Video and Article - Two Solitudes - Quebec & Hong Kong
“we now struggle to prepare the love that consists of two solitudes which border, protect, and greet each other”
Once I was tall enough to post my own letter to Santa, I learned the post box could kill. I was nine years old when my parents told me “beware of post boxes”. Terrorists were placing bombs in post boxes in the affluent English neighbourhoods of Montreal to gain attention for their cause, the separation of the largely French-speaking province of Quebec from the largely English-speaking country of Canada.
The 1970’s and 80’s were a turbulent time in Quebec as politics and economics clashed and the English and French fought their turf. These two language groups, or two solitudes, as they were labelled in Hugh MacLennan’s bestselling Canadian novel of the same name, had descended from families that were long fought enemies on both Canadian and foreign soil.
As separatism raged through the province, Canadians everywhere began a dialogue to understand why Quebecois were unhappy and wanted to separate. The wealth gap between the English and French in Quebec was large and housing, education, healthcare, and job opportunities all favoured the “anglophone” English. The French speaking “Quebecois” mostly contributed the industrial labour and blue-collar jobs to fuel the economy which ultimately further enriched shareholders who were mostly all English speaking.
I watched with interest as leaders on both sides of this debate began to dissect the conflict into issues that could be better understood and addressed. Of paramount importance was opportunity for Quebecois people and protection of their distinct language and culture faced with the growing influence of English-speaking media in Canada and USA.
Never at any time did English Canada try to force its solutions of the future onto the separatists (but it did bring the military into Montreal to protect little boys and their families from letter bombs and other terrorist acts). Through dialogue, numerous changes were negotiated to accommodate Quebec’s grievances. Canada remained intact, the French language and culture were protected and Quebecois are better off today than at any time in history. Problems remain but the two solitudes were able to demonstrate respect for each other through dialogue leading to changes. Terrorism never reappeared like it had in what is now called “The October Crisis”.
I completed my education and commenced my career in Quebec then jumped on the globalisation bandwagon and moved to Hong Kong in 1989 arriving months after the Tienanmen massacre in Beijing.
In Hong Kong I was amazed that despite Quebec and Hong Kong having roughly the same size population and both featuring a distinct language and culture different from a much bigger population next door, whereas Quebec fought for its self-preservation, Hong Kong was essentially apolitical and focused instead on getting rich.
Hong Kong’s relative disinterest in politics changed with the Umbrella Movement of 2014 by which time the same socio-economic issues which fuelled Quebec’s separatism in the 1970’s was also rampant in Hong Kong. Beijing was increasingly encroaching on Hong Kong’s distinct language and culture while housing, education, healthcare, and job opportunities were beginning to favour the Mandarin speaking Chinese from China.
The big difference between Hong Kong 2014 and Quebec 1970’s was dialogue. Whereas the conflict in Quebec resulted in dialogue with Canada, the conflict in Hong Kong resulted in avoidance from both governments in Hong Kong and Beijing. This lack of dialogue is what caused the students to take their protest into the streets.
Dialogue gap between China’s two solitudes continued after the Umbrella Movement and not surprisingly erupted again into even more violent protests last year. The resumption of protests following a lull due to Covid’19 is what has led Beijing to impose its own national security law onto the “Special Autonomous Region” of Hong Kong even though millions of people marched against the law last year.
Hugh MacLennan’s term Two Solitudes was penned by the German writer Rainer Maria Rilke. He used the term to refer to the ideal expression of love and respect between two sovereign individuals. MacLennan extended Rilke’s two solitudes to also refer to the ideal expression of love and respect between two sovereign peoples. Beijing should learn from the Quebec experience if it wants the best for both Hong Kong and China because the solution is in the dialogue.
“The experience of loving, that now disappoints so many, can actually change and be transformed from the ground up into the building of a relationship between two human beings, not just a man and a woman. And this more authentic love will be evident in the utterly considerate, gentle, and clear manner of its binding and releasing. It will resemble what we now struggle to prepare: the love that consists of two solitudes which border, protect, and greet each other.”
Peter Nixon, Hong Kong
4 June 2020
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