Québec Separatism in the Polish Weekly Newspaper Czas [Polish Times]

Abstract

Some processes in every country’s history are significant and well-known to any scholar who is interested in the subject. In the history of Canada, there are many processes of this kind, for example relations with the Indigenous People or attitude towards immigrants. Québec separatism is one of these processes. There are a lot of publications and vivid discussions about this issue, however, they lack opinions from ethnic groups other than English speakers. This paper presents the history of Québec separatism from 1960 to 1980 seen through the eyes of Poles in Canada and expressed in Czas [Polish Times] — a weekly newspaper published by the Polish Diaspora in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which is a city in the prairies distant from Québec and the second largest agglomeration of Poles in Canada after Toronto. Czas was the only newspaper in that area which shaped the opinions of Polish speakers. The author used content analysis to best show the various aspects of research. This paper aims to present different views on Québec separatism that changed over time from ignorance through compromise, warnings, and danger to the first separatist referendum in 1980. The elaboration proves that even though there were not many original articles about Québec separatism in Czas — many of them were reprints from other papers, the Polish Diaspora was involved in keeping Canada united. It was a result of devotion to the Land of Maple Leaf as well as a reflection of the situation in Poland.