There are subjects that seem inexorably polarizing in Quebec: Highway 20 or 40, Alain Côté’s goal, creamy or traditional coleslaw and… should we have only Quebec teams in sports competitions international?
It always provokes strong reactions. No debates. Those who talk about it are called names.
“If we do that, that means that any province in Canada could make its team!”, we can read, very often.
No, that doesn’t mean that at all. In fact, everyone can disagree. And there are plenty of excellent arguments for staying with the rest of Canada in terms of sport at the international level. But the argument that this would mean that all the provinces could do it is nonsense. I will come back to it.
With Canada’s defeat at the World Junior Championship, the age-old question was raised again: should we have a Quebec-only team?
My colleague Marc de Foy wrote an excellent column in 2023 when Trifluvien Zachary Bolduc, now of the St. Louis Blues, was ignored by Junior Team Canada. It raised the same question.
We would be less strong, but…
First, could Quebec be better than Canada at this tournament? No! Really not. It’s not me who says it. It’s those who work in hockey and who know it much more than me. One time in ten, Quebec could be better than Canada, like Latvia, which beat our country. But otherwise, forget it.
Quebec represents the fifth (83,893 hockey players) of players in Canada (480,734 hockey players). The rest of Canada is therefore superior. Nevertheless, Quebec has as many players as Finland and Sweden for example, two world powers.
In the NHL, there are 52 active Quebec players out of 359 Canadian players.
In other words, we would be less strong, that’s for sure. But that’s not the question, in my opinion.
-There is no question of having a Quebec Team because we might be better or because we don’t like the rest of Canada or because we are sulking.
There is talk of having a Quebec Team to better promote Quebec’s sporting elite. Because Quebec is a nation.
Scotland has its national soccer team. Wales too. Northern Ireland too. Bermuda too. There are 31 nations that have teams on an international level, even if they are part of a country that also has its team. Except at the Olympic Games, these nations are therefore represented with a separate team in certain sports.
In short, Quebec having a national team in international competitions is far from being a stultifying, absurd or exceptional idea.
It would be a huge boost to our athletes in all sports. If you think that Quebec athletes have all the place they deserve at the national level, that’s your opinion. I damn sure don’t share it.
Sovereignty
The problem is that the debate is closely linked to sovereignty. However, there are many more people in favor of the creation of Quebec national teams than people in favor of sovereignty.
The last Léger survey on this subject dates back to 2020. 74% of respondents said they were in favor of the creation of Quebec teams. Concerning sovereignty, the last poll, again by Léger, last November, brought the yes vote to 37%.
But the creation of Quebec national teams remains seen as a way of dividing ourselves and not as a way of allowing our athletes to better assert themselves and shine in a context where other nations have done so.
At worst, this debate will take place when we become an American state. It’s a joke! In fact, I dare to believe.
