Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. For what it's worth, the Wikipedia entry on Parizeau says he was "referring to a coalition of Greek, Italian and Jewish organizations which were actively campaigning on the no side".
.
Yeah, Parizeau was simply throwing their own rhetoric back at them.
You had news conferences where community leaders were saying "All Jews must vote Non", "All Italians must vote Non", "All Italians must vote Non".
Still unwise on Parizeau's part, but not nearly as odious as it's often made out to be.
Yeah, Parizeau was simply throwing their own rhetoric back at them.
You had news conferences where community leaders were saying "All Jews must vote Non", "All Italians must vote Non", "All Italians must vote Non".
Still unwise on Parizeau's part, but not nearly as odious as it's often made out to be.
The reason why the urging of the Jews and Italians wasn't odious is that it was quite obvious that the mercies of a government resulting from a "oui" vote would not be tender. That wasn't bigotry.
What Parizeau was making clear was his feelings towards the Jews as people. The Jewish and Italian leaders were predicting that a Quebec national government would be xenophobic at est.
The reason why the urging of the Jews and Italians wasn't odious is that it was quite obvious that the mercies of a government resulting from a "oui" vote would not be tender. That wasn't bigotry.
I never said it was bigotry on their part. Only that it was a bit rich of them to complain so loudly about Parizeau's comments when they pretty much appealled to the same sentiments - only from the other side.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbgusa
What Parizeau was making clear was his feelings towards the Jews as people. The Jewish and Italian leaders were predicting that a Quebec national government would be xenophobic at est.
I don't think Parizeau ever mentioned Jews specifically. Certainly not during that speech, and probably not during the campaign either.
Like many separatists of his generation, Parizeau was hurt, disappointed and even a bit bitter that more people of immigrant origin did not at least sympathize with the cause. This includes Jews but the deception was not limited to them.
BTW, Parizeau's wife for his entire adult life until her death and the mother of his children, was Alicija Poznanska. She was involved in the Warsaw ghetto uprising and a survivor of Bergen-Belsen. She never talked much publicly about her religion so it's unclear to me if she was Jewish or Catholic. Also many parents from that era hid their Jewishness from their own children. Think of Madeleine Albright.
Of course Quebec Independence is a legitimate movement but almost exclusively to Quebecers and even there it is more of an idea than an actual political option.
The Independence movement of the 60s & 70s is completely different from what it is today. Back then you had a large hardcore independence movement but not today. French Canadians were treated like dirt even in Quebec but now all of those legitimate beefs are a thing of the past. Today, few BLOC or PQ voters, except for the hardcore dying off ones from the original movement, are really looking for independence. Today they vote for these parties not due to a wanting to leave Canada but rather as wanting a stronger voice in Ottawa and more provincial jurisdiction of key economic and social issues.
Conversely, in the RoC, the threat of Quebec leaving and hence having a Quebec driven political agenda is also over. Montreal was Canada's most important city back in the 60s & 70s and today even Montrealers openly admit that it is now an also-ran. While yesteryear Canadians were concerned by what Quebec would do, today they really couldn't careless how they vote in regards to the issue because Canadians would simply ignore it.
AJ can probably explain it better than I can attempt, I think he knows more about what it means.
This forum is the only place I'd ever heard the term, that was a year or two ago and I had to look it up online to find out what it meant. It's more an American 'thing' than a Canadian or French Canadian 'thing'. It was hard to find information about it but I guess you can sort of piece it together if you look at some of these article's about Pepsi's logic or approach to racism during the past 60 years or so. Only Pepsi screwed up in 2017 with the Kendall Jenner ad:
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
