The Agonist - Quebec

Montreal to see terracotta warriors

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:40:54 -0800

Montréal, Québec | November 19

CBC - China's terracotta warriors are coming to Montreal in 2011.

The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal will receive rare visit of 14 of the warriors — life-sized replicas of soldiers of the Qin dynasty — it announced on Thursday.

The 14 are among the more than 8,000 life-sized terracotta figures discovered since 1974 near Xi'an, China, and believed to date from the 3rd century B.C.

An exhibit of 20 of the warriors at the British Museum in 2008 was a huge hit.

Québecois: maligned accent may have its roots in royal courts

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:32:18 -0700

Susan Bourette | Oct 28

CSM - Toronto - The French would have two words for it: Très ironique.

Québec's francophones have long been ridiculed by the Parisian French – the scholars, elites, and aesthetes from the ancestral homeland. They have deemed the Québecois accent an "abomination" of what they consider the most beautiful language.

They shouldn't sneer.

The Québeckers' much-maligned accent can be traced back to the 17th-century court of Louis XIV. At least that's the argument put forth by a prominent Québec scholar, Laval University's Jean-Denis Gendron, a retired linguist. "The Québecois accent is one from the noblesse of the time, it is a relaxed, natural accent,'' Professor Gendron, explains in the most recent issue of the journal, Québec Sciences. "It's only much later that our accent came to be viewed as an abomination."

Quebec police defend undercover officers

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 18:10:42 -0700

August 24

CBC - Quebec provincial police are standing behind three officers who went undercover during protests at the recent Montebello summit, saying the men weren't there to provoke demonstrators.

"At no time did the officers in question engage in provocation or incite anyone to commit violent acts," Insp. Marcel Savard told a news conference in Montreal on Friday.

The police admitted Thursday afternoon that three masked men caught on video Monday afternoon pushing toward a line of riot police, despite protesters' efforts to stop them, were the force's officers.

Emergency crews respond to threat of collapse in downtown Montreal

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 18:08:25 -0700

Montreal | August 24

CBC - Emergency crews shut down a busy section of Montreal's downtown core on Friday, including part of the metro system, after the discovery of a large crack in the ceiling of an underground tunnel connecting malls to the subway system.

Engineers were closely inspecting the gaping crack and had closed one block because of fears that a major street above could collapse unless it was reinforced.

Quebec Inuit to sign historic self-governance agreement

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 05:42:25 -0700

Bill Curry | Ottawa | August 13

The Globe and Mail - A giant swath of mineral-rich land covering one-third of Quebec is on track to become a self-governing region for the province's 10,000 Inuit.

To be called the Regional Government of Nunavik, it will have its own elected assembly representing Quebec's 14 remote Inuit communities and a public service responsible for services normally delivered by provinces, such as education and health.

The Globe and Mail has obtained a copy of the agreement-in-principle between the Inuit, Quebec and Ottawa, which was initialled by the three sides last week, meaning it should be ready for a formal signing ceremony within weeks. A final agreement would then follow and the Inuit hope the new government will be in place by 2009.

The Nunavik government would be unlike any other resolved aboriginal land claim in Canada, both because of the region's massive size and because the system of government so closely resembles the British-inspired parliamentary systems found in Ottawa and provincial capitals.

[...]

“This is going to be a special territory that I think we should see on any map of Canada,” he said. “It's something new. A regional government. That doesn't exist anywhere.”

===

More over in Canuck's diary...

A sign of lunacy in language

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 08:20:28 -0700

June 29
Mike Carroccetto

Canada is known as a level-headed country, but there is one feature of our national story that is so loopy that even outsiders will on occasion remark on it, if only to ask if it's really true.

We're talking about the absurd practice in Quebec of government officials appearing at the doors of private businesses and denouncing the owners for not showing sufficient respect for the French language.

Well, it's true -- Quebec does engage in this kind of harassment. And recently, the language inspectors were in the national capital region. Staff at a Gatineau eatery named Le French Quarter have the battle scars to prove it.

The word "battle" is appropriate because the Gatineau restaurant, to its credit, fought back -- and won.

The bizarre episode began in the winter of 2005, when the Office de la langue franAaise laid charges against Le French Quarter on the grounds that the restaurant's name -- as featured on the sign outside -- wasn't French enough. Apparently, the language office preferred something like "Vieux Carre" or "Quartier francaise."

The language office does not own the eatery, and one would think it unnecessary to indicate that it has no more business ordering the owner to change the name than it does telling him what to wear. Unfortunately, what is self-evident in other democracies is not always so in some Quebecois circles.

