任你博娛樂城

As Canada鈥檚 second-most populated province, the听concerns听of Quebec have played a large role shaping听Canadian history, and continue to exert enormous influence on Canada鈥檚 culture, politics, and economy. The relationship between Quebec and the Rest of Canada (or 鈥�ROC鈥�) has not always been easy. Tensions over language have raged for centuries, and over the last few decades the question of separatism 鈥� whether Quebec would be better off leaving Canada and becoming a separate听country 鈥� has been one of Canada鈥檚 most difficult debates.

Note: This chapter provides a broad overview on Quebec. For information on things to see and do in Quebec, see the Quebec tourism听肠丑补辫迟别谤.

Quebec Geography

Quebec is Canada鈥檚 largest province in terms of landmass, but much of its territory is uninhabited 鈥� and uninhabitable. The province鈥檚 extreme north is a barren arctic wasteland similar to that of Canada鈥檚 three northern territories, inhabited by polar bears, caribou and arctic wolves, while the central region is filled with dense, boreal forest. As is in Ontario, early efforts to colonize the north were mostly unsuccessful due to the rocky soil and harsh climate that made farming impossible.

The vast majority of Quebecers have always lived around the vast St. Lawrence River that cuts into southeastern Quebec from the Atlantic ocean. This was the path the first European explorers used to enter North America, and both of Quebec鈥檚 major cities, Montreal and Quebec City, originally arose听as coastal settlements. This region鈥檚 land is lush and fertile, with rolling hills, small lakes and arable soil that was ably tilled by early French-Canadian habitants, or sustenance farmers.

Quebec鈥檚 long, snowy winters are an iconic symbol of the province, and听the massive outdoor Carnaval du Quebec in Quebec City, featuring skating, dog-sledding, ice-sculpting, and tobogganing is one of the highlights of the year. While Quebec has far flatter terrain than the mountainous provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, the modest Laurentian Mountains in the province鈥檚 south serve as the main mecca of eastern Canadian skiing.

Quebec Cities

任你博娛樂城 half of听Quebec’s eight million residents live in Montreal, the second-largest city in Canada after Toronto. A modern, stylish, cosmopolitan city, Montreal is 听home to many of the province’s (and indeed, the country’s) top cultural attractions including the and the 听stand-up comedy extravaganza. Historically, Montreal was known for being an oasis of English in an otherwise听French-dominated province, due to its high population of wealthy Anglos听鈥� the descendants of British colonial settlers. For a variety of political and economic reasons many听Anglos have chosen to leave in recent decades, however,听and today听only about of Montrealers speak English as their first language. Their influence remains strong enough for nearly 60% of all residents to claim听to be bilingual, however 鈥� the highest rate of any Canadian big city. While Montreal has always housed sizable Jewish, Italian, and Irish communities, new waves of immigration听from outside Europe have听helped reshape the city’s demographics, cuisine, and culture.

蚕耻别产别肠听颁颈迟测, which is confusingly often called simply听Quebec by locals, is the province’s second-largest city and the provincial capital. Unlike multicultural Montreal, Quebec City is听vastly听more uniformly French, with much lower rates of bilingualism, English-Canadians, and immigrants. An older city than Montreal, it retains a very pronounced European flavour through its shops, architecture, and festivals. There are still enough remnants of the city’s history as an 18th century walled fortress to have earned it a in 1985.

Most of Quebec’s other residents听either听live in suburban cities close to Montreal, like听Laval,听罢别谤谤别产辞苍苍别, and听Longueuil, suburbs close to Quebec City, like听尝茅惫颈蝉, or somewhere in the听approximately 300听kilometre space听between the two big cities, mostly the Eastern Townships听area, which is located south of the St. Lawrence River and is home to the sizeable communities听of听Sherbrooke and 罢谤辞颈蝉-搁颈惫颈猫谤别蝉.

History of Quebec

As the early history听chapter听discusses in more detail, explorers from France were the first Europeans to actively settle the land that is now Canada, forming an impressive colony known as New France along the St. Lawrence River in 1603, before proceeding to expand westward. Masters of the fur trade, early French colonists earned a reputation as rugged outdoorsmen, navigating the continent鈥檚 hostile terrain and forming productive alliances with aboriginal nations. Tensions between French and English interests eventually led to war between the two European powers in 1756 (The Seven Years War, or French and Indian War), and the French were clobbered. New France was seized by the British, the French army was forced to abandon the continent, and all remaining French settlers were placed under English rule. This pivotal moment, dubbed simply 鈥�The Conquest鈥� by modern Quebecers, forms the context for everything that came after.

Since the French settlers in North America greatly outnumbered the English, the victorious British quickly concluded that New France 鈥� soon renamed Quebec 鈥斕齝ould only be effectively governed as a British colony if its were permitted to retain their distinct cultural traditions. A British law known as the Quebec Act (1774) allowed residents to keep speaking French and worshipping in the Catholic Church, and generally maintain the same way of life they had under French rule. Political and economic power, however, was concentrated in the hands of a small, English-speaking elite. Under their rule, Quebec remained a largely rural, borderline feudal society well into the 20th century. For most of their history, the majority of Quebeckers lived mostly meagre lives as sustenance farmers, with Catholic clergy playing an enormous role in education and politics. Deeply conservative and traditional, even after joining Canada in 1867 French-speaking Quebec remained culturally and economically isolated from the rest of North America.

