, their invincible spirit of solidarity, their imperishable moral armor'. And the historian was giving the example of the Jewish people as a model to be followed so that Quebecers affirm their own national identity and fully assume the heritage of their history. Groulx, who is one of the intellectual guides of two generations of Quebecers and one whose name some wanted to see removed from the Lionel-Groulx station
Lionel-Groulx (Montreal Metro)
Lionel-Groulx is a station of the Montreal Metro rapid transit system operated by the Société de transport de Montréal . It is located in the Saint-Henri area of the borough of Le Sud-Ouest in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is a transfer station between the Green Line and Orange Line.The station...
a few years ago, to probably replace it by the "Mordecai Richler
Mordecai Richler
Mordecai Richler, CC was a Canadian Jewish author, screenwriter and essayist. A leading critic called him "the great shining star of his Canadian literary generation" and a pivotal figure in the country's history. His best known works are The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Barney's Version,...
" station, the René Lévesque Boulevard
René Lévesque Boulevard
René Lévesque Boulevard is one of the main streets in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.It is a main east-west thoroughfare passing through the downtown core in the borough of Ville-Marie. The street begins on the west at Atwater Avenue and continues until it merges with Notre Dame Street East just east...
by, no doubt, "Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
" boulevard, the Jacques-Cartier Place by the "Galganov
Howard Galganov
Howard Galganov was briefly a political activist and radio personality in Montreal during the late 1990s...
" place, and so on. It is a little satirical, it is a little bit jokingly that I say that, but I think that some others are exaggerating and going a little too far. Immigrants, we want some. Yes, as much as possible and pushing up to the limit of our capacities to welcome them. Immigrants who will not only have rights but also responsibilities with regard to one of the most generous societies in the world which welcomes them with open arms and wallets, immigrants with responsibilities, that is, understanding and speaking our language, open to our culture, our way of working, of doing things, of interpreting the world in the French language and accompanying us on the road which leads us to the control of all the tools for our development (...)
There is an ethnic vote against the sovereignty of the people of Quebec. If we do not integrate our immigrants, well then, we will enter on the slope of the Louisianization, and folklorization of our society."
Condemnation by the National Assembly
On December 13, 2000, the leader of the opposition Liberal Party, Jean CharestJean Charest
John James "Jean" Charest, PC, MNA is a Canadian politician who has been the 29th Premier of Quebec since 2003. He was leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998 and has been leader of the Quebec Liberal Party since 1998....
, presented to the National Assembly of Quebec
National Assembly of Quebec
The National Assembly of Quebec is the legislative body of the Province of Quebec. The Lieutenant Governor and the National Assembly compose the Parliament of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other British-style parliamentary systems.The National Assembly was formerly the...
a motion condemning references to "an ethnic vote against the sovereignty of the people of Quebec" and speaking of B'nai Brith as "an extremist group against quebecers and against sovereignty", as expressed by Yves Michaud at the Estates-General.
The Premier at the time, Lucien Bouchard, affirmed that he had been aware of similar remarks made by Michaud three (sic) days earlier and that he had asked Michaud to tone down his remarks in the Estates-General. Since Michaud did not do so and even added fuel to the fire, Bouchard therefore condemned the remarks in the name of his party and the government. The motion was adopted unanimously by the National Assembly.
Interpretation
The Michaud Affair re-awakened the bitter, very emotional and controversial divisions within the Parti Québécois between proponents of "soft nationalists" (aka "nationalistes modérés") versus "hard liners" (aka "purs et durs"). The first wants a modern and inclusive nationalism, while the second is exclusive of minorities, unless they adopt and vote for the sovereignty of Quebec. From this second point of view, immigrants have a duty to agree to their political agenda.This Affair must be interpreted in the context of long-standing historical tensions between some more radical factions within the Quebec nationalist movement and the English-speaking and Jewish communities of Quebec ("anglophones"). Consequently, whereas most members of the Jewish and English speaking community and the general media consider Michaud's allegations to lean towards antisemitism, to Michaud supporters within the PQ and the sovereignist movement generally the Michaud Affair is the result of censorship and defamation against the "ethnic Quebecer" minority and its "rightful quest for political independence and autonomy". This question is an extremely emotional one for both the PQ's more radical ethnic-nationalist supporters and the more radical Anglophone federalists of Quebec.
Aftermath
On December 19, 2000, former Quebec Premier Jacques ParizeauJacques Parizeau
Jacques Parizeau, is an economist and noted Quebec sovereignist who was the 26th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from September 26, 1994 to January 29, 1996.-Early life and career:...
(who held similar remarks in 1995 before resigning), and many others signed an open letter condemning the hasty resolution and supporting Michaud's, in the name of the right to freedom of expression and the distinction of power between the federal and provincial governments (hate speech laws being under the canadian federal jurisdiction). The letter was published in several newspapers.
The same day, Jacques Brassard, the parliamentary leader of the government at the time, answered also in an open letter to the newspapers, that the motion was not against Yves Michaud himself, but on his comments made as a public person seeking office in the government. He said that the National Assembly had the right to condemn unacceptable propositions made in a political context. He also reminded Michaud that freedom of speech was not a one-way proposition.
The event, which is said to have been a reason for Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard, is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat, politician and former Minister of the Environment of the Canadian Federal Government. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1996, and the 27th Premier of Quebec from January 29, 1996 to March 8, 2001...
's resignation on January 11, 2001, was not listed in B'nai Brith's annual compilation of anti-semitic events.
During an interview for Voir magazine for the week of March 1, 2001, Robert Libman stated that he did not think Yves Michaud was an anti-semite and that his remarks had been distorted.
Some less-involved observers in the media have expressed the view that although Michaud's comments were borderline and controversial as they could be interpreted as trivialization of the Shoah, the comparisons made by his accusers to notable antisemites like Ernst Zündel
Ernst Zündel
Ernst Christof Friedrich Zündel is a German Holocaust denier and pamphleteer who was jailed several times in Canada for publishing literature which "is likely to incite hatred against an identifiable group" and for being a threat to national security, in the United States for overstaying his visa,...
were excessive and exaggerated Michaud's intent.
Michaud has been battling in court to defend his reputation since that time.