French Canadians, descendants of settlers who arrived in New France beginning in 1638, have historically maintained their identity through three pillars: Catholic faith, French language, and strong family structures. The Quiet Revolution of the 1960s secularized Quebec and removed both the crucifix and crown from government, fundamentally changing French Canadian society. French Canadians have traditionally been monarchists, but their loyalty to the British Crown differs from Anglo-Canadian monarchism, being more closely aligned with Jacobite loyalty to the Stewarts. The French Revolution removed the option of French restoration, leaving French Canadians with only two choices: remain part of Canada or become American. The speaker argues that French Canadians should return to Catholicism and support the Catholic King (Louis XX) as a way to preserve their heritage and identity, emphasizing that the Catholic mind cannot tolerate the compromises that the Protestant mind accepts.
French-Canadians, Monarchism, Nouvelle-Alliance, Boomers and Catholicism with Charles A. CoulombeAdded:
Okay. So, welcome to SwissGuard channel and today I'm receiving a distinguished guest. Uh he's an author of several books such as Blessed Charles, a holy emperor and his legacy and Zeta, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. Uh which I had the joy of reading. He's a historian, journalist and most of all a joyful and productive Catholic. His name is Mr. Charles Colom. So Mr. Kulom, it is really a thrill to have you on my channel. Thank you so much. Um, so to begin with, I'd like to start with a bonus question for the audience who who wouldn't have the chance to know you you yet. So, um, are you a French Canadian?
Are you a French Canadian?
>> Well, yes and no. No. And yes.
>> Sorry about that.
>> No, it's it's fine.
York although I can still speak it after a fashion although I was asked to do an interview on radio Canada and in moral and um the interviewer I won't name him but I asked him would you want to do the u the interview in English or French and we've been speaking in French and I said so that I you know so to answer your question I'm half French Canadian uh although if you ask me my nationality my blood. I'm French Canadian. Uh, French Canadian American.
>> Kulomong, you know, is about as French Canadian as you're going to get.
>> Exactly.
>> Uh, and I've been to Lael Province exactly twice in my life.
uh and never unfortunately so far to the illum the Canada France where my first ancestor Jeanis kulam settled in what 1638 I think for me so and mind you in my family or in Pitier and uh Salor and Gon 100% French Canadian 125% French Canadian We on my dad's side.
>> If you can get a chance to go to Illean once in your lifetime, you would be delighted. We we like to joke about it's actually not a joke. I I think it's true that the entrance of paradise is through the Ilo. It's really beautiful. It's really beautiful. And if you take the time to just like um look at the architecture, look at the people, the way people live, still live today, they all have monuments dedicated to their family, you know, the Bluen family and then the the P family and whatever.
These people are not without roots. They know who they are. They know where they're coming from. They protect their churches. They protect their land. It's it's really and and the products, the produce of the lands is really the best thing you can get. It's really if you taste like raspberries or strawberries from Ilia and you you try from the other side of the river, it's really not the same quality. It's really an astonishing quality. Those strawberries are the best in the world. Really? So, if you get a chance, please go.
>> I'm keen on it. I mean, you know, it's it's a funny thing. Uh I like to tell people down here that the Pope is my cousin.
>> Yeah. I This this is true. He is he is my 12th cousin because of course we have a common ancestor in Normandy 12 generations ago.
But as I like to say, threearters of the province of Quebec and half of southern Louisiana can make the same claim.
>> But it's it's still a cool claim. It's still a cool claim.
>> It is. It is. I I told one of the one of the the kids here at the school is part French Canadian and I told I told him I said uh you know our people are are really genealogy mad uh you get into a political argument in Quebec and immediately people start coming out with even if it's socialists with when their first ancestor came to the province that always somehow comes out >> and I said you know it so this is a big thing. And he looks at me and he said, "Is that because we're in bread?"
Well, I said, "We >> kind of kind of >> we wouldn't put it like that. We wouldn't say it like that."
>> It it's not, you know, I saw an argument online and I thought it was cool because we never hear this. We only hear the bad sides of inbreeding because we we speak about the Habsburg jaw and what have you. But as the guy claimed on the artic in the article, he said basically like inbreeding has good sides as well. And he he said if you look at current monarchs, which are pretty much all inbredads, they have an IQ way over average. Way over average. They speak twice the language that the the average people speak. They have an average of four or five languages each one of them.
So there are some good sides to it. So I think that French Canadian had had, you know, a good side of it of being like physically strong and being quite positive for most of us. We we and we are very peaceful people and I think that's that's something good.
>> A lot depends on what went into the mix.
I mean the thing about the the original settlers of French Canada is that they came from all over the country. Mhm.
>> So yes, we descend from a few hundred individuals to be honest, but those few hundred were about as varied genetically as you can be and still be European.
>> Yeah.
>> You know, they they were Latins, they were they were Normans, they were Breton, they came from all over. Lauren, Alsas, I I mean it was now I'm not talking about the Acadians. That's that's a different story. But they were all mostly pan and things like that. But there were the uh >> yeah but the French Canadians per se uh very very mixed you know within those terms. So it wasn't quite the same thing as in Appalachia where you had people coming over from Northern Ireland from Olter you know from the same village and then they settled down and did the same thing here. Well but that's so there is a bit of a difference there. I'd also say that um one of the um one of the the uh great marks of our people obviously were the was the faith. I mean that was the whole the whole reason for being the res and >> the quiet revolution the revoli was I'm going to use a fine old American phrase such a croc total garbage top to bottom beginning to end a mountain of dril just there's nothing to be said for it was all crap >> why would you say >> that why because it sucked the soul out of French Canada.
>> Yeah.
>> It became we became we became Anglos who speak French. So what big deal?
>> Yeah.
>> You know you you know is that is that what our fathers came over for?
>> Really? Is that what Frontak fought for?
Is that what Moncom fought for?
>> I don't think so.
>> No. Precisely. Precisely. Yesterday I was listening to a talk about a Harvard uh doctorate thesis um and basically was a woman who was trying to uh say that the Jesuit missions uh as I grew up as a Catholic uh and I was taught that Isaac Jo and and um Gabriel Almo and Brib they were all saints and martyrs and they wanted to die for the faith but when I dug more into this I realized that it wasn't only the faith like they were actually defending the interest of the kings and the kingdom of France and and you look at their writings and they always want to bring French civilization to uh those indigenous people which is a bad thing. So they were only looking after the face and I was like yeah but they're linked like they're linked >> obviously obviously she needed she needs to become one of the wives of an indigenous man >> to find out. Yeah.
>> Yeah. Now mind you she'll have to give up this edification garbage of hers.
Yeah, she got corrected in the Q&A. In the Q&A, I was thrilled. I was delighted that people asked very good questions, respectful question. They they didn't call her name or whatever, but they said, "Listen, you know, um the French were Catholics and they wanted to bring civilization, to bring a marriage civilization, to bring music, to give a good education, and to bring proper order, and to fight against Protestants who were just wiping them out." And and she she backed out. She couldn't say the answer she gave was so outside the mark.
It was it was really she was she couldn't answer and I was I was thrilled. I was like yes good.
>> Well for one thing she went to Harvard.
You know my grandfather taught at Harvard my mother's father and trust me you know the fact that she went to Harvard is proof that she didn't know anything.
>> I mean I well you know he hated the place and I asked him if you hate it so much why do you teach there?
And his response, typical grandpa, he said, "Because," he said, "Uh, just because the administration are stupid and insane at once, why should I deprive myself of the joy of teaching fine, bright young minds?
>> If you enjoy teaching then >> good place to be."
>> Yeah, >> I agree. But he he said he would much rather be a professor there than a student.
>> Correct. So at any rate, I I would just say that this this whole indigenous thing drives me a bit crazy. If if what I whenever I hear, oh, we've got to decolonize literature.
All right. If anyone hearing this wants to decolonize, here's how you do it. Now, if you don't do it as I explained, then I'd have to presume you're a hypocrite.
So here's how you can decolonize without hypocrisy.
Stop speaking a European language.
Speak only an indigenous tongue. Now, if you don't know any, don't speak until you learn one.
Get rid of European clothing and European technology. So, after hearing me say this, you'll never hear anybody say anything again because you're going to get rid of the computer and all the rest of this colonial clap trap. No more colonial food. No more colonial medicine.
just sit in the mud naked or well maybe a be a breach cloud. You don't have to be naked. We give you that. Uh and you know just live with whatever happens.
>> That's the best argument you could give them. It's actually okay. You want to decolonize, you know, decolonize everything, not only what you want to to tear apart, >> decolonize yourself first and then we'll watch what happens to you >> and we'll follow if if if it if it >> Yeah, you may show us the way. I'm I'm I'm not I'm open to correction. If you can show me through your own decolonization that I maybe >> So I wanted to ask you that that is basically the the core question of of the the talk of today the the chat is that more and more French Canadians are are turning back to Catholicism because you know they're they're actually um they're more conscious of the hedgeimonyy of how could I say without without saying you know the the hedge of let's say anti-clerical edge. They're aware of this. They're getting more and more conscious and they're turning back to Catholicism as something that is true and to be that needs to be defended and that needs to be promoted and that's true way of living. But it it also comes back with a certain interest in monarchy since you know as as I said in my post yesterday monarchism is the natural habitat natural political habitat of the church.
So they kind of go together. But I would like to know how would you say how would you link French monarchism and French Canadians, our people with the royal crown of France? What would be the link today and since the beginning? How how can we tell to these young people there is an interest in the French crown and you should be aware of it and maybe defend it. I don't know. I don't know how to formulate this this question because it's it's so vague but it has to be >> it's it's not too vague actually. It's not too vague. Uh firstly I would say that the um look first at Quebec as it is now at the tail end of the quiet revolution.
>> All right.
>> Yeah. Your current government got rid of both the crucifix and the crown.
>> That's horrible.
>> That was no accident.
Well, it is horrible, but it was no accident.
>> And notice they got rid of the crucifix first, then they got rid of the crown.
Now, mind you, if you had if they weren't a little brain dead in Ottawa, and I'm not saying being brain dead is a bad thing. I'm just saying, >> especially for those politicians, politicians.
