A Passport to Identity: The Decline of Duality and the Symbolic Appropriation of Québec

Canadian society is now marked by a growing vocalization of a distinct identity. Politicians promote this identity to overcome tensions that remain, due to a failure to reconcile institutionally the often-contradictory claims that emanate from a plural society. We explore one aspect of these tensions: the decline of duality and a questioning of Quebec’s place in Canada. While there has been a symbolic rearticulation of the importance of Quebec in the new “Brand Canada,” this has not been accompanied by a corresponding “doing” of duality, thus not satisfying nationalist pressures in Quebec. Symbolic and rhetorical strategies are often employed to deal with public opinion that resists dualism. As we demonstrate in the case of the new (2013) Canadian passport, the Harper government has chosen to symbolically address Quebec’s claims; however, this reduces Quebec to a historical part of the Canadian identity puzzle. While political pressures may be temporarily addressed, the historic pressures that inform debates about the Canadian identity are likely to continue.