AH Vignette: Quebec

Lovely story, well-painted picture. Your POD seems convincing to me.
For all his bluster, Trudeau (will we soon have to specify we mean Pierre Elliot?) was probably the best man for the job of confronting the FLQ. When I read about his attitude to sovereigntism, I concluded he had to be from New Brunswick or a Franco-Ontarian (no Quebecker would address his compatriots that way, I thought). But the fact that he was from there, spoke the language etc kept people from conflating the pursuit of the FLQ with a crusade against the Quebecois.
 
Lovely story, well-painted picture. Your POD seems convincing to me.
For all his bluster, Trudeau (will we soon have to specify we mean Pierre Elliot?) was probably the best man for the job of confronting the FLQ. When I read about his attitude to sovereigntism, I concluded he had to be from New Brunswick or a Franco-Ontarian (no Quebecker would address his compatriots that way, I thought). But the fact that he was from there, spoke the language etc kept people from conflating the pursuit of the FLQ with a crusade against the Quebecois.

That's my thinking too. He was an arch-federalist, but no one could accuse him of hating the Quebecois: he was one. An ineffectual Anglo Allen MacEachan, followed by a straight-up racist, repressive Diefenbaker period (and whoever his Conservative successor is) would pour gas on that fire. Once the first bombs start going off in Toronto and Ottawa...
 

Archibald

Banned
So Diefenbaker was not only an asshole for killing the Arrow, he was also an asshole vis a vis the Quebecois ?
:p
 
Lovely story, well-painted picture. Your POD seems convincing to me.
For all his bluster, Trudeau (will we soon have to specify we mean Pierre Elliot?) was probably the best man for the job of confronting the FLQ. When I read about his attitude to sovereigntism, I concluded he had to be from New Brunswick or a Franco-Ontarian (no Quebecker would address his compatriots that way, I thought). But the fact that he was from there, spoke the language etc kept people from conflating the pursuit of the FLQ with a crusade against the Quebecois.

He was a strange man in so many ways. His English sounded like a Francophone with perfect fluency - but his French sounded like an Anglophone with perfect fluency!

His dad was Franco (Trudeau), mom Anglo (Elliot), and he was equally at home in both worlds - but not perhaps completely accepted as 'one of us' by either.

A brilliant, brilliant man with enormous blindspots.
It is telling that when MacLeans ran polls a few years back on the Greatest Canadian ever and Worst Canadian ever, he made the top 10 in both lists.

His over-reaction to the FLQ crisis was a disaster - although, it's certainly true that overreactions by an Ango leader if he had been assassinated would have been worse.


As for Diefenbaker coming out of retirement and becoming PM again, ??? What? That's probably the most improbable part of your TL. IMO.


Nunavut returned to Canada? Say what? Nunavut is north of Manitoba, no way would Quebec have or claim it.

Did you mean Ungava, perhaps.

Or is Ungava 'East Nunavut"?
 
He was a strange man in so many ways. His English sounded like a Francophone with perfect fluency - but his French sounded like an Anglophone with perfect fluency!

His dad was Franco (Trudeau), mom Anglo (Elliot), and he was equally at home in both worlds - but not perhaps completely accepted as 'one of us' by either.

A brilliant, brilliant man with enormous blindspots.
It is telling that when MacLeans ran polls a few years back on the Greatest Canadian ever and Worst Canadian ever, he made the top 10 in both lists.

Yeah, interesting man. Flawed but great.

His over-reaction to the FLQ crisis was a disaster - although, it's certainly true that overreactions by an Ango leader if he had been assassinated would have been worse.

Definitely. Also, the overreactions will be viewed with much more suspicion than those done by a Quebecois leader.

As for Diefenbaker coming out of retirement and becoming PM again, ??? What? That's probably the most improbable part of your TL. IMO.

Fair enough. I'm not as well versed in mid-20th century Canadian politics as I should be. My thought was that the Conservatives bring out their old, trusted, hardline leader from outside of the squishy Ontario-Quebec core to "keep the Frenchies in line", with the whole country tacking hard to the right.

Nunavut returned to Canada? Say what? Nunavut is north of Manitoba, no way would Quebec have or claim it.

Did you mean Ungava, perhaps.

Or is Ungava 'East Nunavut"?

Nunavik, as in the northern, mostly First Nations-inhabited chunk of Quebec. That's what I learned it was called in school.
 
Fair enough. I'm not as well versed in mid-20th century Canadian politics as I should be. My thought was that the Conservatives bring out their old, trusted, hardline leader from outside of the squishy Ontario-Quebec core to "keep the Frenchies in line", with the whole country tacking hard to the right.
Stanfield from Nova Scotia was leader at the time. Not, however, hardline. Dief had been ousted a few years before because the party was fed up with him.

Duff Roblin, Premier of Manitoba (who lost to Stanfield in that election for leader), was also a Red Tory, and introduced French rights to Manitoba, so you don't want him.

Ross Thatcher in Saskatchewan was a 'Liberal' (there being no PCs in SK at that time).

Socreds are still in power in Alberta, no PCs there yet. Lougheed is JUST too late. Or if it's one election cycle later, he COULD be the fair-haired boy of the party.

Don't know about BC at the time.


Nunavik, as in the northern, mostly First Nations-inhabited chunk of Quebec. That's what I learned it was called in school.
Oops. Misread that, then. Sorry.
 
Stanfield from Nova Scotia was leader at the time. Not, however, hardline. Dief had been ousted a few years before because the party was fed up with him.

Duff Roblin, Premier of Manitoba (who lost to Stanfield in that election for leader), was also a Red Tory, and introduced French rights to Manitoba, so you don't want him.

Ross Thatcher in Saskatchewan was a 'Liberal' (there being no PCs in SK at that time).

Socreds are still in power in Alberta, no PCs there yet. Lougheed is JUST too late. Or if it's one election cycle later, he COULD be the fair-haired boy of the party.

Don't know about BC at the time.

For the Canadian politics junkies, would someone like Doug Harkness or Gordon Churchill be a potential choice? Both ex-military officers, and at least Churchill was an arch-conservative member of the party.


Oops. Misread that, then. Sorry.

No worries! It's pretty confusing.
 
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