Old wounds slow to heal on Plains of Abraham

Plans to commemorate a pivotal conflict that shapedCanadian history are stirring up political controversy in Quebec.

TheNational Battlefields Commission is preparing to re-enact the Battle of the Plains of Abraham this summer to mark the 250th anniversary of the 1759 British victory over the French at Quebec City.

There-enactment, which will take place over a four-day period, is expectedtodraw more than 2,000 history buffs from around the world.

But Quebec sovereigntists consider the battle a humiliating defeat and the start of English domination over French-speaking peoplein North America and question the government's role in the re-enactment.

"This battle put an end to the New France, as it was known then, and it was the beginning of the British experience here," said Bernard Drainville, Parti Qubcois member of the Quebec national assembly.

"We don't think there's any reason to celebrate that."

Charest won't attend

Liberal Premier Jean Charest has already indicated he won'tattend the event, but federal Heritage Minister Jose Verner has said she will, to the PQ's dismay.

The Battle of the Plains of Abrahamhas a particular negative significance in the French-Canadian collective consciousness, and Verner's intention to attend the event is a "terrible mistake," saidAgnes Maltais, another member of the sovereigntist PQ in the provincial legislature.

Thebattle isa sensitive subject for Quebecers, she said.

"This was a war, and a lot of people were hurt," she said. "In our collective memory,[Marquis de] Montcalm represents the defeat. But he was a great general."

If the event included other conflictssuch as the Battle of Ste.-Foy in 1760, which the French troops won over the British,the re-enactment could offer a more balanced history lesson for Quebecers, Maltais said.

The conquest re-enactmentoffers an opportunity for Quebecers to revisit and learn from their history as a people, said Denis Vaugeois, a former PQ member of the legislature.

"Everything that helps us review the past is useful, in my opinion," said Vaugeois, who is also a historian.

The showdown between French and English armies, headed respectively by generals Marquis de Montcalm and James Wolfe, was fought ona wide expanse of land outside Quebec City's fortified walls that became known as the Plains of Abraham.

The battle,involving more than 10,000 troops, lasted less than an hour.

Wolfe was killed in the fight and Montcalm died of his wounds the next day.