How Did Quebec Nationalism Change French-English Relations In The 1960s

Although Quebec government won a substantial autonomy as result of its negotiation with Ottawa, nationalists saw the cooperation with the federal government is humiliating for Quebec to go to Ottawa seeking favours. While federalists supported “opting out” and federal tax concessions, reveals that they demonstrated the

Being an English speaker myself it is very encouraging and helpful that I am perfectly bilingual, being bilingual has helped me in the work force, in my studies and in my social life. These are some factors that have English speaking Quebecers speak more French and really made an impact among English and French speakers of Quebec. In Bernard Landry’s video he talks about speaking to his cousins that live in British Columbia and displays how they have lost their French Background it is in the Parti Quebecoise best interest to prevent this from happening. As we have seen, la survivance was the notion that fuelled traditional Quebec nationalism. The Quiet Revolution gave rise to a new type of nationalism in Quebec which had a different vision of the state and its ability, through its institutions, to help the French survive (L7, S49). The French-English divide was further aggravated when the Quebec government decided to use its institutions to implement legislation to ensure the survival of the French language in Quebec. This caused a great deal of controversy in English .In an attempt to counter such nationalist language tactics and appease the French, the federal government also used its institutions to enact legislation related to language. There is no doubt that the

English and French Canadians have had years of disagreements and the Quebec Referendum of 1995 proves how separate both really are. The Quebec Referendum of 1995 was the second referendum to ask voters in the province of Quebec whether or not Quebec should declare national sovereignty and become an independent country. The Quebec Referendum of 1995 was a defining moment in Canadian History that emphasized the disunity between Quebec and the rest of Canada. With the alienation of Québec, the Parti Quebecois advocating for national sovereignty, and Lucien Bouchard taking over the leadership of the "Yes" side from Parizeau causing the “Yes” side to get momentum, are all examples of how this historic event emphasized the disunity between Quebec and the rest of Canada.

During the 15 years as prime minister of Canada, Pierre Elliott Trudeau treated Quebec equally which helped Quebec stay united with Canada. Pierre Elliott Trudeau stated that "I am trying to put Quebec in its place — and the place of Quebec is in Canada."(Pierre Elliot Trudeau, "Quotes by Prime Minsters- Pierre Trudeau”). Quebec place is in Canada because Quebec had a major impact for Canada confederation. This is why Pierre Trudeau said this to the country. Pierre Trudeau passed a bill that was called Official Languages Act in 1969, that made English and French the official languages of Canada.The act declared that “the English and the French languages are the official languages of Canada, for all purposes of the Parliament and Government of Canada and possess and enjoy equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada.” (Cruxton, Bradley and Douglas Wilson, “The Official Language Act 1969”) Until that time, only 14 percent of the high rank government jobs were held by French Canadian, even though they made 25 percent of Canada population. Pierre Trudeau believed that the Official Languages Act was the only way to keep the French heritage in Canada and to treat the Quebec people equally like English Canadians. Trudeau’s ability to keep French and English Canadians

Though the separatist movements came very close to achieving their goal, the steady actions of PM Chrétian show a change in attitude towards French Canadians in within the country. The fact that Chrétian managed to succeed in keeping Quebec from separating further proves that the perspective of cultural differences in Canada started to develop for the better. The language rights within Canada add depth to the sincere maturity and growth that Canada has experienced in the years after WWII. Some direct impacts were the immediate enactments of French policies within the federal government, and indirectly the language rights reduced tension within all of Canada and mainly Quebec. Over the years, language rights have helped the country learn to blend itself back into a bilingual nation of acceptance and diversity. Canada, during the years after WWII, managed to stop the cultural bond between the French and the English from further deteriorating and helped to repair previous bruises by accepting Quebec’s ideas and beliefs, by enacting language rights, and through Chrétian’s active attendance to maintaining the balance between French and English

