Introduction
In general, nationalism can be defined as a sentiment based on common cultural characteristics that binds a population and often produces a policy of national independence or separatism (Dictionary.com, 2012). The nationalist movement in Quebec has been known to be one of the most powerful national movements in the developed West (Meadwell, 1993). Quebec is an ideal example of a sub-state nation that has claimed the right to sovereignty from a federal state. The reason for this is that provinces within the Canadian federal state have particular exclusive constitutional powers, which includes the legislation of social programs. Historically, provincial social policy legislation included health care policies, family policies (affordable
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In general, Quebec is overwhelmingly French speaking, while the rest of Canada is overwhelmingly English speaking. Language has remained one of the key symbols of Quebecois nationalism and has been central in the arguments for the protection of a minority culture in Quebec. French Canadians were, and still are overwhelmingly Catholic, while English Canadians tend to be Protestant (Fitzmaurice, 1985). The cause of linguistic segmentation in Canada goes back to the British conquest in Quebec in 1759. The primary institution that has defined the character of French Canadian nationalism in Quebec from the mid 19th to the 20th century is the Roman Catholic Church (Fenwick, 1981). It was the Church that essentially articulated the values and dominated the culture of French Canada and it was the Church that helped provide the elite, which mediated relations between French Canadians and the …show more content…
Despite there being various actors who contributed to Quebec’s journey to nationalism, I would consider Rene Levesque to be one of the leading advocates for Quebec nationalism. He was viewed as an outspoken leader for Quebec’s independence and later formed the new provincial party in Canada – the Parti Quebecois (Tangelder, 1995). The purpose of the party was to essentially achieve Quebec sovereignty or independence by means of majority vote. Levesque used his platform to ultimately shed light to some of the root issues that were occurring in Quebec, specifically issues that negatively targeted French Canadians. One issue was regarding the concerns of how the majority of businesses (80%) were owned by Anglophones, which limited the chances of opportunity for French Canadians to progress in the business world (Fitzmaurice,
As its own state Quebec would have the capacity to act, consolidate and further create their own cultural identity (Heard, 2013). For example, Quebec could foster the national language to be French. By gaining independence from Canada, Quebec can then create their own laws, own immigration rules and levy taxes (Heard, 2013). This would allow Quebec to be completely independent from the rest of Canada, but they would have connecting boarders like the United States and Canada do.
Nationalism is defined as love of your country. The basis for Canada’s national love of country is focused around three main ideas; devotion, sacrifice and willingness to die. These characteristics are displayed in the play Billy Bishop Goes to War. Thousands of young men were shipped off to war with these three great qualities. Billy Bishop was among those thousands and was an outstanding World War One pilot who displayed the three key qualities that our national love is based upon throughout the play. Being willing to do anything to protect our country and its freedom is nationalism.
The years following the Second World War were bleak in regards to Canada's future as a country, with the public and politicians alike set against each other, but soon a Québec man by the name of René Lévesque entered journalism, and then politics, voicing his views for all to hear, with great success and vigour. Though obstacles presented themselves often in his life, he changed the views of Québec, Canada and the world as a whole. René Lévesque was a passionate and charismatic politician who greatly contributed to post-war Québec and even today through his beliefs in separatism, founding the Parti Québecois and passing Bill 101.
Although Quebec is in Canada, a majority of Quebecers do not identify with the national identity of Canada. Both societies create a sense of identity as well as nationalism (Hiller, 295). Hiller mentions two approaches to assessing Canadian identity; the unitary approach and the segmentalist approach (Hiller, 277). The unitary approach suggests that society consists of people who regardless of their ethnic back ground, identify as belonging to the national society, while the segmentalist approach concentrates on groups and communities that share racial, linguistic, occupational, or cultural similarities (Hiller, 28). While most Anglophones are more unitary or pan-Canadian, Quebec heavily identifies with the segmentalist approach. This dissimilarity of identity perspective may be problematic for the country, at the same time however, it can also be viewed as a struggle where contradictory parties find a way to compromise and reshape Canadian society together (Hiller, 277). Canada’s former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau made it his objective to unite Quebec with the rest of Canada. In 1969 Trudeau’s government implemented Bill C-120, otherwise known as the Official Language act, which made French an...
...to identity with at least one of the countries predominate languages, English or French, dictated the degree in which they could participate in Canadian life. According to the Commission, this participation was real under two conditions: “that both societies, the French-speaking as well as the English-speaking, accept[ed] newcomers much more rapidly than they have done in the past; and that the two societies willingly allow other groups to preserve and enrich, if they so desire, the cultural values they prize[d]” (RCBB Book 1 xxv). It creates an interesting take on the acceptance of those “othered” groups, as change was necessary not only on the part of the minorities but also from Canada’s French and English-speakers. The Commissions work remains focused on language and culture, more so than ethnicity amongst a bilingual, bicultural and “othered” Canadian society.
