Adrien Arcand
Adrien Arcand | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | August 1, 1967 Montreal, Quebec, Canada | (aged 67)
Nationality | Canadian |
Education |
|
Alma mater | National Unity Party |
Movement | Canadian fascist movement |
Relatives | Denys Arcand (great-nephew) |
Adrien Arcand (October 3, 1899 – August 1, 1967) was a Canadian
Arcand was detained by the federal government for the duration of the World War II by the Defence of Canada Regulations.[2]
Early years
Arcand was the son of Narcisse-Joseph-Philias Arcand, who was a carpenter and
Though Narcisse Arcand was often at odds with the Catholic Church, all of his children were educated in Catholic schools (Quebec did not have a public education system until 1964 and all schools prior to 1964 were managed by churches).
Journalism and rise to prominence
By Arcand's own account, his education by the Sulpicians at the Collège de Montréal was "decisive" in shaping his opinions.
In addition to Paderewski, Arcand's work as a reporter for La Presse allowed him to interview many famous people during the 1920s when they visited Montreal such as the Canadian prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, Anna Pavlova, Vincent d'Indy, Vladimir de Pachmann, Alfred Cortot, Feodor Chaliapin, Cécile Sorel, Jascha Heifetz, Isadora Duncan, Mario Chamlee, Queen Marie of Romania, Jacques Thibaud, Stanley Baldwin, Fritz Kreisler, Douglas Fairbanks, Maurice de Féraudy, Tom Mix, Mary Pickford, Efrem Zimbalist and Lord Birkenhead.[17] In 1923, he joined a militia unit named the Châteauguay Regiment (whose traditions are continued by the 4th Battalion of the Royal 22nd Regiment).[18] On 14 April 1925, he married Yvonne Giguère.[19] During the late 1920s, he became active in organizing for Catholic trade unions and became president of the first union local at La Presse.[20] His trade unionism caused him to be dismissed in 1929.[21] Arcand later recalled that his dismissal came as "a surprise, cruel and hard, with the result that my wife and my young babies suffered the effects of painful, abject poverty".[22] For a time, the water and electricity to his home was terminated due to his inability to pay the bills.[23] Arcand's dismissal gave a lifelong grudge against his former employer, Pamphile Réal Du Tremblay, and caused him to found a new newspaper, Le Goglu, in August 1929.[24] His sudden transition from the respectable lower middle-class to poverty radicalized him.[23]
Arcand was assisted in founding Le Goglu by a printer, Joseph Ménard, who wanted to begin his own newspaper.[25] In joual (Quebec French), goglu is slang for someone who is jovial and who loves to laugh, and Le Goglu belonged to a type of satirical newspaper that was popular in Quebec at the time.[26] Le Goglu was an eight-page-long broadsheet full of cartoons that mocked various prominent people, for instance, showing Mackenzie King as a clueless ape staring vacantly into space.[27] The newspaper was based in a lower class part of Montreal, described by Arcand as an area "where are found Chinese gambling dens, Negro shacks, Greeks, cutthroat Slavs, Bulgarian ruffians, Oriental grocers, nauseating Palestinian restaurants, European ex-convict scum, diamond importers from Chicago, and dives of every kind, where officers of the Canadian militia will get it on for 50 cents".[28] The major target of Le Goglu's humour was what Arcand termed "the clique that is stifling the province", by which he mainly meant his former employer, du Tremblay, whom he was relentless in attacking as an exploitative boss and a hypocrite who failed to practice the Catholic social teachings in which he professed to believe.[29] Le Goglu was a successful newspaper, and by 1929 for the Christmas special edition, Arcand could afford to print his paper in colour for 12 pages.[30] The cartoons that mocked the ministers of the cabinet of Premier Louis-Alexandre Taschereau as corrupt resulted in several libel suits, which increased the paper's circulation.[31]
The major advertisers for Le Goglu were at first the famous Bronfman family of Montreal who published advertisements promoting their brands of alcohol, but ceased their advertising after Le Goglu began publishing anti-Semitic statements.[25] In August 1929, Arcand started publishing in Le Goglu a serialization of a novel he was writing, Popeline, chronicling the story of the eponymous heroine, an 18-year-old beauty "who had drunk long and deep from the cup of woe which gave her a heady feminine aura".[32] Popeline was notable as one of the first novels written in the joual (local vernacular French), instead of Parisian French which had been the standard in Quebec until then.[32] During November 1929, Arcand initiated his own political philosophy, the Ordre Patriotique des Goglus for the "general purification, on preserving our Latin character, our customs and our habits, on protecting our rights and our privileges".[33] In December 1929, Arcand began a companion newspaper for Le Goglu, the Sunday weekly Le Miroir, which was more serious.[27] In March 1930, Arcand initiated a third newspaper Le Chameau that soon failed during 1931 as it was unprofitable.[32] He published and edited several newspapers during this period, most notably Le Goglu, Le Miroir, Le Chameau, Le Patriote, Le Fasciste Canadien and Le Combat National.
