Why the Quebecois Hate Talking About Money

Bandz a make 'em silent. Photo via

American movies have conventionalised the ban on discussing money, religion, or politics when meeting people for the first time. In Quebec however, religion and politics tend to be our favourite topics. We rave about both, with strangers and friends alike, at the dinner table, between the sheets, or in the streets. Sometimes it’s almost as if we create opportunities to debate on either. Strangely, despite staring most controversial topics straight in their controversial faces, money always remains a skeleton in the closet; never to be brought out, or else… Or else what? That’s exactly what Bernard Derome, Former Radio Canada news anchor and recipient of the National Order of Quebec sought to find out with his new, three-part documentary Les Grands Moyens (“Great Means” play on words that signifies both wealth and power). The second part airs tonight on Tele Quebec.

In an attempt to understand why money and monetary success is one of the few things Québécois are willing to talk about in the open, he interviewed many of the province’s notoriously wealthy figures to explore how they view money—since they have buttloads of it. It features, artists, entrepreneurs, businessmen, who discuss the subject that most others keep private. I reached Mr Derome in an attempt to pick his brain on why the rest of the western world’s seemingly number one topic makes us Québécois so damn uncomfortable and what impacts this has on Quebec society.

VICE: Mr. Derome, are you a man of les grand moyens?
Bernard Derome: No, at least not compared to the people I interviewed for the documentary. They’re all extremely wealthy, and while I’ve always been treated well in my line of work there’s a difference between being well-off or rich, and actually having a fortune.

What inspired you to make this documentary?
It seems as though we are always talking about poverty in the world, and although I contribute to the cause here in Montreal through my association with La Maison du Père, a homeless shelter in the city, I became interested by the flipside. There is this incredible wealth as well, and it was highlighted by the context in which the project started, three years ago. Back then, there was the Occupy movement going on worldwide and of course the recession, which we are barely recovering from now. In Quebec particularly, we went through the Printemps Érable [student protests] that eventually touched on things beyond tuition fees. The Charbonneau Commission also started and exposed this gang of thieves who embezzled us all. That was ugly. With all of it being brought to light I thought: “Why not give a chance to entrepreneurs, these creators of wealth, to express their opinion on the topic of money?”

Universally, everyone has a personal relationship with money, but it really is a taboo subject in Quebec. I was hoping to have these people talk about their own rapport with money and discuss topics such as globalization and economic inequality. I’m not their PR guy, but I wasn’t trying to tell them they were wrong either—or rehabilitate them in any way. I just wanted to ask questions and listen to their answers. It’s up to the audience to judge.

Many of the people you interviewed mention how becoming rich isn’t perceived well in the Québécois society. In your opinion, where does this ideology come from?
Oh, it definitely has a lot to do with our Judeo-Christian roots. The priests used to tell us, about money and being rich, that it wasn’t good, it wasn’t right. That stuck. To this day, the number of young Québécois entrepreneurs is well under the Canadian average. Also, during most of the country’s development, French Canadians worked as cheap labour for Anglophones, who were generally richer and more educated. A combination of those things led us to think, collectively, that we were nés pour un petit pain [destined to get the short end of the stick]. Since then, things have changed. The Québécois have taken control of their province and we’re at the third generation of Quebec. Inc. We got to witness many local economic successes. It shows that we’re getting over the trauma caused in the past by the overbearing Anglophone presence.

In the first part of the documentary, Jean Coutu mentions that French Canadians aren’t used to having money. Do you agree with him?
Of course we weren’t used to it, not long ago fortunes like his were rare! We were serving the ruling class. Things started to change when we began establishing the school system. Now we see complete reversals, like a majority of female university students for example. In that sense, education changed things completely and people now benefit from it.

Photo courtesy of TÉLÉ-QUÉBEC.

So it isn’t necessarily part of our identity, is it?
Oh no, things are changing. Look at home grown success stories like Bombardier, CGI, or Canam, to name a few. However, the taboo surrounding money remains present. It’s seen as suspicious to collect riches and in some instances, that’s justified to a certain extent. On the other hand, not everyone’s running ponzi schemes like Bernie Madoff. The people featured in the documentary are entrepreneurs, people who have created something that generates wealth. Globally, we are in an era of never before seen wealth-creation, but there’s also unprecedented inequality. The capitalist system creates equal opportunity but not equal revenue. The thing that truly sets Quebec apart is the range of social programs offered, such as seven-dollar-day-care and inexpensive post-secondary education, although I won’t get into that one. These reduce the gap between the most and least fortunate.

Could this collective desire to reach equality be discouraging potential entrepreneurs?
I think it’s important to have these social measures, but we’re eventually going to have to sort through them. As we can see, with the current economic problems at the provincial level, it’s unsustainable. While keeping the public services we’ve agreed are necessary, there’s a need to tidy it up because Quebec is nowhere near eliminating the deficit, as we were told would happen. The province’s debt represents 50% of the GDP and we need to instil measures to remediate to this, it’s a question of solidarity.

Entrepreneurial indicators show that there’s much less dynamism in Quebec than elsewhere in Canada…
It has a lot to do with fear. That’s an issue we have here in Quebec, people are scared of failure, particularly bankruptcy. Whereas in the States and the rest of Canada to some extent it’s perceived as a learning experience, over here it’s just plain bad. So if that scares you and you’re satisfied with the money you’re making… But despite that society needs these generators of wealth, without them we won’t grow. We have to understand that the money being made can be incredibly useful. That’s something Québécois still need to work on.

So what do the successful entrepreneurs you interviewed have that counterbalances this?
Well to begin with, it isn’t easy to start your business. Entrepreneurs need help, money, support. That’s up to the successful ones of past generations to give back by mentoring. Regardless, you need nerves of steel or you won’t succeed. And you need to work, work hard and keep a level head. You have to be determined, take your work seriously. Study hard and once you succeed it’s important to give back, share the wealth.

What sets economically successful Québécois from their Canadian counterparts, if anything?
To me, reaching that level requires a similar same set of values. What differs is that Québécois success came later, during and after the Quiet Revolution, mainly. That’s when we really took charge. However, we do have the older Anglo families like the Molsons, who’ve really contributed to developing Montreal. They’re at their seventh generation here in the city and it’s interesting to hear Andrew say in his interview that giving back is their duty as such a prominent family.

Recently, there has been news of a record number of people leaving Quebec. Do you think it has a lot to do with the socialist mentality; the 50% tax rates on the wealthiest?
If that were the case, families like the Desmarais or Christiane Germain would have most likely left long ago. I think it has more to do with finding work out West for those who can’t find it here. The exodus you’re mentioning isn’t specific to the upper class, like it is in France. There, the 75 percent tax rate François Hollande imposes on earnings of over 1 million have driven many to relocate, namely to London. Here we’ve reached a point of consensus where it seems like the rates won’t exceed 50 percent and the wealthiest families are staying, giving back. Once again, it’s a question of solidarity.

@martcte