ISAAC PFEFFER
His friends call him "Izzy." He is a
Montreal journalist. An assignment one day gets him
involved with covering a subway construction story.
This assignment leads to more than a subway story.
Izzy embarks on a
20-year odyssey with police, terrorism, politics
and intrigue.
Izzy, an iconoclast, stands back
a pace or two as the society he has known in
Quebec, especially Montreal, is torn asunder by
French-Canadian nationalists hellbent on secession
for Quebec. Izzy knows the lowly and the highly
placed in Quebec society. He flavors his
journalistic writings with forecasts of doom and
gloom for the Province of Quebec and especially the
City of Montreal, not to mention Canada, if the
nationalistic madness which is rampant in Quebec is
allowed to continue.
Izzy sees a potential for more
than just Quebec's secession in the gathering
terroristic and political events. He sees a
significant potential for fascism and
anti-Semitism. Quebec, says Izzy, set a precedent
during the 30s and 40s under Guy Larivière,
known as Le Genéral, and he sees every
reason to believe Quebec cannot help but grow
fascist under the leadership of Pierre Laval.
Izzy feels put upon, set upon
and waxes increasingly paranoid and neurotic over
what he thinks lies ahead for Quebec and Montreal.
He moves to New York. Izzy considers himself as one
of the first self-imposed exiles -- a refugee from
the madness which is engulfing Quebec society.
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PIERRE LAVAL
Pierre Laval is a journalistic jangle
of nerves, fond of sports jackets, slacks and Hush
Puppy slip-ons. He is a French-Canadian political
pundit par excellence -- the best that
French-Canadian journalism has to offer. He is
fluently bilingual, a talent shared by few in the
press. Izzy admires the abilities of Laval as a
journalist, although Izzy rarely agrees with Laval.
Laval exhibits respect for Izzy's abilities as a
journalist, even when Izzy attacks Laval's
motives.
Laval appears to have been born
with an intense hatred for the English in Canada,
particularly the English in Quebec. As a young
writer, Laval ran away to the United States to
serve as a war correspondent for the United States
forces in Europe during World War 11, rather than
serve in the Canadian Army and serve the cause of
the bloody British. There is less than full
appreciation for Laval's hatred of English-speaking
Canadians by the time he enters
provincial-government service for the first time in
1960. His increasingly strident nationalistic
statements and actions while he holds political
office finally bring down the Liberal Government.
During the years the Liberals hold power, Laval's
ringing statements encourage the lunatic fringe
among French-Canadian nationalists.
Laval is not directly involved
with the terrorists, but they seize upon his
rhetoric as license to bomb, murder and kidnap. All
the while, Laval plays a cat-and-mouse game with
the press and English-speaking Montreal about
whether he is a separatist. Some of Laval's
greatest political fights occur against Jean
Jacques Michaud, a law professor at Mount Royal
University who goes on to become the Prime Minister
of Canada. Laval and Michaud preside over the
disintegration of the Canadian nation.
While Laval, indirectly but
almost by design, is responsible for the Liberals'
loss of power in the mid-60s, he sets out on a
10-year struggle to regain power. He labors in the
political wilderness. He engages in fierce debates
with Michaud in the kitchen of the editor of a
major Montreal French daily newspaper. Laval makes
new allies, forms his own political party and is
eventually elected Premier of Quebec. Some of the
people he gathers about him in government have
links to the terrorists, unknown to Laval. He is
duped, it sometimes seems, by these people, but
Laval's goals are the same as the terrorists'
goals. They differ only on tactics.
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JEAN JACQUES MICHAUD
Jean Jacques Michaud, Pierre Laval's
principal antagonist, is an intellectual heir, a
Brahmin from Versailles, French Canada's
millionaires' row. Michaud is a centrist, not
uncomfortable with the role played by
English-speaking Canadians. Michaud is an
acknowledged constitutional-law expert, with a
reputation for liberal thinking. He becomes a
professor of law at Mount Royal University, largely
as a result of student unrest. He personifies the
type of professor the students want. They rebel
against the staid, stodgy, conservative faculty,
forcing the school's directors to appoint Michaud
to the faculty.
