Cameroon: first African MP in Canada; On 28 June, Maka Kotto became the first African to be elected to the Canadian House of Commons, on the ticket of the Bloc Quebecois, a party dedicated to Quebec independence. Robin Philpot reports from Montreal.

"The symbol is powerful," says Maka Kotto, the new MP for Saint-Lambert in Canada, located just south of Montreal, whose black population is less than 3%. "It is a symbol of open-mindedness. I received massive support from French-speaking Quebecois who had rarely ever ventured beyond Quebec's borders."

All the more significant considering Kotto was born some 7,500 miles away in Douala, Cameroon, and has lived in Quebec for "only" 15 years. His main political opponent in the constituency, whom he ran against and beat, was born and raised in Saint-Lambert.

Kotto worked as an actor, author and director after graduating from the Conservatoire Libre de Cinema Francais in Paris. He attributes his immigration to Quebec to another French-speaking cultural figure, the Haitian-born writer, Dany Laferriere, author of How to make love with a Negro without getting tired. For Kotto, the road from Douala to France in 1979 and then to the Canadian Parliament in 2004, is an eloquent defence of the benefits of the French-speaking group of countries known as La Francophonie. In the late 1980s, he was among a group of recently naturalised French citizens opposed to the insidious slide of French politics towards exclusionary ideas.

"Laferriere pointed out that we were in an old country, on an old continent, where it was very difficult to change people's mindsets," Kotto reveals. "He told us about Quebec across the Atlantic that was a 'work in progress'. He won me over."

Kotto arrived in Quebec in 1989, where he became famous as a movie and television actor. At first, the politics of Quebec independence didn't interest him, after receiving, as he says, the "one-sided information given to immigrants by the Canadian Embassy in Paris and nothing about Quebec, nothing about language, nothing about the constitution or the other major issues".

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

But he is now very committed to his new "country and work in progress". He exudes confidence and enthusiasm about the imminent achievement of Quebec sovereignty.

He is also keenly aware of the role he can play in the French-speaking world and else-where in Africa to ensure Quebec gets the international attention it deserves. "People may not really know what's happening in Quebec," he says. "Perhaps they don't understand the complex constitutional situation facing Quebec and Canada, or the situation for the seven million French-speaking Quebecois surrounded by 300 million English-speaking Canadians and Americans. Quebec's cause is noble because it is being conducted peacefully and democratically."

Kotto is convinced that when Quebec democratically achieves its sovereignty, it will establish an important precedent in the world. "When Quebec is independent and a member of the United Nations, this humanist approach will stand out in comparison with countries that have a history of slavery, slave-trading and colonialism and that have unwittingly developed a superiority complex and contempt for Africa. That is not the case here in Quebec. The potential here is tremendous because of the people's humanism," says Kotto.

Kotto doesn't hesitate to draw parallels between the similarities in Quebec's struggle for independence and African liberation from colonialism. "Every person aspiring to freedom is motivated by convictions based on dignity, pride, self-respect and a refusal to abandon its very essence," he says.

As the Bloc Quebecois parliamentary critic for culture and communications, Kotto's international focus will be on cultural diversity at a time when the Canadian government is trying to keep Quebec out of the debate. "If Quebec were independent, its voice would be heard clearly and it would break with mainstream discourse on the issue," Kotto argues. "Quebec is the champion of the resistance to cultural uniformity. It is even stronger than France, because for Quebec it is vital and unavoidable."

According to Kotto, Quebec has demanded control of culture and communications since 1920, but Ottawa (the Canadian capital city) has consistently refused. "The people who think and design Canada at Quebec's expense know that culture and communications represent a powerful and essential tool for development," Kotto adds.

He believes that film, television and communications in general all contribute to developing a collective mindset or approach. "They must not be commoditised. Quebec has managed to resist because of its particular linguistic situation," he says. "What we are lacking today are the instruments to control this area and to protect itself against the ever more sophisticated attacks against Quebec's identity and language. These instruments are money and the political powers required for Quebec to determine its own future and development."

For Maka Kotto, that can only be achieved through Quebec independence.