The Beaver Club & British Colonialism pt.1/2

200th anniversary of the Beaver Club (1985). A pamphlet against British and Canadian colonialism.

Pierre Falardeau (December 28, 1946 - September 25, 2009) was a Quebec film and documentary director, intellectual, pamphleteer and noted activist for Quebec independence.

Falardeau studied anthropology at university; he was briefly a teacher of the subject. In the 1960s, he became involved in the independentist Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale, and his passionate belief in the desirability of Quebec independence features prominently in most of his films, including the "Elvis Gratton" series; a sarcastic trilogy about a local Elvis impersonator, depicting negatively federalist quebecers; and more serious films like "Octobre", about the October crisis; 15 février 1839, about the quelling of the Patriotes movement which led to the Lower Canada Rebellion; and "Le steak", about Quebec boxer Gaetan Hart.

Falardeau linked his support for Quebec independence to the struggles for national independence and decolonization movements abroad. That linkage, too, is a prominent part of his work, for instance in an unidentified documentary he prepared on political issues confronting the Algerian people.

Falardeau, who occasionally published in the Le Couac, an independent newspaper, has often attracted media controversy. Upon the 2004 cancer death of Claude Ryan, a former provincial Liberal leader and minister who had led the "No" side in the 1980 Quebec referendum on sovereignty, Falardeau published a harsh critique in lieu of a eulogy in the sovereigntist journal Le Québécois. In 2005 he demonstrated on Canada Day in Quebec City against the celebration of what he called, a "colonizing power". More generally Falardeau had come under fire from critics for reportedly urging federalist anglophones to leave Quebec, for voicing support for military intervention to ensure that no portion of Quebec be allowed to secede from Quebec and remain with Canada in the event of a referendum majority for sovereignty, and for his ambiguous association with the MLNQ. However, Falardeau had repeatedly stated that he supported the mainstream Parti Québécois as the only viable party for realizing Quebec's independence. As far as minorities are concerned, Falardeau claimed not to care whether someone was white, black, yellow or green with orange polkadots; if one supports independence, he will consider this person a brother, if not, an enemy.

Falardeau died on September 25, 2009 following a long battle against cancer.
http://www.pierrefalardeau.com/