I was youtubing today some material about Pierre Trudeau and the FLQ crisis, I came across this comment.



Despite the fact that I find it funny that so many people insult fellow Canadians by saying that they are 'like' an American and generalize in that way, I found this comment a bit disturbing for a different reason.

Now, before I say anything I want to state that I absolutely love Québec, I think its a beautiful province. However, I find that there is a small group of people who hold resentment and hostility to the Anglophone community. Even some Acadien friends of mine, find that when they go to QC people appear to be insulted when they speak in a 'Frengish' mannor. As I said this is NOT everyone in QC, just a few. This also goes both ways for some English speaking Canadians who hold resentment towards Francophones, Why after hundreds of years is this hate still persist to the point? Why do people want to further extend this hate by dividing our country apart

In my opinion, I think any form of extreme Identity politics are wrong but what do you guys have to say about it? If you are a native French speaker and feel more comfortable making a point in French, go right ahead.

It's too bad so many French Quebecois are like this. This is why so many people hate Quebec… I love it here too, it's a beautiful province and Montreal is a cool city, but a small chunk of the population is made up of these types of people. And ya, they hate franglais so much

I do think all the hate between the French and English is retarded.

I’m not 100% sure on all the details, but there’s a newish law here saying that if you’re French born you cannot attend English school or if you’re English born you cannot attend French school… Something like that. And that is just insane to me. How is that law supposed to help any?
I’m totally against any kind of nationalism, provincial or other.

If you aren't wearing a Quebec flag bandana on St Jean Baptiste day, watch-the-fuck out! That’s pretty much ‘saute les anglais’ night for all the French teens.

http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/prime_m ... 192-13270/

balls of steeeel, balls balls, balls of Steeeeeel

All right, you Canadians need to explain some things to me please. Even though Canada is my neighboring country, I don't know much about it. Please explain some things that are basic knowledge to you Canucks. Like this whole French part of Canada while the rest is English. How did that happen? Does it cause a lot of problems? I heard a rumor that the French part wants to secede, any truth to that? You know, just give me some bare facts that I might not be aware of. Thanks for your time, oh and thanks for the band BNL. They rock! But apologize for Celine Dion, Tom Green, and Robin Williams.

Okay, the basic gist of what happened was awhile after the Americans split from the British and formed the USA, Britain was still in control of Upper and Lower Canada, what we know as Ontario and Quebec today. Canada was mostly inhabited by French immigrants with a minority of English, but the English basically had control over the area. Lower Canadians (French) didn't like that the English were attempting to merge both the colonies to make one giant English colony, so there were a bunch of revolutions to fix the government, etc. and so on. So, the people in Quebec basically have this 200 year old grudge against the English speaking part of Canada.

There's your Canadian history lesson for the day.

Ya and as for 'French People' theres actually a few different lineages. Theres Quebécois, which most people are aware or. Theres French Métis (Which have been a caucasian/native culture that covers most of the western provinces, Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota and some of the outlining states as well), theres a lot more too that but it gets a lot more complicated (Métis, and métis with a little m are different). Theres also Acadiens, who settled along the Maritime Provinces, in the 1700's a bunch of Acadians were deported and settled in Louisiana (They became known as Cajuns ;) ).

I must stress that this is coming from a very limited knowledge, so if there are any people more versed in French culture or a francophone please enlighten me.

There was and still seems to be a lot of tension mainly between a few extremist Québecois, and Anglophones. The FLQ was essentially a terrorist organisation in the 60's-70's that did a few firebombings and kidnapped and murdered a couple of politicians, this also coincided with a time called the 'silent revolution'. In the 70's Trudeau introduced a very controversial legislation in response that basically declared martial law temporarily to attempt to put a stop to the attacks, I think a few people were killed and 2 politicians if I can recall correctly.

Even nowadays, politics in Canada are very delicate regarding Québec. Theres the provincial party Parti Québécois, and the Bloc Quebécois in the house of commons that promotes interests in Québéc, and it's sovereignity. There was a few votes on referendums on Québec that failed, and some legislation was proposes that is frankly scary (one proposes that immigrants may not be granted rights, or the ability to vote unless they are Fluent in French).

