A Portrait of QuébecIts People/Culture, Politics, Economyand Relation with the United States

Frédérick GagnonProfessor, Political Science, Université du Québec à Montréal

Director, Center for United States Studies, Raoul Dandurand Chair

Plan

• A short description of the population/culture of Québec

• A quick overview of Québec politics and economy

• A brief overview of Québec-U.S. relations

A short description of the population/culture of Québec

Source:Government ofCanadaWeb site

• In 2012, population of Québec is 8 million (California = 38 million; France = 65 million; Sweden = 9 million)

• Québec is about 23% of Canada’s population

Québec’s uniqueness in North America

• Québec is 80% French speaking / 10% English

• Québec is a living, working francophone society (the largest in the Americas)

Spoken languages in Canada

Source: Statistics Canada, 2011 Census Population.

A diverse population

The two most important cities

Québec city

Montréal

Québec city

• Provincial capital of Québec

• Turned 400 in 2008!

• Pop.: 500,000 (city); 700,000 (metro)

• 95% speak French at home; 1% English

North America’s European City?

Montreal

• Largest city in Québec (2nd in Canada after Toronto)

• Pop.: 1,6 million (city); 3,8 million (metro)

• 65% speak French at home; 15% English; 9,5% both (more than 40 ethnic communities)

A bilingual / bicultural city• 60% of the pop. speak both French and

English (compared with 17% in Canada)

So what does it mean to be Québécois? Is Québec:

• Still an extension of France?

• A Canadian province like the others?

• An americanized francophone society?

• A country in the making?

According to Yvan Lamonde (1996)

• This formula is helpful to understand what Québec is: 2

Q + Fr + GB + (USA) - R

Quebec’s history and identity (Q) are made up of less France (F) than we believe, more Great Britain (GB) than we want to admit, a much larger American influence than we think, and much less input from Rome (R) and the clergy than thought

What is Québec? What is a Québécois?(According to Valérie Bourdeau @ zompist.com)

• If a Québécois is religious, he is probably a non-practicing Catholic. The Catholic church used to have a strong influence politically and socially, practically controlling the province, but that’s not true since the Révolution Tranquille in the 60s which brought separation of church and state.

• Traditional Québec cuisine sticks to the ribs. Poutine, tourtiere (meat pie), ragoût de pattes de cochon (pigs feet stew), oreilles de crisse (deep-fried salted pork fat yum) and maple syrup are familiar dishes that are usually only eaten around the holidays or on a trip to the cabane à sucre (where they make the maple syrup).

• French spoken in Québec is different from French from Europe, with distinct local expressions and accents. Pushed to the rural extreme, Québec French is called joual and is almost completely unintelligible to Europeans.

• Francophones in Québec get their news and information from French newspapers and TV. RDI is a 24-hour news channel, the French equivalent of CNN.

• Québec TV culture is immensely popular, if not cult-like. Québécois watch all the téléromans (high-quality dramatic miniseries usually only lasting one season) with passion. You have watched Les Filles de Caleb, Lance et Compte, La Petite Vie and you never miss the Bye Bye on New Year's Eve.

• Francophones in Québec are vaguely aware of the Anglo culture in the ROC (and vice versa), but are very familiar with U.S. products and culture.

• American movies are dubbed in Québec. Many Québécois have never heard Tom Cruise's real voice. If their English is good, however, they prefer to see the original version. They see (…) many of the imports from France.

• Québécois don't consider themselves socialist, and definitely not communist. However, they believe in the welfare state and in socialized health care despite all the problems inherent in the system.

• Francophones in Québec know the words to the (Canadian) national anthem in French because they teach it in school, but don’t find themselves singing it very often unless they are sports fans. Francophones might know some of the words in English too.

• For Québécois, the day for fireworks, bonfires and parades is June 24 (Fête Nationale du Québec, also known as La St-Jean Baptiste). They get some good ones on July 1st too for Canada Day (but care much less about July 1st…).

A quick overview of Québec politics and economy

How our political system worksThe (very) basics…

• 2 levels of government: provincial and federal

• Both follow the Westminster (British) model of government

The (very) basics…

• At the head is the Prime Minister of Canada, and there is a prime minister for each province

• There is a multi-party system on each level, but only a few major parties ever get elected

Our political parties

• Federal Parties (in Ottawa)

• Provincial Parties (in Québec)

In Québec, as Valérie Bourdeau explains:

• Many Québécois have a firm opinion on the sovereignty debate, reduced to "Oui" and "Non" camps (the question is "Do you want Québec to separate from Canada?"). They often like to discuss it at great length. Regardless of where they stand, most agree that Québec is a distinct society that deserves protection from assimilation.

Among our parties, 3 are for the separation of Québec

• Federal Parties (in Ottawa)

• Provincial Parties (in Québec)

- Founded by René Lévesque in 1968

- An icon of the separatist movement,Lévesque was Premier of Québec Between 1976 and 1985

May 20, 1980Referendum on sovereigny-association

The Question:« The Government of Quebec has made public its proposal to

negotiate a new agreement with the rest of Canada, based on the equality of nations; this agreement would enable Quebec to acquire the exclusive power to make its laws, levy its taxes and establish relations abroad — in other words, sovereignty — and at the same time to maintain with Canada an economic association including a common currency; any change in political status resulting from these negotiations will only be implemented with popular approval through another referendum; on these terms, do you give the Government of Quebec the mandate to negotiate the proposed agreement between Quebec and Canada? »

Referendum#1:1980

2nd attempt1995 referendum (Oct. 30)

« Do you agree that Québec should become sovereign after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership ? »

Referendum #2:

1995

Arguments of those who favor the separation of Québec

- « Because we are different than the ROC » (a nation within a nation, with a different history, culture, language)

- « Because being a country would allow us to be masters in our own house »

- « Because Québébois have different values than other Canadians and because Ottawa often makes decisions that contradict these values »

Canada should bring troops home from Afghanistan immediately

Should Canada spend more or less for military defense?