Political life
Until 1963, there was not any public school system in Quebec but rather two religious school systems, one operated by the Catholic Church and the other by the Protestant churches.
Arcand shared the idea widely accepted in French-Canada that the Confederation of 1867 was a "pact" between two "nations" that agreed to work together for their common betterment.[37] Arcand argued that Canada existed only for the "two founding nations" and to accept the claim by any other group to "nationhood" would by necessity reduce the living standards of the "two founding nations".[38] In this manner, Arcand argued that "to recognize the Jewish race as an official entity would violate the Confederation pact, eliminate our rights, and force us to officially recognize as national entities all the other groups, such as Polish, Greek, Syrian, Russian, Serbian, German who may request it later".[36] Arcand's antisemitism was motivated at least partly by the fact that the majority of Ashkenazim (Yiddish-speaking Jews) immigrants from Eastern Europe usually arrived in Montreal, where a great many chose to settle. Arcand saw the Jews as economic competitors, contrasting his idealized, rural French-Canadian Catholic small grocer who was honest and hard-working with the stereotype of the greedy and unscrupulous big city Jewish immigrant capitalist who only succeeded because of "his dishonesty, not his skill or ability".[39]
Like many other French-Canadian intellectuals at the time, Arcand had considerable hatred for "godless" France, considered as having abandoned Roman Catholicism, leaving Quebec as the last remnant of the "true" France that ended in 1789. Arcand also profoundly disliked the egalitarianism of French republicanism, writing with disgust how Josephine Baker, the "richest and most famous Negress" in France, became a millionaire "after showing her derrière at the Folies Bérgères".[40] For Arcand, it was unacceptable for someone like Baker to become rich at a time when Caucasians were suffering from the Great Depression, which for him represented a distorted social order.[40]
In May 1930, Arcand met with the millionaire Conservative leader R. B. Bennett to ask him for his financial assistance in exchange for which Arcand would campaign against the Liberals in the coming election.[37] French-Canadians tended to vote as a bloc for the Liberals at the time, and the fact that the Liberals usually won the majority of the seats in Quebec gave them an advantage in elections. The perception that the Conservatives, identified as the party of "imperialism" (i.e. advocacy for the British empire), were anti-French and anti-Catholic made it difficult for the Conservatives to win seats in Quebec since the late 19th century. The fact that the Liberal politician William Lyon Mackenzie King was a protege of Sir Wilfrid Laurier and had campaigned as an anti-conscription Liberal in the 1917 election gave him the reputation as a friend of Quebec despite the fact that he did not speak French. In a letter to Bennett dated 22 May 1930, Arcand asked for some $15,000 in exchange for which he would manage what he called a "smear campaign" against Mackenzie King, a request that Bennett agreed to.[37]
Arcand received covert funds from the
Relations became increasingly bad afterwards as Bennett had little use for Arcand after the election. Despite demands from Arcand and his followers to get more money to compensate for their expenses, the subsidy they received from the Tories was sporadic and insufficient.[41] In October 1932, Arcand first made contact with the German Nazi Party when its representative, Kurt Lüdecke, visited Montreal, and told Arcand that the two philosophies had much in common and should cooperate.[42] In his report to Adolf Hitler about his visit, Lüdecke described Arcand as a "man of lively intelligence" whose philosophy was becoming increasingly popular and whom was very close to Prime Minister Bennett.[42] Arcand promised to schedule a meeting between Lüdecke and Bennett, and though he did send a letter to Bennett requesting that he meet Lüdecke, the proposed meeting never occurred.[42]
Arcand was always a staunch federalist and an
In 1934, Arcand established the
In November 1936, Arcand was returning from a rally when he got into a car accident. Arcand was survived without any serious injuries, but a fellow fascist accompanying him, 25-year-old Émile Vallée, was killed. Arcand had been serving as a mentor to Vallée. A group of Canadian fascists in their uniforms attended his funeral.[46]
In 1938, Arcand was chosen as the director of the fascist National Unity Party of Canada, resulting from the fusion of his Parti National Social Chrétien with the Prairie provinces' Canadian Nationalist Party led by William Whittaker and the CNP's Ontario wing, led by Joseph Farr, which had grown out of the Toronto Swastika Clubs of the early 1930s.