Michaud's views and lectures
spread throughout Canada. Retiring Prime Minister
Hanson invites Michaud to succeed him. As Prime
Minister, Michaud is a deep disappointment to
English-speaking Canadians, especially
English-speaking Montrealers, who are left to the
less-than-tender mercies of the nationalistic
politicians in Quebec City who run roughshod over
the rights of English-speaking Quebecers. Through
his silence and policy of non-interference in the
affairs of Quebec, Michaud is equally culpable with
Laval for the disintegration of Quebec and Canadian
society.
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JULES LEGER
Jules Leger is the son of Roger Leger,
a highly successful lawyer and neighbor of Michaud
in Versailles. Jules, a student of Michaud at Mount
Royal University, is also a terrorist. This side of
Jules' life is unknown to Michaud, Roger, his
father, or Pierre Laval, who invites Jules to join
his cabinet as Minister for Inter-Provincial
Affairs, a job requiring someone with plenty of
rough edges -- opinionated, headstrong, abrasive, a
fighter. "Someone like you," Laval says to Jules
when he invites him to join his Cabinet. Laval
wants Jules Leger at his side when they go
toe-to-toe with Prime Minister Michaud.
Jules Leger is determined to
erode Quebec society's rough edges. He would make
it an egalitarian society, which meant denying
English-speaking Quebecers their rights and
declaring Quebec independent from Canada. He is
determined to make Quebec conform to the pattern
hatched in his young, febrile mind.
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ROLAND GELINAS
Roland Gelinas is Jules Leger's
companion, even unto sharing the pleasures of
Yvonne Lajoie, Jules' girlfriend. In fact, the two
terrorists, Jules Leger and Roland Gelinas,
embolden themselves into terrorist acts by sharing
in sexual pleasures with Yvonne Lajoie. It imbues
them with the "high" and the sense of solidarity
they need to commit the murderous acts they do.
Gelinas is also a student at Mount Royal
University, in liberal arts. He is especially fond
of his Logic course. He feels it allows him to see
the logic in everything he does, from sharing
Yvonne with Jules to acts of terrorism.
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CAPTAIN CHARLES
LEGRAND
Captain Charles LeGrand, in the early
60s, is the Montreal Police Department's sole
explosives expert. He is called to action that day
Izzy covers the subway construction story and a
bomb explodes in a nearby mailbox. LeGrand is
injured severely, maimed for life. His leg is
amputated and he is pensioned off for life,
relegated to a hero's dustbin.
But LeGrand refuses to retreat
to total oblivion. He maintains a close
relationship with Izzy Pfeffer and Captain Jacques
Morin, who succeeds LeGrand as chief of the bomb
squad. LeGrand, like an old firehorse every time
the bell rings, delights in counselling Morin in
his attempts to cope with terrorist acts. There is
a strong bond of mutual admiration between LeGrand
and Morin. Both are good friends of Izzy
Pfeffer.
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CAPTAIN JACQUES
MORIN
Captain Jacques Morin succeeds LeGrand
as chief of the bomb squad, selected by the mayor
of Montreal, who looks to the ranks of his
political allies. Morin has been chief of the vice
squad, grows tired of messing with prostitutes and
pimps and eagerly accepts his new appointment. He
expands the bomb squad and is confronted with many
terrorist acts over the years.
His squad's activities are
betrayed by two rogue cops on his squad who are
connected to the terrorists. Morin discovers who
they are and uses the two cops, Lemieux and
Bertrand, as an information pipeline into terrorist
activities, only things don't work out as neatly as
he thought they would.
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DENIS DAOUST
Denis Daoust, in the early years,
teaches Jules Leger and Roland Gelinas how to make
plastique bombs. He becomes a major figure in
Leger's terrorist ring. Daoust is the firm guiding
hand in the hijacking of the Royal Yacht Brittania.
Later, when Jules Leger has become a Cabinet
Minister in Pierre Laval's Cabinet, Daoust comes
back to haunt Leger, threatening him with exposure
unless Leger gives him a job in the government.
Leger does so and Daoust goes on to become the
chief enforcer for the gestapo tactics of Pierre
Laval's government. He is rough, crude and a
dedicated automaton. He padlocks schools, churches,
synagogues and stores with equal zeal. He is a
loyal soldier in the war to eradicate the
English-speaking way of life in Quebec.
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CHAIM GOLDSTEIN
Chaim Goldstein, a close friend of Izzy
Pfeffer, owns a wholesale textile store on St.
