Is the Quebec state a parent state?
Fifty years after the Estates General of French Canada (1966, 1967 and 1969), the relationship between the Francophone communities within and outside of Quebec seem to be on the agenda again. They have been discussed in particular since the Quebec Policy on the Canadian Francophonie (2006) was adopted, and even more so since the recent statements made by Jean-Marc Fournier, Minister responsible for Canadian Relations and the Canadian Francophonie, proposing “another vision of Canadian Francophonie” (2015–2016). As a sign of significant relational and referential change, these new links between Francophone communities are part of a transformation in how Quebec and the Francophonie perceive Canada, as reflected in the affirmation statement Québécois, notre façon d’être Canadiens, issued by the Secrétariat aux affaires relations canadiennes (2016). However, is the Quebec state a parent state for Francophones outside Quebec? This is the heuristic question that will pervade this article. The objective is not to offer a definitive answer to this question but rather to arrive at a better understanding, through the question, of the historical and contemporary relations between the Francophone and Quebec communities in the Canadian context. For this, we propose a framework offering an overview of the relations between Francophone communities within and outside of Quebec, based mainly on the identity and political dynamics of cross-border nationalism and the parent state. In that sense, the framework, conceived as a longer-term work in progress, also sheds light on the triangle of relationships between the Quebec state, Francophones outside Quebec and the Canadian state.