Salute the Patriots Who Fought in 1837-38 to
Create a Modern Republic!

– Youth for Democratic Renewal –

VIDEO

On the occasion of Quebec National Day and one week prior to what is called Canada Day, Youth for Democratic Renewal salutes the modern nation-building project of the Quebec nation as well as that of the Canadian working class and people. The rebellion waged by the patriots in 1837-38 set the course for nation building today by declaring the Republic of Quebec, as well as the Two-Star Republic, not based on the Anglo-Canadian domination of the peoples in this land, later enshrined in the British North America Act 1867, but as an equal and sovereign republican union between the peoples of Upper and Lower Canada.

It is those patriots who undertook serious efforts in their day to rise against the impunity of the British Empire and its King, to provide real solutions to the problems faced by the peoples. It was a glorious first attempt in this country to vest sovereignty in the people themselves and create a sovereign nation in their service.

This is significant because it was not about individuals with power and privilege doing everything in their means to retain it, but about peoples oppressed by the British colonial yoke working out among themselves what should be their constitution and state, how their governments should be elected and what they stand for, what should be the economic relations in the society, what should be the national boundaries and borders, etc. This was history-making -- an historic achievement which we celebrate to this day and we salute all the 1837-38 patriots in Upper and Lower Canada for their deeds in this nation-building work which contributes to the treasury of progressive humanity.

It is not just what they took up that is significant. What is also significant is how the British empire-builders and their Anglo-Canadian progeny dealt with such a serious attempt at building an independent Two-Star Republic. They were and are past masters in intimidation, deceit, fakery, forgeries, fraud and eradicating memory by making sure silence reigns.

The patriots who rose in struggle and were subsequently captured by the British imperialists were subject to the most brutal and inhuman treatment to deny them dignity. Some were executed, as in the case of 12 patriots of Lower Canada and, in Upper Canada, Samuel Lount, a proletarian blacksmith, and Peter Matthews, a farmer. Despite a petition demanding clemency, personally signed by 35,000 citizens of Upper Canada, over 10 per cent of the population, both were hanged on April 12, 1838 in the courtyard of the King Street Gaol in Toronto for steadfastly partaking in the struggle of the Upper Canada patriots. With his final words, Lount proudly stated that he was not ashamed of anything he had done. He remains a hero of the Canadian people and was immortalized in a monument at William Lyon Mackenzie's Toronto home, which is today a museum.

Other patriots of Upper and Lower Canada who escaped death did not fare much better -- 64 Lower Canadian patriots and 92 Upper Canadian patriots were sent to the other end of the world, Van Diemen's Land, the British colonial name for Tasmania. Here they were exiled beside murderers and criminals of varied nature, waiting to be sentenced. One of these men, Benjamin Wait, wrote numerous letters from Van Diemen's Land, which were later compiled into a book. In March 1840, Wait wrote to a friend residing in the United States about the British colonial treatment in exile, stating its method was that "every vestige of hope must be crushed, the mind enthralled, and every misery aggravated, by consigning our persons to abject servitude; and debased by a similitude to, and connection with the most degraded beings of which the human mind can conceive ... [ordered] by a despot, whose barbarous purposes, could not be adequately exhibited in the mental agony caused by a coerced residence on these antipodes, 16,000 miles from home and all that is dear." These letters show the debasement of the dignity of the patriots who dared to struggle for the freedom of the people.

To this point, Wait further wrote in the same letter, "I do not comply with your request so much for the purpose of giving publicity to my individual sufferings, as I do with a desire of exposing the system of treachery and consummate barbarity, as practiced towards acknowledged 'political offenders,' when in their power without the means of redress, by the 'self-styled' generous, liberal, and humane British government." In other words, here Wait is pleading with his friend not to publicize his own case, but to shed light on the barbaric treatment of the patriots of Upper and Lower Canada, and expose the British monarchy for its false veil of generosity while persecuting, for political motives, the best persons the Canadas gave rise to.

Following the launching of these struggles, criminalization of conscience reigned, and in Upper Canada over 800 people were arrested for sympathizing with the cause of the patriots or for merely supporting reform of the British colonialist system imposed on the Canadas, while in Lower Canada more than 1,700 people were imprisoned for the same alleged crime.

