Le Livre noir du Canada anglais


Le Livre noir du Canada Anglais is a series of three polemic books written by Quebec journalist Normand Lester. The first volume was published in 2001. The essays relate what are, from the author's point of view while including many historian's citations, historical fabrications and injustices in Canada, notably those against the Quebecers, Jewish and aboriginal peoples. Its publication resulted in the suspension of Lester by the Société Radio-Canada.

Description

The books responded to perceived Quebec bashing in the English Canadian press following the airing of Heritage Minutes, the treatment of the 1995 Quebec referendum and the federalist advertising campaign that would later develop into the sponsorship scandal. According to Lester, the English Canadian media was quick to pick up on stories that were distorted or untruthful, such as the supposed singing of a Nazi anthem at an early sovereigntist rally, which was actually an unrelated song with a similar title.
Generally, the books seek to disprove many of the claims of federalists, attempting to show that the Quebec sovereignty movement was not inherently fascist and anti-semitic, and that these prejudices were in plentiful supply in English Canada. Volume one accused former Canadian Prime Minister R. B. Bennett of funding fascist Adrien Arcand.

Volumes

Favorable

The Saint-Jean Baptiste Society awarded Mr. Lester of the Olivar-Asselin Award for his courage and professionalism. There are also several other favorable reviews of the book:
For the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation this work was incompatible with the interests of the organization which led Normand Lester to be suspended. Mr. Lester will also be accused of lacking professional judgment in a critical approach of the book. Other criticisms unfavorable to the work exist:

Political reactions

Favorable