Controversy
Many political figures, including Brian Mulroney, Jean Chrétien and Ontario premier David Peterson, who had strongly condemned Premier Bourassa's use of the notwithstanding clause, expressed their opposition to the city's move. Both Peterson and his successor as premier, Bob Rae, refused to meet with mayor Joe Fratesi on several subsequent occasions, even to discuss unrelated matters.
In particular, the resolution was seen as a slap in the face to Quebec, where it was widely viewed as racist. (One Environment Canada meteorologist sent out a weather report for Sault Ste. Marie in which the forecast called for "a chance of flurries and Nazis", leading to her suspension.) Council defended the resolution, suggesting that Quebec's language laws and its refusal to abide by the Supreme Court ruling also constituted racism.
Council was also criticized for seemingly turning its back on the city's own history; although in modern times francophones are only a small percentage of the city's population, the city's history is intimately connected to early French Canadian missionary and voyageur exploration of the Great Lakes area. Some commentators also jokingly suggested that the resolution would require the city to change its name to St. Mary's Falls.
Entertainers weighed in on the controversy; on their 1991 album Road Apples, The Tragically Hip criticized the resolution in the song "Born in the Water":
Smart as trees in Sault Ste. Marie
I can speak my mother tongue
Passing laws, just because
And singing songs of the English unsung
How could you do it?
How could you even try?
When you were born in the water
And you were raised up in the sky?
Read more about this topic: Sault Ste. Marie Language Resolution
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