Linguistic duality was embedded in the British North America Act of 1867 and has had both positive and negative repercussions for Canada. Language has evoked divisive social and political tension between French-speaking and English-speaking Canadians. (Jackson & Jackson, 1998: 230) By

Though the beginning of the separatist movement was marred by fighting and violence, the vast majority of the conflict has been a political one. The reason for the revolution in Quebec stems from the restrictions placed upon the populace by the English. These restrictions were on both the language and culture of the Quebecois, and caused them to feel trapped in under the English rule, for lack of a better term. This revolution is on a much less certain foot than the others however, with many of the younger citizens not remember the restrictions of days

Since 1867, when Canada became a country, French and English relations have been one of the biggest issues in Canada. Throughout the decades, the debates and clashes between the French and the English Canadians led to increasing tension that threatened separation and disorder throughout the country. Through history, there were many occasions which weakened the bond of the two denominations. There are three defining moments that worsened the French and English relations. One of these events is the conscription crisis in World War I, which was a major political crisis that caused tension between the two groups.

In my opinion, while not experiencing French Canadian life, although another of my family members has, I feel that Quebec Nationalism is not compatible with the rest of Canada, but we are the only thing they have, and if Canada lets them go, they will not have enough resources politically, monetarily, or military, since most of this is supplied to Quebec from the rest of Canada. “Since Quebec’s defeat in the Rebellion of 1837, many Quebecois feel that they have been subject to Anglophone domination from the rest of Canada” (Lamrick, 2015). Many of the French-speaking citizens are also not willing to be compatible with the rest of Canada’s multicultural society. There is no reason, though, to throw all the other willing French Canadians that want to be compatible under the bus.

Quebec was left out again in the debate for the Meech Lake Accord. Rather than make serious attempts to recognize Quebec as a distinct society, too much time was spent in attempt to forge the nation together. Had Meech Lake been successful, it would have respected Quebec’s genuine wish to be recognized as a distinct society. Meech Lake would have been able to forge universal language rights because both official languages would receive the same amount of respect in Quebec as it does

The history of Quebec within Canada has been problematic since the very beginnings of Canada. The clash of the culture of the French and English speaking Canadians has created tensions in Canada since the British took over in

The question of whether Quebec will secede from Canada to become an independent nation has been a hot topic in the country for several years now. It dates back to the abortive rebellions of 1837-38. In 1980, a referendum to secede was rejected by a 60-40 margin. Since then though, the numbers of Quebeckers that want to become sovereign has significantly increased. There is so many questions of what will happen if this does happen. In this paper I plan to take a deeper look at this situation and try to figure out what it would actually be like if Quebec was its own country.

The federalist’s perspective is defined by Trudeau, Health and Pelletier. Trudeau argues that Quebec nationalism is the result of illogical tribal impulses. He then finds the idea of seeing Quebec as a nation silly. To him Quebec is merely an aspect of Canada, and if distinct for no ther reason than its location. Then to understand Quebec, we need to look at Canada, as it is an aspect of the country. Heath argues that Quebec managed to develop a distinct nationalism. However, he feels that Quebec still defines itself due to its relationship with Canada. He holds that with the advent of Canadian nationalism Quebec came to hold the paradoxical position that it is different from Canada and thus would not participate in the Canadian culture, but that Canadian culture does not represent Quebec well enough. As such, Quebec`s identity is in part determined by the Canadian culture, as it view itself as an aspect of the Canadian culture, or else it would not be upset with the Canadian culture. Finally, Pelletier argues Quebec has developed a distinct

The people in Canada were affected by many different ways. The first way was in their school systems. In Canada we are now able to go to Francophone schools which are all french and french immersion schools where some of the classes are in english. The next thing that has changed are all our products. When you look at your average food product like a cereal box or a juice box you can see that there is english on one side and french on the other. What changed in Quebec is that the school systems changed by most of the schools becoming French, some being french immersion and some staying Engish. Another thing that changed is that all the street signs in Quebec are now in French.

It is no secret that French-English relations in Canada have been strained in the past and still are – albeit to a lesser extent.