>> I I'm Listen, I've lived most of my life in Southern California. For me to be against being brain dead would be, you know, self-hatred. But, uh, the thing is that these people, uh, the if the if the government in Ottawa were had any brains or guts or whatever other appendages men have, uh, they would say, "Look, you don't want the crown, that's fine. You don't want the left governor, that's fine. Nor do you need the subsidies.
We'll send we'll ship your equalization money back to the Canadian West and you can support yourselves. How about that?
>> Yeah, it goes that no now hold on there.
I I I didn't mean we were supposed to do without any money.
It's the old dome is always what counts people like that. And the fact that the Carney and his gang are silly enough to sit for this. Well, you know, a fool and his money are soon parted. Anyway, uh but to start with it, they got rid of the cross and the crown very very um what's the word? Decidedly.
Now, we'll go back a little bit further.
One of the last um and my father when I was a boy he pointed this out this is back in ' 66 as sort of a symbol of the death of the old French Canada was the death of Paul Ktoa.
>> Yes the hero the eucharistic hero >> eucharistic hero indeed and a loyal servant of the queen her left tenant governor in the province.
Now this was a strange thing because when French Canadians were monarchists they were always monarchists on their own terms.
They were not monarchists the way the Anglo Canadians were monarchists.
Borasa not Borasa M. My brain's going >> yes >> was a monarchist but he was not a monarchist like Dean Baker.
He's more influenced by um he was more influenced by if I'm not mistaken correct. He was indeed but also and of and of course um um gosh what's his name Leonel Gru Mos Gru was very much uh influenced by Lexon Frances and all that in Canada they're in France rather but uh they didn't see the crown the way Angloanadians see it because their history with it was different their loyalty to it was different it's interesting that Duplesi was one of the very few major opponents of abolishing appeals to the privy council in London.
There's a reason for that and there were a lot of Angloanadian monarchists who were quite happy with it. Dupi was not and that's because again his loyalty was the loyalty of a French Canadian and not an Anglo Cananadian.
There uh you know you could be loyal to the same thing as someone else for very different reasons. That was the genius of AustriaHungary.
You know, the very the various peoples of AustriaHungary were all loyal to the Hapsburgs, but for different reasons.
So, now let's go all the way back. Now, we go back to the conquest la >> 1760 if I recall well, >> 1759.
>> 59 >> and of and of course 1763 is the treaty, but Quebec fell in 1759. Plains of Abraham.
And what happens? Well, what happens is the in 1763, the king of of England treaty with the king of France.
And one of the requirements of that treaty is that he treat his new subjects, Indian and French, as though they were his own born.
Now, that is a very difficult thing to live up to when you consider that the penal laws in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and in 10 of the 13 colonies forbade the Catholic Church.
So, what do you do?
>> Well, you've you've obligated yourself under a treaty. And then if that weren't bad enough, uh, in to some people's point of view, George III became interested in Catholic emancipation at home in the British Isles. So he was the first since 1688, the first British king to visit Catholic noblemen and to entertain them at court.
He was the first British king to be popular amongst the Catholic Irish since 1688. And so it went. which >> which probably caused a chaos over there in London. No.
>> Oh, it caused a lot of difficulties to say the least as you'll see. But meanwhile in the colonies, remember that we were the enemy to the northern colonies. Our Spanish cousins in the south uh were in Florida were the enemy to the southerners.
And the kings of Great Britain were the great Protestant protectors against Catholicism.
Well, this is going to change real quick.
Now, the king has all of these Catholic, French, and some Indian subjects. What's he going to do? Well, as a sort of emergency uh measure, he informs his governor, Guy Colton, to basically suspend the penal laws.
But that was only done on a temporary basis.
Then in 1766 was it 67 something like this 69 anyway whatever it was the bishop of Quebec died and his victor general Mosa was elected bishop and confirmed by Rome but now he's got a problem.
How are we going to consecrate him?
Well the British parliament not parliament the government the cabinet don't want him to go anywhere. the king overrules them and tells him to go to France and get consecrated and he does.
So he comes back and becomes the bishop real song and story. Well, then the uh the uh fun really sort of begins because as you know in 1774 we have the Quebec Act which codifies what had been the practice really for about 10 years. It puts it into law.
Well, the rebels to to the south, the soon to be rebels are utterly utterly horrified.
They they can't believe it. The great protector of popery has turned papish, they thought.
Well, that was one of the great contributions to the rebellion. And in fact, the Quebec Act is denounced to the Declaration of Independence.
>> It actually triggered it for for qu It actually triggered it. No, >> it had not in its entirety. But >> no, no, there was more to it, but that was a big chunk. And then, as you know, in 1776, the same year, the Yankees invaded Quebec and uh they they quickly besieged the city.
Well, Bri had already uh excommunicated John Carol, who would later be the first American bishop of Baltimore. He excommunicated him for coming up with Ben Franklin to try to get the French Canadians to rebel.
>> Oh, yes. Yeah, I remember that. that that that episode that episode.
>> What a hero.
>> So that happens.
Yep. And then uh he uh then as I say they have the invasion, the siege, and then the Americans appoint a New Hampshire general named General Worcester to be military governor of the province while they're besieging the city. And one of the things he does is outlaw the mass. Well, >> that's not going to be quite popular here.
It didn't go down very well and before you knew it uh there were all sorts of French Canadian gerillas in the back and the siege basically died and General Montgomery was killed and it was everything General Arnold could do skillful commander that he was in pulling back the army what was left of it uh back down from uh down the St. Lawrence down the so-called conqueror's road back down late by Lake Champlain to the colonies.
Um, and then two years later, of course, a couple of things happened. The king, who by this time, thanks to Lord North, had a lot of say in government. For about 10 years, 1770 to 1780, George III had a prime minister who would do as he told him, and that was Lord North.
And he uh he pushed through, the king did the first Catholic Emancipation Act in 1778.
This allowed Catholics to own land. It relieved a lot of the nastier uh things that that hung over us. I mean, we still couldn't vote, couldn't sit in parliament, couldn't go to university, but a lot of the really nasty things. We couldn't own more than x amount of acres of land. We couldn't do this, we couldn't do that. That was all done away with u and it led to the Gordon riots.
But but you know which which meant that we weren't like active citizens in politics but we could at least have families go to mass and and prosper in certain sense you know >> and have a bishop and have a bishop >> have a bishop and have priests who whose office isn't technically illegal which it was until then. So all that came through in 1778 or earlier. I mean the Quebec act of course is far more farreaching than the first emancipation act >> for for those you know I don't want to say modernist but for those you know people that are new to the faith and history and what have you to have a bishop is essential because it means that you can consecrate priests. And why is a priest essential? Well you're going to have marriages you're going to have funerals. You're going to have baptism.
So basically all the family life turns around the Catholic Church. So if there's no priest, well all the family will slowly die. And that's what we see today. So back then it was to me it was it was really a big uh show of mercy that that the king of of England actually did to the French Canadians. It was really a hand of mercy that he he showed us. It was not a hand of steel.
So in that sense, in that sense, you know, and and to me, Monsan is not a traitor. I know that a lot of, you know, I I I say Quebecers, I I'm not going to say French Canadians. I'm not going to give them this glorious title, but they like to say that he was a traitor because he betrayed us to the English people and blah blah blah, but but >> All right. All right. Let me say this about that.
>> Go ahead.
>> You're right. You're right. He was a traitor. Quebec should have been taken over by the United States and everyone should be speaking English like me.
>> Yes, that's right.
>> Well, well, Viv, >> basically that's what they're saying because it let's say that this would have not happened. Then we have only two options. either France is taking back our land and the French Revolution imports itself here, kills all the Catholics, kills all the monks, kills all the nuns, kills all the priests, the bishop and and so basically we die out and anyway that's that would have not happened. France was bankrupt and and you know they have other interests now or we become Americans. So what you know what did you want us to die?
>> And this and this of course this problem remains today. You know there are a lot of young chemical nationalists for whom I have a tremendous admiration and love for because of their spirit. Uh I think of no and people like that.
>> I I am really really fond of those guys.
But what I think they perhaps don't understand is that alas and a lack there are only two alternatives Canada or the United States.
They're really if if Quebec ever did become independent from the rest of Canada, she would be American within a generation and entirely angophone within three.
>> How do I know this? I have seen it. When I was a boy, when I was born in 1960, there were still sections of southern New England, little Canada, where you'd hear French on the street.
It's all God.
I'm the youngest man in my family who still speaks any French at all.
>> All you have >> All you have are names that people who have them can't pronounce like forgot.
They can't. That's what you're left with. And that alassal act is what awaits an independent Quebec.
Now, you may not like this. You may not want to hear it. It may be annoying.
So, you could ask me, it'd be a fair question. So, what's your solution? Glad you asked that.
>> So, what's your solution?
>> Well, believe it or not, the one that worked before the cross and the crown, the altar and throne. Uh, let me see just a minute if I can pull it up. Uh, >> I I I agree with you. You know, I I enjoy the spirit of Novel and I I always, you know, give them likes and support them and I have friends in there.
>> I think they're great for the spirit, but on, you know, whatever idea they have of, let's say, separating the French identity out of Quebecers, to me, that's a nonsense. It's not going to work. We come from people. We come from France. We are French. Like we're not Germans. We're not Mexicans. We're not Spanish. We are French. And And they'll use I'm sorry for the guy of NAS who will listen to it. But >> when when they utilize Leon to invent a new identity that that he doesn't argue for, I I I think that's that's an abomination. He's not arguing for a new Quebecer identity. What he's saying is like we have to keep our French identity. We have to keep our French heroes St. Jakar G and all the thing without excluding those of French Canad of French Canadian descent which is the same descent. That's all he's saying. We have a we need a balance. He's not saying we have to throw everything from France in the trash because we are not France. We are Quebecers. That's not what he's saying.
>> So that would be the greatest critique that I have of Na Dian. aside from that that you know perhaps to the guys they're doing something that no one else is doing. So, >> and that's that's the that's what I'm I really I'm really all for that. Uh here's what I was looking for. This was the original fourth verse of Okanada.
