Lionel Albert is a businessperson, writer, and political activist in the
Canadian province
Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...
of
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
. He is best known for his opposition to Quebec's language laws.
Background and private career
Albert is of
Lithuanian Jewish
Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks () are Jews with roots in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (covering present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, the northeastern Suwałki and Białystok regions of Poland, as well as adjacent areas o ...
background. His grandfather, Simon Albert, moved to Canada following a regional
pogrom
A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...
in 1905.
A computer analyst in private life, Albert lived in
Outremont
Outremont is an affluent residential borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec. The neighbourhood is inhabited largely by franc ...
,
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
for many years before moving to
Knowlton in the
Eastern Townships
The Eastern Townships (french: Cantons de l'Est) is an historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby in the southwest, to Drummondv ...
.
Cultural politics in Quebec
Albert is a vocal critic of Quebec's
Charter of the French Language
The ''Charter of the French Language'' (french: link=no, La charte de la langue française), also known in English as Bill 101, Law 101 (''french: link=no, Loi 101''), or Quebec French Preference Law, is a law in the province of Quebec in Canada ...
(otherwise known as Bill 101) and of
Quebec nationalism
Quebec nationalism or Québécois nationalism is a feeling and a political doctrine that prioritizes cultural belonging to, the defence of the interests of, and the recognition of the political legitimacy of the Québécois nation. It has been ...
in general. He argues that the Charter of the French Language violates the rights of Quebec anglophones, and he blames nationalist policies pursued by the
Quebec government
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...
since 1962 for prompting anglophones to leave the province. He has also written that the
French language
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...
is not under threat in Quebec and that the province would be more successful economically if it dropped its nationalist focus.
Albert is an ally of
William Shaw, a longtime right-wing anglophone activist in Quebec and a former
Member of the National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
(1976–81). Shaw and Albert wrote a book entitled, ''Partition - The Price of Quebec's Independence'', in 1980, arguing that Quebec could and should be partitioned if it ever declares independence. (Specifically, they argue that the far north should be retained by Canada outright, and that the
Outaouais
Outaouais (, ; also commonly called The Outaouais) is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts and the Papineau region. Geographically, it is located on the north side of the Ottawa ...
,
Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Abitibi-Témiscamingue () is an List of regions of Quebec, administrative region located in western Québec, Canada, along the border with Ontario. It became part of the province in 1898. It has a land area of and its population was 146,717 peo ...
, most of
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, the territory to the south of the
Saint Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
, and some borderlands with
Labrador
, nickname = "The Big Land"
, etymology =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Canada
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 ...
would likely remain in Canada following negotiations). Shaw and Albert also suggest that separation will never happen, on the grounds that nationalist francophone Quebecers have used the threat of separation to extract concessions from the
federal government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
but recognize actual independence would harm their community. They further argue that
French Canadians
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...
inside and outside Quebec are a distinct group with the right of
self-determination
The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...
, but that residents of the province of Quebec are not.
Albert has continued to express these and similar opinions since ''Partitions publication. In 1990, for instance, he argued that English Canadians were taking the threat of separatism too seriously. In a public debate in 1994, he suggested that Quebec should be partitioned to prevent more anglophone youth from leaving the province.
Albert's criticisms of Quebec nationalism have sometimes provoked controversy. In early 1990, he wrote a piece in the Montreal paper ''The Suburban'' comparing Quebec’s language legislation to
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
. (When Michael Crelinsten of the
Canadian Jewish Congress
The Canadian Jewish Congress (, , ) was, for more than ninety years, the main advocacy group for the Jewish community in Canada. Regarded by many as the "Parliament of Canadian Jewry," the Congress was at the forefront of the struggle for human r ...
objected to this analogy, Albert responded by attacking Crelinsten in print.) In the same period, Albert wrote another piece for ''The Suburban'' suggesting that francophone Quebecers were "country people" and that anglophone Quebecers were "city people." The paper later apologized for Albert's articles.
