Madam Speaker, I will begin by reacting a bit to the historical context that my colleague from Pierrefonds—Dollard provided because it is appalling. It is a surprisingly revisionist take on history.
First, multiculturalism, or the component of Canada's diversity, goes back further than 250 years. It goes back at least 400 years. There were the first nations, then New France. The Quebec Act that my colleague referred to was a compromise to prevent the Canadians, descendants from New France, from joining forces with the Americans, who were at war for their independence. It was not an act of generosity in the least.
Then, as soon as there was a majority of English-speaking Canadians in Ontario, there was the Act of Union, then Confederation, or the British North America Act. Then, every province that was to become predominantly English-speaking prohibited institutions from using French as a language of instruction, especially where francophones were concerned. That is why provinces like Alberta have villages today with people named Boudreault or Goudreault who no longer speak a word of French.
The multiculturalism policy was created in the 1960s. It was brought in by Pierre Elliott Trudeau in response to the commission on bilingualism and biculturalism. It is a policy that was widely criticized in Quebec because it trivialized the identity of Quebec and Quebeckers as a people.
Today, Quebeckers are a unique people in the Americas with a history, culture, vision for the economy and national language. This unique identity was shaped by all those who came here, by the descendants of New France, but also by the first nations, with whom we intermixed, the Scottish, the Irish, and all those who made Quebec their home over the years.
Multiculturalism is a model for managing diversity and newcomers. It is the Canadian way of seeing things, not the Quebec way. Quebec has developed its own integration model, which we sometimes refer to as an intercultural or cultural convergence model, that seeks to include everyone in Quebec's public space. It is a shame that our colleagues do not seem to understand that.
For some Conservative members, Canadian multiculturalism is like a social norm, a religion that one must not exclude lest they be identified as racist or xenophobic. They apparently have no idea that there are other ways to integrate diversity. Quebec has a unique model. We are a minority people. We are the only francophone state in America. We are a pluralist, secular state where the rule of law prevails. We have basic values even though we sometimes shy away from the word “value”. We have our own way of doing things, and we have found ways to include newcomers in this space.
We also need to consider the Charter of the United Nations, which speaks of self-determination, the right of a people to make its own decisions. That right includes the right to ensure our economic, social and cultural development. To achieve that, we need to make our own decisions about the intercultural diversity and integration model, which conflicts with the Canadian multicultural model that was imposed on us in the 1960s.
What we want is to do our own thing and make our own decisions about integration policies. That is part of our right to self-determination as a people.
Of course, newcomers who settle in Quebec tend to want to side with the majority. As long as Quebec is part of Canada, the majority is the English Canadian majority. It is the English majority in North America. If we do not have our own model of integration, we will not be able to successfully ensure our survival as a people, to ensure our development or to thrive as a people.
That is why it is so important that Quebec be able to choose its integration policies for itself, that Canadian multiculturalism not be imposed on Quebec, so that it can thrive and manage its diversity. We do not want a model that applies to people based on their ethnic origin and promotes divisiveness and silos. As everyone knows, English Canada has a massive majority. By adopting an individualist approach that treats people based on their ethnic origin, this leads to assimilation into the majority culture.
In Quebec, we want to continue to exist as a people, as a nation. We therefore demand the right to continue to choose our integration policies for ourselves.