July 20, 1997
FOR TREACHERY LOOK TO FRANCE
By BOB MacDONALD
Toronto Sun
No wonder Quebec's treasonous separatists keep pushing La Belle Province steadily towards breaking away from Canada.
After all, Quebec separatist Premier Lucien Bouchard and his Parti Quebecois regime can pull off just about any outrage without getting rapped by fellow Quebecer, Prime Minister Jean Chretien, and his federal Liberal government.
Just take a look at what's happening this week when Quebec's separatist forces will go all out to honor the 30th anniversary of the infamous 1967 visit of France's President Charles de Gaulle.
They even plan to unveil a statue of de Gaulle on Wednesday in Quebec City on the edge of the historic Plains of Abraham -- the battlefield where France lost New France to the British in 1759.
Led by the strongly separatist St. Jean Baptiste Society, the PQ-supported separatists plan to hold a rally in front of Montreal's City Hall on Thursday and stage a cycling race between Quebec City and Montreal. They have already issued their own commemorative stamp of de Gaulle.
"The stamp doesn't have a postal value yet but maybe it will be the first stamp of the Republic of Quebec. Who knows?" said Guy Bouthillier, head of the St. Jean Baptiste Society.
"This isn't simply nostalgia. We understand that this memory is the best way to project ourselves forward (towards separation)," he said.
It's a part of our history how de Gaulle shouted the war cry, "Vive le Quebec libre!" (Long live free Quebec!), from the balcony of Montreal's city hall to a roaring crowd deliberately packed with separatists.
As one of the reporters covering the French president's visit, I recall my reaction. Standing across the street, looking up at the balcony, I turned to some fellow reporters and shouted: "The sonofabitch has finally said it!"
What I meant was what a few of us had been predicting -- that de Gaulle planned all along to cause mischief on his official visit to Canada during its centennial year and his tour of the World Exposition in Montreal.
I had written in a scene-setting story 10 days before that de Gaulle, a student of history, was staging a symbolic retaking of New France.
He first visited St. Pierre and Miquelon, France's last possessions in North America, and then proceeded on the French warship Colbert up the St. Lawrence to land at Quebec City.
However, the point of landing was referred to in the agenda as Anse du Foulon, the name it held before the British forces of Gen. James Wolfe landed there in 1759.
The British climbed from there to the Plains of Abraham above, where they defeated the French forces of the Marquis de Montcalm. From that time on, Anse du Foulon was called Wolfe's Cove.
Among other things noted was that de Gaulle planned to travel by motorcade to Montreal, stopping for welcomes along the way, on the road that had earlier been called Chemin du Roi (the King's highway).
Along the way, de Gaulle kept urging Quebec to "become master of its destiny" -- music to the ears of the separatists and the Union National forces of Premier Dan Johnson.
Unfortunately, the federal government of Liberal PM Lester Pearson had pussyfooted around the issue until de Gaulle finally issued his battle cry. Then he was sent packing.
But the damage was done -- and France has been encouraging Quebec separatists ever since. Some thanks from a country that Canadians fought and died for in two world wars.
Chretien did successfully object to France issuing an official stamp honoring de Gaulle's 1967 visit.
But he should also object strongly to the fact former French prime minister Pierre Messmer and Philippe Sequin, a former speaker of the French National Assembly and a supporter of Quebec independence, will attend the statue unveiling in Quebec City.
How much encouragement to treason does Canada stand for?
What other nation would stand for such shameless foreign interference?