Political activism
In 1976, Albert became active with an organization called "The Preparatory Committee for an Eleventh Province". He has acknowledged that his primary concern was to remove language restrictions from anglophone Quebecers.
Albert joined the executive of the
Equality Party of Quebec, which was focused on anglophone rights, shortly after its founding in 1989. When speaking at a party rally that year, he argued that the
government of Canada
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...
could be justified in sending the
Canadian Army
The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...
into Quebec because of threats to the anglophone minority. A ''
Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'' article subsequently described Albert as belonging to a "redneck anglo-rights fringe" distinct from more mainstream supporters of anglophone rights. Equality Party leader
Robert Libman
Robert Libman (born November 8, 1960) is a Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of the ...
also clarified that Albert’s views were not those of the party. For his part, Albert later said that he did not favour sending federal troops to Quebec, but believed that the federal government should act with "all the force at its command" to protect what he described as threats to a minority culture.
In the
1993 Canadian federal election
The 1993 Canadian federal election was held on October 25, 1993, to elect members to the House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Considered to be a major political realignment, it was one of the most eventful elections in Canada's hist ...
, Albert ran as a candidate of the unregistered
Equality Party of Canada, which was aligned with the provincial party. During this campaign, he was quoted as saying, "The anglo minority in Quebec is just not represented in the House of Commons." He finished well behind
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
candidate
Bernard Patry
Bernard Patry (born January 30, 1943) is a Canadian politician. He was a Member of Parliament for the riding of Pierrefonds—Dollard from 1993 to 2011. Party was also the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie - l'Assemblà ...
.
Albert joined the
Reform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada (french: Parti réformiste du Canada) was a right-wing populist and conservative federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada-based protes ...
after the 1993 election. He attended the party’s 1994 convention and supported its call for an end to Canada’s
Official Languages Act. He later criticized the
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed u ...
, a successor party to Reform, for working too closely with Quebec nationalists.
In the
2003 Quebec provincial election, Albert ran for the Equality Party in
Brome—Missisquoi
Brome—Missisquoi (formerly known as Missisquoi) is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1925. The original electoral district of Missiquoi existed from 1867 to 1925 ...
. He again focused on language issues, saying that incumbent
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
representative
Pierre Paradis
Pierre Paradis (born 16 July 1950) is a politician in the Canadian province of Quebec. He represented Brome-Missisquoi in the National Assembly of Quebec from 1980 to 2018. A member of the Liberal Party, he served as a cabinet minister in the ...
had not defended the rights of local anglophones. The Equality Party was nearly moribund in this period; on election day, Albert received less than one per cent of the vote.
In the
2008 Canadian federal election
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on October 14, 2008, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the 39th Canadian Parliament, previous parliament had been dissolved by Governor General of ...
, he supported
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
candidate Mark Quinlan.
Other views
Albert is a prolific writer of opinion columns and public letters on diverse subjects. Among other things, he written against the
metric system
The metric system is a system of measurement that succeeded the Decimal, decimalised system based on the metre that had been introduced in French Revolution, France in the 1790s. The historical development of these systems culminated in the d ...
, criticized
Pete Seeger
Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...
as a
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
propagandist, praised
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
an dictator
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...
, defended
Monsanto
The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in th ...
, and supported the
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
. During the
2004 American presidential election, Albert attempted to counter the perception that
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
received support from less intelligent
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
voters. His public letter on this subject included the statement, "Bush leads 55-42 among whites while Kerry leads 82-12 among blacks, who on average are less educated."
He is also opposed to
abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
. In 1992, he wrote a piece comparing abortion care providers with hangmen.
Albert has written that he is not a
Zionist
Zionism ( he, ×¦Ö´×™Ö¼×•Ö¹× ×•Ö¼×ª ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
.
["Not relevant evidence", ''Montreal Gazette'', 3 August 2007, A18.]
Electoral record
;Federal
;Provincial
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert, Lionel
Living people
Independent candidates for the Canadian House of Commons
Year of birth missing (living people)