One of the things that scientists do at the start of any calculation is define the terms they are going to use during the calculation. The more specific the definition, the more sure you generally are of the end result, and that your conculsions will not be misinterpreted.
As we look at the discussion of what nation or nations may exist within Canada we should probably start by defining our terms.
So, how do we go abut finding definitions of various words? The standard answer is a dictionary. My dictionary (Funk & Wagnall’s Standard College Dictionary – Canadian Edition, © 1982) gives the following:
nation
• noun 1) A body of persons associated with a particular territory, usually organized under a government, and possessing a distinctive cultural and social way of life. 2) A body of persons having a common origin and language. 3) A tribe or federation, especially of American Indians; also the territory it occupies.
Just for fun, let’s add the Webster’s dictionary definition to the mix:
na·tion
1 a (1) : NATIONALITY 5a (2) : a politically organized nationality (3) : a non-Jewish nationality
Following through on 1a above, we find:
Nationality 5 a : a people having a common origin, tradition, and language and capable of forming or actually constituting a nation-state b : an ethnic group constituting one element of a larger unit (as a nation )
Let’s also look up the definition of the French term “nation”, to be sure we are all talking about the same thing. From my Micro Robert Dictionnaire:
nation
• n.f. 1) Groupe humain assez vaste, qui se charactérise par conscience de son unite et la volonté de vivre en commun 2) Communauté politique établie sur un teritoire défini, et personnifiée par une autorité souvraine
Looking at the definitions above and other dictionaries in both French & English, it is interesting to see that two themes emerge. The concept of a nation as a political entity – the default mode in the English definitions, and the concept of a nation as a group of people with common language, culture & origin – the default mode in French definitions. Both are applicable in both languages though.
So, using the dictionary terms, what are the nation(s) that one finds within Canada?
The one that fits both the English and French definitions is clearly the entirety of Canada as one nation. Are there subsets, that could themselves be considered “nations”, as per the dictionaries?
Is Québec a nation? Probably not, by strict interpretation of these definitions.
Are there other nations within Canada? Clearly, yes – if we look from the common definition of a cultural group rather than a political one. The “pur laine” of Québec world meet that definition. The Acadians would clearly fall into that definition of “nation” as well. Similarly, there would be many First Nations groups who meet these definitions much more readily than the Province of Québec as a whole. Even English Canada would clearly constitute a nation by those terms.
One could even make an argument for the Leafs Nation, but that may be stretching it a bit.
The many ethnic communities that one finds throughout Canada probably don’t meet the “size” criteria that seems to be a part of making that “community” to “nation” step, but are they any less significant?
Why the fuss about wanting to recognize “the Québec nation”?
For the Bloc/PQ the fight has always been about an independent country for the “pur laine” of Québec. “… ce que nous sommes…” to quote Jacques Parizeau. If they have to take a few members of “the ethnic vote” with them in order to achieve that, well that’s the price of admission. “The ethnic vote” of Québec can be made sufficiently uncomfortable in an independent Québec that their numbers will not rise to the point of being inconvenient is the unstated thought in the back of the PQ/Bloc believers. In the Bloc’s mind “the ethnic vote” (i.e. all non-“pur laine”) don’t really count as part of Québec anyway.
There are many nations (in the cultural group sense of the word) that make up Canada. Why acknowledge just one? Surely they all deserve the same respect, rules, and significance. Or is it simply that Canada has degenerated to the point where all nations (again, in the cultural group sense of the word) are equal, but some nations are more equal than others? That clearly is the Bloc/PQ position.
Wake up Canada. The nation is Canada. There are many subsets that make up the whole, but the whole is what its all about. No one subset deserves recognition that others do not get. That’s a basic premise of western democracy and law. Let’s be sure to define our terms explicitly before we go recognizing nations within nations.
