Sunday showdown between Affiliation Quebec and Jeunes Patriotes

Since confrontational fringe groups (even mild-mannered English speaking ones) tend to attract other confrontational fringe groups interested in stealing the spotlight and yelling at one another (rather than engaging in the more time-consuming act of listening to one another) it was no surprise that les Jeunes Patriotes du Québec were quick to show up looking for a fight and a cause to protest in order to justify their existence.

While a few dozen "Young Patriots" (what does that make the rest of us not interested in joining their ranks? Old Traitors?) were scuffling with approximately 150 Affiliation Quebec supporters , a three-day conference was taking place nearby at the Université de Montréal, jointly organized by the Quebec Community Groups Network and the Centre d'études ethniques des universités montréalaises, with the question: "Can Quebec's Anglophone community be revitalized?" on the agenda.

While the conference focused on encouraging English-French cooperation and dialogue, the other two groups were busy polarizing Quebec society and perpetuating a culture of victimization. It's a shame really, because there are some valid points to be made by Nutik and his group, but they are consistently cancelled out by his confrontational style and hyperbole.

The Young Patriots came out to denounce "the racist" and "francophobe" Howard Galganov and to protest "his presence on Quebec soil". A brief scuffle broke out when one of the protesters stormed the room (was he planning on throwing Galganov over his shoulder and carrying him across the Ontario border?), but was quickly apprehended by the police. The subsequent lack of any arrests by the police quickly prompted Nutik to complain about a "disturbing and surprising" lack of justice, which I'm pretty certain will provoke another press release from the Patriots finding its way into my inbox. I can't wait…

During his speech, Nutik presented English Quebecers' position in this province as "precarious" and preached political action to "reverse our victimization". He claimed that Anglos and Allophones, who fail to join the cause, do so because of "fear, apathy, fatigue or failure to comprehend". As an English-speaking Allophone, I resent the implication of being too lazy, too tired, too stupid or too scared to join his cause, but if he continues to insult me –who knows-- I may someday see the light…

Quebec's anglophone and allophone communities indeed have their own unique challenges, separate from Quebec's francophone community, but nothing will be solved through polarization, lack of communication, the creation of a culture of victimization and the unwillingness to respectfully and truly listen to one another.

With all their divisive, pernicious and alienating tactics, Nutik and the Young Patriots have one thing in common: they do not represent me. I, along with many young Francophones, Anglophones and Allophones in this province, feel that dialogue is the answer. Instilling fear in the hearts of people and then pretending to be their "saviour" to lead them to the Promised Land is not the way to go. Despite what these groups claim, there's a lot of space between meek appeasement and drawing a hard line in the sand. That's the space that I and many other Quebecers (irrelevant of language) inhabit.