News & Politics - Plains of Abraham battle recreation likely to be cancelled

**sunnykerr** · 02-16-2009, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Plains of Abraham battle likely to be cancelled

A planned re-enactment of the 1759 defeat of French forces on Quebec City's Plains of Abraham will be cancelled, reports say. But historical enthusiasts insist the reenactment can still go ahead.

It's expected that on Tuesday, the National Battlefields Commission, the federal agency that helps to preserve the Plains, will announce a revised program for the August event.

The decision comes after Quebec sovereigntists denounced the planned celebration as an insulting reminder of their ancestors' defeat 250 years ago, and threatened to protest the events.

With tensions over the planned mock battle growing, National Battlefields Commission chairman Andre Juneau is planning to release a revised program for the 250th anniversary of the clash that will not include a battle reenactment.

Juneau has cited concerns about violence between separatists and federalists and the safety of the public as reasons for the program's revision.

He promised a modified program "that will take into consideration the entirety of all the recriminations that we have received and that will take into consideration certain threats."

Other events related to the anniversary such as architectural digs, guided cruises, a masked ball, and art exhibits are expected to go ahead.

The fighting at the Plains of Abraham was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War. The clash between the British and the French, just outside the walls of Quebec City involved fewer than 10,000 men, but proved to be a deciding moment in the conflict over the fate of New France and helped lead to British dominance in North America.

Organizers had planned to have 2,000 re-enactors dress in period clothing and uniforms and for four days, recreate both camp life and events leading to the battle.

Horst Dresler, president of the Quebec Historical Corps, who started organizing the simulated battle 11 years ago, said he'll continue to push forward with the re-enactment, even if they have to move the venue.

He says his group and others have been staging re-enactments in Canada and the United States over the last four years to mark the French and Indian War - the name some give to the North American portion of the Seven Years War. He says it wouldn't make sense to stop now.

"Our only goal in this is to continue the 250th commemoration of the French and Indian War," he recently told The Canadian Press.

"For us, it is to bring history to the public. That's our mission."

Dresler and other like-minded history buffs have been actively looking for areas outside Quebec City to recreate the conflict, should the Plains of Abraham location fall through.

Jack Oelschlager, a welder from Pennsylvania, who has helped stage other battles from the war, says re-enactments aren't always about glorifying those who won.

"It goes both ways. We're just celebrating history. We're not actually celebrating who won, who lost, whatever. It's to commemorate and honour the people who were there," he told The Globe and Mail.

Sovereigntist groups are expressing relief at word that the celebrations will likely be toned down.

"It's not a good use of public funds and it cannot happen here," said Benoît Roy, the head of the Rassemblement pour un pays souverain.

Another group, Le Réseau de résistance du Québécois said the celebrations constituted "federalist propaganda" and threatened to rally hundreds of demonstrators to disrupt the events.

The leader of that group, Patrick Bourgeois, recently told the Montreal Gazette he believes it was his group's Internet campaign and threats to disrupt the celebrations that swayed the commission.

"It was because of us that they have cancelled it," he said. "I'm very proud of that."

Francois Gendron, spokesman for Jeunes Patriotes du Quebec, a Montreal-based sovereigntist group, said his group would still gather at the Plains, regardless of whether the re-enactment was cancelled.

"We can't forget that something did happen there 250 years ago," he told CP.

"But we'll probably hold a candlelight vigil in the honour of all those who lost their lives, even the English or Native Americans."

Meanwhile, Quebec city independent MP Andre Arthur says he believes the National Battlefields Commission badly managed the event. He questioned Juneau's leadership and said the organization of the re-enactment should never have been left to amateur historians.

CTV.ca | Plains of Abraham battle likely to be cancelled

The really ludicrous thing here is that I only heard about this recreation when they started talking about cancelling it. So, I'm thinking Andre Arthur may be onto something - bad organization.

It's also pretty ridiculous that anyone would object to a recreation of the battle. Whichever position you have regarding the outcome of the battle, it is part of our history. A really significant battle is about to celebrate its 250th anniversary, why should anyone be prevented from recreating it?

**sunnykerr** · 02-18-2009, 05:55 PM

Well, it's officially been cancelled.

CTV.ca | Plains of Abraham re-enactment cancelled

It's kinda hilarious, too, because I really thought it was stupid to cancel to appease sovereignists, but I've been reading some of the comments and, I have to say, that some of them are pretty convincing. Quebecers should be able to decide what happens in their province (heck, in some cases, this is their own backyards).

I still think it's a shame, but if so many people were opposed to it... Majority rule is the benchmark of any democracy worth its salt.

And, on a personal note of total ego... I do wish people would shut it about "darn sovereignists getting their way again" and how "Quebec says jump and Ottawa says how high." For one thing, we're a very populous province, it would be a shame if we didn't have a significant say in governance (not to say that provinces should have a say that is always proportional to their population, because that just wouldn't be fair). But, seriously, I'm a little sick of being de facto lumped in with my fellow Quebecers who do not share my political opinions merely because we share a cultural and linguistic background.


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