Quebec nationalism
Encyclopedia
Quebec nationalism is a nationalist movement in the Canadian province of Quebec
.
, which constituted all French colonies in North America. Up until 1760, "Canadien" nationalism had developed itself free of all external influences. However, during the Seven Year's War, the British army invaded the French colony as part of its North American strategy, winning a conclusive victory at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham
. At the Treaty of Paris (1763)
, France agreed to abandon its claims in Canada in return for permanent French control of Guadeloupe. From the 1760s onward, Canadien nationalism developed within a British constitutional context. Despite intense pressure from outside Parliament, the British government drafted the Quebec Act
which guaranteed Canadiens the restoration of French civil law; guaranteed the free practice of the Catholic faith; and returned the territorial extensions that they had enjoyed before the Treaty of Paris. In effect, this 'enlightened' action by leaders in the British Parliament allowed French Canada to retain its unique characteristics. Although detrimental to Britain's relationship with the Thirteen Colonies
, this has, in its contemporary assessment, been viewed as an act of appeasement and was largely effective at dissolving Canadien nationalism in the 18th century (especially considering the threat and proximity of American revolutionary ideology) yet it became less effective with the arrival of loyalists after the revolutions.
With the Loyalists spliting the Province of Quebec into two identities; Upper Canada
and Lower Canada
, Canadiens were now labeled by the loyalists as French Canadians.
, the French Republic, Haiti
, Paraguay
, Argentina
, Chile
, Mexico
, Brazil
, Peru
, Colombia
, Belgium
, Greece
and others. Often accomplished militarily, these national liberations occurred in the context of complex ideological and political struggles pitting European metropolis
against their respective colonies, often assuming the dichotomy of monarchists against republicans
. These battles succeeded in creating independent republican states in some regions of the world, but they failed in other places, such as Ireland
, Upper Canada
, Lower Canada
, and Germany
.
There is no consensus on the exact time of the birth of a national consciousness in French Canada
. Some historians defend the thesis that it existed before the 19th century, because the Canadiens saw themselves as a people culturally distinct from the French even in the time of New France
. The cultural tensions were indeed palpable between the governor of New France, the Canadian-born Pierre de Vaudreuil and the General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm
, a Frenchman, during the French and Indian War
. However, the use of the expression la nation canadienne (the Canadian nation) by French Canadians is a reality of the 19th century. The idea of a nation canadienne was supported by the liberal or professional class in Lower Canada: lawyers, notaries, librarians, accountants, doctors, journalists, and architects, among others.
A political movement for the independence of the Canadien people slowly took form following the enactment of the Constitutional Act of 1791
. The Act of the British Parliament created two colonies, Lower Canada and Upper Canada, each of which had its own political institutions. In Lower Canada, the French-speaking and Catholic Canadiens held the majority in the elected house of representatives, but were either a small minority or simply not represented in the appointed legislative and executive councils, both appointed by the Governor, representing the British Crown in the colony. Most of the members of the legislative council and the executive council were part of the British ruling class, composed of wealthy merchants, judges, military men, etc., supportive of the Tory party. From early 1800 to 1837, the government and the elected assembly were at odds on virtually every issue.
Under the leadership of Speaker Louis-Joseph Papineau
, the Parti canadien
(renamed Parti patriote in 1826) initiated a movement of reform of the political institutions of Lower Canada. The party's constitutional policy, summed up in the Ninety-Two Resolutions
of 1834, called for the election of the legislative and executive councils.
The movement of reform gathered the support of the majority of the representatives of the people among Francophones but also among liberal Anglophones. A number of the prominent characters in the reformist movement were of British origin, for example John Neilson
, Wolfred Nelson
, Robert Nelson and Thomas Storrow Brown
or of Irish extraction, Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan
, Daniel Tracey
and Jocquelin Waller.
Two currents existed within the reformists of the Parti canadien
: a moderate wing, whose members were fond of British institutions and wished for Lower Canada to have a government more accountable to the elective house's representative and a more radical wing whose attachment to British institutions was rather conditional to this proving to be as good as to those of the neighbouring American republics.