Now, bear in mind that O Canada was not written as the national anthem. It was written as a French anthem as a >> Yep. And then we're trying to unify.
>> Exactly. And here's the fourth verse.
I hope my pronunciation isn't >> No, it was I understood everything. No, no, no. I understood everything. It was really well pronounced.
>> That is beautiful. And I feel so joyful that I I could actually hear this for the first time. I didn't knew that part.
I knew the the mix and match of the English side and Trudeau and what have you, but that I never heard I've never heard it. And and and I think it's so beautiful on one side and so sad that we abandoned it.
>> Well, it is. I I call it the forbidden fourth verse. Oh, we can't talk about it. Oh, she will.
>> I'll I'll take a note right now. I don't know.
>> The uh But you see, it shows us where the minds of our fathers were then.
>> Yeah. It was beautiful.
>> Now, now, mind you, going back to our our revolutionary war, which of course is down here, or over there, I should say, I'm in Austria in the 250, we're in the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. But uh in 1778 because the defeat at Saratoga, which is a whole other issue at a whole other time, France enters the war on the rebel side. The following year, Spain enters the war. Ironically, because this is the year that George III gets the first uh the first uh emancipation act through.
Ironically, the entrance of France and Spain into the war turns him off on Catholic emancipation because he feels betrayed by his brother monarchs.
Now, it's not like they got anything out of the deal either.
Louis 16th >> Louis 16 didn't get his didn't get a good part at all.
>> No, he he did not. And mind you, I have a huge admiration for Louis 16th. It was his reforms in the two years the four years before 1778 he' been king since 1774 he put through a lot of reforms military economic and so on and they were precisely the reason that France was able to win the revolutionary war usually is in the three preceding or the four uh seven years um Austrian succession Spanish succession all the way back to the war of the grand alliance the French might outfight now general the English, but they always ran out of money and that would that would end it. Not this time because precisely because of the uh administrative reforms of Louis 16.
>> So I mean he was in his way he was an incredibly good monarch but he made a huge mistake and that was in my humble opinion entering the war on the rebel side.
>> Yeah. Yeah, because >> yeah, that nailed it.
>> He bankrupted the country. Uh I mean he he managed to bring the war to an end, but it's they were still bankrupt. They they didn't run out of money until the end, >> but they did.
>> And then he wanted to tax the nobles to to help the cows of of France, and the nobles refused. Imagine that's how bad it was.
>> Well, you know, again, you had several things happen. A lot of the French officer corps when they were over in the in the United States picked up, shall we say, Republican ideas.
>> Yeah, that that was a problem. That was exactly a problem.
>> And then the whole they're brought back to France. Then in 1788, you have this cathe this volcano blow up in Iceland.
It destroys the crops in a good chunk of Western Europe, including a good chunk of France. But the country is bankrupt.
So there's no grain in the royal granaries and there's no credit to buy more.
So he calls first in 1788 the assembly of notables which could do nothing and then in 1789 the estates general which turned into the dog and pony show we all know.
>> Yeah.
>> And then from there it went now meanwhile in Quebec this was seen with horror. And it's interesting that for 50 years or so after Louis 16th was murdered in 1793, pictures of St. Louis done in Quebec generally have his face.
>> The face of Louis 16th. Is that what you're saying?
>> Yes.
>> Oh, is that so? I didn't know.
>> Generally have the face of Louis.
And that um that little t little tidbit I picked up I think in the Canadian encyclopedia actually.
So the thing is that with that happening uh the next step of course was the war of 1812 and there you may recall the Americans invaded once again thinking it would be a cakewalk to take Montreal.
>> Not so Not so fast.
>> Not so fast, my little munchkins. Uh they outran their supply lines and as soon as they were sufficiently too far ahead, um the uh oh gosh, what was his name?
The commander at ChatGee. Uh gosh, I'm going blank.
>> Um oh, I don't name as well as my own.
>> Um gosh, this is very embarrassing, ladies and gentlemen.
Try not to get old because if you do you'll get scenile like me. Uh let's see.
He was >> salary.
>> Yes.
Thank you.
>> So uh yeah who was who had an incredible career all on his own.
uh and Shadowi marked quite the high point in uh in the French uh collaboration against the revolution, the French in the French Canadian collaboration against the revolution. Now, here's when the when the war was over, as we know, we we come forward a little bit further. We're there in the 1830s.
uh we have the whole thing with the the chateau click in mo the family compact in Ontario and so on and so on and so on. Well, would people forget other than Papino died as Protestant, which we won't touch on. That would be too obvious. Low-lying fruit. But the Patriot again both to a lesser degree in Quebec, but the grits definitely in Ontario, they wanted annexation by the United States.
And from then until the time of uh Prime Minister Carney calling the king to open parliament, the grits, >> that was a funny one, >> had done everything and anything they could to deliver the Canada to the United States.
And that that's a broad statement and then you find exceptions to it that you could point out. But by and large what what Dupaci understood you weaken the connection with Britain you'll end up with America.
I I I see it I I see it probably as you see it is that the crown of England was actually a protector of our people and a protector of the fateless republican ideas.
So without the the English crown we would have been eaten alive by either the French revolutionaries or English revolutionaries but one way or the other we were getting killed >> either way. And of course the the the weirdly providential way we were spared from either of those fates is something that was very much present in the minds of the first French Canadian nationalist writers in the 19th century. And here I'm speaking of people like Tony and so on.
>> Yes.
with um you know, you look at all of that and you see that uh we ended up going through this strange middle route that could not have been predicted in advance.
And to be sure, lest anyone think I'm not aware of the injustices that were done to us like the schools controversies in New Brunswick, Manitoba, and Ontario, I am.
Nor do I say that the uh the execution of real was a good thing. But I'll tell you something funny about Louis Real that a lot of people don't know. In between his two rebellions, he led the Matei against the Fenians attacking for the United States in the name of Queen Victoria.
>> Yeah, he was a loyal subject of of Queen Victoria. I've heard this. He >> sure was. He was against the government in Ottawa, but not against the queen.
And that is something that people don't realize or remember.
>> Exactly. That's a distinction that people fail to see today in in either camps. In in either camps, it's not something that is that is common to do this distinction, but we have to do it.
We have to do a distinction between the government of Ottawa and the crown of England, which is not the same thing.
You can argue that it's a muppet or whatever. You can have your own ideas, but factually speaking, the crown of England has said this a few times. And I'm not saying like we should be loyal to them until death and spare blood. I'm not saying, but we have to be fair. Like I don't see them as an enemy. I don't I don't see them, you know.
>> Well, I mean, look, the the truth of the matter is that we're a small minority people.
>> We only survived historically through an enormous birth rate.
>> Yep. That was all >> that exact exact exact uh we had an enormous birth rate. We had our language. We had our faith and we had our customs you know la those three that was called you know maintaining those three things.
Now without la the other two are pointless.
>> Correct. Correct.
>> And that this has put us into a position where we have a people with a divine vocation who have turned their backs on that vocation. A little bit like the children of Israel.
We were preserved through strange and peculiar ways like the crown of England who did more for us than they did for Ireland.
uh and we we have no gratitude to anybody and then we give up the very thing which defined us.
That's it's it's insane. the um you know the people's waves which is one of the proudest moments in our history 6070 >> I've read a book called no quasi like our crusaders and it it speaks about this moment about the battle of Mantana and how we every single parish in in the French Canadian speaking world sent men at least one every single parish imagine imagine that that's that's a lot of >> that's a huge enterprise is >> I myself wrote a book on the papal's wands called the Pope's Legion. Oh, I'm sorry. Was that a plug?
>> It has to be. Well, you >> I'm going to have to redo my budget this week. Gosh.
>> Well, but it was was interesting about it was what a formative uh element that adventure was in the French Canadian identity.
Because after that, you know, the Zavs, first retired Zavs, because you had them, as you say, you had them everywhere. And then they formed Zuab units. It was sort of like a a franophhone militia before the first war. Kind of like the the equivalent of the Anglo rifle clubs.
Um, you had these all over Quebec and in a few other places in Canada. Um, this became a big part of our tradition. Now, an interesting episode that is probably not that well known, but uh, interesting to think about. You remember, have you ever seen the movie Cartoon?
>> No, I'm not a big movie watcher.
>> That's all right. It came out in 19 came out in 1968 before you were born, so don't worry about it. But I saw it when it came out. And it's about General Gordon who was uh he was a British general who on his own initiative was at the time of the employee of uh the Kadiv of Egypt was basically surrounded in the town of Cartoum and the British public because Gordon was already a big hero.
The British public demanded that they try to relieve him from the siege. Well the Brit they said the British sent an army there under General Walsley. He gets to cartoon two days late.
The siege is over. Gordon is dead.
Everything's wrecked. Well, the British public are infuriated. The Makti, that was the Messianic figure who had done the siege and had Gordon killed. The Machi was still at large and Walsley had to go up the Nile to get him. Well, Walsley had fought against Realel in the 1870s, and he said, "If you want me to go up the uh if you want me to go up the uh Nile, I need French Canadian uh boatman to do it, otherwise I can't get the Mi."
So, they sent out an ad, >> which is a tremendous compliment.
>> Yeah, it is. They sent out an ad for volunteers, volunteer boatman to help bring the British army up the Nile and they got them about 150 or so. That was all they needed and they got the Mi but >> which still speaks to itself which still speaks to itself you know how how could you know French Canadians which were historically enemies supposedly of the English people why would they you know why would they give their own lives for a cause which is not ours if we were so-called enemies so there was something there's a distinction that we have to make between ex precisely you know the crown the army and the British people or revolutionary spir spirit of the British people. We have to do distinction between that between them.
>> Well, and and I think I think in fighting the Makti they felt a little bit like crusaders because >> fighting for a noble cause.
>> Yeah. And fighting the fighting the Sarissens who had murdered a bunch of Christians.
>> I know I shouldn't put it that way. I'll probably shut down.
>> But the police the police will come rushing at any moment under the free speech requirements.