These facts raise the question of why this brutal suppression of the people is omitted in official history, bringing out the essence of how the patriots are treated in bourgeois historiography, especially by the Anglo-Canadian rulers with their methods of fraud and disinformation. The patriots of Upper Canada are portrayed as brutes whose drunk grievances at Montgomery's Tavern in Toronto were turned into an ill-advised rebellion. The patriots of Lower Canada are portrayed as being in favour of a "war of the races," wanting to split what they call "English Canada" and "French Canada" on the basis of linguistic background. In both cases, bourgeois historiography presents British despotism as standing for reason, for law and order and for modern values. As it is presented, they put down the patriots of Upper Canada for their lawlessness and anarchy, while the patriots of Lower Canada were put down to stabilize the cohesion of the Canadas and end Lower Canada's "war of the races." This view presents the patriots as backward, its own forces as modern.

Our treatment of history rejects with contempt these assertions that attempt to demean the patriots and their nation-building struggle. It was they who, within their conditions, took up a definite struggle for what was necessary to solve the problems in a manner which favoured the peoples of Upper and Lower Canada. We say categorically that that struggle and those forces who took it up were modern, not only in the conditions of their time, but beyond their time, while those who killed, jailed and deported the patriots to Van Diemen's Land can be considered the historical antithesis of modern progress.

What official Anglo-Canadian historiography tries desperately to obscure with its eradication of the struggle of the patriots is that history unfolds according to definite social laws of development -- whoever grasps these laws can fulfill man's wishes in accordance with nature. At any given time those forces which demand the progress of society can and must grasp these laws, and fetters on this progress only serve to further destroy society and the planet for the self-interest of the rulers. This is what is happening at the present time when whatever the imperialists cannot control they destroy, and what the British imperialists did with the hangings, jailings and exile of the best of the two Canadas. When one learns about the struggle of the patriots, one is imbued with their heroic spirit and filled with inspiration, because one learns that in this country persons of conscience have taken the opportunity to rise up, have taken up what is required to fulfill the demands of the people, have taken the initiative into their own hands. There are flows and ebbs along this road, but neither force, nor weapons, nor deception, nor intimidation can eradicate the ability of the people to think about what is in their interests, raise demands and actually realize them, in accordance with historical and social laws. This is what is important from the struggle of the patriots, why they are relevant to us today and why we continue to raise this history.

It is within this context that we conclude, affirming our salute to the 1837-38 patriots of Upper and Lower Canada who strove to build a society fit for the peoples who inhabit it. We have not allowed and will not allow the rulers to get away with imposing their historical fraud on this heroic struggle.

Quebec Patriots Inaugurate National Day in 1834

Ludger Duvernay and the members of the Aide-toi, le ciel t’aidera Society institute June 24 as Quebec’s National Day in 1834.

The patriot newspaper La Minevre, whose purpose was to "spread education especially in the agricultural class and defend the Just Claims of Canadiens," in its June 26, 1834 issue, wrote about Quebec's first National Day celebrated two days earlier on June 24. The article said: "This celebration, the purpose of which is to cement the union between Canadiens, will not be fruitless. It will be celebrated every year as National Day." Ludger Duvernay, founder of the patriotic organization Aide-toi et le ciel t'aidera (God helps those who help themselves) and publisher and editor of La Minerve, led the initiative.

An explicitly political celebration, the first National Day was established within the context of the struggle of the inhabitants of Lower Canada to affirm their rights against the British Crown. In fact, in February 1834, 92 resolutions were passed by the House of Assembly of Lower Canada demanding greater control by citizens over the economic and political decisions made in the colony.

Without waiting for a decision from London, the celebration of the first National Day was organized in the garden of the lawyer MacDonnell. More than 37 toasts and speeches were made, all of them saluting the enlightened ideas of the time and the people defending them. The first toast was to the people as "the primary source of all legitimate authority, and the day we are celebrating."

Far from division on the basis of language or national origin -- which has been imposed on us by the past and present Anglo-Canadian state arrangements -- participants highlighted the contribution of the Irish patriots such as Daniel Tracey, founder of the Irish Vindicator and Canada General Advertiser, who supported the demands of the people of Lower Canada seeking to exercise control over their destiny.

The struggle of William Lyon Mackenzie and of the "other reformers of Upper Canada" to assert the rights of the nascent nation of the day was also toasted. The arrival of British citizens in Lower Canada was also welcomed. The Patriots who were present at the banquet, La Minerve reported, celebrated "Emigration: May the thousands of British subjects who come every year to seek asylum on our shores against the abuses and oppression they are suffering in their native country, find such will not take place amongst us and may they find the welcome they deserve! They will form with the people of Canada an impenetrable and irresistible phalanx against tyranny."

