The francophone strategy of Brian Mulroney
If the 1970s were marked by the policy on multiculturalism adopted by Pierre Trudeau, the Quebec question was approached with caution against a backdrop of claims for the sovereignty of this province. This question did not only concern domestic politics, but also arose on the international level, Qu...
Enregistré dans:
| Udgivet i: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/eccs, |
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| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Sprog: | Anglais |
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Études canadiennes / Canadian Studies
2024
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| Online adgang: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Summary: | If the 1970s were marked by the policy on multiculturalism adopted by Pierre Trudeau, the Quebec question was approached with caution against a backdrop of claims for the sovereignty of this province. This question did not only concern domestic politics, but also arose on the international level, Quebec having been associated, for example, with the beginnings of the organization of Francophonie after the treaty of Niamey (20 March 1970). The objective of this contribution is to analyze the way in which Brian Mulroney himself perceived this positioning of Canada in the Francophonie to avoid on the one hand the delegitimization of the multiculturalist policy initiated in the 1970s and recognize on the other hand the cultural specificity of the province of Quebec. Based on the study of Brian Mulroney’s memoirs and on methodologies from discourse analysis, the findings show that the author has an ethos of reconciliation, concerned with finding a Canadian identity deeply attached to the Commonwealth and the Francophonie. This ethos is antithetical to that of Pierre Trudeau, whose political and diplomatic actions are judged negatively by Brian Mulroney. Positioning on the Francophone question is at the heart of this fundamental disagreement, which at the same time explains Brian Mulroney’s new diplomatic action in favor of a more political Francophonie and in favor of new constitutional agreements to correct Pierre Trudeau’s conception of multiculturalism. |
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