Explain to me all this Quebec thing.

[notyoueither]

Don't know about this whole dog analogy thing. Maybe mongoose and cobra would be better.

All I know is we seem to be 1-0 in this p*ssing contest, while you and yours are 0-1.

But really, all this struting seems to belong to a bygone day. Seems to me that Canada and Great Britain tend more to watch your backs lately. Go get em tiger.

[Tingkai]

Re: Explain to me all this Quebec thing.

Originally posted by paiktis22
So Canada has a french and an english community.
And Quebec is the french one and wanted to split up but it did not in the end.
Where's the map?
Where r the french and where r the english community?
This looks so like Belgium

So you got your province of Quebec which is mostly French-Canadian, except for Montreal, the largest city which has a mixed population. Ya also got the big French-Canadian community in New Brunswick. Then there are the relatively big French-canadians communities in Northern Ontario. The other two pockets would be in Winnipeg and Edmonton.

Asher has given you the Albertan whine about Quebecers. They really hate French-Canadians out there. Then again, they tend to hate people from Ontario, people in the next province (Alberta vs BC), people in the next city (Calgary vs Edmonton). I think the prairie winters does something to their minds, or maybe its the fumes from the refineries.

Until the 1960s, French-Canadians were treated like second-class citizens. The only ways to get ahead in business was to speak French. The English would demand service in English, but god forbid that a French-Canadian do the same.

The independence movement also has a strong dose of racism. They perceive themselves as the true blood, an island surrounded by protestant English.

In the 60s there is a quiet revolution that saw French-Canadians taking pride in their culture and asserting themselves.

French-Canadian culture is now incredibly strong and that's one reason why they stay in Canada. Half of them think there is no point in leaving.

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by RedFred
One thing that many first time visitors coming to Canada remark on with surprise is the ethnic diversity. We are not a nation of English, French and natives. We never were. We are a nation of immigrants. The big cities in particular are exceptionally ethnically and linguistically diverse. IIRC most people living in Toronto have at least one foriegn-born parent or grandparent.

Deffinately.


Here in mississauga, I bet that atleast 60% (I wouldn't be surprised if it was more, actually) of the population are of non-european heritege, you go out somewhere and half the people are speeking completely different languages, everything from japanese to arabic.

[notyoueither]

Re: Re: Explain to me all this Quebec thing.

Originally posted by Tingkai
Asher has given you the Albertan whine about Quebecers. They really hate French-Canadians out there. Then again, they tend to hate people from Ontario, people in the next province (Alberta vs BC), people in the next city (Calgary vs Edmonton). I think the prairie winters does something to their minds, or maybe its the fumes from the refineries.

It's called Permanent Hockey Syndrome. It's not hatred. It's just a good dose of *We're better than you at whatever you want to talk about.*

Many say that of all the provinces, Alberta is most like a state of the US. Can't say I disagree with that one.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Osweld
Quebec (bright green) is the "french community", and the rest would be considered the "english community".

However, english and french are both official languages across Canada.

Not entirely true. New Brunswick is half French, and Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Ontario all have significant French minorities. Outside Quebec, though, you'll find very few unilingual Francophones.

[Asher]

Re: Re: Explain to me all this Quebec thing.

Originally posted by Tingkai
Asher has given you the Albertan whine about Quebecers. They really hate French-Canadians out there. Then again, they tend to hate people from Ontario, people in the next province (Alberta vs BC), people in the next city (Calgary vs Edmonton). I think the prairie winters does something to their minds, or maybe its the fumes from the refineries.

The Calgary/Edmonton rivalry is all in fun, surely you know that. Both are great cities.

I do admit to having many things against Quebec and French-Canadians in general, but I assure you they earned my spite.

The French in Canada are like the kids in school who get everything from daddy and keep whining and whining about not getting what they want and threatening to move out.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by MrFun
Forgive me for my ignorance (a country of caribous and polar bears is usually something I do not read about).

But I thought it was the city of Quebec that had a significant population of French-descent citizens, not the entire territory of Quebec.

The province of Quebec (we only have 3 territories: Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut) is populated by 80+% French descendants. Montreal and the Eastern Townships are the only parts of it that have significant Anglophone minorities. Quebec City only contains ~500 000 people (out of a province of ~7.5 million), but it is the provincial capital. Montreal has ~3 million people in it.

Canada as a whole has ~35-40% minority of people of French descent. My own lineage is a pretty good indication of the ethnic makeup of the country; I'm 3/8 Scottish, 3/8 French, 1/8 Irish and a smattering of German and Iroquois.

[KrazyHorse]

Re: Re: Re: Explain to me all this Quebec thing.

Originally posted by Asher

The Calgary/Edmonton rivalry is all in fun, surely you know that. Both are great cities.

I do admit to having many things against Quebec and French-Canadians in general, but I assure you they earned my spite.

The French in Canada are like the kids in school who get everything from daddy and keep whining and whining about not getting what they want and threatening to move out.

As opposed to the Albertans?

I'm hardly a separatist, but there's a definite historical and emotional connection in my mind to the idea of a country lost on the Plains of Abraham 240 years ago.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by notyoueither
The government of Canada did a very effective job of drawing the line when the movement tried to go big-league by killing a Quebec Cabinet minister and kidnapping a British diplomat. They called out the army, declared martial law, and arrested anyone and everyone associated with the movement

They also arrested anyone and everyone who even looked at them funny. It was one of the darkest moments in Canadian history, and Trudeau has earned my contempt for his actions there. One of my teachers in high school was arrested 6 times in 3 days, despite not being any more dangerous than any other university student. He had a French accent and was attending an English university, and that was enough.

[Asher]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Explain to me all this Quebec thing.

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
As opposed to the Albertans?

I'm hardly a separatist, but there's a definite historical and emotional connection in my mind to the idea of a country lost on the Plains of Abraham 240 years ago.

That's nice and all, and very emotional while not quite logical. Something the French excel at, it appears.

We've already been over this in another thread, but for the last 50 years Alberta has been given the shaft from the federal government consistently to the point where they simply don't care about us, since they can get into power using Ontario/Quebec. There's much more reason for Alberta to complain than Quebec, anyone can see that. Alberta has reasons, Quebec has an inferiority complex.

[General Ludd]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Explain to me all this Quebec thing.

Originally posted by Asher
Alberta has reasons, Quebec has an inferiority complex.

Sounds like it's Alberta who has the inferiority complex, if anyone.

[KrazyHorse]

You're eternally making the assumption that politicians treat entire provinces as blocs. Most provinces will swing from party to party. Alberta simply ticks off for whoever's platform is farthest-right. There's no point to campaigning there.

[Asher]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Explain to me all this Quebec thing.

Originally posted by Osweld
Sounds like it's Alberta who has the inferiority complex, if anyone.

Superiority complex, Osweld, if anything.
Obviously you don't know much about Alberta.

[Asher]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
You're eternally making the assumption that politicians treat entire provinces as blocs. Most provinces will swing from party to party. Alberta simply ticks off for whoever's platform is farthest-right. There's no point to campaigning there.

It doesn't take much to see that Chretien hates Alberta.