The owner of Le French Quarter, Tony Morello, said the charges against him were unreasonable because his restaurant specializes in the cajun cuisine of Louisiana, and the name "French Quarter" is known worldwide as the famous New Orleans neighbourhood. The judge agreed that "French Quarter" is a specific cultural reference and therefore ought to be permitted, even though strictly speaking it is not a French phrase.

When government resources are stretched to the limit, it's ridiculous that any province's justice system would waste time and money on so silly a dispute. How silly did it get? During cross-examination, it was revealed that the menu at Le French Quarter was not 100- per-cent cajun. The restaurant's manager was compelled to testify as a witness that although they specialize in Louisiana cooking, they do try to offer "a wide range of choices to satisfy every taste."

Law & Order this is not. Surely there are more productive ways to occupy prosecutors and judges.

Most irritating about the affair is that Gatineau is a model of French-English co-existence. Many of the customers who dine at Le French Quarter are no doubt bilingual anglophones from Ottawa who work in Quebec and who would order their food in French. If you were to eavesdrop on the conversation, you'd likely hear fluent French and English.

The people of Ottawa-Gatineau don't need anyone from Quebec City to lecture them on language.

Canada: Minority government looms in Quebec

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:09:37 -0700

March 25

CBC - Quebec faces the real possibility of a minority government for the first time in more than a century, as the province's main political parties remain locked in a virtual tie with voters heading to the polls on Monday.

Liberal Leader Jean Charest has warned voters a minority government will weaken Quebec's bargaining power with the federal government.

Update: March 27:
canada.com - PQ Leader Andre Boisclair said he's staying on as party leader

Update: March 26:
IHT - Liberal Party wins minority governing mandate in Quebec; conservatives gain ground.

Quebec election campaign to revisit separation

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 18:24:49 -0800

Randall Palmer | Ottawa | February 19

Reuters - The question of whether Canada will remain one country will hang in the balance again as the mainly French-speaking province of Quebec heads into an election campaign this week.

The campaign will be partly about health, jobs and taxes, but underlying it all will be the perennial tussle between the separatists, who promise an independence referendum if they are elected, and the federalists who want a united Canada.

"The Parti Quebecois means wishful thinking. It means a return to division by another referendum, as quickly as possible," Quebec's federalist Premier Jean Charest told about 2,500 fellow Liberals in a pre-campaign weekend speech. "In brief, the PQ represents a step backwards."

Charest has summoned the Quebec National Assembly for an emergency session on Tuesday to hear his preelection budget. The next day, he is expected to dissolve the assembly and launch a campaign for an election on March 26. ( image: campnet.net )

Quebec gets voice at UN organization

Sat, 06 May 2006 06:02:43 -0700

Rhéal Séguin | Quebec | May 6

Globe and Mail - Quebec may not be a nation in the eyes of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but the province's "specificity" and "unique personality" give it the right to a formal voice at the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Yesterday, Mr. Harper and Premier Jean Charest signed an agreement that will give Quebec official representation in the Canadian delegation at UNESCO.

Quebec will be the only province with a "formal" voice at the UN body... Mr. Harper insisted his government deals equally with all provinces. "Federalism of openness does not mean playing favourites or stirring up jealousies, but it does mean that the time has come to forge a new relationship with the provinces," Mr. Harper said.

The agreement symbolized the harmonious relationship Mr. Harper and Mr. Charest have developed since the Conservatives took office last February in an attempt to isolate the separatists with what Mr. Harper has called his "open federalism."

Brief Throne Speech hails U.S. as 'best friend'

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 06:58:00 -0700

Gloria Galloway | Ottawa | April 5

Globe and Mail - The federal Conservatives acknowledged the priorities of other political parties but signalled a strong directional shift from the previous Liberal government in a Throne Speech yesterday that referred to the United States as "our best friend and largest trading partner."

The address that Governor-General Michaëlle Jean delivered in the Senate contained few surprises. The government of Stephen Harper focused on its established priorities of accountability, safe streets, reduced waiting times for medical treatment and a tax cut.

In contrast to the occasionally antagonistic relationship between the previous Liberal government and the U.S. administration, yesterday's Throne Speech promised to build stronger bilateral and multilateral ties "starting with the United States, our best friend and largest trading partner."

rut roh

Quebec Sovereignty: Boisclair talks referendum

Sun, 20 Nov 2005 18:46:17 -0800

Rhéal Séegun | Quebec City | Nov 19

The Globe and Mail - With the classic rhetoric of a young, aggressive politician, newly elected Parti Québécois Leader André Boisclair says he will seek a clear mandate to hold a referendum on sovereignty in the next provincial election.