The formal rejection of all 92 resolutions
by the Parliament of Great Britain in 1837 lead to a radicalization of the patriotic movement's actions. Louis-Joseph Papineau took the leadership of a new strategy which included the boycott of all British imports. During the summer, many popular gatherings (assemblées populaires) were organized to protest against the policy of Great Britain in Lower Canada. In November, Governor Archibald Acheson ordered the arrest of 26 leaders of the patriote movement, of which Louis-Joseph Papineau and many other reformists members of parliament. This instigated an armed conflict which developed into the Lower Canada Rebellion
.
Following the repression of the insurrectionist movement of 1838, many of the most revolutionary nationalist and democratic ideas of the Parti patriote were discredited.
of the powerful Catholic clergy as epitomized by Lionel Groulx
.
In opposition with the other nationalists, ultramontanes rejected the idea that the people are sovereign and that church and state should be absolutely separated. They accepted the authority of the British crown in Canada, defended its legitimacy, and preached obedience to the British ruler. For ultramontanes, the faith of Franco-Canadians was to survive by defending their Roman Catholic religion and the French language.
One debated subject that has often made the news is whether contemporary Quebec nationalism is still "ethnic" or if it is "linguistic" or "territorial".
The notion of "territorial nationalism
" (promoted by all Quebec premiers since Jean Lesage
) gathers the support of the majority of the sovereignists and essentially all Quebec federalist nationalists. Debates on the nature of Quebec's nationalism are currently going on and various intellectuals from Quebec or other parts of Canada have published works on the subject, notably Will Kymlicka
, professor of philosophy at Queen's University
and Charles Blattberg
and Michel Seymour
, both professors at the Université de Montréal
.
People who feel that Quebec nationalism is still ethnic, have often expressed their opinion that the worldview of Quebec's nationalists is insular and parochial and concerned with preserving a "pure laine" population of white francophones within the province. These accusations have always been vigorously denounced by Quebec nationalists of all sides and are generally considered as unrepresentative of the intellectual and mainstream political movements in favour of a wider independence for Quebec, seeing the movement as a multi-ethnic cause.
However, then Premier of Quebec
Jacques Parizeau
, commenting on the failure of the 1995 Quebec referendum
said "It is true, it is true that we were beaten, but in the end, by what? By money and ethnic votes, essentially."
"C'est vrai, c'est vrai qu'on a été battus, au fond, par quoi? Par l'argent puis des votes ethniques, essentiellement."
People who feel that Quebec nationalism is linguistic, have often expressed their opinion that Quebec nationalism includes a multi-ethnic or multicultural French-speaking majority (either as mother tongue or first language used in public).
There is little doubt that the post-1950s era witnessed an awakening of Quebecers' self-identity. The rural, conservative and Catholic
Quebec of the 19th and early 20th centuries has given way to a confident, cosmopolitan society that has many attributes of a modern, internationally recognized community with a unique culture worth preserving. In recent years, however, this has often been manifested in the reasonable accommodation
debate, even or especially at official levels.
, federal Liberals initiated a national debate by adopting by more than 80% a resolution calling on the Government of Canada to recognize the Quebec nation within Canada. A month later, the said resolution was taken to Parliament first by the Bloc Québécois
, then by the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper
. On November 27, 2006 the Canadian House of Commons
passed a motion recognizing that the "Québécois form a nation
within a united Canada".
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
1534–1774
Canada was first a french colony. Jacques Cartier claimed it for France in 1534, and permanent French settlement began in 1608. It was part of New FranceNew France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
, which constituted all French colonies in North America. Up until 1760, "Canadien" nationalism had developed itself free of all external influences. However, during the Seven Year's War, the British army invaded the French colony as part of its North American strategy, winning a conclusive victory at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham
Battle of the Plains of Abraham
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec, was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War...
. At the Treaty of Paris (1763)
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
, France agreed to abandon its claims in Canada in return for permanent French control of Guadeloupe. From the 1760s onward, Canadien nationalism developed within a British constitutional context. Despite intense pressure from outside Parliament, the British government drafted the Quebec Act
Quebec Act
The Quebec Act of 1774 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain setting procedures of governance in the Province of Quebec...
which guaranteed Canadiens the restoration of French civil law; guaranteed the free practice of the Catholic faith; and returned the territorial extensions that they had enjoyed before the Treaty of Paris. In effect, this 'enlightened' action by leaders in the British Parliament allowed French Canada to retain its unique characteristics. Although detrimental to Britain's relationship with the Thirteen Colonies
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
, this has, in its contemporary assessment, been viewed as an act of appeasement and was largely effective at dissolving Canadien nationalism in the 18th century (especially considering the threat and proximity of American revolutionary ideology) yet it became less effective with the arrival of loyalists after the revolutions.