A specific toast was also raised to the "artisans and working classes of Montreal and of this country in general. May education continue to spread among society's useful members; may they procure the well-being and ease that their work deserves."

The first National Day also began another tradition that is alive and well today – that of offering songs and poems to celebrate Quebec's nationhood.

(Collectif Jos Monferrand; Hardial Bains Resource Centre)

Brief Account of Origins and Significance of
Quebec National Day

June 24 is celebrated as Quebec's National Day. The Quebec people's National Day celebrates the Patriots who fought for independence from Britain in the mid-19th century: Nelson, De Lorimier, Côté, Chénier, Duvernay, O'Callaghan and many others. They fought to establish an independent homeland and republic that vests sovereignty in the people. It includes celebrating all those who have espoused and those who continue to espouse the cause of the Quebec Patriots, in particular all those committed to elaborating a nation-building project commensurate with the needs of the times.

According to some official circles, however, Quebec celebrates its National Day on June 24 because that is the Day of St. John the Baptist, declared patron saint of Quebec by the Catholic Church to undermine the celebration of the Summer Solstice by the Indigenous Peoples. Between June 21 and 24, the longest days of the year, since time immemorial, activities have been organized to pay tribute to the sun. A tribute to the light, bonfires were also an occasion for public rejoicing in what was Gaul and northern Europe. The summer solstice is still celebrated in Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, England, Peru, Ecuador, Canada and many other countries.

In what was to become Quebec, the bonfire tradition was noted by the Jesuit Louis LeJeune on the banks of the St. Lawrence in 1636. In 1646, the Journal des Jésuites reported that "on the 23rd of June a bonfire is lit on Saint-John's Day at eight-thirty in the evening. Five cannon shots were fired and the muskets were fired two or three times."

New France was largely rural at that time. The rhythm of work was linked to the seasons, and the solstice provided a few moments of respite and entertainment before the start of the big haymaking and harvest work.

The Church, through the Council of Trent (1545-1563), attempted to Christianize the solstice as a celebration of light around a joyous bonfire by replacing it with a portrayal of submission in the person of Saint John the Baptist. In the same vein, in 1702, Monseigneur de Saint-Vallier, in his Catechism for the Diocese of Quebec that was intended for the Canadiens, noted that the Catholic Church in the New World -- the colonies of the French empire -- considered that ceremony acceptable so long as the "dances and superstitions" of the Indigenous Peoples were banished.

When Ludger Duvernay and the elected members of the Patriot Party inaugurated the National Day of the nascent Quebec nation, they did so within a spirit very different from the orientation desired by the Church. Historians like Leopold Gagner, quoted in Denis Monière's biography of Duvernay, said that Duvernay had been influenced by St. Patrick's Day, which for the Irish is "a precious instrument for the reclamation of their freedom and rights."

Quebec's National Day is celebrated in Montreal, June 24, 1924. (Pointe-à-Callière Museum)

Today, it is noteworthy that on June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day, a "Solstice of the Nations" takes place. It is "an expression of exchange and friendship amongst the nations living in Quebec." The Fire Ceremony held by the Indigenous nations is "to encourage closer ties amongst the peoples living on Quebec's territory," so that "the coals of that fire light up the bonfire of the Great Show of Quebec's National Celebration, on the Plains of Abraham."

(Hardial Bains Resource Centre)

June 23, 1990
35th Anniversary of Defeat of Meech Lake Accord

Need for Democratic Renewal and a Modern Constitution Is Urgent

On June 23, 1990, the Meech Lake Accord was defeated. It was a set of amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated behind closed doors in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the provincial premiers. The failure of the Meech Lake Accord marked a deepening of the constitutional crisis which has now become an existential crisis due to Canada's all-sided integration into the U.S. war economy and state arrangements.

The Meech Lake Accord was signed as a result of the crisis which accompanied the 1980 Quebec Referendum on the place of Quebec within Canada and Quebec's refusal to sign on to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau government's "patriated" Constitution of 1982. Trudeau had promised that he would draft a new constitutional agreement after the 1980 Quebec referendum was defeated. His promise was realized in the form of the addition of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and an amending formula to the British North America Act of 1867 (BNA Act 1867), an act of the British Imperial Parliament, which is called the Constitution of Canada. With Pierre Trudeau's addition, the BNA Act 1867 became Canada's Constitution Act 1982. It was the "Canadian equivalent" of Britain's Canada Act passed by the British Parliament on March 29, 1982. On this basis, it was claimed that the Constitution was "patriated." While the claim is made that this ended Canada's formal dependence on Britain, the fact remains that the King of England is Canada's Head of State and, most importantly, Canadians have never adopted a constitution of their own, enshrining what they would consider to be the principles guiding Canada in the 21st century. In other words, the Constitution of Canada does not vest sovereignty in the people of Canada in any way, shape or form.

