MONTREAL - One of Quebec's most popular authors says Ottawa is using Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean to "forcefully integrate" the province into the Canadian ensemble.
Victor-Levy Beaulieu, who has penned some 70 works of fiction, non-fiction, drama and poetry, referred to Jean as "La Reine-Negre'' -- or negro queen -- in an editorial he wrote for an independent newspaper.
Beaulieu, a staunch sovereigntist, said he based the term on the so-called theory of the roi-negre, which he claims identifies the leaders of African colonies put in place to deliver the colonizer's message to the population.
The author, known simply as VLB to his fans, maintains his argument is not a racial shot at Jean, who is black.
"It has nothing to do with racism,'' he told The Canadian Press on Saturday in an interview from Trois-Pistoles, Que.
"It's not the colour of her skin that I'm attacking, it's her role and the way she assumes it. It's the role of a reine-negre.''
Beaulieu, who plans to run for the provincial Parti independentiste, said Jean's position as the Queen's representative is supposed to be apolitical, but he argues she "executes the dirty deeds'' of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
He pointed to comments the Governor General made during her recent five-day trip to France.
Jean suggested the French should look beyond Quebec to the one million francophones in the rest of Canada who struggle to preserve their language and culture.
The remarks enraged many sovereigntists including Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe, who ridiculed Jean.
"Anything she can do to erase the francophone, Quebecois differences, she does it,'' Beaulieu said.
"We saw it in France, we see it everywhere. Take all our symbols, what we believe in, and deviate them to the political views of Stephen Harper, who only wants to forcefully integrate Quebec into the Canadian ensemble.''
In his editorial in the publication L'Autre'Journal, Beaulieu said Jean was a "good catch'' for the Canadian government.
"At a certain point you have to call a cat a cat,'' he said. "We showered them (roi-negres) with gifts, jewels, clothes, cheap junk... and they said exactly what the colonizers wanted them to say.''
A call to Rideau Hall in Ottawa for reaction to Beaulieu's comments went unreturned.
Meanwhile, Bloc Quebecois MP Vivian Barbot, who like Jean is a native of Haiti, called Beaulieu's editorial "prejudicial'' and "unjust.''
"It is a personal attack that is completely unjustified,'' said Barbot, the former president of Quebec's main women's association.
"In the context we live in, to call somebody a negro is pejorative and everybody knows that. I don't think Mr. Victor-Levy Beaulieu thought he was using a theatrical word and he's not going to get away with that.''
Barbot said she believes the Governor General's job is outdated and she disagreed with Jean's speech in France, but the MP said there's a line that should never be crossed.
"She's doing her job whether we like it or not,'' she said. "We don't have to attack her personally.''
Meanwhile, Beaulieu said the Governor General's position should be abolished.
"It forever reminds us of the presence of British colonization from the time they were the colonizers,'' he said.
Last winter, Beaulieu threatened to burn his entire body of work if something wasn't done to stop the swell of bilingualism in Quebec.
His life's work, which spans 45 years, includes major studies on prominent anglophone authors such as Jack Kerouac, James Joyce and Margaret Atwood.
Beaulieu said he has since backed down on his threat and is dedicated to the push for Quebec sovereignty.