With the Loyalists spliting the Province of Quebec into two identities; Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
and Lower Canada
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
, Canadiens were now labeled by the loyalists as French Canadians.
1800s - 1880s
From 1776 to the late 1830s the world witnessed the creation of many new national states with the birth of the United States of AmericaUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the French Republic, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and others. Often accomplished militarily, these national liberations occurred in the context of complex ideological and political struggles pitting European metropolis
Metropolis
A metropolis is a very large city or urban area which is a significant economic, political and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications...
against their respective colonies, often assuming the dichotomy of monarchists against republicans
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
. These battles succeeded in creating independent republican states in some regions of the world, but they failed in other places, such as Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
, Lower Canada
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
, and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
There is no consensus on the exact time of the birth of a national consciousness in French Canada
French Canada
French Canada, also known as "Lower Canada", is a term to distinguish the French Canadian population of Canada from English Canada.-Definition:...
. Some historians defend the thesis that it existed before the 19th century, because the Canadiens saw themselves as a people culturally distinct from the French even in the time of New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
. The cultural tensions were indeed palpable between the governor of New France, the Canadian-born Pierre de Vaudreuil and the General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm
Louis-Joseph de Montcalm
Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Saint-Veran was a French soldier best known as the commander of the forces in North America during the Seven Years' War .Montcalm was born near Nîmes in France to a noble family, and entered military service...
, a Frenchman, during the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
. However, the use of the expression la nation canadienne (the Canadian nation) by French Canadians is a reality of the 19th century. The idea of a nation canadienne was supported by the liberal or professional class in Lower Canada: lawyers, notaries, librarians, accountants, doctors, journalists, and architects, among others.
A political movement for the independence of the Canadien people slowly took form following the enactment of the Constitutional Act of 1791
Constitutional Act of 1791
The Constitutional Act of 1791, formally The Clergy Endowments Act, 1791 , is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain...
. The Act of the British Parliament created two colonies, Lower Canada and Upper Canada, each of which had its own political institutions. In Lower Canada, the French-speaking and Catholic Canadiens held the majority in the elected house of representatives, but were either a small minority or simply not represented in the appointed legislative and executive councils, both appointed by the Governor, representing the British Crown in the colony. Most of the members of the legislative council and the executive council were part of the British ruling class, composed of wealthy merchants, judges, military men, etc., supportive of the Tory party. From early 1800 to 1837, the government and the elected assembly were at odds on virtually every issue.
Under the leadership of Speaker Louis-Joseph Papineau
Louis-Joseph Papineau
Louis-Joseph Papineau , born in Montreal, Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the seigneurie de la Petite-Nation. He was the leader of the reformist Patriote movement before the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837–1838. His father was Joseph Papineau, also a famous politician in Quebec...
, the Parti canadien
Parti canadien
The Parti canadien or Parti patriote was a political party in what is now Quebec founded by members of the liberal elite of Lower Canada at the beginning of the 19th century...
(renamed Parti patriote in 1826) initiated a movement of reform of the political institutions of Lower Canada. The party's constitutional policy, summed up in the Ninety-Two Resolutions
Ninety-Two Resolutions
The Ninety-Two Resolutions were drafted by Louis-Joseph Papineau and other members of the Parti patriote of Lower Canada in 1834. The resolutions were a long series of demands for political reforms in the British-governed colony....
of 1834, called for the election of the legislative and executive councils.
The movement of reform gathered the support of the majority of the representatives of the people among Francophones but also among liberal Anglophones. A number of the prominent characters in the reformist movement were of British origin, for example John Neilson
John Neilson
John Neilson was a Scots-Quebecer editor of the newspaper La Gazette de Québec/The Quebec Gazette and a politician.- Biography :...
, Wolfred Nelson
Wolfred Nelson
Wolfred Nelson, was from 1854 to 1856 the mayor of Montreal, Quebec.- Biography :Nelson was born in Montreal the son of William Nelson, an immigrant to Colonial America from Newsham, North Yorkshire, England...
