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Language and language laws in Quebec
An overview of the linguistic situation in Quebec.
Terrasse Dufferin in Quebec City
Place Jacques-Cartier in Montreal
More Pictures...
Links
An Overview of Quebec's Political and Social Status (PDF)
Discover the art of Claude Théberge, one of Quebec's greatest contemporary painters.
A fan page (with bad music)...
 Montreal's baseball team
Montreal's CFL team. (Won the Grey Cup twice under Marv Levy)
The now defunct Quebec Nordiques
A History of the Nordiques.
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Surface area: 1 700 000 km2 Population: 7 345 000 (1999)
Capital: Quebec city (pop.: 1 mil.)
Largest city: Montreal (3 mil.)
Language:
French: 82% English: 9%
Other languages: Chinese: 33 660, Tagalog: 4 665,
Ukrainian: 2 385, Polish: 10 295,
Italian: 62 770, Greek: 28 095,
Urdu: 3 085, German: 4 135,
Punjabi: 5 345, Cri: 9 830,
Gujarati: 3 185, Vietnamese: 20 035,
Spanish: 46845, Farsi: 6 355,
Hindi: 990, Arabic: 35 565, Portuguese: 18 460, Korean: 2 345,
Somali: 820.
Some famous Quebecois...
Myriam Bédard (Olimpic Biathlete)
Gaetan Boucher (Olympic skater)
Bonhomme Carnaval (Snowman)
Celine Dion (Singer)
Cirque du Soleil
Marc Garneau (Astronaut)
Félix Leclerc (Poet)
Nathalie Lambert (Olympic Skater)Mario Lemieux (Hockey player)
René Lévesque (Premier)
Émile Nelligan (Poet)
Julie Payette (Astronaut)
Ginette Reno (Singer)
Maurice Richard (Hockey Player)
William Shatner (actor)
Pierre-Elliott Trudeau
Gilles Villeneuve (F1 pilot)
Jacques Villeneuve (F1 pilot)
On a Lighter Note...
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I am Canadian! |
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A few months ago, Molson launched an add campain for Molson Canadian called "I am Canadian". The add focuses on Canadian pride and sparked a tremendous amount of discussion in Canada and in the United States.
See the add here.
(Quicktime-2.3Mb)
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I am NOT Canadian! |
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Almost immediately, a Toronto radio station made this parody of a Quebecois reply to Molson's add. Not only is it a great example of English Canada's perception of Quebec, it is absolutely hilarious.
Listen to it here. (Mp3-580k)
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La Poutine!!!
Don't tell me you haven't had poutine! It's a mixture of french fries, gravy and cheese that's extremely popular in Quebec.
Galactic guide to the Poutine
Wikipedia entry for the poutine
(with a great poutine picture, if there is such a thing...)
History of the Poutine
Hear someone say "Poutine"!?!
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Did you know? |
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The name Quebec, from "kebec" in the Algonquin language, means "There where the river narrows". |
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Quebec is 3 times the size of France, and larger than Alaska. |
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There are over 1 million lakes in Quebec.
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A little Quebec timeline
| 1534 |
Jacques Cartier claims territory in the name of François 1er, king of France. |
| 1608 |
Samuel de Champlain founds Québec (city). |
| 1632 |
Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve founds Montréal. |
| 1763 |
Canada becomes an English Colony |
| 1774 |
French civil laws are re-established and the free exercise of religion is granted. |
| 1791 |
Constitutional act divides Canada in two parts: Haut-Canada (now Ontario) with 20 000 loyalists and Bas-Canada with approx 160 000 francophones. Under the influence of the Montreal merchants, the official language remains English even in Bas-Canada. |
| 1837 |
Lead by Papineau, an armed rebellion is organized but quickly repressed. 100 patriotes are captured, 12 are hung, 60 are exiled. |
| 1840 |
The Union Act: The constitution of Bas-Canada is abolished. Louis-Hyppolyte Lafontaine makes his first discourse in French in the new united Canadian parliament. |
| 1849 |
Lafontaine and Baldwin (an English reformist) press for changes in the assembly and give birth to what is soon called French Power. The Montreal British merchants burn down the parliament in protest. |
| 1867 |
The Canadian Confederation |
| 1931 |
Westminster Statute. Canada gains independence from England. |
| 1967 |
rench President Charles De Gaule screams "Vive le Québec libre!" from the balcony of the Montreal city hall causing political turmoil. |
| 1968 |
Foundation of Le parti Québecois.F |
| 1974 |
Bill 22: French becomes the official language in Quebec. |
| 1977 |
Bill 101. The famous one... La charte de la langue française spells out the fundamental " linguistic " rights of all Quebec citizens. |
| 1980 |
The first referendum: 40% of the population say YES to sovereignty, 60% say NO. |
| 1982 |
Repatriation of the Constitution. Pierre Elliott Trudeau and English Canada renege promises made to Québec after the referendum. They amend the Canadian Constitution unilaterally and diminish Québec's legislative powers in areas as important as language and education. The Canadian constitution is still missing Quebec's signature. |
| 1991 |
Meech Lake Agreement, which grants Quebec the status of "distinct society" fails. |
| 1992 |
Charlottetown Referendum. Canadians reject this draft of a constitutional agreement because they feel it gives a special status to Quebec. Quebecois reject it because it denies the notion of the two founding peoples and reduces Quebec's weight in the upper chamber. |
| 1993 |
Federal election: Le Bloc Québecois, a pro-sovereignty party wins wide support and becomes the official opposition in Ottawa. |
| 1995 |
Second Referendum. With a record 96% turnout, Québec voters rejected the Parti Québecois's proposal by a very slim margin: 50.6% NO to 49.4% YES (a majority of barely 53,000 votes). |
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