The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Editor: France has been messing around in Canadian affairs for more than 50 years. It may be because she has lost her colonies in South East Asia and North Africa. It may be a reaction to the fact that the French language has lost its status as the world language of diplomacy, trade and culture. France still owns two tiny islands on the East Coast known as Saint Pierre and Miquelon. From there she demands fishing rights with a 200 mile radius and sends her gun boats into Canadian waters to back up her claim. Once France capitulated to Germany in World War II these tiny islands fell under the control of Vichy, France and became the center of intrigue and the point from which propaganda spread out across the province of Quebec. The essence of the message was this is NOT your war. This is a war of the English. The ultimate result, according to the Legion magazine is that there were fewer veterans from Quebec than any other province, even those with a much smaller population. After World War II the French Secret Service flooded into Quebec. They infiltrated the news media, the education system, business and the clergy and every facet of Quebec society. They were known as Provacateurs and they worked to turn the people of Quebec against the English. They ignored the fact that the people were not oppressed by the English but by their own legal system which tolerated dictatorial leaders, such as Maurice Duplessis and by their own church. The propaganda theme was "We must be masters in our own house." Most Quebecers were unaware they were already masters in their own house. This was spelled out in the B.N.A. Act of 1867 which was a 95 per cent made in Canada deal between the provinces of Canada. The Province of Quebec was a participant in the formulation of this act and a signatory to the conditions. See 'Flag' P.# Con't from P.# The Provacateurs did their work and soon there were flag burnings, demonstrations, kidnappings and murder. Former President de Gaulle led the charge. He arrived in Canada unannounced. He ignored the rules of protocol required when visiting a sovereign nation. He thumbed his nose at Ottawa, made a speech advocating a separate Quebec before slipping away in his submarine. This is the man who was rescued by the British after the fall of France. He was clothed, fed, armed and made the head of the Free French. As our armed forces approached Paris, the Americans and British pulled back and made way for de Gaulle to enter Paris as the conquering hero. We get little thanks for this from this man who had a free ride to become the next President of France. Over the years men like Trudeau, Brian Mulroney, Jean Chretien, as well as a host of Quebec politicians were wooed by the French government. Not one of them lifted a finger to stop the unconstitutional language laws of Quebec which virtually outlawed the English language in that province. All of them spent money like water flowing from a tap to promote the use of the French language in Canada. Once the Official Language Act was passed and Schedule B was slipped into the Constitution Act of 1982, Canadian politicians were congratulated by the late President Mitterand of France. He said, "Soon the French language will be the language of the northern part of the Western Hemisphere." While in France, Jean Chretien made a public statement that he would "rather that Montcalm had won the Battle of the Plains of Abraham" and that Canada had developed as "a French-speaking nation". He did everything in his power to make it so, by force of law and spending of vast amounts of money Ð taxpayers' money. France was very much involved in the last referendum on separation. It is interesting to note that the runways on St. Pierre were lengthened to allow large troop carrying aircraft to land there. France was prepared to send troops onto Canadian soil if there had been a "Yes" vote. This is the thanks Canadians get for setting up France as a free nation twice in a period of 25 years at the awful cost of the blood of thousands upon thousands of our finest young men. It is time to say enough is enough to France. John I. Fisher North Battleford, SK