, Robert Nelson and Thomas Storrow Brown
Thomas Storrow Brown
Thomas Storrow Brown was a journalist, writer, orator, and revolutionary in Lower Canada .- Biography :...
or of Irish extraction, Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan
Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan
Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan, was a doctor and journalist.Born in Mallow, County Cork, Ireland, he studied medicine in Paris and immigrated to Lower Canada in 1823 where he became involved in the political reform movement of the Parti patriote...
, Daniel Tracey
Daniel Tracey
Daniel Tracey born in Roscrea, Tipperary County, Ireland, was a doctor, journalist and Canadian politician.He arrived in the Province of Lower Canada with his younger siblings in 1825.-The Vindicator:...
and Jocquelin Waller.
Two currents existed within the reformists of the Parti canadien
Parti canadien
The Parti canadien or Parti patriote was a political party in what is now Quebec founded by members of the liberal elite of Lower Canada at the beginning of the 19th century...
: a moderate wing, whose members were fond of British institutions and wished for Lower Canada to have a government more accountable to the elective house's representative and a more radical wing whose attachment to British institutions was rather conditional to this proving to be as good as to those of the neighbouring American republics.
The formal rejection of all 92 resolutions
Ninety-Two Resolutions
The Ninety-Two Resolutions were drafted by Louis-Joseph Papineau and other members of the Parti patriote of Lower Canada in 1834. The resolutions were a long series of demands for political reforms in the British-governed colony....
by the Parliament of Great Britain in 1837 lead to a radicalization of the patriotic movement's actions. Louis-Joseph Papineau took the leadership of a new strategy which included the boycott of all British imports. During the summer, many popular gatherings (assemblées populaires) were organized to protest against the policy of Great Britain in Lower Canada. In November, Governor Archibald Acheson ordered the arrest of 26 leaders of the patriote movement, of which Louis-Joseph Papineau and many other reformists members of parliament. This instigated an armed conflict which developed into the Lower Canada Rebellion
Lower Canada Rebellion
The Lower Canada Rebellion , commonly referred to as the Patriots' War by Quebeckers, is the name given to the armed conflict between the rebels of Lower Canada and the British colonial power of that province...
.
Following the repression of the insurrectionist movement of 1838, many of the most revolutionary nationalist and democratic ideas of the Parti patriote were discredited.
1840s to 1950s
Although it was still defended and promoted up until the beginning of the 20th century, the French-Canadian liberal nationalism born out of the American and French revolutions began to decline in the 1840s, gradually being replaced by both a more moderate liberal nationalism and the ultramontanismUltramontanism
Ultramontanism is a religious philosophy within the Roman Catholic community that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope...
of the powerful Catholic clergy as epitomized by Lionel Groulx
Lionel Groulx
Lionel-Adolphe Groulx was a Roman Catholic priest, historian and Quebec nationalist. -Early life and ordination:Groulx was born at Chenaux, Quebec, Canada, the son of a farmer and lumberjack, and died in Vaudreuil, Quebec. After his seminary training and studies in Europe, he taught at Valleyfield...
.
In opposition with the other nationalists, ultramontanes rejected the idea that the people are sovereign and that church and state should be absolutely separated. They accepted the authority of the British crown in Canada, defended its legitimacy, and preached obedience to the British ruler. For ultramontanes, the faith of Franco-Canadians was to survive by defending their Roman Catholic religion and the French language.
Contemporary Quebec nationalism
Understanding contemporary Quebec nationalism is difficult considering the ongoing debates on the political status of the province and its complex public opinion. No political option (outright independence, sovereignty-association, constitutional reforms, or signing on to the present Canadian constitution) has achieved decisive majority support and contradictions remain within the Quebec polity.One debated subject that has often made the news is whether contemporary Quebec nationalism is still "ethnic" or if it is "linguistic" or "territorial".
The notion of "territorial nationalism
Territorial nationalism
Territorial nationalism assumes that all inhabitants of a particular nation owe allegiance to their country of birth or adoption. A sacred quality is sought in the nation and in the popular memories it evokes...
" (promoted by all Quebec premiers since Jean Lesage
Jean Lesage
Jean Lesage, PC, CC, CD was a lawyer and politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as the 19th Premier of Quebec from 22 June 1960, to 16 August 1966...
