'Personne n’est antisémite, mais tout le monde est opposé à l’immigration' : Les discours des responsables politiques québécois sur les réfugiés juifs, 1938-1945

The author points out that Canada was one of many countries where European Jews fleeing Nazi persecution sought asylum in the 1930s and 1940s., however new restrictions on immigration had been introduced and, like many countries during the period, Canada opted not adjust its policies in light of the tragic circumstances of European Jews. Historians have sought to understand the reasons for Canada’s reluctance to welcome Jewish refugees, and whether anti-Semitism was a decisive influence. Although several factors have been cited by scholars, anti-Semitism has come to be regarded as the key explanation for Canada’s restrictive immigration policies. The author notes that Quebec has been portrayed as having had an important influence on these policies, with French Canadians being depicted as hostile to the Jews, if not outright anti-Semites. While the opinions of many important actors have been studied, the author argues that the words of the province’s politicians have not been closely examined, in large part because the reconstituted debates of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec have only recently become available. What, the author asks, did Quebec politicians, who are often automatically cast as anti-Semitic, actually say and what positions did they take ? To answer this question, the authior explores the discourse of Quebec politicians on Jewish refugees between 1938 and 1945. In light of the unique features of the Quebec context and with the help of a matrix for the analysis of racism and its terminology, her study of this discourse reveals a more complex picture than the historiography has sometimes painted.

Globe. Revue internationale d’études québécoises

Vol. 18

no. 1

87-109

2015

fr