Meanwhile, last week in Montreal, Prime Minister Paul Martin delivered a rare speech almost entirely devoted to national unity.
By portraying the coming federal election in Quebec as a choice between sovereignty and federalism, Martin is hoping to convince Liberal voters who sat out the 2004 vote in Quebec to support him against the Bloc Qu�b�cois this time around.

Update Nov 20:

Canadian Press - Prime Minister Paul Martin vowed Sunday to fight any attempts by Parti Quebecois Leader Andre Boisclair to take Quebec out of Canada in violation of the Clarity Act.

CTV.ca - In an interview to be aired Sunday, PQ leader Andre Boisclair says independence is up to Quebecers only and he sees no reason to submit to the federal Clarity Act.

Quebecers embrace country's values

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 07:16:26 -0700

Susan Delacourt | Ottawa | Oct 26

New poll reveals strong attachment to federal ideals.
Surprising finding as anniversary of referendum nears

The Toronto Star - You can take Quebecers out of Canada, perhaps, but it's much tougher to separate them from fundamental Canadian values and identity, a new poll reveals.

About two-thirds of Quebecers reported a significant attachment to Canada's international stature, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and federally financed social programs in a sweeping, major poll carried out for the Centre for Research and Information on Canada (CRIC.)

It's an optimistic, even surprising finding for federalism, landing just as the country is set to mark the 10th anniversary of the 1995 Quebec sovereignty referendum and as a looming report on the federal Liberal sponsorship scandal is threatening to whip up more separatist sentiment in the province.

JPD's take after the jump

I'd be particularly interested in Mathieu's comments on this story, and on the results of the poll, generally. More detailed reports can be found here.

My own impression (formed, I hasten to add without actually reading anything more than this article - I do intend to rectify that, BTW) is that it's a bit too simplistic to say that this is just a "good for federalism" thing.
It's possible to have shared ideals and still want quite different political structures.

By way of context, it's also worth remembering that Environics is Michael Adam's firm (I believe, but am by no means certain, that he is a principal; at a minimum there's a strong association) and the cultural difference between all parts of Canada and Quebec and the United States is a recurrent theme in his work. ~jpd

Quebec still torn on future in Canada

Sun, 23 Oct 2005 17:38:20 -0700

Brian Laghi | October 22

The Globe and Mail - Quebeckers are just as divided over independence as they were a decade ago, although they would comfortably vote to stay in Canada if the question were put to them clearly and directly, a new poll indicates.

Asked how Quebeckers would vote if they faced a question similar to the one posed in 1995, 48 per cent said they would opt for the Yes side, compared with 47 per cent who would vote No. The other five per cent didn't know.

The poll found that 66 per cent of Quebeckers and 68 per cent of the rest of the country support the requirement for a clear question. When asked whether they would vote "to secede from Canada to become an independent country," 53 per cent said No, compared with only 43 per cent who said Yes. Another 4 per cent didn't know.

Fifty per cent of Quebeckers said a simple majority of 50 per cent plus one is enough for the province to leave Canada, while 74 per cent in the rest of Canada said it was not. Of those who said a simple majority was not enough, 54 per cent said the bar should be set at more than 70 per cent. Mr. Gregg said that demonstrates that Canadians outside the province wouldn't accept the outcome if the Yes side won by a simple majority.

That said, the Canadian voting public appears sanguine about the possibility of a breakup, with 76 per cent telling pollsters they'd be willing to negotiate a new partnership with an independent Quebec.

Quebec rejects introduction of Sharia law into legal system in the province

Thu, 26 May 2005 20:48:01 -0700

May 27 | Quebec

AP - Quebec on Thursday rejected the use of Islamic tribunals to settle family disputes, with one legislator saying that Sharia law could isolate the Muslim community in the French-speaking province.

Quebec rejects introduction of Sharia law into legal system in the province
Quebec | May 26

940 news - While Ontario considers a move to allow Islamic law to help settle some family disputes, Quebec sent a clear message Thursday it will not permit Muslim tribunals.

Quebec lawmakers from all parties voted unanimously in the legislature to reject the use of Islamic tribunals in the legal system. The vote was a pre-emptive strike to stop a growing movement among some Muslims to have the religion to play a role in family law.

Wal-Mart Leaves Bitter Chill

Thu, 14 Apr 2005 10:24:51 -0700

Doug Struck | Jonquiere | April 14

WaPo - The baby buggies are all gone. In electronics, only "Le Gros Albert" and a few other leftover DVDs remain. A few pairs of pink boots are left in the shoe department. Over in household goods, red and yellow liquidation tags dangle beside thin skillets as Wal-Mart prepares to close.

The retailing behemoth, whose $10 billion annual profits are based on low prices, low expenses and its relentless pace of store openings, announced it will shut the doors here May 6 after workers voted to make this the first unionized Wal-Mart in North America.