) gathers the support of the majority of the sovereignists and essentially all Quebec federalist nationalists. Debates on the nature of Quebec's nationalism are currently going on and various intellectuals from Quebec or other parts of Canada have published works on the subject, notably Will Kymlicka
Will Kymlicka
Will Kymlicka is a Canadian political philosopher best known for his work on multiculturalism. He is currently Professor of Philosophy and Canada Research Chair in Political Philosophy at Queen's University at Kingston, and Recurrent Visiting Professor in the Nationalism Studies program at the...
, professor of philosophy at Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
and Charles Blattberg
Charles Blattberg
Charles Blattberg is a professor of political philosophy at the Université de Montréal. Blattberg grew up in Toronto and completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto, where he also served as president of its Students’ Administrative Council during the 1989–90 academic...
and Michel Seymour
Michel Seymour
Michel Seymour is a Québécois philosopher and professor at the Université de Montréal, where he has been teaching analytical philosophy since 1990.-Biography:After hhhhhhaving obtained a Ph.D...
, both professors at the Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...
.
People who feel that Quebec nationalism is still ethnic, have often expressed their opinion that the worldview of Quebec's nationalists is insular and parochial and concerned with preserving a "pure laine" population of white francophones within the province. These accusations have always been vigorously denounced by Quebec nationalists of all sides and are generally considered as unrepresentative of the intellectual and mainstream political movements in favour of a wider independence for Quebec, seeing the movement as a multi-ethnic cause.
However, then Premier of Quebec
Premier of Quebec
The Premier of Quebec is the first minister of the Canadian province of Quebec. The Premier is the province's head of government and his title is Premier and President of the Executive Council....
Jacques Parizeau
Jacques Parizeau
Jacques Parizeau, is an economist and noted Quebec sovereignist who was the 26th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from September 26, 1994 to January 29, 1996.-Early life and career:...
, commenting on the failure of the 1995 Quebec referendum
1995 Quebec referendum
The 1995 Quebec referendum was the second referendum to ask voters in the Canadian province of Quebec whether Quebec should secede from Canada and become an independent state, through the question:...
said "It is true, it is true that we were beaten, but in the end, by what? By money and ethnic votes, essentially."
"C'est vrai, c'est vrai qu'on a été battus, au fond, par quoi? Par l'argent puis des votes ethniques, essentiellement."
People who feel that Quebec nationalism is linguistic, have often expressed their opinion that Quebec nationalism includes a multi-ethnic or multicultural French-speaking majority (either as mother tongue or first language used in public).
There is little doubt that the post-1950s era witnessed an awakening of Quebecers' self-identity. The rural, conservative and Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
Quebec of the 19th and early 20th centuries has given way to a confident, cosmopolitan society that has many attributes of a modern, internationally recognized community with a unique culture worth preserving. In recent years, however, this has often been manifested in the reasonable accommodation
Reasonable accommodation
A reasonable accommodation is an adjustment made in a system to "accommodate" or make fair the same system for an individual based on a proven need. Accommodations can be religious, academic, or employment related and are often mandated by law. Each country has its own system of reasonable...
debate, even or especially at official levels.
Recognition of the nation by Ottawa
On October 21, 2006, during the General Special Council of the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party of CanadaLiberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
, federal Liberals initiated a national debate by adopting by more than 80% a resolution calling on the Government of Canada to recognize the Quebec nation within Canada. A month later, the said resolution was taken to Parliament first by the Bloc Québécois
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...
, then by the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
. On November 27, 2006 the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
passed a motion recognizing that the "Québécois form a nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
within a united Canada".
See also
- NationalismNationalismNationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
- Politics of QuebecPolitics of QuebecThe politics of Quebec are centred on a provincial government resembling that of the other Canadian provinces, namely a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The capital of the province is Quebec City, where the Lieutenant Governor, Premier, the legislature, and cabinet reside.The...
- Quebec sovereignty movementQuebec sovereignty movementThe Quebec sovereignty movement refers to both the political movement and the ideology of values, concepts and ideas that promote the secession of the province of Quebec from the rest of Canada...
- Quebec federalist ideologyQuebec federalist ideologyQuebec federalist ideology revolves around the concept of Quebec remaining within Canada, in opposition to the desires of Quebec sovereigntists and proponents of Quebec independence....
- Canadian nationalismCanadian nationalismCanadian nationalism is a term which has been applied to ideologies of several different types which highlight and promote specifically Canadian interests over those of other countries, notably the United States...
