Geog Conflict #6

Joy Prior
February 22, 2011
Geog 120 H
Section 001

#6- Conflict
Green, Roy. Roy Green: Let’s Hope the Separatists Don’t Learn Any Lessons From Cairo. Full Comment. National Post. Web. February 9, 2011. http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/02/02/roy-green-lets-hope-the-separatists-dont-learn-any-lessons-from-cairo/.

Approximately 40% of Quebec citizens constantly want to secced from the rest of Canada. I have always known that Quebec was a little, well different than the remainder of Canada. Countless times I have heard that Quebec speaks French the rest of Canada speaks English. The providence requires that signs be posted in French, not English. I just had never realized that Quebec residing from the rest of the Canada was a possibility, and not just a few Quebecians turning up their noses.
Historically Quebec has been considered different than the remaining parts of Canada. During the Columbian Exchange there were two major countries competing for control of Canada, the English, and the French. The two different Ethnicities with their different cultures, languages, and religions began to settle the area. For the most part the French settlements flourished in the area called Quebec today. Over time the English language and culture influenced the remaining area.
Quebec receding from Canada is a contemporary issue. Less then two decades ago over 100,000 Canadians paraded through Montreal’s Dominion Square pleading with the Quebeckers to vote against secession. In 1995 the referendum which would establish Quebec as a separate country than Canada was voted down only by a small percentage. Many Quebecians do not want to be associated with Canada any longer. A few of the Politicians the article mentioned were Rene Levesque, Jacques Parizeau, Bernard Landry, Lucien Bouchard, Gilles Duceppe, and Pauline Marois all of who openly have supported the secession for years.
The Parti Quebecois (a political organization) held a strategy convention just the week after the revolts in Cairo. So far the party has tried to vote Quebec out of Canada, talk Quebec out of Canada, and make laws out of Canadian culture, but they have not tried to march their way out of Canada. The author jokes that maybe “taking it to the streets” was discussed at this meeting. I had just never realized what a hot topic Quebec secession is; the culture, language, and historical settlement of Quebec impacts the politics today.