Uh, you got >> How dare you had an opinion? How dare >> free speech is too valuable, too too precious to be entrusted to any individual and should be exercised responsibly on our behalf by our government.
>> Exactly.
>> Exactly.
>> But at any rate, the uh the thing is that this too became a uh an interesting uh an interesting point. Have you ever heard of an English writer today named Mark >> Jer?
No. Yeah.
>> Doesn't really >> He's written he's written a lot of things about he's an Englishman like third or fourth generation. Uh he's written um oh gosh about country houses and things like that. Anyway, it doesn't matter. The reason why he's in England, his great great grandfather or great-grandfather was a judge in Quebec.
Okay.
>> And the uh at that time the island of St. Lucia which had been uh won in the Napoleonic Wars had kind of a chaotic legal system. So they sent him down to the British sent to St. Lucia to reorganize the legal system of the island on the basis of Quebec's which as you know of course descends from French law not English. And he did a he did a very good job. Apparently he's still remembered lovingly in St. Lucia today.
But he ended up with a knighthood in England and that's why there is jer in England at this time.
>> Okay, that may that makes sense because jaw is not a common English name.
>> No, it's French Canadian and that and that's what they were. I you know I'll give you another funny thing. I was just a month ago in the aisle of sky in Scotland first time in my life. Now, in common with actually a lot of other French Canadians, to be honest, I have an ancestor named Laughlin McKinnon who came from the aisle of egg just south of Sky, although Sky is where the McKinnons are sort of based.
He came to Canada in 1772 uh to Prince Edward Island. Didn't like the conditions. Went to join his brother in Matan, Quebec. His brother had come over with Wolf's army and his daughter Geneviev married a French Canadian and their descendants are sprinkled throughout the province.
You'll find Machino Machin Machinan all over the place.
>> Yeah, we do have a lot of >> Yeah, indeed you do. And she's also my uh my he Laughlin is my nin times great-grandfather.
So I stood where he was born.
I stood where he was born uh three weeks ago.
>> That must have been a a good moment for you.
>> Uh it was >> maybe emotional.
>> It was. And you see he had been in Colon and fought for Bonnie Prince Charlie.
And I also went to Colon on this trip and I found in doing my research the McKinnons have been on the left flank.
So I stand there where they would have been and I immediately realized why he survived the battle. If he'd been in the center of the right flank, he'd have been toast. It was open to open to fire, I guess.
>> Yeah. But because of where he was, I could see exactly how he managed to get to get through. And he ended up dying at the age of 110 in 1835 in Matan.
Okay, that's quite interesting. Um, especially, you know, there's a good solid case that you can make for monarchism in the French for the French Canadian people in the early stages of, you know, the revolutions and what have you. For example, there's many witnesses of people that say um that French Canadian were outraged at the French Revolution. People came out when when the news came out that uh they they killed our good king Louis the 16th.
people went out to the streets screaming and crying and and and there were masses said all over the place and and people were really really uh it was u like a widowhood for the whole country. Um so that's like an easy case and afterwards uh around the shamba uh era there was still a lot of support for him here. So there was still a lot of support for the French for the French crown in French Canadian well actually for the for the absent French Canadian crown because the revolution took over.
>> Yeah. So the legit legitimous campa um there was a lot of support for him and I didn't know that uh there was even the newspaper called and he would fly the fl outside of his office in Montreal on stage street but we're talking about the French royal fl the the white and gold one not the place flag and he was not the only one. Well, this you see this here is where we come to a very fascinating issue.
The ais the uh the legitimist heir, the grandson of Charles I 10th um and great uncle of Emperor Zeta. Incidentally, um he u people may well firstly had France not lost her crown, it would have made the situation of the French Canadians very different >> because uh as things stood, you know, in the immortal words of u oh god, I can't think of his name. He's one of the founders of one of the fathers of confederation. Uh Katier.
Yes.
uh as uh though I remember I remember that I was that while born under the lily I flourished under the rose and that uh that was the case primarily because of the French Revolution and and Republic in France. Now had the monarchy survived in France then you would have had a house of a different color I think in all likelihood there would have been a question there would have been a constant pull to try to re rejoin them country.
Uh so for the Angloanadians probably the best thing that ever happened was the French Revolution but >> correct >> not for us. Well, no, not for us, but for them. Uh, having said that, however, the the only theor people make a big deal about his refusing to accept the new flag and they say, "Oh, he was being silly and all that."
>> No, no, he was not. He was being a man of principle and he did good.
>> And it wasn't just a question of the flag.
>> Yeah. What represented it?
>> Exactly. It was a symbolic It was symbolic of what kind of monarchy he would reign over.
>> Exactly. Of my understanding, and please correct me if I'm wrong, basically the the Kesha was presented the throne. But he refused a throne, a powerless throne.
He refused a throne that was subject >> to the revolutionaries standing in in in the assembly national and you know what have you. That that's my understanding of it. I don't know if >> it's which is correct. It is >> okay.
>> It is rather like um it's ra well I mean the modern British system really stems from 1688.
Now it was sort of perfected you might say with the death of Queen Anne. German speakaking kings who didn't understand anything let all the power go to the hands of the prime minister. George III tries to return not to James II's time but to Queen Anne's he fails because of the defeat in the revolution and what you're left with is a well after the American Constitution was done as Eric Nelson put it on one side of the water a republic without a monarchy without a king and on the other a king without a monarchy and >> which is actually an exact description of the thing >> that's that's actually what had now the Kon Shambo did not want to be king of France under those conditions.
Now had had they had they exceeded to his will, had he become in his own right king of France, that would have presented the French Canadians with an interesting dilemma.
Yeah. What do we do now? Do we fight to go back >> now?
>> Yeah.
>> But you see that was that uh that possibility was taken off the table and we were stuck back with again you you have you have the British crown in Canada or you get to be American.
Your call.
And whether we like it or not, whether we jump up and down, whether we shriek, those are the choices we still have.
And you look at the the Angloanadians uh their tradition of course it starts with the loyalists.
Now they were very very different from us and their view of the monarchy their loyalty to the monarchy was different from ours because it was very much a wig loyalty whereas ours was much closer to the Jacobites loyalty to the Stewarts.
And so uh the very very I mean the the bit of old Canada could you imagine an English speaker writing a song like that?
>> No. Unfortunately not not on our side of the sea.
>> No I mean you you just it's the most Tory imaginable could not have written something like that now. That's just the way it is. So, I mean, I've I've had young French Canadians, God bless you all, excoriate me for accepting the two people's myth.
They except it's not a myth. It's just what is. I Or rather, I'll tell you what. You don't like the two people's myth? Fine. I'll give you the three people's reality. AngloCanadian, French, Canadian, American.
An American ready to swallow you both up.
>> Exactly.
Well, you know how I see things now is that we what made our survival possible? Well, it was large families.
>> Yep.
>> But how not just we didn't just have babies. I I see this all the time on Twitter and what have you, you know, oh, have babies, have babies, have babies.
No, like yes, have babies, but have holy families.
>> That's what's going to change everything.
>> You got to have babies. Yes. But to have those, you have to have mothers. And above all, you have to have fathers.
>> Exactly. Because even if you have like six billion more soulless, faithless people that don't know who they are, what is it going to change? You just have more slaves for the systems. That's not what that's not what we want. We want holy families who will know their heritage, who will know who they are, who they are, who will be loyal to their institutions and give their efforts to the institution that gave life to us.
And that is first and foremost the Catholic Church. We have to recognize this.
>> You know when I see people I'm not too much interested in the Catholic church.
What have you studied? Well, nothing.
Well, there you go. That's why you don't know why why you should go back to the church. But the throne and altar to me is so vital for our survival that I I would dare to say that something that hurt us the most was the lack of aristocracy here in Quebec >> because all our noble our Catholic nobles left and nobles just like the kings are protectors of the church. They finance missions. They finance the building of churches. They finance the schools. We all like to say, "Oh, the saints did this. The saints built this."
Yes, but where did the money come from?
>> But they came they came from Christendom.
>> They came from the from the altar.
>> So we did >> Yeah, >> we did have the Seares and Sas uh which as you know we abolished in 1856 although the last traces of the system you know really really only ended in the last 40 years. But when you had the Sanger, he the SA had his his uh his own pew in the church, he was responsible for a certain percentage of the money to keep up the church, >> right?
>> He was generally chairman of the parish council, Maggie, I guess they would say.
>> Yeah.
>> And captain >> Yeah. Mag and Cap Lis in his in his district. and that that system uh that system was phased out. Now, what's funny, I have never heard and I do not know and I have never read if there was ever an attempt to defend the singerial system.
>> I do not know.
>> No. And part of the problem may have been that a lot of the singers uh their daughters had married Anglo uh and so a lot of the singers were either Protestant or Anglo. Uh so this was kind of a problem. There's a um I think >> that's what I have read that you know most of the nobles left or their descendants were actually deluded into the system. and we're no longer efficacious for the for the cause of, you know, Catholicism and and French culture. We could say it this way. But you see, there's a there's a big renewal of Catholicism in France that you can see well pretty much everywhere in Europe, but in France you can see it.
Um, and then people say, you know, why is there such a big renewal in France and revival and and in Quebec? We don't quite see it. Just a little bit, but not that much. Well, they have more money.
They have large families. They have old families. They have, you know, a lot of running things that have been there for centuries. Well, we were left with nothing. So to to have a running church, well, you you need money, unfortunately.
So this aristocracy absence really hurt us. Really hurt us. And the throne of England kind of supplied for this in in in in a in a certain sense out of the protect at least of the protection sense not maybe the flourishing sense in the sense of moneywise but but for the protection of the laws protection of are the politicians you know that sentence by by uh I think it's emperor France Ysef when he was asked by I think it was Teddy Roosevelt so what exactly is your role as an emperor and he said my role is to protect my people from their politicians.
>> Yeah. So >> I think that the king of England actually did some some of this work for us. You know, he did this work for us.