- Politics of CanadaPolitics of CanadaThe politics of Canada function within a framework of parliamentary democracy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Canada is a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is head of state...
- Lists of active separatist movements
- Quiet RevolutionQuiet RevolutionThe Quiet Revolution was the 1960s period of intense change in Quebec, Canada, characterized by the rapid and effective secularization of society, the creation of a welfare state and a re-alignment of politics into federalist and separatist factions...
- History of QuebecHistory of QuebecQuebec has played a special role in Canadian history; it is the site where French settlers founded the colony of Canada in the 17th and 18th centuries.-Paleoindian Era :...
Books
- Fabrice Rivault & Hervé Rivet (2008). “The Quebec Nation: From Informal Recognition to Enshrinement in the Constitution” in Reconquering Canada: Quebec Federalists Speak Up for Change, Edited by André Pratte, Douglas & McIntyre, Toronto, 344 p. (ISBN 978-1-55365-413-1) (link)
- Henderson, Ailsa (2007). Hierarchies of Belonging: National Identity and Political Culture in Scotland and Quebec, Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 250 p. (ISBN 978-0-7735-3268-7)
- McEwen, Nicola (2006). Nationalism and the State: Welfare and Identity in Scotland and Quebec, Brussels: P.I.E.-Peter Lang, 212 p. (ISBN 90-5201-240-7)
- Seymour, MichelMichel SeymourMichel Seymour is a Québécois philosopher and professor at the Université de Montréal, where he has been teaching analytical philosophy since 1990.-Biography:After hhhhhhaving obtained a Ph.D...
(2004). Fate of the Nation State, Montreal: McGill-Queen's Press, 432 p. (ISBN 0773526862) (excerpt) - Gagnon, AlainAlain GagnonAlain Gagnon is a Canadian composer and music educator. He joined the music faculty of the Université Laval in 1967 where he has taught music theory, music analysis, and music composition for more than 40 years. A member of the Canadian League of Composers and an associate of the Canadian Music...
(2004). Québec. State and Society, Broadview Press, 500 p. (ISBN 1551115794) (excerpt) - Cook, Ramsay (2003). Watching Quebec. Selected Essays, Montreal, McGill-Queen's Press, 225 p. (ISBN 0773529195) (excerpt)
- Mann, SusanSusan MannSusan Mann Trofimenkoff, CM, FRSC is a Canadian historian and was president of York University from 1992 to 1997.Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Mann received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963 from the University of Toronto, a Master of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1965, a Ph.D....
(2002). The Dream of Nation: A Social and Intellectual History of Quebec, McGill-Queen's University Press; 2nd edition, 360 p. (ISBN 077352410X) (excerpt) - Requejo, Ferran (2001). Democracy and National Pluralism, 182 p. (ISBN 0415255775) (excerpt)
- Venne, MichelMichel VenneMichel Venne is a Quebec journalist, author and intellectual. He is a columnist for the Montreal newspaper Le Devoir. He is founder and director of the Institut du Nouveau Monde...
(2001). Vive Quebec! New Thinking and New Approaches to the Quebec Nation, James Toronto: Lorimer & Company, 221 p. (ISBN 1550287346) (excerpt) - Poliquin, Daniel (2001). In the Name of the Father: An Essay on Quebec nationalism, Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 222 p. (ISBN 1-55054-858-1)
- Barreto, Amílcar Antonio (1998). Language, Elites, and the State. Nationalism in Puerto Rico and Quebec, Greenwood Publishing Group, 165 p. (ISBN 0275961834) (excerpt)
- Keating, MichaelMichael Keating (political scientist)Michael Keating is a political scientist specialising in nationalism, European politics, regional politics and devolution. He is Professor of Scottish Politics at the University of Aberdeen. Keating was previously Professor of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario, Canada and...
