Quebec, Haiti, and the Deportation Crisis of 1974

Abstract

Abstract: Throughout the fall of 1974, the threatened deportation of several hundred Haitians catalysed a major crisis in Quebec society. Rather than quietly accepting their fate, resisting individually by going underground, or heading to another jurisdiction, Haitian migrants brought their story to the larger public through protests and interventions in the mainstream media. In so doing, they mobilized a movement opposing the deportations, precipitating a crisis in Quebec political life during which church groups, trade unions, voluntary associations, civil rights organizations, and artists and intellectuals denounced the strict enforcement of immigration regulations. Partly because of their appeals to the conscience of the population, and partly because of their ability to position themselves as ideal francophone immigrants for modern Quebec, Haitian migrants created a space for themselves in the public sphere in which their voices and perspectives could be heard. Throughout the crisis, they used this space to shift the discussion beyond debates about federal–provincial relations, to introduce new arguments about the interconnected histories of Canada, Quebec, and Haiti. The arguments that they brought forward had an important influence on social movements in Quebec as well as on the province's political culture in general.