fleur de lis

Here’s Canada…and there’s Quebec.

Does a tweet signal separatism?

Article: Charlie MacDonald – Contributor

[dropcaps round=”no”]S[/dropcaps]ports and politics tend to go hand in hand during all international competitions, but it’s less of a “you got chocolate in my peanut butter” relationship and more of a “you got chocolate on my pulled pork sandwich” relationship. This mash-up causes problems for sports fans, as it adds complications to something that we already enjoy.

When Justine and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe went Gold-Silver in Moguls at the Olympics recently, they celebrated proudly wearing their Canada swag and stood proudly as “O Canada” played during the medal ceremony.

These women look very nice, combine that with their projected success at the Olympics the Canadian Olympic Committee was wise to include them in a photo shoot wearing Team Canada mitts sold at The Bay, a portion of sales going to Canadian Olympic athletes. Unfortunately someone had doctored the photo replacing the Maple Leaf with the Fleur-de-lis and the CAN with QUE.

The Quebec higher education minister, Pierre Duchesne, saw this photo and promptly took to twitter proclaiming that he was taken in by the photograph. After realizing the picture was not the sisters showing Quebec pride, just someone with basic knowledge of Microsoft Paint, he tweeted that he had become another victim of Photoshop.

The question is, was this a legitimate slip up, or were there more sinister intentions behind Mr. Duchesne’s tweets?

Pierre Duchesne is a member of the Separatist Parti Quebecois. He supports the Separatist movement, as he is a leader in a party who wishes for national Sovereignty for Quebec.

To me, this could have been an honest mistake that anyone could have made. Some evidence suggests this was not just a mistake, however.

Firstly, the fact that the Minister of Higher education can’t see an obvious Photoshop, or has an intern who can spot an obvious Photoshop, is dubious.

Secondly, the Dufour-Lapointe sisters are prominent, successful, Canadian athletes and them showing out as primarily Pro-Quebec would be a huge PR boost for the Separatist movement.

If I am being honest, I think Mr. Duchesne saw this photo and got too excited about the potential boost for his movement. He blindly tweeted it and ended up looking like a fool, because he didn’t care for research. He tried to make a bold political statement and stumbled.

The fact that many of the Canadian athletes to medal in this year’s Olympics are from Quebec is relevant in this discussion. What cannot be overlooked, however, is the fact that all Canadian athletes receive Canadian funding, coaching and fan support. If you wear the Maple Leaf, you are Canadian first. Congratulations to all of our Canadian athletes in Sochi.

[button style=”e.g. solid, border” size=”e.g. small, medium, big” link=”” target=””]Image: Benoit Rochon[/button]