The two terms of the very right-wing Maurice Duplessis (1890-1959), who served as prime minister of Quebec from 1936-1939 and 1944-1959, are usually seen as the last gasp听of this particular phase of Quebec life. The mid-20th听century saw 听a gradual rise in a more educated and secular Quebec middle class, and Duplessis鈥� death in 1959 allowed a more liberal government to take his place, ushering in a series of far-reaching social and economic reforms dubbed the R茅volution tranquille or 鈥�Quiet Revolution.鈥� Among other things, Quebec women began to go to work, divorce, and use birth control, while men moved their families to the cities, took up white-collar jobs and formed large and powerful unions. The Church ceased to play an active role in politics and social services, and people gradually stopped going to mass. Within a generation, Quebec had done a complete flip; it had gone from being the most rural, religious, conservative part of the country to Canada’s most urban, secular, and progressive province.

Quebec Culture

Quebecers’听identity as a unique听and special听people is tied to their distinctive Francophone culture, often described as a blending of European traditions and North American attitudes. Though Quebec, like the rest of Canada, is becoming an increasingly multicultural place, particularly in its听big cities, Quebecers have been听very aggressive听in trying to preserve听their historic identity in the face of considerable social and technological change.

The vast majority of Quebeckers, , speak French. Most can speak at least some English as well, with the city of Montreal 鈥� the historic home of Quebec鈥檚 powerful English-speaking minority 鈥� the most functionally bilingual place in Canada. Protecting and strengthening the use of the French language has historically been the central project of Quebec patriotism, and since the 1970s, the provincial government has passed a number of laws that limit the use of English in business, schools, and 鈥� most infamously 鈥� public signs and advertisements. The legal centrepiece of this is the , also known as Bill 101, whose strict rules have听governed Quebec language policy for over 40 years.

Most Quebecers remain ethnic French-Canadians descendant听from a fairly small group of 17th century colonial settler families, and many of the province’s most famous cultural tropes harken back听to that community’s centuries-old shared听rural past. Traditional French-Canadian meals remain听hearty 鈥減easant鈥� dishes like pea soup, meat pie (迟辞耻谤迟颈猫谤别), and听cipaille, a kind of stew. The proud Canadian cliche of maple syrup听originates from听Quebec, where it was originally harvested by forest-dwelling farmers in cabanes 脿 sucres (literally, 鈥渟ugar shacks鈥�). French-Canadian folk songs, such as Alouette听or Les Raftsmen,听are often about rural chores, exploring the wilderness, or farm life. Today, Quebeckers enjoy a host of French language TV channels and radio stations, and often have very different pop culture tastes than English Canadians in the other provinces.

Quebec Separatism

The idea that Quebec exists as a unique 鈥�nation鈥� within North America is quite old, but taking things a听step further and arguing Quebec should leave Canada altogether and form its own country is relatively newer. This ideology, known as separatism, really came into prominence during the 1960s, when a poorly-performing economy听coupled with the post-Quiet Revolution culture of self-empowerment made previously unthinkable ideas suddenly more attractive. Just as colonized peoples in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East were abandoning their imperial masters, many Quebeckers began to dream of completing their long escape from English domination.

The argument in favor of separatism takes many forms, and there are right and left wing separatists, as well as separatist moderates and separatist extremists. Some separatists believe Quebec should be its own country for strictly patriotic reasons, and feel humiliated being part of Canada, which they see as this utterly foreign, English place. Others may believe Canada is simply a bad country to be a part of, and think Quebec could be richer and more successful without the Canadian government holding it back. Others may basically like Canada, but believe Quebec and Canada could arrange a better partnership between themselves as two separate countries.

A new provincial political party devoted to separatism known as the Parti Quebecois was founded in 1968 and elected in to power in 1976.听In 1980, it organized a province-wide听referendum听on separatism, but听Quebecers ultimately voted to stay.听Despite the defeat, the French-Canadian separatist movement grew in power and size during the 1980s and 1990s. Several more separatist premiers were elected, the majority of Quebec鈥檚 representatives in the Canadian House of Commons became separatists, and a second separatism referendum was held in 1995 鈥� and only failed by a margin of less than one per cent. That loss was quite demoralizing, however, and since then the separatist movement has declined in popularity quite a bit, with many Quebecers now inclined to regard separation as a distraction from more immediate social and economic problems. Quebec’s most recent听separatist government only听held office for a year and a half (September 2012 to April 2014) and in the 2011 and 2015 federal elections, most separatist candidates for parliament were defeated.

Quebec Politics

Despite its traditionalist past, modern Quebec is said to be one of the most left-wing places in North America. Unions are large and powerful, there鈥檚 a generous听cradle-to-grave welfare system, and public opinion remains almost universally supportive of controversial social causes like abortion, LGBT rights, and euthanasia. Politics in Quebec are thus not terribly ideological, and听most politicians support broadly similar social-democratic agendas. The听bigger source of polarization is the question of separatism.

Since the 1970s, Quebec has operated under a two-party system that pits the pro-separation against the anti-separation (or “federalist“)听. Both parties are essentially nationalist, yet Liberals believe Quebec鈥檚 interests can be addressed by working within the existing Canadian system, while separatists believe only independent nationhood can give Quebecers the fair deal they deserve. In 2018, a new party, the 听(coalition for Quebec) was elected to power for the first time. It is a European-style conservative populist-nationalist party that has promised to not reopen the separatism debate.

As the country鈥檚 second-biggest province, the politics of Quebec have large influence on听the politics of Canada overall. Many of Canada’s recent prime ministers have come from Quebec, as have many other leading figures in Canadian government.听Because Quebec separatism is considered a serious existential crisis to Canada鈥檚 survival as a country, the age-old question of 鈥渨hat does Quebec want?鈥� is something that has been given a lot of attention by the Canadian political class over the years. Initiatives like enshrining French as an official language of Canada and providing subsidies for the Quebec welfare state represent significant efforts to quell separatist sentiment through conciliatory gestures, though they鈥檝e also fostered resentment in other parts of the country, where Quebec outreach can be seen as simply 鈥渃aving in鈥� to French whining or extortion.