The Gaullist Attack on Canada, 1967-1997

The Gaullist Attack on Canada reveals a phase of French imperialism that poses a threat to Canadian Confederation. Since the 1960s, Bosher argues, de Gaulle and his followers have conspired to stimulate Quebec separatism as part of their larger goal to revive France's role as a great power. He bases his case on the evidence of France's actions in other former French colonies, especially in Africa, as well as the writings of such leading Gaullist conspirators as Bernard Dorin, Pierre-Claude Mallen, Pierre de Menthon, and Philippe Rossillon, who have boasted about their efforts to win Quebec away from Canada for France. Bosher criticizes the Canadian government for its failure to respond to, or even to recognize, the Gaullist threat. The Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs in the 1960s, Marcel Cadieux, wanted to take vigorous steps against the Gaullist mafia but was overruled by his political superiors. Bosher argues that, even now, by standing up to French aggression the government might weaken the separatist movement in Quebec, or at least turn the tide of political support for it.