(1996). Nations Against the State: The New Politics of Nationalism in Quebec, Catalonia, and Scotland, St. Martins Press, 260 p. (ISBN 0312158173) - Carens, Joseph H., ed. (1995), Is Quebec Nationalism Just?: Perspectives from Anglophone Canada, Montreal, McGill-Queen's University Press, 225 p. (ISBN 0773513426) (excerpt)
- Berberoglu, Berch, ed., (1995). The National Question: Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and Self-Determination in the 20th Century, Temple University Press, 329 p. (ISBN 1566393434) (excerpt)
- Gougeon, Gilles (1994). A History of Quebec Nationalism, Lorimer, 118 p. (ISBN 155028441X) (except)
Newspapers and journals
- Rocher, François. "The Evolving Parameters of Quebec Nationalism", in JMS: International Journal on Multicultural Societies. 2002, vol. 4, no.1, pp. 74–96. UNESCO. (ISSN 1817-4574) (online)
- Venne, Michel. "Re-thinking the Quebec nation", in Policy Options, January–February 2000, pp. 53–60 (online)
- Kymlicka, WillWill KymlickaWill Kymlicka is a Canadian political philosopher best known for his work on multiculturalism. He is currently Professor of Philosophy and Canada Research Chair in Political Philosophy at Queen's University at Kingston, and Recurrent Visiting Professor in the Nationalism Studies program at the...
. "Quebec: a modern, pluralist, distinct society", in Dissent, American Multiculturalism in the International Arena, Fall 1998, p. 73-79 (archived version) - Couture, Jocelyne, Kai Nielsen, and Michel SeymourMichel SeymourMichel Seymour is a Québécois philosopher and professor at the Université de Montréal, where he has been teaching analytical philosophy since 1990.-Biography:After hhhhhhaving obtained a Ph.D...
(ed). "Rethinking Nationalism", in Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Supplementary Volume XXII, 1996, 704 p. (ISBN 0919491227)
Books
- Bock-Côté, Mathieu (2007). La dénationalisation tranquille : mémoire, identité et multiculturalisme dans le Québec postréférendaire, Montréal: Boréal, 211 p. (ISBN 978-2-7646-0564-6)
- Ryan, Pascale (2006). Penser la nation. La ligue d'action nationale 1917-1960, Montréal: Leméac, 324 p. (ISBN 2760905993)
- Montpetit, Édouard (2005). Réflexions sur la question nationale: Édouard Montpetit; textes choisis et présentés par Robert Leroux, Saint-Laurent: Bibliothèque québécoise, 181 p. (ISBN 2-89406-259-1)
- Lamonde, Yvan (2004). Histoire sociale des idées au Québec, 1896-1929, Montréal: Éditions Fides, 336 p. (ISBN 2-7621-2529-4)
- Bock, MichelMichel BockMichel Bock is a Canadian historian, who specializes in the history of Franco-Ontarian communities and cultures. His book Quand la nation débordait les frontières: les minorités françaises dans la pensée de Lionel Groulx was the winner of the 2005 Governor General's Award in the French language...
(2004). Quand la nation débordait les frontières. Les minorités françaises dans la pensée de Lionel Groulx, Montréal: Hurtubise HMH, 452 p. - Bellavance, Marcel (2004). Le Québec au siècle des nationalités. Essai d’histoire comparée, Montréal: VLB, 250 p.
- Bouchard, Gérard (2004). La pensée impuissante : échecs et mythes nationaux canadiens-français, 1850-1960, Montréal: Boréal, 319 p. (ISBN 2-7646-0345-2)
- Bouchard, Catherine (2002). Les nations québécoises dans l'Action nationale : de la décolonisation à la mondialisation, Sainte-Foy: Presses de l'Université Laval, 146 p. (ISBN 2-7637-7847-X)
- Sarra-Bournet, Michel ed., (2001). Les nationalismes au Québec, du XIXe au XXIe siècle, Québec: Presses de L’Université Laval, 2001
- Diane, Lamoureux (2001). L'amère patrie : féminisme et nationalisme dans le Québec contemporain, Montréal: Éditions du Remue-ménage (ISBN 2-89091-182-9)
- Monière, Denis (2001). Pour comprendre le nationalisme au Québec et ailleurs, Montréal: Presses de l'Université de Montréal 148 pé (ISBN 2-7606-1811-0)
- Denise Helly and Nicolas Van Schendel (2001). Appartenir au Québec : Citoyenneté, nation et société civile : Enquête à Montréal, 1995, Québec: Les Presses de l'Université Laval (editor)
- Brière, Marc (2001). Le Québec, quel Québec? : dialogues avec Charles Taylor, Claude Ryan et quelques autres sur le libéralisme et le nationalisme québécois, Montréal: Stanké, 325 p. (ISBN 2-7604-0805-1)
- Paquin, Stéphane (2001). La revanche des petites nations : le Québec, l'Écosse et la Catalogne face à la mondialisation, Montréal: VLB, 219 p. (ISBN 2-89005-775-5)
- Lamonde, Yvan (2000). Histoire sociale des idées au Québec, 1760-1896, Montréal: Éditions Fides, 576 p. (ISBN 2-7621-2104-3) (online)
- Venne, Michel, ed., (2000). Penser la nation québécoise, Montréal: Québec Amérique, Collection Débats
- Brière, Marc (2000). Point de départ! : essai sur la nation québécoise, Montréal : Hurtubise HMH, 222 p. (ISBN 2-89428-427-6)
- Seymour, Michel (1999). La nation en question, L'Hexagone,
- Seymour, Michel, ed. (1999). Nationalité, citoyenneté et solidarité, Montréal: Liber, 508 p. (ISBN 2-921569-68-X)
- Sarra-Bournet, Michel ed., (1998). Le pays de tous les Québécois. Diversité culturelle et souveraineté, Montréal: VLB Éditeur, 253 p.