He protected us from the revolutionaries ideas. But but with that being said, if we would have had maybe a restoration possible in France and then you know without turning uh back into a French colony staying under the the the English uh monarchy if we would have support of the of France moneywise or the aristocracy that would come back strong over there and we would have benefited from here we would be thriving. We would really be thriving.
>> It's true. And if I mean there a lot of whatifs and so on, but I mean >> I do believe the Canadian system would uh would be far better off if the king actually appointed the governor general, not from retired politicians, >> but from eminent people who had done something with their lives. Uh you know, soldiers and and public beneficiaries and so on.
>> Benefactors, not beneficiaries. we had enough public beneficiaries benefactors um and ditto owe the left tenant governors uh in the provinces it the problem with the Canadian monarchy in my humble opinion is the same uh with the British monarchy which is it's not monarchical enough uh but the problem >> which is true >> but the problem to get from here to there is that the king is down by 1688 and the supremacy of parliament which in the Commonwealth realms to include Canada uh basically means the local parliament.
So, you know, it one of the I'll tell you a funny thing.
Every one of those politicians, including the uh uh assembly people in Quebec, took oath of allegiance to the crown, to the king, to the queen before.
Now, I was in Australia in back in 1993, and I had a long talk with a uh an Australian QC, Queen's Council, and Kings Council, uh who was a Republican, and I said to him, you know, all of your people take oaths to the king or to the queen rather, your politicians, the rest of that riffraff. Now surely a Republican politician who takes that oath is what we back home in the states would call a perjurer and a traitor.
Well, he gave me a long long explanation as to how the oath doesn't mean what it says.
>> And I mean I I can't tell you what the argumentation was. I couldn't follow it then. I can't tell. Let me be as vague as I can be to deny the the obvious fact that I did take that on.
>> I could I just said I could feel my brain turning to mush. Now bear in mind the man in question is of Irish descent.
So keep keep that in mind. He's Irish.
So when he finishes his dissertation, I said, "Look, I'm a stupid French Canadian.
All right? I'm a [ __ ] I'm stupid. With us, if we take an oath, we have to keep it and die trying. But you have that fine Anglo-Saxon mind you, you English people have, and you're able to turn yes to no and no to yes. So, you know what? I hope that one day I'm summoned by the opposite side in a case you're trying.
And when I'm put under the oath, I'll swear to tell the truth. All right.
It'll be my truth.
>> I'll adopt it. Yeah.
>> The truth as it should be. The truth as it would be if we lived in a better world. And I know you'll have no trouble with that because of your elastic view toward oaths. You'll never have me prosecuted for perjury. Right.
Well, that was the end of that argument, let me tell you.
>> Yeah.
>> Uh, that is something that I I I lament.
the the before an oath meant an oath like and people were really really on their horses about this like if I made an oath I made an oath and now it's just like it's so meaningless it's so meaningless >> well because I'm going to argue that even it's if it's not a good oath I'm not even saying not perfect I'm saying it's not a good oath it would still be good to live up to it because it's your word I mean like you >> you if you take an oath, you're swearing before God that you will do this and such.
Now, if you're not willing to do this and such, don't take the oath. Now, mind you, if that means you can't have your government jobs sucking up the public funds, well, tough.
You I'm sure you can find >> How am I How am I going to pay my country house?
>> Oh, listen. There's prostitution.
There's all kinds of stuff you can get into. Don't worry about it.
>> It's actually just the same as you're doing now. It's just a different form.
>> Yeah. You know, some years ago, the the Governor Spitzer of New York was driven from office because he was found consorting with prostitutes.
>> And I was called by several New York outlets asking my opinion.
I said, "Well, you know, I think the people of New York are being very unfair to Governor Spitzer."
They said unfair. What do you What do you mean? I said, 'Look, I'm a writer. I like to spend time with other writers discussing our our common profession, what we do, and so on because if you're not a writer, you don't do those things.
And if you are a writer, well, there's no one else who can understand. So, I can see why the governor, being the top politician of the state, would want to hang out with other members of his profession.
And I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
me, you know, none of them quoted me. No.
Anyhow, seriously, I what I I would say though is that in in a in a nutshell, Quebec today, French Canada today, Canada today are in a series of dilemmas because of our odd history.
And the uh some of them have been eternal. The first is do you want to be American and how badly do you want to be American?
That has been present certainly since 1814.
Uh the second is if you're French Canadian, how badly do you want to betray your ancestors and your god?
>> How bad scale of 1 to 10? how much you need to, you know, we know we're going to sell out. We got that part done. How much if you're Anglo Canadian, how much you want to sell out the crown that justifies your existence?
>> You see, I'm so happy to be a French Canadian prec first of all because of what it means. But second of all, because I don't have this problem that, you know, a Western Canadian, English Canadian would have to follow his roots.
his roots. I don't have that problem.
I'm a Catholic. So, I'm in truth. I don't have this Protestant idea to defend that actually doesn't mean a lot or it actually means a revolutionary spirits. But now Protestants seems to go against it. So, it's it's kind of a flip-flop that we don't really understand. Do we have to be loyal? Do we have to No, us it's really easy. We are Catholics. So, that's that solves the solves the first problem.
>> Now, the second thing >> should be easy for us.
>> Yes. Now the second thing is which crown should we be loyal to? I think that's a question that that's a fair question that a French Canadian can ask him can ask himself but I think that that is not a question. I think that the question is how holy can you be? Because we we have to remember the French revolution happened. Why? Because all like the m that you were talking you were talking about earlier the the holiness of the people went down. We started to be people living without faith. So when you live without faith well your soil becomes decon disecrated.
So what happens then the revolutionary ideas come strong because people oblige to it. People adear to it. So the holier they will be the holier the Christianom will be restored. I I I I have a lot of hope that maybe we'll not go back to, you know, full full-on monarchical Catholics Catholic monarchical system, but if at least we can have a lot of families going back to holiness, we will have more structures, more institutions protecting us and then slowly slowly it'll be easier to get back to this question. And maybe maybe 50 years ago, it would have been harder for a a French from France to have this to have this uh question of who should he support. But now it's easy to me because Lu Alons Bon Louis 20th. He is a full-blown Catholic that you cannot deny. I I've listened to pretty much all of his interviews. He's not playing a card. He's not playing a joker card.
He's not saying, "Look, I'm Catholic just because I want support." No, he is Catholic and he if he has support, he is happy. If not, he's still happy. He's, you know, he has a good family. He's not divorced. He's, you know, faithful to the church and his wife. And that's all we need to have this, I would say, guideline of where are we heading in in terms of support. And to me, we have to support him. Maybe not betray I'm not saying that we should betray the the English crown. That's not what I'm saying. But we can have hope in him to be a good leader to help >> Cathic families to be holier and maybe one of this his descent will get back to the throne whatever. But for now, as of my part, as of French Canadian perspective, I would definitely go for him because my ancestors did. My ancestors were legitimate. When when the cult died, >> there were basically like masses being said all over the place for him. People were crying in the streets the Shabb we're talking about maybe a century after the French Revolution maybe a bit more what five year more so if if we still had this memory it's because we were holy we had families so the father would speak to the son and say listen son this is who we are this is what this guy did for our family this is what that family did for our family and you must live by this you must be charitable to them because they helped us and I would say, "Listen, legit, you know, the legitimous party is is our party. It's the Catholic party." And you mentioned Kier earlier on. I I forgot to mention, I just remember I want to plug it in because I think it was really great to read. I I really had pleasure reading this. There's this discourse about uh Wil, Prime Minister of Canada in uh let me see the date. I think 1877.
Uh where is this?
>> No. No lo was later >> uh 1877 sorry uh no no exactly 1877. So in 1877 what he's saying is that there's conservative party and there's the revolutionary he calls him liberal and that's what it is the liberal party they would say long live the revolution and what would the conservatives in Quebec scream long live the king long live the kamba. Yeah, >> imagine that support that we have a 100red years after. Why is that so?
Because we were aware of what was going on in France. Because we were interested by what is happening in our motherland.
>> It is in a certain sense our our motherland. You know, >> it it is you know the the my my grand uncle Dona used to say to me that when a family stops speaking French a thousand years of tradition die.
>> Exactly. Correct. That is correct.
>> I was um I was kind of amused a few years ago. I was in N in France and uh I saw a bar called T a hyphen bar b a r hyphen n a c tab bar mac >> and I >> which is funny but it's not you know >> I know but I went in laughing and I said I said to the fellow the fellow looks at me he says and I said yes >> you can bet on Oh. Oh. He says, "All the Canadians who come in here are laughing." I said, "Well, >> well, it is funny.
>> It's it's intended to bait us because North was one of the big ports that our ancestors came to Quebec from. Na, Lauron, um, couple of others, but N was one of the big ones." And, you know, we forget this. I mean, one of the interesting things I have a cousin, a distant cousin, Jeul, who's a uh genealogologist in Quebec, and he traced out for us before me exactly how we're related to the Pope on his side. Uh, and he he goes through it and he said and he writes back to me. He says, "Well, I found that I'm related to uh to the Pope through my side of the of the Koulams." Uh, and uh, I said, "Well, okay." He says, "Now, let's do you." And he vanishes for like an hour, comes back, he says, "Well, you're not related to your branch of the Kulums." And I sat there thinking, "Yeah, well, I know French Canadian genealogy. We related somewhere." Sure enough, >> find it. Find it.
>> He writes back. He says, "Well, you're not related through the Kuloms, but you are related to the pen and the ghetto."
And then I found out that the ghetto had come to Quebec from Martineique.
I had no idea. Yes.
>> What a pit stop. What a pit stop.
>> If your name is Ghana or you have any Ghana close relations you can think of.
You've got roots in Martineique. So you know get into that island beat.
>> Enjoy the hot weather.
>> Yeah, I I guess.
But no, >> I would like to uh have a quick word about the Habsburgs if you don't mind.
>> Uh I've read the Habsburg way of his archduke Edward Habsburg which it was a delight to read. It was really really good. It was refreshing. It was not it's not it's not like as aggressive against another camp as you can see in Joseph Demet's writing like they hid something.
his archduke um his imperial arch highness doesn't hate anything. He's just a good Catholic writing a love story to well, you know, in his book, okay, in his book, uh maybe he's calling for something that I'm not going to talk here, but he he says basically it's a love letter to his family and that's exactly what I've seen in this in the book. That's exactly what I've read and I thought it was so refreshing like and he's just asking questions through and through, you know, what about today?
