Un discours suivi d’effet? La sÉcuritÉ dans les relations internationales du QuÉbec

Abstract

What is security’s place in Quebec’s international relations? What issues stem from it for Quebec? How are regulatory jurisdictions articulated in this field within the context of Canadian federalism? What can be claimed by Quebec in terms of its ambition to play a role beyond the border into the American continent, and in the rest of the world? What types of action and cooperation does Quebec undertake in this field? At a time where the Quebec government is reviewing its international policy statement, these questions are all the more relevant as Quebec is facing important challenges in terms of security, in particular as concerns transnational criminality and extremist violence, which require increased presence, exchanges, and cooperation on the international scene. The thesis defended in this article is that security has been subject to an increasing politicization on the part of the Quebec government in the post 9/11 context. In 2006, it devoted, for the first time ever, a chapter and a strategic focus specific to this theme in its international policy statement. If this politicization was indeed translated into policy statements and some international agreements, it seems, however, that it is foremost dictated by conjectural imperatives, and thus does not result from a real ambition or a particular desire to see Quebec actually play a role in terms of transnational security. Thus far, there has not been a politico-diplomatic and financial investment that could lead to affirm that the Gérin-Lajoie doctrine has invested the field of society and given rise to the deployment of a paradiplomacy similar to that exercised within other fields. However, this context has witnessed a densification, at the technical as well as at the administrative levels, of an intergovernmental relations network between certain Quebec organizations, notably police organizations, and their foreign counterparts. Even if it is still not structured enough to constitute actual multi-level governance, it has however contributed to rendering more effective, in a certain manner, Quebec’s international action in the field of security.