Canada's Constitution Act 1982 includes an amending formula as well as the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Besides not vesting sovereignty in the people, which means it did not enshrine the modern conception of equality or the rights and duties of citizens on a modern basis, it also failed to establish nation-to-nation relations with the Indigenous Peoples and to recognize Quebec's right to self-determination. Failure to recognize Quebec's right to self-determination is why Quebec refused to sign it. This created a constitutional crisis which the Mulroney government attempted to resolve by commencing constitutional negotiations in 1985. These negotiations culminated with the Meech Lake Accord two years later on June 23, 1987. Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa said the Constitution needed five modifications for Quebec to sign.

On that basis, the following changes were laid out in the Accord: it declared Quebec a "distinct society" within Canada; gave Quebec a constitutional veto; increased provincial powers with respect to immigration; extended and regulated the right to reasonable financial compensation for any province that opted out of any future federal programs in areas of exclusive provincial jurisdiction; and provided for provincial input in appointing senators and Supreme Court judges.

In this way, instead of modernizing the Constitution in a manner that favours the people, the Meech Lake Accord sought to maintain the status quo.

Because the Meech Lake Accord would have changed the Constitution, according to the Amending Formula, the changes -- especially those which modified the Supreme Court -- required the consent of all provincial and federal legislatures within three years. The 10 provincial premiers soon agreed but, as the three-year deadline for consent of all legislatures drew near, the consensus began to unravel. To try to save Meech, a First Ministers' Conference was held 20 days before the signing deadline, resulting in an agreement for further rounds of constitutional negotiations. During that conference, Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells attacked the secrecy of the whole process of decision-making. On June 23, 1990, the deadline date, Elijah Harper, a First Nations Member of the Manitoba Legislature, to his eternal credit signalled his refusal to give approval by holding up an eagle feather. This blocked the motion required for the Manitoba Legislature to vote on the Accord and get unanimous consent. Premier Wells then cancelled a proposed vote in the Newfoundland Legislature and the Meech Lake Accord was officially dead.

Demonstration against Meech Lake Accord outside the Manitoba Legislature, June 21, 1990.

A main feature of the Meech Lake Accord was its failure to clarify what was meant by "distinct society" when referring to Quebec. When it stated that Quebec was a "distinct society" it also declared that the role of the legislature and government of Quebec was to "preserve and promote the distinct identity of Quebec." The term "distinct society" remained undefined in the documents and the "distinct" features of Quebec were not enumerated, nor were any guidelines given by which these features could be preserved and promoted. "Distinct society" was subject to many interpretations, but the predominant one that emerged was the old fiction that Quebec was distinct simply because the people spoke French. By making language the only issue, the Meech formulation of a "distinct society" denied that the Quebec people comprise a nation that has historically evolved with a common economy and territory, language, culture and psychology that have the imprint of this development. Further, it denied the Quebec people the right to self-determination. Telling the Quebec Legislature what it was to do also did not go over well.

Another significant feature of the Meech Lake Accord was its overall promotion of national disunity and inequality. Defining a nation by language alone leads to the theory that Canada is populated by a large number of different "ethno-linguistic nations," all of which should or could supposedly have independent status, but only two of them -- the "English" and "French" -- are given pride of place.

The Meech Lake Accord also created disunity by devolving federal powers to the provinces, suggesting the existence of 10 small nations (the provinces) and one big one, the federal government. The two territories (Nunavut did not yet exist) were not invited to Meech (they participated by video conference) because Mulroney considered they had insufficient power to affect any decisions. This was seen to imply that the regions of Canada each had different status. Meech also gave each province a veto to block legislation and it was clear that each province would use its veto to promote narrow interests of its own regional economic and political power-brokers rather than to advance an overall national interest or aim.

A third main feature of the Meech Lake Accord was its failure to affirm or even address the hereditary rights of the Indigenous Peoples, which amounted to giving the colonial suppression of those rights a green light. The rights of the Indigenous Peoples are not a peripheral issue but should be enshrined in the Constitution of Canada on a modern basis, beyond the incorporation of the Royal Proclamation of 1763.

