Barbara Kay controversy
Encyclopedia
Barbara Kay
Barbara Kay is a columnist with the National Post.Kay is a graduate of the University of Toronto where she earned an undergraduate degree in English literature...
is a columnist for the Canadian national broadsheet
Broadsheet
Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
, wherein she expressed, in a series of three articles, beginning with a column entitled "The Rise of Quebecistan," on August 9, 2006,
her concern at the involvement of Quebec
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....
politicians in a demonstration in support of Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War #Other uses|Tammūz]]) and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War , was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon, northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. The principal parties were Hezbollah...
that took place on August 6, 2006, in the city of Montreal
Montreal
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...
, Quebec
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....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Kay wrote: "'The Rise of Quebecistan,' has become a focus for great controversy in Quebec. In the past week, I have been interviewed by numerous radio stations, both French and English, and declared an enemy of the people, in so many words, in no less than three newspapers, including in a Post column... ."
Kay claimed that both she, and what she described as her "criticism" of the demonstration, were attacked by elements of the French Quebec media and politicians—some of whom support the separation of the province of Quebec from Canada—was seemingly because her criticisms were expressed in the English language; and not French.
"Virulently anti-Israel rally"
On August 6, 2006, Parti QuébécoisParti 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...
(PQ) leader André Boisclair
André Boisclair
André Boisclair is a politician in Quebec, Canada. He was the leader of the Parti Québécois, a social democratic and separatist party in Quebec....
, Bloc Québécois
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...
(BQ) leader Gilles Duceppe
Gilles Duceppe
Gilles Duceppe is a Canadian politician, and proponent of the Québec sovereignty movement. He was a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons for over 20 years and was the leader of the sovereigntist Bloc Québécois for almost 15 years. He is the son of a well-known Quebec actor, Jean...
, Québec solidaire
Québec Solidaire
Québec solidaire is a democratic socialist and sovereigntist political party in Quebec, Canada, that was created on 4 February 2006 in Montreal. It was formed by the merger of the left-wing party Union des forces progressistes and the alter-globalization political movement Option Citoyenne, led...
(QS) spokesperson Amir Khadir
Amir Khadir
Amir Khadir is a politician in the National Assembly of Quebec , Canada for the electoral district of Mercier, and currently the male spokesperson for Québec Solidaire, a sovereignist and left-wing political party which was created by the merger of the Union des Forces Progressistes and Option...
and Liberal Party of Canada
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...
Member of Parliament (MP) Denis Coderre
Denis Coderre
Denis Coderre, PC, MP is a Canadian politician from Quebec, Canada. Coderre is the Liberal Member of Parliament for the Montreal riding of Bourassa.-Background:...
participated in a rally in opposition to Israel's actions in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War #Other uses|Tammūz]]) and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War , was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon, northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. The principal parties were Hezbollah...
. The event was described by Kay as: "...a virulently anti-Israel rally, and scattered amongst the crowd were a number of Hezbollah flags
Flag of Hezbollah
The flag of Hezbollah, while sometimes found in different colours, is usually composed of the green logo of the Shi'a political/military organization Hezbollah, upon a yellow background with text above and below the logo in red ....
and placards." Kay wrote of the four politicians that participated in the rally:
All four, along with prominent Quebec union leaders, signed a manifesto that did not condemn Hezbollah's aggression, then endorsed and willingly undertook a dominant role in a march at which Hezbollah flagsFlag of HezbollahThe flag of Hezbollah, while sometimes found in different colours, is usually composed of the green logo of the Shi'a political/military organization Hezbollah, upon a yellow background with text above and below the logo in red ....
were in evidence, along with placards, reading "Juifs assassins," [translation: Jewish assassins], (not "Israelis" -- Jews), "Nous sommes tous Hezbollah," [translation: We are all Hezbollah], "Longue vie a NasrallahNasrallahNasrallah is a male Arabic given name, meaning "Victory of God", and is used by Muslims and Christians alike. It may also be transliterated as Nasrollah or Nasrullah. In modern usage it may appear as a surname...
," [translation: Long life to NasrallahNasrallahNasrallah is a male Arabic given name, meaning "Victory of God", and is used by Muslims and Christians alike. It may also be transliterated as Nasrollah or Nasrullah. In modern usage it may appear as a surname...
], "Vive le Hezbollah," [translation: Long live Hezbollah].
Gleeful separatist cineaste Pierre FalardeauPierre FalardeauPierre Falardeau was a Quebec film and documentary director, pamphleteer and noted activist for Quebec independence.-Profile:Falardeau studied anthropology at university and he taught that subject for a brief period...
was photographed brandishing a fleur-de-lys in one hand, a Hezbollah flagFlag of HezbollahThe flag of Hezbollah, while sometimes found in different colours, is usually composed of the green logo of the Shi'a political/military organization Hezbollah, upon a yellow background with text above and below the logo in red ....
in the other. Graffiti on a building read: "God f--- the Jews." A Jewish prayer shawl was torn to pieces.
