The Arrest of Etienne Parent - Part VIII

We have established that Etienne Parent was actively continuing to edit Le Canadien while he was imprisoned. Aside from his regular editing of every day topics what topics or events preoccupied Etienne Parent during his time in prison? There were two important preoccupations for Etienne Parent during his incarceration; one was a person, John George Lambton, the first Earl of Durham (known as Lord Durham in Canada) and his infamous Durham Report. 

When Lord Durham first arrived in Canada in 1838 Etienne Parent had great hopes that he would be instrumental in resolving the issues in Lower Canada. However, Etienne's optimism was soon crushed by Lord Durham's handling of the rebellion in 1838. Lord Durham had Patriotes arrested and imprisoned. Some of the key Patriote leaders were exiled to Bermuda. 

It was with great interest that Etienne Parent followed the movements of Lord Durham as he 'researched' the the conflict and unrest in the Canadian colonies. Short paragraphs started to appear in Le Canadien from February 20, 1839 to March 29, 1939. On April 03, 1839 Etienne Parent wrote his first major piece on the Durham report. It was an editorial of approximately 2400 words. It was a thorough analysis of the Durham report.

The editorial starts by pointing that the report open by stating the enmity that existed between French - Canadians and English Canadians who lived in Lower Canada. This is quickly followed by drawing attention to the fact that there is conflict between the House of Assembly and the Executive Government. The editorial states that, 'The report is a continuing censure of the System and practice of our colonial government.'It would seem that Etienne parent is praising the report by stating, ' It is not too much to say, that this report will educate the most informed, and will stimulate the most indifferent,and will stimulate the most indifferent, and will convince all those who have an open mind to conviction.'

Etienne praises Durham for not taking any one position. He does not "flatters no one - neither the French Canadians nor their English antagonists, neither the Tories nor the Reformists of Upper Canada, neither the officials nor the crowd - nor even the Americans, who Lord Durham greatly admired.

The editorial quickly changes tone,'He[lord Durham] has arrived in these colonies not only in ignorance, but also with very erroneous notions of their real condition.'  'He declares that it is only by giving government to our own people, who have not had it, that we can hope to prevent the collision which can turn into war.' When Etienne parent refers to war he does not mean war within Canada but war between the Canadian colonies and the United States of America. he refers to Durham's suggestion that giving governance to the colonies will prevent war with the US.

The editorial focuses on one of the major points of the Durham report; the political union of Upper and Lower Canada. it is clear to Etienne Parent that political union between Upper and Lower Canada will lead to the disenfranchisement of French Canadians because they will become a minority of Anglophones. The editorial quotes section of the report where Durham writes about political union, '... I will limit myself to saying, that if the French Canadians are to be deprived of representative government, it would be better to do it in a direct manner, than to try to establish a system standing in government on a basis that the whole world would regard as true electoral fraud.' According to the editorial, Durham downplays the idea of representative government in his report because he knew that it would be opposed by French - Canadians in Lower Canada.

The editorial states that England could garrison enough soldiers in the Canadian colonies temporarily but as a long term plan it is not maintainable, the cost would be prohibitive and again it would inevitably lead to war with the US.

At the end of this long editorial Etienne Parent focuses on the conclusion of the report. 'To establish a solid and lasting government in the Canadas.' By uniting the two Canadas future conflicts would be avoided because the French Canadian minority would be eventually absorbed into the Anglophone majority. 

At the end of the editorial Etienne Parent makes the commitment that the entire contents of the Durham report will be translated into French and pushed in Le Canadien.

Starting on April 8, 1839, Le Canadien began presenting a French translation of Lord Durham's report. On April there is a short note in Le Canadien stating that translating the Durham report demands a lot of work and it may not be possible to include part of the translation in every edition of Le Canada. It might be necessary to include part of the translation in every other edition of the Le Canadien. 

However, over the next ten editions of Le Canadien, part of the Durham report was included in the journal. The editions were April 17, April 19, April 22, April 25, April 26, April 29, May 01, May 3, May 06, and finally May 08, 1839. Etienne Parent dedicated eleven issues of le Canadien to present a French translation of the Durham Report to his French - Canadian readers so that Le Canadien readers could read this important report in their own language. This effort is indicative of the importance that Etienne Parent gave to the Durham Report. And the importance he gave to ensuring that his readers had access to the most up - to - date information possible

We should note that on April 12, 1839 Etienne Parent was finally released from prison through a Habeas Corpus. John Colborne left the Canadian colonies one day later, April 13, 1839. Being free of prison allowed Etienne to devote more of his time to translating the Durham Report.

So ends the internment of Etienne Parent. After spending almost four months in a cold and drafty prison cell, Etienne Parent's health was negatively affected. Etienne was a healthy and robust man but his hearing was irreparably damaged which would have a important influence on his professional future.

We will start to look at how Etienne Parent became the man that we have seen during during his political internment.