By Antoine Morin, GW Exchange Student, Spring 2023
This past month, the normally welcoming and multicultural Canada took the difficult decision to
close Roxham Road – a road that generated extensive media coverage because it was a site of
irregular migration to Canada from the United States. Joe Biden’s visit to Canada prompted a
new agreement stating that illegal migrants caught within fourteen days of crossing the Canada-
US border would be sent back to the other country.
The crux of the Roxham Road diplomatic crisis was between Quebec and Canada. Given the
country and the province’s conflicting narratives, it took the Trudeau government years to fulfill
the wish of its province to close Roxham Road, and it is likely that many other immigration and
identity disputes will arise.
Canada’s Narrative
Canada is known for its values of multiculturalism, inclusion, and diversity. Being an alliance of two nations and two official languages, Canada is proud of its liberalism, individual rights record, and its efforts to become a fully bilingual country.
Quebec’s Narrative
The French Model
Canada’s nationalist province wants to protect its language and culture at all costs. As the French language is declining in Quebec and Canada, Quebec turns to France to find solutions to counter trends that could threaten the survival of the nation. Its recent secularism law stating that government employees cannot wear religious symbols was directly inspired by France. Bill 21 is now being contested at the Supreme Court of Canada, which has to determine the validity of such a law. The rest of Canada almost universally condemned Bill 21 as it does not fit Canada’s multiculturalism narrative.
Interculturalism
While Canada is supremely unconcerned about the integration of immigrants, Quebec is keen on ensuring that all newcomers learn the language and culture of the province. North America’s France equivalent believes in interculturalism – a doctrine promoting cross-cultural exchanges instead of self-segregation within cultures. To achieve interculturalism, a nation must reduce immigration and better integrate its immigrants. In Quebec, this means ensuring that all newcomers learn the common language of the nation – French.
The Superpower Nation
With the decline of the French language and globalization, Quebec must act if it wants to remain a distinct and unique nation within Canada. Although Quebec successfully forced Ottawa’s hand on the Roxham Road case, immigration will remain a crucial point of contention between the two governments for the near future. Canada’s second most populous province remains a superpower on the national scene because of its political power and natural resources. The threat of another referendum on Quebec independence must also still be on the back of Canadian politicians. This battleground province has voted for all four major federal parties in the last decade.
| Quebec | Master & Identity Narratives – How Quebec views itself | System Narratives – How Quebec views the world | Issue Narratives – How Quebec views the issue |
| Importance of France to identity Superpower on the national scene “Welcoming fewer immigrants but taking care of them.” Affirmation of Quebec as a nation within Canada. | Interculturalism Nationalism Separation between the state and religion Belief in the importance of nations to preserve their culture, language, and heritage. Nations should protect their own interests first. | Quebec does not have the capacity to welcome all these migrants. Closing Roxham Road set a good precedent. The nation will fight back against Trudeau’s loose immigration policies. Immigration has contributed to the decline of French in Quebec |
The Roxham Road closure is a short-term victory for Quebec. However, the wider narratives that caused the dispute will not change in the coming years and could become even more relevant. According to Statistics Canada, Canada is the fastest-growing G7 country in terms of population. Immigration was responsible for 95.9 % of last year’s 2.7 % population increase. Migration should thus remain a central issue in a country on track to double its population before 2050.
Canada has announced ever-increasing immigration levels for the coming years, an approach consistent with its welcoming, diverse, and multicultural image. Roxham Road or not, I suspect Quebec will still be reluctant to welcome a large number of migrants (illegal or not). Capacity issues, the decline of French in the province, and Quebec’s insistence to stick to an integration model (interculturalism) and not a multicultural approach are the main reasons.
While all these recent debates, laws, and policies around immigration, language, and religion have taken place under a Liberal government, it is difficult to see how a potential Conservative government would help solve identity issues between Quebec and Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada is as pro-immigration as the liberals, and the party’s right-wing agenda would not resonate well with Canada’s most progressive province. Unfortunately, the most likely outcome is that as many identity disputes between Quebec and Canada will continue to take place in the coming years, and La Belle Province may be headed toward another independence referendum.
The full report is available here.
The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author. They do not express the views of the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication or the George Washington University.
Antoine, this is so insightful! And wow, that image is extremely powerful. I feel as though Canada’s politics are often excluded when discussing issues of global affairs, so I really appreciated this detailed material on something we otherwise would not have been exposed to. I think the ideological divide between Canada and Quebec is very applicable to many other countries. It seems like Canada is all about diversity and inclusion, while Quebec is more focused on protecting its French language and culture. They want immigrants to integrate into their culture, not just live in their own communities. I’m curious, what are Trudeau’s thoughts on immigration at large? I also look forward to reading your suggestions for both sides.
Thanks for your comment, Izzy! Both Trudeau’s Liberal Party of Canada and the Conservatives are pro-immigration, so Canada’s multiculturalism narrative is very strong. To reconcile both sides, I think Quebec should welcome a large number of French-speaking migrants. Quebec would protect its language while fulfilling Ottawa’s immigration targets.
This was a great read, the narratives are clear and the issue is very contemporary. I would be more interesting in reading about how Quebec sees itself within Canada as a precursor to the argument. I also think it might be beneficial to see how Canada views Quebec in master and identity narratives to compare their values. It’s interesting that the separatist movement is so strong in this region.
The tension between a) Quebec’s sense of nationalism when it comes to identity and language, and b) Canada’s identity narrative around being a liberal, open, progressive society is so interesting. It really points to how the collision of different simultaneous identity narratives can complicate the task of public diplomacy. I really admire how you were able to distill this complicated issue — and the equally complicated other issues that it feeds into — into a concise and comprehensible piece. I will definitely be looking into this issue further!
Antoine,
I had no idea of the complexities of Canada-Quebec relations, especially in the context of immigration and cultural identity. You do a great job of outlining both Canada’s and Quebec’s narratives, providing an in-depth understanding of the distinct perspectives and values each holds. I also like how you raise the potential implications of these differing narratives for the future of Canada-Quebec relations, suggesting the ongoing debates around immigration, language, and religion may contribute to a resurgence of Quebec’s independence movement.
Antoine, great work on your blog. I found the image you selected to be of particular interest, especially in outlining the Roxham Road dilemma. I would be interested in hearing about how you think Quebec’s strategy will play out over the next few years and more specifically how you think it will impact their relationship with Canada. And I appreciated your ability to effectively explain Quebec’s narratives – definitely a very informative read.