- Martel, Marcel (1997). Le deuil d'un pays imaginé : rêves, luttes et déroute du Canada français : les rapports entre le Québec et la francophonie canadienne, 1867-1975, Ottawa: Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa, 203 p. (ISBN 2-7603-0439-6)
- Keating, Michael (1997). Les défis du nationalisme moderne : Québec, Catalogne, Écosse, Montréal: Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 296 p. (ISBN 2-7606-1685-1)
- Bourque, Gilles (1996). L'identité fragmentée : nation et citoyenneté dans les débats constitutionnels canadiens, 1941-1992, Saint-Laurent: Fides, 383 p. (ISBN 2-7621-1869-7)
- Moreau, François (1995). Le Québec, une nation opprimée, Hull : Vents d'ouest, 181 p (ISBN 2-921603-23-3)
- Ignatieff, MichaelMichael IgnatieffMichael Grant Ignatieff is a Canadian author, academic and former politician. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011...
(1993). Blood & belonging : journeys into the new nationalism, Toronto : Viking, 201 p. (ISBN 0670852694) - Gougeon, Gilles (1993). Histoire du nationalisme québécois. Entrevues avec sept spécialistes, Québec: VLB Éditeur
- Roy, Fernande (1993). Histoire des idéologies au Québec aux XIXe et XXe siècles, Montréal: Boréal, 128 p. (ISBN 2890525880)
- Balthazar, Louis. "L'évolution du nationalisme québécois", in Le Québec en jeu, ed. Gérard Daigle and Guy Rocher, pp. 647 à 667, Montréal: Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 1992, 812 p.
Newspapers and journals
- Robitaille, Antoine. "La nation, pour quoi faire?", in Le Devoir, November 25, 2006
- Gueydan-Lacroix, Saël. "Le nationalisme au Canada anglais : une réalité cachée", in L'Agora, April 10, 2003
- Courtois, StéphaneStéphane CourtoisStéphane Courtois is a French historian, an internationally known expert on communist studies, particularly the history of communism and communist genocides, and author of several books...
. "Habermas et la question du nationalisme : le cas du Québec", in Philosophiques, vol. 27, no 2, Autumn 2000 - Seymour, Michel. "Un nationalisme non fondé sur l'ethnicité", in Le Devoir, 26–27 April 1999
- Kelly, Stéphane. "De la laine du pays de 1837, la pure et l'impure", in L'Encyclopédie de l'Agora, Cahiers d'histoire du Québec au XXe siècle, no 6, 1996
- Beauchemin, Jacques. "Nationalisme québécois et crise du lien social", in Cahiers de recherche sociologique, n° 25, 1995, pp. 101–123. Montréal: Département de sociologie, UQAM.
- Dufresne, Jacques. "La cartographie du génome nationaliste québécois", dans L'Agora, vol. 1, no. 10, July/August 1994.
- Seymour, Michel. "Une nation peut-elle se donner la constitution de son choix?", in Philosophiques, Numero Special, Vol. 19, No. 2 (Autumn 1992)
- Unknown. "L'ultramontanisme", in Les Patriotes de 1837@1838, May 20, 2000
- Roy-Blais, Caroline. "La montée du pouvoir clérical après l’échec patriote", in Les Patriotes de 1837@1838, 2006-12-03