Arcand's party statutes advocated the following oath to be taken at the beginning of every party meeting:
Moved by the unshakable faith in God, a profound love for Canada, ardent sentiments of patriotism and nationalism, a complete loyalty and devotion toward our Gracious Sovereign who forms the recognized principle of active authority, a complete respect for the British North America Act, for the maintenance of order, for national prosperity, for national unity, for national honour, for the progress and the happiness of a greater Canada, I pledge solemnly and explicitly to serve my party. I pledge myself to propagate the principles of its program. I pledge myself to follow its regulation. I pledge myself to obey my leaders. Hail the party! Hail our Leader![47]
Arcand was always opposed to Quebec nationalism. He wanted to build a powerful centralized Canadian Fascist state within the British Empire.
... Arcand insists that his organisation has no sympathy with the extreme French nationalist movement represented by the group which split from Premier Duplessis after he was returned to power because he would not go all the way they wished. "We were the first in Quebec to fight Separatism," Arcand declared, "and we are carrying on that fight very satisfactorily, swallowing many ex-members of that failing movement." Frankly, the National Social Christian Party was aiming for Dominion power, Arcand admitted, describing Dominion power as the real key to the vital problems of this country.[47]
On May 30, 1940, he was arrested in
Arcand would later argue that he was interned on the orders of the Canadian Jewish Congress.[49]
After the war
Arcand campaigned for the House of Commons of Canada on two occasions. Despite being shunned by mainstream Quebecers during the post-war years, he managed to come second with 29 percent of the vote when he campaigned as a National Unity candidate in the riding of Richelieu—Verchères in the 1949 federal election.[50] He came second again with 39 percent of the vote when he campaigned as a "Nationalist" in Berthier—Maskinongé—Delanaudière in the 1953 election.[51]
On 2 February 1952, the British fascist
Arcand never wavered in his endorsement of
On November 14, 1965, he gave a speech before a crowd of 650 partisans from all over Canada at the Centre Paul-Sauvé in
"Among the rare bits of support Arcand received was an astonishing one from a young law student in London. This young man was Pierre Elliott Trudeau. From the British capital on February 4, 1948, he wrote a rich and dense article of the type that would soon contribute to his renown in a new magazine called Cite Libre. In its issue of February 14, 1948, Notre Temps gave a prominent place to the item by this young contributor who protested against the use of the War Measures Act. Of course, he could not have been aware that he would apply this same law himself in October 1970."
Among those present at the rally were Jean Jodoin, a Progressive Conservative candidate in the 1965 federal election and Gilles Caouette, future Social Credit Party of Canada Member of Parliament.[56]
Views
In an interview with David Martin published in
In popular culture
- Arcand is portrayed by Haley Joel Osment in Kevin Smith's 2016 comedy horror movie Yoga Hosers.[58][59]
References
- ^ "Adrien Arcand". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
- ^ Betcherman, Lita-Rose The Swastika and the Maple Leaf (1978) p. 146
- ^ "Biography – ARCAND, NARCISSE – Volume XV (1921-1930) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography".
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 22.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, pp. 22–23.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 25.
- ^ a b Nadeau 2011, p. 26.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 27.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, pp. 27–28.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 36.
