Two Solitudes: Quebecers' Attitudes Regarding Canadian Security and Defence Policy

Authors

  • Jean-Sébastien Rioux Institut québécois des hautes etudes internationales (HEI), and Assistant Professor of Political Science, Laval University

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the “conventional wisdom” of an anti-military sentiment present in the province of Québec which allegedly shapes Canadian defence policy. The results support the conventional wisdom and three dimensions emerge. First, a review of the historical and sociological literature shows that the historical differences of French Canadians on defence issues have their roots in the Loyalist-Nationalist divide in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries; French-Canadians perceived that English Canadians were too quick to support foreign British interests then; and American interests now. The second dimension emerges regarding media coverage: while generally inconclusive, an exploratory analysis tends to support the notion that defence issues are not covered as frequently in francophone newspapers. Finally, an examination of several polls since WWII shows that Quebecers are consistently more likely to support pacific conflict resolution and the United Nations, and to oppose defence spending.

Author Biography

Jean-Sébastien Rioux, Institut québécois des hautes etudes internationales (HEI), and Assistant Professor of Political Science, Laval University

Jean-Sébastien Rioux holds the Canada Research Chair in International Security at the Institut québécois des hautes etudes internationales (HEI) at Laval University, where he is also an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Laval University in Québec City, where he was appointed on June 1st, 2001. After serving three years as an infantry non-commissioned officer in the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division from 1987 to 1990, he earned his B.A. from the California State University at Los Angeles in 1992, and obtained his PhD in Political Science from the Florida State University in 1996. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Research Group in International Security (McGill University and the University of Montreal) in 1997-1998, and later was appointed Assistant Professor of International Affairs at Vesalius College, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in Belgium, where he taught from 1999 to 2001. His research interests focus on the determinants of foreign policy behaviour, conflict processes and third party intervention in conflict. He has published his research in several refereed academic journals, such as the Canadian Journal of Political Science, International Politics, Political Research Quarterly and Études Internationales. His most recent co-authored book on the media and foreign aid was published at Palgrave-Macmillan press in New York in 2004, and he is currently working on another book which examines the Canadian government’s decision-making processes in sending forces overseas. He has travelled to over 30 countries in Central and South America; Europe and the Balkans; the Middle East and Africa, where he participates in peacekeeping training missions with the Lester B. Pearson Peacekeeping Center in West Africa. He is frequently called upon to comment on international events in various electronic media and has authored over 20 opinion pieces in various Québec newspapers since the events of 9-11 and the Iraq war.

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Issue

Vol. 7 No. 3 (2004): Winter 2004

Section

Submission from the Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute's (CDFAI) "Research Paper Series", February 23, 2005