Canada should have a carbon tax

The federal gov. should have its say in matters related to culture in Québec

Québec should become an independent country

Public Support for Quebec independence(March 2012 Léger Marketing Survey)

44.5% of Quebeckers would still support separating from Canada

39% said the province should stay in the federation

16.8% were undecided

Québec has a strong economy• GDP (annual value of goods and services produced within a country)

– Québec: 345 billion (30th in the world; 20% of Canada’s GDP)

- Aerospace / transportation / railways company- Founded in 1941 in Valcourt, Québec- 65 000 employees- Annual revenue (2012): 21 billion- Produces airplanes, trains, trams, etc. found all over the world

- Government-owned corporation that uses hydropower to produce electricity - Founded in 1944- 22 000 employees- Annual revenue 2012: 12 billion- HQ generates, transmits and distributes electricity for all of Québec- HQ exports electricity to the U.S.

- Entertainment industry (contemporary circus arts)- Founded in 1984 in Baie St-Paul- 5000 employees / Annual revenue (2010): 850 million- Resident shows in Las Vegas and Orlando- Shows all over the world

- 2000-2009 revenue: 747,9 million (slightly more than me)

A brief overview of Québec-U.S. relations

Montreal’s proximity to the U.S.- 1 hour drive Plattsburgh, NY

- 1 ½ hour to Burlington, VT

- 3 ½ hours to Albany, NY

- 5 ½ hours to Boston, MA

- 6 hours to NYC

Louis Balthazar (2004)

The most important, pressing, and immediate relation for Québec is that

which must be maintained with its giant neighbour, the United States. This is an

undeniable reality (…)

Not only is the US a superpower that any international actor cannot ignore, it is also the only state (with the exception of the

Canadian provinces) with which Québec shares a border

1- A multifaceted relationship (« The 4 Connections »)

a) Historical/Cultural Connection

b) Political Connection

c) Security Connection

d) Economic Connection

a) Historical/Cultural ConnectionOne example…

1840-1930: 900 000 French Canadians emigrated to the United States

French Canadian immigrants in the Northeastern United States

French Canadian Cities in Size (1900)

1- Montreal2- Québec

3- Fall River (MA)4- Lowell (MA)

The New England area contained 10 cities with a French Canadian population in excess of 10,000,

while Quebec only had five, most of them barely above 10,000

Today

• 13 million Americans claim to have French ancestors (4% of the pop.)

• A large proportion of them have ancestors who emigrated from French Canada during the 19th and 20th century

First candidate with a Franco-American name to win a major office in Maine in at least a century - and perhaps ever

Jack Kerouac (1922-1969)

• American novelist, writer, poet, and artist from Lowell (MA)

• Born to immigrants Léo-Alcide Kérouac and Gabrielle-Ange Lévesque

• Father of the Beat movement; inspired Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison, etc.

1958

Battle of Iwo Jima (Japan - Feb. - March. 1945)

Joe Rosenthal photographed five Marines: Ira Hayes, Mike Strank, Franklin Sousley, Harlon Block, René Gagnon, and a U.S. Navy corpsman, John Bradley, raising the U.S. flag

atop the 166 meter (546 ft) Mount Suribachi

René Gagnon (1925-1979)

• Born in Manchester (NH), the only child of French Canadian immigrants from Saint-Luc, Québec, Henri Gagnon and Irene Marcotte

U.S. Marine Corps Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery

Clint Eastwood movie (2006)

Her mother, Dorothy Emma Howell, has French Canadian ancestors who immigrated to Nouvelle-France in the 17th Century!!!

b) Political ConnectionOne example (Québec’s offices in the U.S.)

c) Security Connection

1 2 3

4

Québec-U.S. Border Crossings

d) Economic Connection• Over 100 million consumers are within a 600-

mile radius of Québec

New York State = 19 millionPennsylvania = 12 millionNew Jersey = 8.7 million

Massachusetts = 6.5 millionMaryland = 5.7 million

Connecticut = 3.5 million New Hampshire = 1.3 million

Maine = 1.3 millionRhode Island = 1 million

Delaware = 885 000Vermont = 630 000

If U.S. States Were Countries… GSP/GDP Comparisons (2000)

© Earl Fry

d) Economic Connection

• = leading trade partner

– 2008: trade in goods between Québec and the U.S. totaled CDN $78,5 billion

– 2009: • 57.5% of Québec exports = world• 42.5% = ROC

– 2008: 75% of Québec’s international exports = U.S. (BC = 51%; AB = 85%; SK = 67%; MB = 67%; ON = 79%)

– In the 2000s, Québec has often exported more to the U.S. than to the ROC (2009: 30% U.S.; 42.5% ROC)

Economic Connection– 2010: Québec = 6th larger exporter to the U.S.,

outpacing the UK and South Korea

– Main destinations of Québec exports: New York State ($6,1 billion), Vermont ($3,2 billion), Pennsylvania ($3,1 billion), Tennessee ($3,1 billion) and Illinois ($2,6 billion)

– 60% of Québec’s international tourist revenues come from the U.S.

– 500 000 jobs in Québec depend on access to U.S. markets

Concluding thoughts

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