- ^ a b c d e Nadeau 2011, p. 29.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, pp. 29–30.
- ^ a b Nadeau 2011, p. 30.
- ^ a b Nadeau 2011, p. 31.
- ^ a b c d e Nadeau 2011, p. 32.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 33.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 34.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 35.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 37.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, pp. 37–38.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 38.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, pp. 38–39.
- ^ a b Nadeau 2011, p. 39.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, pp. 39–40.
- ^ a b Nadeau 2011, p. 41.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 42.
- ^ a b Nadeau 2011, p. 43.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, pp. 41–42.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 45.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 48.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, pp. 48–49.
- ^ a b c Nadeau 2011, p. 44.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 49.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 65.
- ^ a b c d e Nadeau 2011, p. 66.
- ^ a b Nadeau 2011, p. 67.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Nadeau 2011, p. 86.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 68.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 69-70.
- ^ a b Nadeau 2011, p. 262.
- ^ Betcherman 1975, pp. 10–11.
- ^ a b c Nadeau 2011, p. 160.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 63.
- ^ a b Nadeau 2011, p. 170.
- ^ Betcherman 1975, p. 43.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 102.
- ^ a b Frederick EDWARDS. « Fascism in Canada », Maclean's Magazine, 15 April 1938, p. 66.
- ISBN 0-919573-07-X), in the section by Charlie Murray, who was imprisoned with him for being a unionorganizer.
- ^ "Adrien Arcane, Canadian Fascist Leader Dies; Was Interned During War". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 1967-08-03. Archived from the original on 2021-11-13. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
- ^ "History of Federal Ridings since 1867". Archived from the original on 2011-01-01. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ House of Commons website[permanent dead link]
- ^ Théorêt 2015, p. 35.
- ^ Théorêt 2015, p. 35-36.
- ^ Nadeau 2011, p. 351.
- ^ "Pierre Trudeau's Vichy France social circles". The Canada Files. 2023-11-29. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
- ^ "Fascist Steps Out Of Past For Banquet", Globe and Mail, November 15, 1965
- . Retrieved 2024-02-25.
- ^ Sung, Carolyn (2014-09-11). "'Sixth Sense' star Haley Joel Osment sports surprising new look". CNN. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
- ^ Mandell, Andrea. "Haley Joel Osment: All grown up and playing a...Nazi?". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
Sources
- Betcherman, Lita-Rose (1975). The swastika and the maple leaf: Fascist movements in Canada in the thirties. Toronto: Fitzhenry & Whiteside. ISBN 9780889020221.
- Nadeau, Jean-Francois (2011). The Canadian Fuhrer: The Life of Adrien Arcand. James Lorimer & Company. ISBN 978-1-55277-904-0.
- Repka, William; Repka, Kathleen (1982). Dangerous Patriots: Canada's Unknown Prisoners of War. Vancouver: New Star Books. ISBN 0-919573-06-1.
- Robin, Martin (1992). Shades of Right: Nativist and Fascist Politics in Canada, 1920-1940. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-5962-7.
- Strömsdörfer, Hans (2009). "Arcand, Adrien". In Benz, Wolfgang (ed.). Handbuch des Antisemitismus: Judenfeindschaft in Geschichte und Gegenwart (in German). Vol. Band 2/1 Personen A-K). 1. Auflage. Berlin: De Gruyter. pp. 31–32. ISBN 978-3-598-24072-0.
- Théorêt, Hugues (January 2015). "Influence et rayonnement international d'Adrien Arcand". Globe Revue internationale d'études québécoises. 18 (1): 19–45. .
- Rajotte, David (2018). "L'État canadien contre le Parti de l'unité nationale et Adrien Arcand". Bulletin d'histoire politique. 26 (3): 189–211. .
- Delarosbil, Simon (2019). ""L'évolution des lexiques révisionniste et négationniste d'Adrien Arcand entre 1933 et 1966 : une analyse textométrique"". Laïus. La revue étudiante en lettres et en histoire de l'UQAR. 12: 65–83.
Further reading
- Jean-François Nadeau, Adrien Arcand, führer Canadien, Montréal, Lux Éditeur, 2010.