What about you? What about your family?
You know, what can you do? And I thought that was like so good. And I was like, gosh, if only we could have something like that for BBO in French. How happy I would be. I was delighted with this book. And I'm a Hasbro supporter all all, you know, all along. I will always help them if I can. I was I will always defend their ideas and their history if I can. But gosh, if only we could have this for the Bone. If only we could have a distant cousin of of Louisa Alonso the Bourbon that could do this for this family. Well, that would be fun.
>> It would be incredible. He would he would have a harder time, I think, running the slow story, but but he could. He could >> if it if it makes you feel better. Uh there's a Hapsburg who I I will not name. I know him. Uh but his mother uh after World War II came to California, Fresno, and she married a French Canadian.
And well, this isn't his name, but we'll say his name is Max. So he's half French Canadian, his father, and half Hapsburg, his mother. So, I always when I'm talking to uh when I'm talking to Edward, I'll always call him our cousin, Max. Our cousin.
>> I'm claiming his blood. I'm claiming his blood and you can't do nothing about it.
>> He's French Canadian. You know, sometimes inbreeding comes in handy. I'm telling you.
>> Unfortunately, we're also all stuck with Madonna, so you know, it works both ways.
She's you knew she was French Canadian on her mother's side.
>> There was a speaking of the Haspber, there was a Rudolph uh his imperial highness Rudolph that came to Montreal a couple of weeks ago to give a talk and unfortunately I couldn't make it and but but I asked my godsome my godsome went and I was like how did it go? And it was like it was astonishing. It was really good lecture. It it was really good. But then I was like but then what you know what happened? And he was like, "Well, you know the classical audience." I was like, "What of the church?" I was like, "Okay." So, there was like an old boomer lady that asked a stupid question. He was like, "Yeah." I was like, "Ah, God, what was it?" And he spoke, you know, um, in favor of the church church's teaching on euthanasia. And she didn't like it. And she was like, she raised her hand. Well, I want to come back to when you spoke against euthanasia. I, you know, we euthanized our uncle because he was suffering. And everyone, you know, all the young Catholics in the room were like this, you know, we're like, we are receiving an imperial family member and we have to ask the stupidest questions. You know, that that was such a shame for our people. I was like, God, if only we could, you know, stop behaving like boomers. But anyway, >> all the boomers there, there are some very good boomers. But >> you know, you know how you can tell that I'm not a hobbic? I know he responded with something diplomatic.
>> Yes.
>> I would have said, "Hey honey, how don't you get euthanized and then we won't have to have this conversation." How about that?
>> That's gonna allow us immediate thought.
>> Well, it's going to save us.
>> Yeah. So, you go ahead, lady. Now, mind you, speaking as a boomer, I uh I want you to know what >> Sorry about that.
>> No, no, I'm not. means I've seen a lot of stuff you didn't see. But some of it good, some of it awful. But here's what I will say and I I say this to many in audience when I'm giving election.
It's easy for you young people to look around at everything today and say, "My god, the boomers have left us a wrecked dump.
>> We need a scapegoat. We need a scapegoat. We We have no choice. We need a scapegoat." But see, I don't want you to look at it that way. I want you to look at it as though we've left behind for you a series of characterbuilding challenges that'll help you become the best possible versions of yourselves. Please think that. Please.
>> I I can try. I can try.
>> Could you please think that for me? But you know, sometimes I we we there's a friend of mine which we always get back to this topic about like boomer Catholicism or or the boomer spirit in Quebec which really killed us. But sometimes we get to mercy and we're like you know we're laughing about that generation. But we where did where did we find the information to go back to Catholicisms and actually realize that Catholicism is the truth?
>> Well, it was the internet.
>> The ultimate reputation.
The ultimate reputation of what my generation did is to accept the faith and practice it completely.
>> Yeah.
>> That's how you do it.
>> Exactly. I mean, and to be fair to myself, and I I always am if to no one else, uh, I'm a junior boomer, and so I grew up during the 70s, so I wasn't there demonstrating for free love and all that because I was in my cradle and was, you know, drooling. But, uh, when it came to the 70s, that's when I came in. And by that time, by that time, stuff was already pretty messed up, to be fair.
The 70s were the time when the 60s were institutionalized.
So in other words, if you look for instance in Quebec, the revolution toni 60 to 70 well yes but 70 to 80 is really where the attitudes got ground into everything.
Now one of the thing comes to mind. It's a random thought but it might as well be tossed out for one of anything else.
And that's the difference, you know, between the Catholic mind and the Protestant mind.
The Protestant mind is capable of an infinite number of compromises, which is one reason why the British monarchical system and its Canadian daughter are able to go on as they do.
You have the most wonderful prayers uttered at the beginning. I mean, the prayers of the carnation were wonderful.
You know the the when the archbishop of Canterbury uh the last male so far handed the sword of state to the king and he admonished him to do justice and good with it to repair that which is uh broken to preserve that which is good and on and on and on beautiful stuff directly taken from the Catholic middle ages directly but it doesn't mean anything with Catholics we have an absolutist sort of mind in the sense that we can't do that. Even if we give up the faith, we have to get rid of it. We can't tolerate bits and pieces as a momento. We have to destroy it all. So I mention all of this because as you know in Canada, even in Quebec up until ' 68 and the and the other provinces to this day, you've got the whole opening of parliament with the speech from the throne and all of the pomp and ceremony around the governor general to the leftand governor. And it's it's beautiful to watch. It's really inspiring and of course it's kind of meaningless.
The speech from the throne is written by the prime minister and simply sets forth whatever the government of the day wants to vomit forth on you. Uh everything about the king's most excellent majesty and the rest of it. It sounds nice. The the accession proclamations throughout the realm were wonderful, but they were essentially meaningless. The Catholic mind can't tolerate that. And so in 1968, all of that was gotten rid of in Quebec.
>> Yeah. We threw a baby with a bath.
>> But what got me about it, what what what really showed me this is the mind of a Catholic non-revolutionary is the way the standard history of Parliament referred to this as it in it.
It was a perfect phrase and you can only do this in French.
>> Correct. Well, in a certain sense, it is in a certain sense.
>> Abs, absolutely. But in English, and this is what I mean by the difference between French loyalty to the crown and English loyalty to the crown, only the French mind could see it that way as a parliamentary liturgy.
And remember we were doing this at the same time that we were throwing out the church's literature and in Quebec throwing out the church as a whole.
>> Yeah. But but you see >> I do think >> in a certain sense I I have to to go back to the boomer scapegoating. I have a lot of of you know um mercy for the boomers because we have internet. This is how I got back to the faith and I've had humongous graces of conversion. And I was stubborn to them because I had the spirit of my time.
>> Yeah.
>> And it took me years to actually go back to the faith. But it was through a holy priest of the open day that I actually I fell on a mass that made sense. I was like, "Hey, he isn't doing like stupid things like in the other places. So what's happening here?" And he came to speak to me right after mass. He's like, "Are you new here? It's the first time I see you here." And I started to ask him question. Went back the next Sunday. And at that time I would go to mass maybe once every two months because you know I I felt the attraction but I didn't know how to answer you know >> and he gave me a lot of information every single mass I would ask him dozens and dozens of question and he had to go he was like I have to go but he would answer terribly but I I could tell on his face it was sometimes tired to see me and then one day he just gave me a book and the treaties on the gospel of St. Luke by St. Ambrose church father the very first church father I've read but then and that that was you know the beginning for me as a church father enjoyer but all the rest came from the internet and I was like let's say I was born in the 60s or 50s or what have you and I see all this like wicked things that are going on and I have no source of information no one to help me what do I do well I just follow along because I don't know any better >> so >> no you're right >> that's the mercy that that would give.
But the other thing that I would say is like but then but then you know sometimes I do speak to you know a boomer person I I started to to not like this term but whatever and I I speak to him about the beauty of the faith the truth of the faith and he's like yeah but you know I'm divorced and I'm like so I was like yeah but the church is teaches that that it's wrong.
Well, was like, well, technically the act in itself is wrong, but it doesn't mean that you have you have to go to hell and, you know, stop going to mass or what have you. There's a way of you reconciling yourself with the church.
There's a way of you to go back to the church still. But then it's like, yeah, but it's complicated. I have to fight with myself and blah blah. And I was like, okay, we deserve it. We we deserve it all. Well, and the thing the thing to bear in mind, I mean, oh god, at the end of the day, at the end of the day, you've got a sad truth, which is that the church herself, so many of the churchmen are not interested in the salvation of souls.
uh the the Catholic peoples, of whom there are a number, have for the most part given up their God-given vocations to lead the other nations to Christ.
>> Y >> uh by and large, it's a pretty dark time. But you know what that means? It means to hold on to the truth, to try to spread the truth requires heroism.
>> Yeah. Correct. Correct. Especially here.
>> Yeah. It means we have to follow.
Remember our fathers when they came across from France came across to a continent that was dark and filled with with literal horror, pagan horror. I mean, they weren't cutting the hearts out like in Mexico. But, uh, you know, think about this for a minute. When Katier came, uh, the the St. Louis the St. Lawrence Valley was inhabited by Irakcoyan speaking peoples.
Champlain comes what 70 years later.
Champlain >> roughly speaking >> Casio was in 1534 and Champlain we could argue for like 1603 then came back in 1668. So yeah, roughly >> about 70 years.
>> In that time, the Uriccoyans had all been driven out and replaced by the Aangqua.
>> Do you think that was done peacefully?
>> No. No, for sure not.
>> Now, >> especially the Well, the the Uricans must have been slaughtered then. But now fast forward, the Euron allies of the French are slaughtered by the Uric who literally committed genocide against them.
The Indian phrase was cutting them off.
I mean these were not nice people and the proof of the pudding are the stories of the of the converts.