The Royal Proclamation was issued by King George III to officially claim British territory in North America after Britain won the Seven Years War. It sets out that only the Crown can buy land from First Nations.

The Indigenous Peoples have a right not to be subjected to the decision-making of the Crown. They have a rightful claim to the territories of their ancestors and to the determination of what can and must be done with them. As sovereign peoples they have the right to determine not only their affairs but to participate in determining the affairs of Canada as a whole. In the proposed modifications to the Constitution, the Meech Lake Accord did not deal with any of this. Indigenous leaders also raised two other issues. One was their exclusion from the entire Meech proceedings. The other was the potential transfer of federal services to the provinces implied by the clause calling for compensation to provinces for opting out of federal programs. This directly affects programs crucial to the well-being of the Indigenous Peoples over which they must be able to exercise control.

A fourth main feature of the Meech Lake Accord was the anti-democratic nature of the proceedings. All consultations were held behind the backs of the people. In fact, people referred to the process as 11 white men in suits dealing with the future of the country behind closed doors. Once the Meech agreement was reached in secret, the 11 First Ministers tried to impose it on the people without any discussion or deliberation. There was no broad consultation involving the people at any time, the agenda was not set according to what the people wanted, and the items discussed and included in the Accord were only those that the First Ministers wanted on behalf of the narrow private interests they were sworn to serve and protect.

The people's displeasure with the Meech proceedings was captured by the 1990 Citizens' Forum on Canada's Future, commonly referred to as the Spicer Commission. Prime Minister Mulroney, who was forced to convene it just after Meech was defeated, claimed that his government wanted to hear the opinions of Canadians. The Spicer Commission published its findings in 1991 with many Canadians and the people of Quebec expressing their acute awareness that something was lacking in the Canadian political process, that politicians were not to be trusted, and that mechanisms were required to empower the people. Many called for the formation of a constituent assembly which would enable the people to deliberate and decide on their own constitution.

All of the proposals and recommendations of the Spicer Commission were subsequently ignored by the Government of Canada.

The significance of the Meech Lake Accord today is that in this era the people want to be the arbiters and decision-makers. It is the work for democratic renewal which will open society's path to progress, not reordering the status quo in the name of change, modernization or making every vote count.

The Meech Lake Accord confirmed that a form of political power has emerged in Canada with absolute power resting in the hands of global oligopolies, with those who call themselves the people's political representatives in fact acting in the service of their cartels and coalitions. The suggestion that the Prime Minister and the 10 provincial premiers should be the only ones to propose the Constitution, and that the people should be excluded from the process was resoundingly rejected because the times demand that power be transferred to the people acting in their own interests. People want to take politics out of the hands of the narrow private vested interests and place them in the hands of those who will deal with the real problems that the people face, such as the economic insecurity that is the number one worry and the deepest concern of the people, along with Canada's integration into the U.S. war machine.

The failure of the Meech Lake Accord also led to the eventual demise of the parliamentary configuration of the Liberal and Conservative "party-in-power" and "party-in-opposition," with the virtual decimation of the Conservatives in 1993. This was followed by the sorry state of the Liberals as a result of the "sponsorship scandal" following the 1995 referendum in Quebec, which concentrated more and more power in fewer and fewer hands. Since then, the political parties with seats in the House of Commons have formed a mafia-like cartel to keep the people disempowered. What are called political parties are all about getting elected on the basis of maintaining data bases to micro-target voters while the divide between those who govern and those who are governed widens with each passing day. Today no government has the consent of the governed and the need for democratic renewal is more urgent than ever.

The causes of the constitutional crisis clearly require attention. These include: the need to guarantee nation-to-nation relations with the Indigenous Peoples so as to end colonial injustice and provide redress for all the wrongs committed against them; the need to enshrine equality of membership in the body politic by ending all notions of rights based on privilege and so-called reasonable limits and enshrine equal rights for all citizens and residents; the need to vest sovereignty in the people and not a fictitious person of state, let alone one who is a foreign monarch. Finally, it requires the creation of a free and equal union by recognizing the right of the people of Quebec to self-determination, including secession if they so decide – something the Meech Lake Accord refused to do. Unless Canada is constituted as a free and equal union, one part will remain superior to the others and rule over all those who are citizens and residents and all its constituent parts including the Indigenous nations and all national minorities, by using police powers whenever it does not get its way.

The Time to Modernize the Constitution Is Now!

(Hardial Bains Resource Centre Archives)

(To access articles individually click on the black headline.)

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Salute the Patriots Who Fought in 1837-38 to Create a Modern Republic!