Lawrence Blvd., known as The Main. Goldstein is a
survivor of the Holocaust, as are many of his
fellow merchants on The Main. Goldstein is an
intense man and a fighter, proud of his Jewish
heritage and he suffers some of the tactics of the
government's enforcers, principally Denis Daoust.
Izzy is a frequent visitor to Goldstein's store,
which becomes a rallying point for the Jewish
community's eventual opposition to Pierre Laval. In
their own crude and halting ways, the merchants of
St. Lawrence, rallied by Goldstein, become a thorn
in the side of Denis Daoust.
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SHMERL THE BAL
HAGALLAH
Shmerl the bal Hagallah is perhaps the
most colorful character who frequents Goldstein's
store. Shmerl is not a merchant. He owns a horse
and coach, known in Montreal as a calèche.
He makes his living by driving tourists, mainly
Americans, throughout the Mount Royal Mountains, a
600-ft. high, 600-acre park in the center of
Montreal. When business is slow atop the mountains,
Shmerl likes to visit Goldstein in his store for a
round of debating and kibbitzing, not to mention
imbibing.
Shmerl is 70 years of age if he
is a day. No one knows for sure, not even Shmerl.
He immigrated from Russia at the approximate age of
12. Shmerl's greatest moment of revenge against a
crazy society is when he comes down from the
mountain and coaxes a load of shit from his old
mare. The Main had been clear of horse shit for
years, except when Shmerl came down from the
mountain with a message for society.
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CARDINAL ROY ST.
LAURENT
Cardinal Roy St. Laurent represents the
link between the Quebec Catholic Church and the
Unité Party. It is a strong link, forged by
the Cardinal and Quebec Premier Guy
Larivière, known as Le Genéral,
through some 20 years. Panic sets in when the
Cardinal learns about the death of Le
Genéral. He is tormented by thoughts of the
church losing its grip over government. He is also
Chancellor of Mount Royal University and painfully
presides over the appointment of Michaud to the law
faculty. Although he opposes the appointment, he is
powerless to resist. A new order is taking hold.
There is no place for the church in this new order.
But the Cardinal also has a human side, as Izzy
Pfeffer learns one day during an interview with the
Cardinal over kosher smoked meat sandwiches on The
Main. The Cardinal informs Izzy that he is giving
up his palace in Montreal for a shack in Africa to
tend to the lepers.
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RABBI SHLOMO
BORODENSKY
Rabbi Shlomo Borodensky, 65, is a
pillar of strength in the Jewish community. Izzy
Pfeffer feels very close to the rabbi, based on
memories from his childhood in the frame-structure
synagogue that stands on Clark Street. The rabbi
suffers the insults of the fascist tactics of Denis
Daoust, who twice interrupts services, once during
Rosh Hashanah and again during Passover. Shmerl is
arrested during the Passover disturbance and is
jailed. But the rabbi's strong character forces him
to adjourn services to Shmerl's jail cell, where
they celebrate the Passover Seder.
The rabbi rallies the Jewish
community as well as the leaders of Jewish and
English schools and the heads of English churches.
Their buildings, including synagogues, have been
padlocked, but the rabbi strengthens their resolve.
They fight back. The rabbi holds religious services
in his home. Attendance grows rapidly and soon the
rabbi must install a public-address system to carry
his prayers to the crowds who gather in the street
outside his home. Priests and ministers take their
cue from the rabbi and do likewise, in defiance of
the fascists in Quebec City.
Rabbis, priests and ministers descend
on Rabbi Borodensky for strategy sessions.
Borodensky also organizes a mobile prayer van to
reach the Jewish youngsters of Montreal, despite
the obstacles put in his way by the likes of Denis
Daoust and his fellow fascists.
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PRESIDENT DANIEL IZAIAH MONROE
WITT
President Daniel Izaiah Monroe Witt is
the 40th president of the United States. An
ex-cotton-grower from the South, he is beset with
problems. Iran, Afghanistan -- the problems close
in on him as he faces an election. He cannot
comprehend the problem in Quebec and for awhile he
exhibits a studied indifference toward Quebec, as
he does toward Canada, in the style of most
presidents, who are accustomed to stability north
of the border.
President Witt observes the
disintegration of Quebec and Canada from afar. But
corporate America emboldens him into action. The
captains of industry become outraged by Pierre
Laval's freeze on all exports of Quebec-based
profits of U.S. -owned businesses.
The president executes an ingenious
plan for taking Quebec out with a whimper.
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