Bloc leader blasts Liberals’ use of ‘masters in our own home’ slogan on budget cover - National Post

Copy URL Facebook Linked In X (Twitter) Loading account options Sign In Manage Account Close account menu Sign Out Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa November 3, 2026. (Blair Gable / Postmedia) By Catherine Lévesque November 4, 2026 at 1:35 p.m. Last Updated: November 4, 2026 at 5:38 p.m. OTTAWA — On the eve of the budget, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet is taking issue with its cover.

The title of the fiscal document in English is “Masters of our destiny.” But in French, it reads “Maîtres chez nous,” which is a direct reference to an flagship slogan during Quebec’s “Quiet Revolution” in the 1960s.

Blanchet took aim at Prime Minister Mark Carney’s choice to use the iconic expression that could be translated literally by “masters in our own home” in a post on X Wednesday.

Monsieur Carney,Vous avez droit au bénéfice du doute, mais peut-être en avez-vous déjà abusé en faisant étalage d’une invraisemblable ignorance de la réalité et l’histoire du Québec.« Maîtres chez nous » est une thématique fondatrice de la Révolution tranquille, de… pic.twitter.com/EyYFGSaAAd

“You are entitled to the benefit of the doubt, but perhaps you have already exhausted it by displaying an implausible ignorance of the reality and history of Quebec,” he wrote, referring to Carney’s Plains of Abraham speech that resonated poorly in the province.

“Please show some respect: what is ‘home’ to you is not necessarily ‘home’ to me.”

Carney has been loosely using the iconic phrase since he ran for the federal Liberal leadership in early 2025. Even at the time, it irked Blanchet and other Quebecers who believed Carney was appropriating the phrase of a critical time in Quebec history.

In 1960, the Quebec Liberals led by Jean Lesage put an end to the reign of the Union Nationale, a party which had been in power since 1944, was committed to outdated traditional values and kept Quebec under the thumb of the Catholic Church.

The “Quiet Revolution” refers to the rapid succession of social and political changes that marked that period. Those included the secularization of Quebec society and a series of economic reforms to improve the living conditions of French Canadians.

In 1962, Lesage called a snap election to secure a clear mandate to proceed with the nationalization of hydroelectricity. The campaign slogan, “Maîtres chez nous,” quickly became a rallying cry for Quebecers to take back control of their economic destiny.

The man at the heart of the nationalization was Liberal Resources Minister René Lévesque, who would eventually create the separatist Parti Québécois.

Hydro-Québec, for its part, would become a symbol of economic nationalism and is now one of the largest hydroelectric power producers in the world.

Carney said last week he is well aware of the historical context surrounding the Quiet Revolution and said he agrees Quebec forms a nation with its own heritage.

But he noted that the world has changed since the Quiet Revolution.

“In a dangerous and divided world — and in a world where we must be masters in our own home — we need to find reliable partners to strengthen our sovereignty, so that Canadians and Quebecers can live their lives as they choose,” he said in French.

Carney has taken a keen interest in economic nationalism, often bringing up the fact that his government intervened to broker a deal between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador to expand the power grid in Churchill Falls and Gull Island.

He has touted this project as the “largest clean energy investment in North American history.”

It is the Churchill Falls project that appears on the cover page of the federal budget that will be presented Thursday by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne. He shared a picture of it on X a week before it is to be tabled.

Next step: November 5th pic.twitter.com/lgOc2RHhbE

Bloc finance critic Jean-Denis Garon said on Tuesday that he was concerned about the government leaking a preview of an official budget document to the public before it was tabled in the House of Commons and MPs had an opportunity to see its contents.

“I believe that parliamentarians should be the first ones to see the budget — from the very first page to the last,” he said. “This is a lapse that should not be repeated.”

Garon shrugged when asked if he was annoyed by the federal Liberals’ use of “Maîtres chez nous” for its upcoming budget.

“Regardless of whether or not one adopts slogans from Quebec’s past that are deeply rooted in identity, it is clearly an attempt to woo the people of Quebec,” he said. “We shall see who is truly master in their own home come Thursday.”

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