By Glen Duerr
Monday, December 12, 2005
This week, Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe unveiled his intentions to further the cause of separatism by founding a Quebec national hockey team. He cited the cases of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland participating separately in soccer’s World Cup as a reason why Quebec should be allowed to play international Hockey separate from Canada. While many Canadians will likely write his suggestion off as unlikely or even absurd, it does hold some historical precedence and should be taken seriously. after all, sport has long blurred the traditional lines of sovereignty. To cite just one example, soccer’s world governing body, FIFa, now has 207 members in comparison to the United Nations’ 191 member states.
The timing of Duceppe’s comments is also important given the proximity of this election to the 2006 Winter Olympic Games to be held in Turin, Italy. The Olympics, however, is not a feasible launching pad for Quebec’s entry into world sports because, as Duceppe admits, even Great Britain competes as a united country during this time. What the announcement does do is it gives the Bloc Quebecois a tangible vision to sell to voters given the fact that a national hockey team would be a real part of an independent Quebec. It matters little that some prominent Quebec born hockey players have renounced the idea and that Kevin Lowe did not support their plan. What matters most is the vision of the Quebec hockey player skating down the ice in his blue and white jersey to the roar of the crowd which, in turn, is waving the Quebec flag. Perhaps there is no greater forum for political socialization than that of the sports arena.
Duceppe cites the examples of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland participating in the World Cup as a legitimate reason for Quebec’s inclusion in the next Hockey World Cup. This is, perhaps, a better angle to launch his vision. What he overlooks, however, is the reason why each has been allowed to play internationally in the first place. It comes from the fact that England invented the game and formed an association in 1863. an exhibition match was arranged in 1872 against Scotland, which marked the first ever international game played. Scotland then formed their own association a year later with Wales following suit in 1876 and Ireland in 1880 (when the Republic of Ireland seceded in 1921 it created its own association). all of this occurred before the creation of FIFa in 1904 and thereby allowed each association to continue competing internationally. Quebec, however, can lay no such claim as they have always been a part of Canada’s national hockey association. It also fails to provide Duceppe with the necessary historical precedent to move forward with his plan, although, this does not mean that he is without a legitimate case.
a major part of Scottish, Welsh and even Northern Irish identity is best viewed during a soccer game against the English. Consider one of the more famous Scottish victories over England at Wembley in 1977 when the Scottish fans stormed the pitch after the game and started digging up the pitch. What was even more disturbing about that display is the accompanying chant which went, "Give us an assembly, we’ll give you back your Wembley". This is a telling example of the sometimes political nature of sport. What Duceppe takes from this is that Quebec is akin to Scotland or Wales in that it has a slightly different identity to that of its national state.
The Bloc Quebecois are not alone in their use of sport as a platform towards the goal of independence. Many other separatist movements in Europe have attempted to use soccer in a similar way. In fact, the Bloc’s election platform may have come directly from the public policy manual of the Scottish National Party (SNP) which has sought to express Scottish culture through art, literature, song and sport in their attempts at gaining independence. Likewise, the Catalan government attempted to negotiate ‘sovereignty association’ with Spain in 2003 which would keep the Catalan region part of Spain but would allow for a commissioner in the European Union and allow them compete separately in the World Cup.
Duceppe was right to cite soccer for his cause because it does provide him with the best historical precedent with which to proceed. Separatists have, for decades, attempted to use sport as a rallying cry for independence. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), the Basques sent a "national" soccer team around Europe and South america to raise funds and to gain international recognition. FIFa eventually stepped in and threatened to sanction any national team playing the Basques. More recently, nationalists on the island of Zanzibar applied for membership in FIFa in order to improve their attempted to secede from Tanzania. again, FIFa denied their requests because it wanted to steer clear of any overtly political rule. However, FIFa did sanction the Palestinian association in 1998 and has allowed them to participate in World Cup qualifying.
Hockey’s equivalent of FIFa, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has had to deal with two situations in the recent past where a member state fragmented into smaller pieces. The first was the collapse of the Soviet Union which saw several new members to the organization. It also had serious ramifications for the Russian team as they could have lost several key players. The second example is the break-up of Czechoslovakia in 1993 where both the Czech and Slovak Republics had to start as new members and qualify to any major tournaments. The IIHF, rightfully, made no overtly political decisions but had to accept the changes once they were negotiated.
Upon the announcement of the Bloc’s intentions to start a "national" hockey team, the press went straight to Kevin Lowe in order to get his opinion on the matter. While Quebec was, quite obviously, never going to get any sympathy from Kevin Lowe, it does not mean that its platform is dead. The IIHF is not going to recognize a national Quebec hockey team either, but this still does not limit Duceppe. Soccer again provides historical precedent. This time, it is one that Duceppe can foreseeably use to gain more votes for the separatist cause. In 1990, a Croatian "all-star" team traveled to the United States to play an exhibition game. Both flags were raised and both anthems were sung. While all of this seems quite reasonable, Croatia will still part of Yugoslavia which had not yet broken up. It would not be until 1992 that the United Nations or the European Community (now the European Union) recognized Croatia’s independence. So in playing this game in the United States, nationalist leader, Franjo Tudjman, managed to pull off one of the more daring sporting coups in history by gaining tacit recognition of Croatia by the world’s richest country. This is certainly a scenario that needs to be watched closely.
as mentioned earlier, sport may well be the perfect arena for political socialization and given this possibility, would a Quebec national hockey team prove to be the tipping point in the next referendum? Given how close the 1995 referendum was, it is quite possible that Duceppe has tapped into a part of Quebec culture that may well convince enough people to opt for sovereignty. Let this be a lesson to politicians in Ottawa that this issue may well be the Bloc’s best ticket to its desired goal.
Glen Duerr recently graduated with an M.a. in Political Science from the University of Windsor. His thesis was entitled, "The Goal of Independence: Secessionist Movements in Europe and the Role of International Soccer". He can be reached at: letters@canadafreepress.com
Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2024 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2024 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement