We're all aware that French-English differences run deep, and nowhere is that more evident than in Quebec. This last bastion of French Canada has perceived the popularity of English Canada as a direct attack on the French culture and beliefs.
Quebec is concerned about all else with the preservation of the French culture. Quebec's National Assembly is so consumed with all things Quebec, they refuse to display the Canadian flag.
Political, the party that traditionally wins in Quebec is the one that is seen to best preserve French values. No other issue is as tantamount.
Participation of the individual is almost an afterthought in Quebec, with suffrage to women granted almost 2 decades after other provinces. French Canadians do not really believe in democracy they can take part in.
Quebec demands more and more power from the federal government, so the province can better defend the French values.
French Canadians isolate themselves from the rest of Canada, holing up the the so called "bilingual belt" -roughly from Sault Ste. Marie to Moncton, N.B.
Although the French language is slowing dying outside this belt, it is being preserved within the belt. the French Canadian culture is not spreading but merely hanging on.
Immigrants choose English predominantly as their native language, and Quebec emmigration is largely to the U.S. As Peter Joy noted, "two languages of unequal strength cannot co-exist in an intimate contact and that the weaker must, inevitably, disappear."
Over the past 50 years, the proportion of the population in Quebec has dropped from 31 to 23.5 %, with a further decline to 19 percent by 2050.
With Quebec and French Canada fighting as it were a cultural war, the unity of Canada and preservation of the French heritage is not improved. Quebec must move from a antagonistic position to one of assimilation with the values and culture of the rest of Canada. Perhaps then the French culture will flourish. While it is locked away behind "battle lines" it remains underappreciated and diminishes. Only if it is brought out and fully celebrated, will Canadian French culture spread, and the unity of this great nation improve.
Quebec is concerned about all else with the preservation of the French culture. Quebec's National Assembly is so consumed with all things Quebec, they refuse to display the Canadian flag.
Political, the party that traditionally wins in Quebec is the one that is seen to best preserve French values. No other issue is as tantamount.
Participation of the individual is almost an afterthought in Quebec, with suffrage to women granted almost 2 decades after other provinces. French Canadians do not really believe in democracy they can take part in.
Quebec demands more and more power from the federal government, so the province can better defend the French values.
French Canadians isolate themselves from the rest of Canada, holing up the the so called "bilingual belt" -roughly from Sault Ste. Marie to Moncton, N.B.
Although the French language is slowing dying outside this belt, it is being preserved within the belt. the French Canadian culture is not spreading but merely hanging on.
Immigrants choose English predominantly as their native language, and Quebec emmigration is largely to the U.S. As Peter Joy noted, "two languages of unequal strength cannot co-exist in an intimate contact and that the weaker must, inevitably, disappear."
Over the past 50 years, the proportion of the population in Quebec has dropped from 31 to 23.5 %, with a further decline to 19 percent by 2050.
With Quebec and French Canada fighting as it were a cultural war, the unity of Canada and preservation of the French heritage is not improved. Quebec must move from a antagonistic position to one of assimilation with the values and culture of the rest of Canada. Perhaps then the French culture will flourish. While it is locked away behind "battle lines" it remains underappreciated and diminishes. Only if it is brought out and fully celebrated, will Canadian French culture spread, and the unity of this great nation improve.
