Ban the Bloc?

That the Bloc Quebecois is allowed a voice in Parliament is a testament to the strength of our democracy. That the party is so popular reveals a weakness of our federalist parties.

A year from now, almost to the day, the Bloc Quebecois will celebrate its 20th anniversary, marking the birth of a dissident movement whose mission is to redraw our borders, undo the visionary statecraft of our founders, and destroy Canada as we know it.

Since its founding, the Bloc has compiled a record that is as savoury to separatists as it is scandalous to federalists: triumph over the 1992 Charlottetown Accord, near-victory in the 1995 Quebec referendum, checkmate in the 1998 Supreme Court secession reference, and a majority of Quebec seats in each of the six federal elections since 1993, including one term as Official Opposition in the House of Commons.

These are undeniably impressive political achievements. Beneath them, however, lie equally undeniable truths about the role of the Bloc in Canadian political life and, more broadly, about the fundamental values that shape the unique contours of democracy in Canada.

Consider a revealing contrast: under the laws of other democracies, a separatist party like the Bloc could be banned from the political process. With little constitutional recourse, the rights and privileges the Bloc enjoys here in Canada would be instantly withdrawn from it in other countries.

And perhaps with reason. After all, no state should stand idle as it stares down the possibility of disunity. Failure to act against the danger of destruction is tantamount to renouncing the two most basic functions of the state: to defend its territorial integrity, and to ensure its stability in the face of threats both internal and external. That is why no reasonable person could reproach democratic countries like France, Israel, Spain, India, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Belgium and Turkey for authorizing the dissolution of political parties that risk peril to the state. It is a difficult though perhaps necessary decision to restrict political participation.

But Canada has made a different choice. And I believe it is the right one.

Canada has permitted the separatist Bloc Quebecois to participate freely in all stages of the political process. The Bloc is entitled to: organize rallies, field candidates, hold official party status, receive federal taxpayer-funded subsidies (to the tune of about $32 million since the year 2000), and charge the federal treasury for research services, office expenses and staff salaries. That is the red-carpet treatment.

No separatist party could ask for more. In welcoming the Bloc onto the federal scene, Canada has done far more than merely tolerate the party. Quite the contrary, Canada has cultivated a political culture in which the Bloc is respected as a legitimate participant in our national conversation.

And that is precisely as it should be.

We need not agree with the objectionable views of the Bloc to believe that the party should have a voice in our public forum. That is the virtue of what democracy means in Canada. We may associate freely – even for contemptible purposes – with few restrictions. We may express our convictions – even if they displease the listening audience – because we believe that democracy means nothing if it censures dialogue, especially political expression. And we may participate in the political process no matter our vision for Canada. Not only because participation stands at the base of the Canadian project of democracy but also because it is the very font from which spring our shared values and principles.

As a francophone native of Quebec, I am proud to live in Canada – a citadel of democracy that is open even to those who are fiercely committed to dividing the country.

But I am nevertheless dismayed at the resilience of the Bloc. To watch the Bloc score successive majorities in Quebec – thanks not only to avowed separatists but also non-separatists who see themselves and their aspirations reflected more clearly in the Bloc than elsewhere – is both shocking and saddening. For in the zero-sum game of Canadian unity, a step forward for the Bloc means a step backward for Canada.

Will the Bloc continue to carry the day in Quebec? I hope not. But until a federalist political party finally solves the enduring puzzle of Quebec nationalism, the Bloc appears destined, at least for the near future, to remain the first choice in Quebec – precisely where it has been since its birth twenty years ago.