Even as I type this, thousands of hockey fans are preparing for tonight’s big game, where Montreal’s Canadiens (aka The Habs, short for habitant, a Quebec settler) will be playing the Sabres in the Eastern Division semi-finals. The Habs are currently ahead in the series, but tonight’s game could clinch it and vault Montreal into the battle for hockey’s Stanley Cup.
The town is awash in Canadien’s flags, hats, jerseys, and team spirit. Even the buses are having their say…in English this year, after last year’s attempt by the provincial government to quash the decades-old battle cry.
But can we win it? Though some of the young Habs cubs are getting a lot of attention this season for their high energy and attack, the Canadiens have been a very uneven team for a long time…hard to get behind when they disappoint so often.
But now…now, with the new blood, with the excitement, with the Stanley Cup seeming within reach: can we win it? We may know tonight.
Other contests will take longer to resolve. Some of you may remember my previous posts about the premier of Quebec François Legault and his mission to wipe out Anglophones and immigration here. Somewhat cheeringly, he became so unpopular he had to step down this spring. Not so happily for anglophones and those from elsewhere, his replacement, Christine Fréchette, is continuing to hammer home the same agenda while she can. Time is of the essence, as the 2026 general election will be held this fall and the CAQ may no longer be the ruling party in Quebec.
But the opposition parties are not showing clear signs of voter approval, and no surprise with constant confusion over their positions on issues like sovereignty and healthcare. Voter engagement is low here, and without clear agendas and choices, without strong desire to move Quebec in a different direction, can we win it?
In the meantime, we’re desperately trying to get our ballots in for the primary election back home, where critical offices like mayor and governor are up for grabs, and mail-in voting is under fire. California’s massive GDP makes it powerful, a political prize, and the desire for control is being fiercely fought by many factions.
But can we win it? When the field is peppered with billionaires, career politicians, and reality TV stars who want to make their office a literal show, how can an already anxious and fractured electorate pull together to form a mandate? Will democracy actually make the voices of the people heard, and will those voices use their ballots for good?
We worry about the midterms too, and whether our votes will be counted. Can we win it?
But as we’re sorta Montrealers now, and it’s a big hockey night, so I think once again of the motto written with pride on the wall of the Canadiens’ locker room (and on the inside of their jerseys):
Nos bras meurtris vous tendent le flambeau à vous toujours de le porter bien haut.
For the anglophones:
“To you from failing hands we throw / The torch; be yours to hold it high.”
In other words: elbows up. If you can’t definitively end the enemy, defend the goal with your life and keep the light alive. Nuff said.
So tonight and every day, we wait, watch, hope, and fight our best to stay in the game and all those battles we have to win to stay human and free.
And GO HABS GO!!! Drop the gloves and get ‘er done, mes gars.
