A Portrait of Québec Christopher Kirkey, Ph.D. Director Center for the Study of Canada State...

A Portrait of Québec

Christopher Kirkey, Ph.D.Director

Center for the Study of CanadaState University of New York College at

Plattsburgh133 Court Street, Plattsburgh, NY 12901

Tel: (518) 564-2086E-mail: christopher.kirkey@plattsburgh.edu

Summary of Presentation

• Regionalism and the importance of Quebec• Geography and People of the province• Key historical and cultural markers:

– New France– The Conquest– La Survivance– Quiet Revolution– Language

• Teaching Resources

1. Middle Arctic TUNDRA 2. Low Arctic TUNDRA 3. Torngat Mountain TUNDRA

4. Eastern Canadian Shield TAIGA 5. Southern Hudson Bay TAIGA

6. Central Canadian Shield FORESTS   7. Eastern Canadian FORESTS   8. Eastern FOREST/Boreal Transition

9. Eastern Great Lakes Lowland FORESTS     10. New England/Acadian FORESTS 11. Gulf of St. Lawrence Lowland FOREST

ADMINISTRATIVE REGIONS

1. Bas-Saint-Laurent

2. Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean

3. Capitale-Nationale

4. Mauricie

5. Estrie

6. Région de Montréal

7. Outaouais

8. Abitibi-Témiscamingue

9. Côte-Nord

10. Nord-du-Québec

11. Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine

12. Chaudière-Appalaches

13. Laval

14. Lanaudière

15. Laurentides

16. Montérégie

17. Centre-du-Québec

Language Greater Montreal Quebec Canada

French 66.5% 80.1% 22.3%

English 13.2% 8.6% 58.4%

Italian 3.5% 1.8% 1.5%

Arabic 3.1% 1.6% 0.9%

Spanish 2.6% 1.5% 1.2%

Creole 1.3% 0.7% 0.2%

Chinese 1.2% 0.6% 1.5%

Greek 1.2% 0.6% 0.4%

Portuguese 0.8% 0.5% 0.7%

Romanian 0.7% 0.4% 0.3%

Vietnamese 0.7% 0.4% 0.5%

Russian 0.5% 0.3% 0.4%

Armenian 0.4% 0.2% 0.1%

Polish 0.4% 0.2% 0.7%

Mother tongue languages (2006) Statistics Canada

* Pour les années 1901 et 1911, les données portent sur l'origine ethnique.

Source: Recensement du Canada 1901, 1911, 1921, 1931, 1941, 1951, 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001, 2006.

Répartiton de la population anglophone et allophone, Québec, 1901 à 2006

0,0

2,0

4,0

6,0

8,0

10,0

12,0

14,0

16,0

18,0

20,0AnglophoneAllophone

Important Historical DatesNew France

• 1534 – Jacques Cartier lands at Gaspé and claims the area that will eventually become Canada for the King of France

• 1608 – Samuel de Champlain establishes permanent settlement at Quebec

• 1642 – Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve founds Montreal, then called Ville Marie

• 1759 – Battle of the Plains of Abraham; French defeated by the British

Population of New France circa 1740 (by region)

Conquest Importance & Consequences• First world war fought on American soil

• England dominates North America

• Results in the development of two new countries

• Forms the basis for understanding Quebecois identity

Why France Lost• Trade as most important factor in understanding global context:

Furs or Sugar

• Geography: not enough people

• Population comparisons: New France: 60,000 versus New England : 1.5 million

• Military Strength:New France: 4,700 soldiers; 12,500 colonial militiamen New England: 24,300 soldiers; 900 colonial militiamen

• Control of the seas = control of the world

• England invested more than France in war

Important Historical Dates• 1763 – Treaty of Paris signed by King of France cedes New

France to Britain. Large influx of English, Irish, Scottish settlers.

• 1774 – Québec Act grants inhabitants to continue practicing Catholicism, speaking French and living by the French Napoleonic Civil Code

• 1791 – Constitutional Act divides Canada into 2 provinces: Upper Canada (eventually Ontario) with English-speaking majority and Lower Canada (eventually Quebec) with French speaking majority

• 1867 – British North America Act creates 4 Canadian provinces: Québec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia

Important Historical Dates

• 1960 –Quiet Revolution period of modernization begins. Major political and cultural reforms.

• 1974 – French becomes official language in province of Québec

• 1980 – Referendum: 60% reject sovereignty • 1995 – 2nd Referendum: 50.5% reject

sovereignty

Language Legislation

• 1961: Office de la langue française was created (Lesage)

• 1969: Bill 63 protected French language teaching in the province (Bertrand)

• 1974: Bill 22, The Official Language Act, made French the official language of government (Bourassa)

• 1977: Bill 101, officially known as the Charter of the French Language, made French the language of work, education, communication, trade, and business. French-language education was mandatory for immigrants regardless of whether French was their mother tongue (Levesque)

Concluding Remarks, Resources and

Discussion

THANK YOU