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French historian dismisses comparison of Quebec sovereignty movement to French resistance

Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe "obviously" erred in comparing Quebec's sovereignty movement to the French resistance, a prominent historian here said Tuesday.

Duceppe also made a historical blunder by declaring that France's liberation wouldn't have been possible without the famed anti-Nazi underground movement, said Olivier Wieviorka.

"Obviously, this is not based on reality, because you can't compare the situation of France during the Second World War to the situation of Canada nowadays," he told Canwest News Service.

"First of all, Canada is not at war, and Canada is very much a democracy, so the comparison of the situation of Quebec nowadays and the situation of France is not relevant."

Wieviorka said ordinary French citizens would be puzzled to learn of a Quebec nationalist politician making such a comparison in Canada.

"Canada is very popular in France and I think also Quebec, of course, is very popular too, because they speak French and so on. But I think that the comparison is not serving the (Quebec sovereigntist) cause."
Read entire article at Canada.com