Beyond nationalism: A true independence for Québec

The history of Québec is one of national oppression and subjugation of the working class to the interests of the British, then Canadian, and finally Québécois exploiting classes. The two narratives have often subverted one another, as the pendulum swings from ferocious class war to an equally ferocious struggle for national liberation, eventually settling somewhere in the middle. The important thing to remember is that the two are inextricably linked.

The future of Québec, independent, sovereign, and radiant, depends not on the breaking of the bonds of the Confederation, but on the destruction of the chains of exploitation. It is a simplistic overstatement to claim that the fight for an independent Québec must come first and foremost in the minds and souls of the Québécois people, for an independent Québec in a capitalist context simply means an even deeper exploitation of the Québécois by the native bourgeois as well as the foreign imperialists.

If Québec is now a semi-colony of Canada, it’s independence would most certainly mean the subordination of the nation to the interests and whims not only of the anglophone Canadian bourgeois, but even more so to the American companies and bosses. Québec would be ripe for exploitation by the larger imperialist nations of the world, and it would soon find that for all the talk of «Maîtres chez-nous» they will be just as oppressed as before. And let us take note as well that this is a globalised economy, the national bourgeois of Québec are tied by a thousand strings to their Canadian, American, and international counterparts. They can play no independent role, and they are the ones who would be leading this new Québécois paradise.

Apart from the threat of further foreign domination, the Québécois would be right to fear their home grown tycoons and corporations, who have nothing more than profit as their highest concern. Without the generous contributions of the Canadian taxpayers, the Québécois state would be forced to shoulder the burden of services and finance squarely on the shoulders of the workers.

Donc, vivre, vivre, VIVRE, le Québec libre...libéré du capitalisme!