Kay wrote that these Quebec politicians participated in the rally despite Hezbollah being an organization officially classified as a terrorist group by the Canadian government. She also asserted that the rally's organizing committee "deliberately excluded a Jewish presence", which was "in itself an anti-Semitic act and a warning to any politician, whose business it is to remain neutral in affairs of this kind, to stay away." The rally also didn't call for "peace" but a cease fire or hudna
Hudna
Hudna is an Arabic term meaning a temporary "truce" or "armistice" as well as "calm" or "quiet", coming from a verbal root meaning "calm". It is sometimes translated as "cease-fire"...
. Kay asked: "If these signs had read: 'We are all KKK,' 'Long life to Osama Bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
,' 'We are all Nazis,' 'Women are pigs,' would these same leaders have turned the blind eye they did at the time? Hezbollah's mission is to eradicate Jews—not just Israelis—from the earth." And Kay felt that the involvement of politicians in the rally was troubling: "It is true that similar marches have taken place in other cities. The difference is that politicians in Toronto and elsewhere in Canada do not march at the head of these hatefests."
Kay commented on the motivations of the politicians, noting:
Their cultural and historical sympathy for Arab countries from the francophonie -- Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon -- joined with reflexive anti-AmericanismAnti-AmericanismThe term Anti-Americanism, or Anti-American Sentiment, refers to broad opposition or hostility to the people, policies, culture or government of the United States...
and a fat streak of anti-SemitismAnti-SemitismAntisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
that has marbled the intellectual discourse of Quebec throughout its history, has made Quebec the most anti-Israel of the provinces, and therefore the most vulnerable to tolerance for Islamist terrorist sympathizers.
Kay speculated that these politicians may also have been cynically seeking votes from Canadians of convenience
Canadians of convenience
The term "Canadians of convenience" was coined by Canadian politician Garth Turner in 2006 in conjunction with the evacuation of Canadian citizens from Lebanon during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict...
asserting:
These politicians are playing a dangerous game. They have no political support from Jews (who are all federalists), so have nothing to lose in courting anti-Israel Arab groups. There are at least 50,000 Lebanese-Canadians in the Montreal area. We can expect those numbers to swell as Hezbollah-supporting residents of southern Lebanon cash in on their Canadian citizenship and flee to the safety of Quebec. Under the circumstances, it may be politically convenient for some left-wing Quebec politicians to stoke fires of enthusiasm for Hezbollah -- an organization officially classified as a terrorist group by the Canadian government. Yet it would be disastrous for the future of the province.
She concluded her second editorial on the subject as follows:
"The complicity of politicians, not with terrorism itself, but with those who support terrorism, indicates a penchant for appeasement of hateful attitudes... Quebec politicians and union leaders have, by their silence and weakness and acts of overt complicity, legitimated rather than defused anti-Jewish sentiment in Quebec. For this reason, I stand behind my previous statement that Quebec in the hands of these people might very well become a Quebecistan."
Criticism of Kay
The French Quebec politicians defended their participation in the impugned rally. Gilles DuceppeGilles Duceppe
Gilles Duceppe is a Canadian politician, and proponent of the Québec sovereignty movement. He was a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons for over 20 years and was the leader of the sovereigntist Bloc Québécois for almost 15 years. He is the son of a well-known Quebec actor, Jean...
stated that he was there in the interest of Israel and Lebanese civilian populations alike and André Boisclair
André Boisclair
André Boisclair is a politician in Quebec, Canada. He was the leader of the Parti Québécois, a social democratic and separatist party in Quebec....
said the Hezbollah flag had no place in Quebec. A press release from Duceppe's Bloc Québécois
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...
pointed out the presence of Jews at the rally and noted that Duceppe's presence was conditional on no pro-Hezbollah demonstrators and no anti-Israel slogans. Duceppe also indicated that the Bloc and others tried to get Hezbollah supporters to leave the event.
Montreal journalist Mark Abley also criticized Kay's piece, noting that both Duceppe and Coderre called for an immediate ceasefire and the disarming of Hezbollah in their speeches. He also indicated that Hezbollah banners were described by those in attendance as "few and far between", and described Kay's categorization of the rally as "Hezbollah-dominated" as "intellectually untrue".
The French Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society
The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society is an institution in Quebec dedicated to the protection of Quebec francophone interests and to the promotion of Quebec Sovereignism. Its current President is Mario Beaulieu....
lodged a complaint regarding Kay's piece to the Quebec Press Council. Kay was criticized by La Presse French Canadian editorialist and "federalist
Quebec federalist ideology
Quebec federalist ideology revolves around the concept of Quebec remaining within Canada, in opposition to the desires of Quebec sovereigntists and proponents of Quebec independence....
" André Pratte
André Pratte
André Pratte is a journalist and economist. He is the current Editor-in-Chief of the Montreal large-circulation newspaper La Presse. In Quebec, he is a notable voice of the Quebec federalist ideology....
and The Gazette
The Gazette (Montreal)
The Gazette, often called the Montreal Gazette to avoid ambiguity, is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with three other daily English newspapers all having shut down at different times during the second half of the 20th century.-History:In 1778,...
"sovereigntist
Quebec sovereignty movement
The Quebec sovereignty movement refers to both the political movement and the ideology of values, concepts and ideas that promote the secession of the province of Quebec from the rest of Canada...