You know the lily of the Mohawks. Why do you think Katherine Tequita became >> Tequita? Yeah, >> she knew what she was doing.
>> You know, >> she was enslaved thrice. I think she was enslaved by by she managed to escape and then at the end of her life she stayed.
She she actually got married and she honored her marriage even if it was by force if I'm not mistaken. That's really heroic. But that was heroic because it she was exposed to French Catholicism.
Not not necessarily French, but the French people that you were bringing Catholics. You you I think you get what I was saying.
>> But you know St. Mariano such a hero. She left the boat 3 days later all the water was turn turned like to um I don't know like it it got rotten for us because of the barrels. I didn't really understood what happened but basically there was no more um decent water on the boat. So she couldn't drink anything else but wine and liquors.
And she said she was described in the thirst as such a, you know, a a torture through and through the trip. When she got off the boat, she didn't got alienated because now there was flies and very aggressive flies. There was basically nothing. And what did she do?
Oh, there's too much work. She I I can't do anything. No, she ended up translating the Bible in nine native language back at that time. Nine native language. The Bible. The Bible is not an easy book to translate. You're not talking about like the the the daily newspaper that you translate from French to English. No, no. Nine primitive language from the Bible. It it's really really astonishing work that you do. And today I look at Catholics now and then I'm like I see no motivation. I have to put 10 bucks of gas to go to an event and get stuck in 10 minutes traffic. I'm not going to go because that that requires too much of me, you know, like >> it's pretty sad. But that's why we have to know our history and do our best to >> Exactly. But but for me, you know, St. Mar really understood the divine mission of the French people. She really understood it and she put it to to work.
And to me the salvation of the French Canadian people is the same as the French Canadian pe as the French people from France because we are French. So what is this divine mission? Well, it's to bring the gospel in America. That is our mission.
>> Yeah, >> that is really our mission.
that you know we don't uh we've been completely deflected from it but that is why God preserved us in these weird strange ways uh using the most bizarre possible instruments to to keep us ourselves.
>> Correct.
>> And then we threw it all away.
>> But you see what is saving Catholicism now in Quebec? Saving it. I I I really mean saving it because we're in a survival mode. Incredible survival mode.
I think it's it's the u the theologians from the United States, which is an even even weirder tool that God is using now.
America is basically producing incredible books, incredible talks, YouTube channels and and you know what have you and saints too and a lot of French people a lot of French native people are looking at what America is doing right now and they say oh Catholicism Catholicism is actually true how cool but now the other issue which is great I mean it's really good God you know writes stripes on crooked line that's what we say but now when people are trying to go to mass They find a disaster. They only find like I I I would say government priests.
I don't know how to call them. I don't want to go too far, but they're not finding real priests with faith. So, they find a wicked ma. No, not a wicked mass. That that's not what I wanted to say. They find a a twisted mass that is not celebrated the way it should be done. Even in the Nova sword of missile.
So, they get back, they find this call to go back to Catholicism. And when they arrive at church, all they see is a disaster. And they're like, "Why should I be here?
>> Why should I be here?"
>> You know, >> again, the >> That's very unfortunate. That's very >> unfortunate. Well, it's criminal. It's not unfortunate. It's criminal on the part of the authorities.
>> Um, you I mean, Mutus Matanis, remember what I said about they're not believing in the necessity of the church for salvation. You saw this during CO when every most not all there was some brave notable exceptions but most of the hierarchy hit out of their beds >> gave up >> and were more stringent in their regulations than the state and in in Southern California I was here in Austria already. I was locked down with eight priests. So, you know what? I didn't have any problems getting the sacraments, but uh most of the parishes in Southern California that I used to go to had three signs on their websites which read uh make a perfect act of contrition as though that were really easy. Make a spiritual communion, donate here.
Now, uh, guess which of the three could you could >> like if the church was a Chick-fil-A, you >> Yeah. I mean, >> drive in, drive, drive out. It's all done. Good.
>> And my my joke was that I donated 70 grand to the uh to the arch diocese of LA and I tried to get my deduction for the IRS.
Well, they said there's no you didn't give it give them any money. There's no proof of that. I said, no, no, no. It was spiritual. It was like what they gave me. I returned it. You know, they gave me spiritual blessings and spiritual sacraments. I gave them spiritual money >> in defense of them. There there's a certain truth to that. You know, St. Katherine of Sienna did say it and and a lot of saints said it, but that's not how you should pastor rule your people.
We are not saints.
>> We are not saints.
>> I'm just saying I'm just saying that the money I gave them was just as good as what they gave me. Yeah. Well, I hope they understood. I hope they understood.
>> No.
>> But >> well, you know, the IRS wouldn't credit me.
>> Yeah.
>> They they didn't accept it.
The Internal Revenue Service. They wouldn't they wouldn't take it as real money.
>> Yeah. I would say that the best thing that could happen to us right now is two things. you know the first that the I I would say aristocracy from France could help us building newspaper media and what have you know what have you because we have no money the taxes are so high the cost of life is so high that even like people that were you know at ease with the budget like like our family whatever they can no longer do anything even supporting the church with minimum stuff is is hard for us so money is lacking so aristocracy could really helped the churches here like by like I said by providing help for medias or lectures, books, printing, what have you. And the second thing is that people that discern priesthood hold on because basically all they can do is go to seminary which is um you know how how it is. I don't want to say the exact word but let's say not necessarily faithful to the church. They have to go through it. they have to go through it and that's torture. You know the seminary of Montreal which is better than the one of Quebec. They would do kids uh drawing to the seminar. Okay. So now you're going to draw your dreams seminarians and then they have this Jewish celebration where they they celebrated Sedar. So you're going to dress like a Jewish guy blah blah blah blah. And these guys are 30 40 years old. What are you doing? you know, so it's it's a tremendous torture, but they have to hold on. A lot of people have have gone out of it. They they couldn't handle it, but we need priests. We we really need priests.
>> We do. And they will they will come. Um I mean, so many of the priests we have now, the younger ones are pretty decent.
Part of the problem you've got is the leadership of the church were produced in the 1970s >> which was really the rock bottom period for seminaries both in terms of morals and in ter terms of uh doctrine in another 101 15 years and I may not be around to see it you probably will please God we'll begin to see a turnaround but till then you got Keep your eyes on the prize as they used to say in the civil rights days of the American South.
>> His His Excellency Mos Lein in Montreal is really good archbishop. He he's really good. He's faithful to the church. He he was my bishop before really really good bishop and he did some things to improve the seminary. But people need to understand that the bishops don't have all the powers in the world. Not in the church today. and and yeah, there are some things that need to be fixed, but we need to try. We need to at least, you know, give our yes to God and just be faithful to the French divine mission and to the Catholic call.
That's that's what it is, you know. But and I I once again turn back to to monarchy and what it has bring us. Just if we could study the history, see what it gave us and and and live to it. Even if there's no hope of having a French monarch back on the throne and helping us or us helping in whatever, even if there's no hope, why wouldn't we support him? It's like, you know, it's like saying your your grandfather is old, so you should no longer call him or see how he's doing or speak of him. No, >> he's still he he's still the father of the nation in a certain way, >> you know.
>> So, I think is one of the key points. I I'd agree and I would say that just as u just as our fathers did when Shambore was sank I think on the one hand we should support the king we want and on the other support the king we have >> correct >> yeah I agree I agree you there's a lot of criticism and and you we probably get along with this uh with this take u there's a lot of criticism about king Charles III about his you know tox talks he's giving uh the lack of support for Christianity in his talks and what have what have you. But >> would you like to be in his in his shoes? You know, you don't know what's what's around him. You don't know.
>> Number one, no idea.
>> Number one, I would not want to be in his shoes. Let's get that straight.
>> And number two, there's a couple of other things you should bear in mind.
I've read a lot of what he's had to write.
>> Mhm.
>> Most people don't. You say they're good with talking, but they don't like reading stuff. My late father, who is very French Canadian, used to say, "If it's not worth studying up, it's not worth having an opinion on."
>> 100% true.
>> If you're not, >> what's your father's name? Gee, by >> in >> my father's name was G. Gee, as well.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Geekom. Although he used to say his parents were so proud of being gentile, they named him [ __ ] But Yeah, >> it's one letter away.
>> Well, the funny thing about that though, Ye is not a family name with us. I mean, Charles is my brother Andre, Alexi, Antoine, we have Joseph, my god, so many Joseph's. But Gee, my dad was the first.
My nephew was the next, but my dad was the first. And he was actually named after Gido Funal who was a um uh up at that time the youngest non martyr ever proposed for saintthood. He was a a French boy about I think 12 or something died in 1910 or something like that. And it it tells you something about my grandparents at the time that they named dad after a popular candidate for saintthood and they named my aunt his sister Fuet after St. Disier who had just been canonized.
>> Beautiful.
>> So it it it tells you something about the kind of mindset the two of them had.
Anyway, so the thing the thing is that I read an awful lot of what the kings had to write. They just uh sold a letter he wrote 15 years ago as Prince of Wales to some friend of his who died and they had an estate sale. And in it he says he's very sad that the Christian churches have all given into political correctness except the Orthodox.
Uh he's very much a Christian of sorts. I mean he's a believer in the reality of Christ's birth and the divinity of Christ and all that which is more than you could say for a lot of people. A >> and he removed the anti-atholic sermon uh the anti-atholic oath sorry if I'm if I'm not mistaken. Well, that he he didn't he didn't take much of it.
>> And the other thing that's interesting is that he is the first king since 1688 or 85 rather >> to be crowned to be anointed at the coronation.
>> Yeah.
>> With valid by our from our point of view.
>> He took the name Charles III when before he became king. Everyone said to me anyway, "Oh, he's going to be George II" after his grandfather. Charles III would be too too Catholic and too steward a name. And yet that's what he took. So, and then the other thing you always have people saying, "Oh, he's always praising Islam." Well, he does praise Islam, but if you look at what he says about them, he praises them for being what we should be.
>> He's complaining.
They stand firm in their faith. We don't. He's he's been almost that explicit and you can't say he's lying. The other thing too, he does have a ton of Muslim subjects.