It's a topic that a lot of people are very passionate about, and to this day there are many Anglophones that despise the French and vice versa. Frankly, I think these things are a step backwards and we should embrace the merging of these two cultures. Take Montréal for example, that place is one of the Art epicenters of canada, has probably the best food you can get, and is just a beautiful city all around.

Either way, If someone FROM Quebec would like to take a shot at explaining it, you may be able to get a more accurate answer. Theres a lot about this that I still struggle to understand.

It seems like French Canadian extremists are pansy versions of the Irish IRA.

Quebec is a beautiful area, but its people don't all to impress me that much. Except for a small handful, no offense to my fellow sidekicks and henchmen who are from Quebec.

It my opinion, Quebec is like the Texas of Canada. Great area, but gets a bad reputation for a lot of the idiots who live there...or claim to be from here. For the record: President Bush is not a Texan. He's a freakin' Yankee from Connecticut.

Well as complicated as the issue is, a lot of it boils down to the language that people speak. In Canada, is very important to have a working knowledge on French for higher end jobs in ontario, NB, and QC (Speaking of that, if anyone knows any good language sites to practice it +10 Awesome points for you). Some take it waaay too far though, Most people I know from there are actually pretty good people, but there are a few nationalist that I would consider racists that are causing a lot of problems. The problem isnt really THAT big nowadays but its definitely still there.

I also want to point out that the PQ and Bloc are COMPLETELY different than the FLQ.

Heres the video that I was looking at originally http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7_a2wa2dd4

I'm suprised how articulate he is for an impromptu interview.

WOW! I did not know all that. Thanks everyone for explaining a little bit more about Canada to me. Out of all the countries America could have chosen to wear as its hat, I'm glad its Canada.

Now question #2. Explain the election process please.

I'm not into politics but I'll explain it the best I can.

We go through politics a little differently here than in a America. Instead of the person who gets the most votes wins, there are parties and each province has a number of seats. The bigger the province is, the more seats it has. The party who has the most seats wins the election and the leader of that party becomes Prime Minister. That is the gist of elections in Canada though there is probably a little more into the process of it.

Yeah, every city/general area of the country has their own riding, then a representative of each party is voted in from that riding and they hold a seat. Whoever's party wins the most ridings wins the election.

Fuck Quebec. Im tired of their bitching about everything. We gave them an inch and they keep wanting to take mile after mile after mile. Its not fair to make it seem that people who are not from Quebec are the negative influence in the country. Im sorry we dont complain about everything even when we get our way. Welcome to Canada. Move back to France if you dont like it... and have them laugh at you because you dont speak the same language.

CRX Forum

There are actually idiots there who want Quebec separated from Canada. How the hell could that happen anyway? Maybe with this.

Thanks again for the answers everyone! Back bacon for all! And now...

Question #3: What's the entertainment scene like up in Canada? What's popular in culture? Do you all enjoy the same movies, TV shows, music, or do you do your own thing?

im glad you ask. you see, every year we have the annual seal clubbing competition, and there is a lottery drawn across the land for people to enter. Winners receive the honor of King of Canada, while all participants keep the meat they earned..


....yeah, we have about the same entertainment from the US, but we produce our own stuff too, like an 80/20 ratio.

Actually, I'm find I enjoy Canadian music more so than American. Sam Roberts (a wonderful product of Montreal) and the Trews are in my top ten favorite music groups. Actually, bands like I Mother Earth, Moist, the Tea Party from the 90s are still up there too even though they all no longer exist (ironcally all due to their singers taking off for solo careers). If you haven't heard of any of these bands I highly recommend them. Dig and Scenery and Fish by IME are in my top 5 favorite albums.

Actually, 2 months ago Jeff Martin (former lead singer of the Tea Party who looks like a Jim Morrison clone) was at the bar down the street from where I live having a beer and was asked by many people to play a few songs. Manager got him a guitar and he played then and there and it was awesome!

Now for my final question. NHL and curling. Please explain the obsession for both.

NHL: Just like any other sport, we find it entertaining. I have no idea how anybody could have a passion for something like Basketball, but they do.

Curling: No fuckin' clue.

We could ask the same thing about American's obsession with football. It's just our sport. My obsession with the NHL is due to my home town having a team.

Curling is just fun to do. Only sport I know of where the winners buy the losers drinks!

I have no idea why people like hockey, but curling is fun to watch.