Tintamarre

In a previous post I mentioned that the Acadian flag dates back to 1884. What I should have also said was that the flag was never intended to represent a portion of a province’s or country’s population. Rather, it was to represent a People, the descendants of the non-Native people who first settled in Acadia before 1710, as well as those who integrated into Acadian society after 1710, and especially after 1755. Where the Acadians lived after 1755 was of no consequence since the original settlements and settlement patterns had been destroyed forever. Therefore, the flag’s sphere of influence extends beyond New Brunswick, beyond the Atlantic Provinces, and even beyond North America. Acadia has no borders, and neither does its flag.

A similar argument could be made for the flag of the Mi’kmaq. Their flag no longer represents a territory per se, but all Mi’kmaq and all people who integrated into Mi’kmaq society claim that flag for themselves. There can always be a debate as to whether recognising the Acadian flag as an official flag of the province was a good move or not. But that’s an entirely different issue.

The Anglo Society, however, never pretended to be anything more than a provincial organisation. It purportedly represents all the non-Francophones of New Brunswick. But what does this mean, exactly? What historical moment or process led to the creation of a nation called English New Brunswick? That would be 1784, when the territory north of the Chignecto isthmus became New Brunswick. The province included a relatively sizeable number of francophones, the vast majority of them being of Acadian descent, but the province was nonetheless quite English. Therefore, the flag of New Brunswick IS the proper flag of English-speaking New Brunswick. But because New Brunswick actually has a territory to call its own, anyone living there can also call the flag its own. This includes the Acadians who live in New Brunswick.

So, what exactly does the Anglo flag represent? It represents the ultimate goal of the Anglo Society: linguistic inequality. It harkens back to the days where equality was afforded to anyone as long as they spoke English. That’s what they mean by “Equal Rights For All.” The flag represents the myth of French rule in the province, a myth the Anglo Society is only too happy to promote. It advances their slogan of “Bilingual Today, French Tomorrow.” The choice of Sept. 18 as the “national holiday,” the day Quebec surrendered to British forces in 1759, doesn’t help things.

The goal is clearly to put the French in their place. It sounds like they really don’t like the French. Worse, they’re doing their best to convince others to not like the French either. Or at least to not like the French who won’t be English. Denying equality, spreading false information about an identifiable cultural or ethnic group... Doesn’t that meet the definition of hate?