"-columnist and French Canadian Josée Legault
Josée Legault
Josée Legault is a Canadian journalist. She is currently a political columnist for the English-language Montreal, Quebec newspaper The Gazette...
, as well as La Presse French Canadian journalist Vincent Marissal. The Montreal French-language daily La Presse, on August 7, 2006, (p. A4), contended: “Aucun drapeau du mouvement chiite controversé n’était visible durant la marche." (Translation:
"No flag of the controversial Shia movement was visible during the march").
French Canadian activist Gilles Rhéaume
Gilles Rhéaume
Gilles Rhéaume was leader of the Parti indépendantiste of Quebec from 1987 to its dissolution in 1990. He was later president of the Mouvement souverainiste du Quebec.-References:...
announced his intention to lodge a complaint to the police for hate speech. William Tetley
William Tetley
William Tetley, CM, QC is a lawyer and professor of law at McGill University in Montreal, the visiting professor of Maritime and Commercial Law at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and a former member of the National Assembly of Quebec and Cabinet Minister.William Tetley attended the...
, a McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
professor and past Robert Bourassa
Robert Bourassa
Jean-Robert Bourassa, was a politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as the 22nd Premier of Quebec in two different mandates, first from May 12, 1970, to November 25, 1976, and then from December 12, 1985, to January 11, 1994, serving a total of just under 15 years as Provincial Premier.-Early...
provincial cabinet minister, wrote a letter to The National Post where he stated that, as an anglophone, he viewed Quebec society as holding a long-standing tolerance toward Jews by asserting that, at a time when his own English-language McGill University imposed quotas on Jews
Jewish quota
Jewish quota was a percentage that limited the number of Jews in various establishments. In particular, in 19th and 20th centuries some countries had Jewish quotas for higher education, a special case of Numerus clausus....
, the French-language Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...
welcomed Jews.
The French-Canadian premier of the province of Quebec Jean Charest
Jean 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....
called the expression "Quebecistan" "une grossièreté" (something rude, crude, a "vulgarity"). However, he also stated that "No one in my government supports Hezbollah," and that he would not participate in a demonstration where there was a Hezbollah flag.
Kay's supporters
Reacting to the controversy, National PostNational Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
Comment Pages Editor, and Barbara's son, Jonathan Kay declared that his newspaper had no reason to offer apologies. In a statement to La Presse, he asserted that "[t]here is no doubt that Quebec has an antisemitic past." Barbara Kay was also defended by Howard Galganov
Howard Galganov
Howard Galganov was briefly a political activist and radio personality in Montreal during the late 1990s...
and Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...
French Canadian journalist Brigitte Pellerin.
Beryl Wajsman, the president of the Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal, wrote an article in the Canadian Free Press (CFP) in support of Kay.
Quebec Press Council decision
In 2007, the Quebec Press Council released a decision condemning Kay for "undue provocation" and "generalizations suitable to perpetuate prejudices"."The Council noted throughout the chronicle of Mrs. Kay a lack of rigour in the presentation of the context surrounding the walk for peace of August 2006, which tends to encourage the reader to lend intentions to public personalities without providing concrete facts to support these intentions. On several occasions in the chronicle, the journalist deformed facts, to present only a part of the situation, aiming only at supporting her point of view that the leaders of independent Quebec would withdraw the Hezbollah of the list of the terrorist movements and that this new country would become a harbour for them. The Council points out that, if the chroniclers can denounce with strength the ideas and the actions which they reject and carry judgements with complete freedom, nothing however authorizes them to deteriorate facts to justify interpretation that they draw. Deontology of the Council Press clearly established that the media and the professionals of information must avoid cultivating or to maintain the prejudices. They must imperatively avoid using, at the place of the people or the groups, the representations or the terms which tend to raise the contempt, to run up against the dignity of a person or a category of people because of a discriminatory reason. The Council estimated that the remarks of the journalist were equivalent to an undue provocation, in addition to establishing generalizations suitable to perpetuate the prejudices rather than to dissipate them."
Kay's Response
Kay later responded that while the QPC claimed she was guilty of "undue provocation," it never defined the term "undue." She also stated that the while QPC claimed she was guilty of "altering the facts" upon which she based her opinions, it never cited any specific facts that she had allegedly altered. Kay explained that the National Post viewed the QPC's "verdict" as a "mere irritation" since the QPC had no power to take any action against her beyond issuing statements. However, Kay stated that she took the QPC's statement very seriously because:
I quickly realized that my opinion piece would never have been published in a Quebec-based newspaper. Representatives from all the mainstream media sit on the QPC, and they would all know instinctively what would pass muster and what wouldn't. So in fact, even though the council has no legal power, it has strong moral power amongst its constituents. So they self-censure before they publish.
Kay added that this episode was:
A reminder to other journalists to stay away from the sensitive issues I had the freedom to raise because I wrote for a medium beyond the reach of the QPC's ability to intimidate.
External links
- The rise of Quebecistan, Barbara Kay, National PostNational PostThe National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
- The myth of Quebecistan, André Pratte, National PostNational PostThe National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...