>> Yeah. So, you have to be cautious. Yeah.
Exactly. You have to be cautious and you also have to to pastor. You have to >> Yeah. So, I uh you know the the thing I'll say that for whatever his failings may be, he's still better than anything I ever got to vote for for president.
>> Exactly. Well, out of the the you know, to me, out of every single British politicians that I've heard in power in power, well, he's the best.
>> He's really, you know, the best that I've seen. So, what else would you propose? Well, that's what it is.
Anyway, >> the there's there was a movie about him before before his mother died called uh King Charles III in which >> he becomes king. Uh it's a very it has a sad ending but a great scene >> and basically the prime minister who's this weird kind of Tony Blair uh Cameron mix uh basically is going to pass a bill forbidding freedom of the press. I mean they don't it doesn't call that but that's what it would do. So he has a knockdown dragout with him and says you would never have presented something like this for my for my mother's ascent.
He says your mother signed everything I brought her. He says you would never brought me anything like you would never brought her anything like this. So they go back and forth and finally says well you know what I'm not going to give the royal ascent. Now, in real life, that would never happen because the king owes his position on the throne to Parliament thanks to 1688.
>> Yeah.
>> But nevertheless, it's a wonderful fantasy. So, he says, "Well, I'm not doing it." And the prime minister says, "Fine." So, he introduces a bill to abolish the royal ascent the way they did in Luxembourg when the Grand Duke wouldn't sign the euthanasia bill.
Well, he talks to the army. He talks to the judges, etc. And just as they're about to vote on the bill, there's a bang, bang, bang. It's a beautiful scene. The king enters >> dissolves he dissolves parliament.
>> Oh, what a scene. That would have >> It is wonderful. You can see it online.
It It just Now, the rest of the movie, I mean, >> it's so satisfying just to hear, you know, just to hear it is satisfying.
>> Oh, man. And it he comes in and everyone's uh he says I declare this chamber dissolved jumping around. He says this this tumult becomes you. I am not by nature a man bred to certainty but you have made me so. And then he looks at the speaker and he says speaker have I not the right to do this?
And the speaker, you know, consults and looks >> if this your majesty wants, this your majesty may do.
and story.
>> It's a it's the rest of the movie is kind of a downer because uh what happens is the prime minister basically goes around his back and makes a deal with William.
But and of course in the meantime mobilizes the people because the king's attacking their liberty.
>> I'll have a look at this movie. What's it called again?
>> King Charles III.
quite an easy.
>> And he's haunted by Diana's ghost, of course. You can't get away from that.
>> No, you're not going to get away with a movie about King Charles the third and and the the British crown without talking about her.
>> Nah.
>> Anyway, uh so Charles, uh Mr. Clom, actually, sorry about that. Uh we're getting to near to two hours. Uh it was really fantastic. It was really fantastic to talk to you. I don't know if we have the same uh opinion about, you know, what what French Canadians should do. I think so. I think uh we we quite match. Um >> well, I would say this about that. The first thing, get back into the faith of our fathers.
Be the men they suffered and died and died that we should be.
Try to be worthy of those mo.
Blood runs through our veins and we have for at least the past 60 years betrayed them shamelessly.
So that's the first thing. Let's try to use that lovely Yiddish word. Let's try not to be schmucks anymore.
My friends in morale will pick up on what I mean by that if nobody else does.
Secondly, Serbane's horsement.
Secondly, uh the you know I I think of our friends Fran and the others in the uh the >> you know what guys I'm all for you.
>> Yeah. Keep it up. Just keep it up.
>> Just you know keep the flag flying. Uh and don't think don't think whatever our differences I don't pray for you every day because I do.
uh you know you're doing something, you're alive and that's very important. But remember the faith that gave you something to fight for. They gave you a flag to fly.
And the last thing I would say, don't trust any politician who doesn't promise, who doesn't swear to put the cross and the crown back, because anything less shows what worthless liars they really are.
I mean that in the best possible sense, of course.
>> Yeah. I I to be to be fair, I don't trust in any politician in the Canadian system now, in the Quebec system right now. To me, it's just like democracy has killed every glorious thing we could have built politically and they're just like, >> what could I say? They're just like, >> do you hear?
>> Do you hear the sheer cynicism coming out of your voice?
>> This, you know, but >> Mr. blown. One of the biggest big one of the biggest defect we have, one of the biggest, you know, nonsense that comes out of us is we are so like we love the providential government, >> quote unquote, >> we love it. We love the checks that they gave us back. We love the the income tax return. We love the the parental daycare and blah blah blah. And there's some good to this. Yes. Okay. There's some some good to this, but you don't have to depend on whatever the government does in your life to do something. You don't have to wait for the government to tell you to do something to do something. Start a family, go back to church, like do something. Exactly like we were talking about. At least they're doing something.
They're raising the flag. Good. You know, if only like we could have 20 more like that in the province, it would still be something, you know. It it would it would be and uh you know I I will say one other thing one of the this is appropo of nothing in particular except I feel like saying it there you go but back in 2012 my gosh 14 years ago uh the then lieutenant governor of Ontario uh was a u the was going to attend the blessed sacrament church in Toronto And this was the first official visit of a left tenant governor of Ontario to a Catholic church. The reason was a concert to be put on the church by the band of the governor general's horse guards.
Well, >> I was asked to be ADC to the leftand governor and I said okay. So the v the they had two flanking the doors of the church. It was almost like a dream of what might have been what could be, you know, in a Catholic monarchy, but you had the two mounted guards on their horses on either side of the church door, the entrance. Limousine comes up, out come the left hand governor and his wife, the shuttle lane, as they say. And I escorted them into the church to the front row and we sat in the pew. Well, they were both evangelicals as it turned out and I answered their questions about the church furnishings, the tabernacle, the uh which was open and the blessed sacrament was gone and I had to explain that this was done because it was going to be >> concert. Yeah. And you know and I I asked I explained about the stations across everything else that they were asking about and I I I really felt quite the privilege to explain this stuff to them. Well, then the concert began, but being a military oriented thing, they had a um uh a lot of military music, but at one point there was a medley of the regimental marches of the different uh the different uh Canadian regiments.
And they they said if you have any family connection with a given regiment when they play your march stand up.
Well they played alouette for the uh for the uh royal 22nd for the vander >> and there have been a lot of kudobs in the van.
>> So I stood up.
>> Good. Yeah. Sure. And I and I saw the lieutenant governor and his lady look up at me like then I I stood in detention while they played and then sat down and uh she said to me, "You're a French Canadian." I said, "You bet.
The way only an American can."
>> Yeah. Well, well, you're you're doing a great job about, you know, helping us to go back to to the faith and to Christendom actually to work for the for the vine of Christ on earth. Um, Mr. >> I I I I I will just tell you this and that is it is because I have seen the future if we do not change.
>> Correct.
>> I have seen I am for you. I am Marley's ghost.
You know what I mean by that?
>> No, I don't have the reference. I was >> A Christmas Carol.
Ebenezer Scrooge.
>> Okay. Yeah. This >> You've heard of it?
>> Yep. Yeah. Yeah. I I've watched the cartoon when I was young.
>> Well, well, okay. It's all right.
Probably dubbed. Not to worry. Marley's ghost. Mar Jacob Marley is his partner and he's dead. So when Scrooge goes home the on Christmas Yeah. Christmas Eve, Marley's ghost appears to him to warn him to change his ways. He's and Marley's ghost has all these chains and and everything on him. And he's obviously in sort of purgatory because he was so greedy and nasty during life the way Eeneius Scrooge is now.
And he says to Scrooge, you know, he points he says, "Look at this. you have yet a chance and a hope of escaping my fate.
And he says, "Well, do I have to?" And he said, "Oh, yes."
And so that's how the three spirits, Christmas past, Christmas present, Christmas yet to come, get sent to him.
But the first ghost he sees is Marley's ghost who warns him that his future is Strooer's future if he doesn't change his ways.
So, as the son of three generations of New England French Canadians, I am for you Marley's ghost.
I can barely speak the language of our fathers.
>> Correct.
>> You understand?
>> Absolutely. If >> you want to be. So, just keep going the way you're going and you'll be like me in in 60 years.
That's something to look forward to.
>> And chains. We're heading this way, but but maybe not. There's a small come back to Catholicism. There's a small revival, but it needs to grow. It needs to grow.
>> There was a there was a hope, Mr. Champagne. There was a hope for Ebenezer Scrooge and he took it.
>> Yeah, correct. That's what we need to do. Um, it's gonna I have two hours of recording. It's going to finish soon.
>> Um, is there a book you want to you're working on or something you want to plug in? I >> I am working on I am working on another book. Uh I hope to have it at the publishers by February of uh next year.
Uh at least they've told me I better or they'll punish me severely. So I guess I better uh it's I haven't announced it yet uh in any official forum. Uh so maybe I'll I'll keep my peace. But uh in the meantime, let's just put it this way. If you liked uh Carl and Zeta, this will be well this will be in a sense bringing the story further up to our time.
>> I loved it. Well, for for anyone who's interested in your work, I I recommend to anyone uh to look at Mr. Columbus videos on YouTube, but please first of all read his books. his book on blessed Charles really it it brought tears to my eyes a few times. I was coming back from work. I was eager to read it. I I had to take care of my family but I was eager to read it. It was really delighten.
The introduction is a masterpiece. The the whole book through and through really really is good and I'm inspired to actually start a giga in Quebec City.
I'm I'm I'm discerning what I should do.
Uh but that's thanks to your book.
thanks to your book and thanks to your talk and thanks to his imperial highness Edwards Hazburg work. So >> you're most welcome. I I would also uh recommend another one of my books uh called Puritans Empire. It's a history of the United States, but it has a lot of Canadian history intertwined with it.
>> It is intertwined.
>> I'll actually I'll actually take a take a look at it.
>> Well, Mr. It was it was really a delight to to have you on. Thank you so much for this time. I I hope everyone enjoyed and I I hope to talk to you soon.
>> Same here. God bless you all and uh God bless Quebec and Canada.
>> Amen.
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