An example that significantly proves this was Canada’s contributions in World War I and its aftermath. As a colony of Britain, Canada entered the first World War under the nationalism for Britain and its citizens. Their loyalty and motivation to fight was still tied to their mother country. However, as fights occurred, nationalism for Britain started to transition to nationalism for Canada and Canadians. The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a victory that marked Canadian nationalism. This was a battle where Canadians fought for Canadians and Canadians won for Canadians. Not only did it increase nationalistic feelings with the Canadians, but it also gave recognition of independence for Canada, from the other countries. This triumph and motivated battle showed many countries and nations that Canada was responsible and capable of handling their own. It proved, that with Canadian nationalism and capability, Canada can be an independent nation. Later, after the war, this caused Canada to be able to sign the Treaty of Versailles under Britain’s signature and as well get representative seats for Canada in the Peace Conferences. These events show how sufficient levels of nationalism causes successful turn outs and healthy recognition from other
Is Canada a nation or has its control just switched empirical hands? As Professor Hutcheson asked, did Canada go from "Colony to Nation or Empire to Empire?" This question has greatly influenced Canada's changing identity since her birth as a British colony with Confederation in 1867 to the present day. The purpose of this essay is to critically analyse the shifting Canadian identities between the years 1890 to 1960. The objective is to illustrate Canada's transforming identity by using the novels The Imperialist by Sara Jeanette Duncan, Barometer Rising by Hugh MacLennan, and Fifth Business by Robertson Davies and to connect the stories of each of these works of fiction to the varying political, economic, and social issues of their times. Each book is written by a prominent author, and portrays an accurate reflection of the demanding political, economic, and social concerns throughout the late nineteen and first half of the twentieth century of Canadian history. All of the novels reflect Canada's peripheral view of the world, as opposed to a central point of view, because throughout its history Canada has always been perceived as a secondary player. As George Grant says in his literary piece Lament for a Nation, Canada is "a branch plant society" , meaning Canada is controlled by another power. The essential question is where has Canada's loyalties traditionally lay and how has this shaped the Canadian identity. The Imperialist by Sara Jeanette Duncan, written in 1904 reflects a very British influenced Canada. At this time, Canada is still a British colony under British rule, and the people of Canada are very content to consider themselves British. The novel predominately ill...
For nearly two centuries the inhabitants of New France lived their day to day lives
Some Quebecers thought that separation was the only solution. They thought that as long as Quebec was associated with the rest of Canada, French-Canadians would never be treated equal. The FLQ (Front De Libération Du Québec) was founded in 1963. It was a smaller, more forceful group of separatists. They were a collection of groups of young people whose idea was to use terrorism to
The root causes of Quebec Separatism go back almost a thousand years! This is because a large cause for Quebec Separatism is the conflict between the French and the English people. These conflicts go back to when France and England first became countries, and ever since then it seems the two countries have been at constant war with one another (Henley, 2011). This constant fighting spawns a built in belief of hatred for one another (Henley, 2011), which would make it hard for the two to live in the same country as they try to do in Canada. But out of all the wars the French and English fought, the most influencing for Quebecois and all of Canada was the sever year war taking place between 1756 and 1763 (Upper Canada History, 2011). The special thing about this war was that part of it was over the influence of the territory to be later Canada (Upper Canada histor...
The culture of Canada refers to the shared values, attitudes, standards, and beliefs that are a representative of Canada and Canadians throughout Canada's history, its culture has been influenced by American culture because of a shared language, proximity, television and migration between the two countries. Overtime, Canadian-American relations have helped develop Canada’s identity during the years 1945-1982; thus introducing changing social norms , media and entertainment. In support of this, due to the United States being approximately 9.25 times larger in population and having the dominant cultural and economic influence it played a vital role in establishing Canada’s identity. With Canada being its neighbour, naturally, the United States would influence their way of life upon Canada. In other words,
Regionalism is a growing concern for Canadians` as it affects economic stability, nationalism and western alienation. The economic stability is reliant on the regions having strong economic bases (Stilborn, 19). Nationalism with Quebec is a prime example of how distinct regional cultures hinder Canada’s unity, as they want to separate from Canada, while still having the federal Canadian government financially support them. Western Alienation is also a prime political culture that is regionally distinct.
acquired by Great Britain in the Treaty of Paris of 1763. The mass majority of
government, t. p. (n.d.). Quebec Nationalism - Quebec History. Faculty.marianopolis.edu. Retrieved May 27, 2012, from http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/events/natpart4.htm
Religion was extremely important to the colony of New France, the majority of the people were Roman Catholic. They attended church weekly and held many important events in the church. The Church also made several important decisions and was in charge of things, such as education. The Jesuits were a group of males of the Roman Catholic Church, who were sent from France to spread the Roman Catholic religion to the Natives and establish schools for boys. The Ursuline Nuns were a group of religious females of the Roman Catholic Church. Their main goal was to provide education to girls in New France, and care for the sick and needy. On the other hand. Canada is a very multicultural country, meaning it would also be multi-religious. There are various religions that the people of Canada practice, such as Catholic, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, British, etc. Many people also have no religious affiliation at all. Both Canada and New France consist of mainly Catholics and Christians, and they have education available to both girls and boys. But Canada has numerous religions, while New France only had a couple. As Well, the Church is not as important in Canada as it was in