2009/11/15

Anglos are Québécois too

"Oh!... I thought you were from Ontario." I spontaneously dropped. He looked at me in dismay and replied: "God no!" As it turns out, the English-speaking acquaintance I was chatting with was a damn proud full fledged Montrealer, a member of the minority within the minority. There are many Anglos like him.

Karl Moore is an associate professor at McGill University. Of Irish-Finnish descent, he's married to a Québécoise Pure Laine. On June 24th, 2007, he wrote an article for the Toronto Star about his Québécitude, "Ich bin ein Québécois". Speaking the language of the majority is important, he concedes, but it's not the only thing: "I tried to do an interview in French for the 10 o'clock news for Radio Canada. As a regular viewer, I was excited to be on this program. However, after a few minutes of trying, the journalist from Radio-Canada, in the midst of gales of laughter, put me out of my misery and switched to English."

The average Jean-Guy thinks all Anglos are the same. He doesn't see it, but the vast majority that's still around after thirty years of Bill 101 wouldn't live anywhere else. Ok... most won't admit it wholeheartedly, but their staying here, despite the Charter of the French language, is a tribute to this distinct society that we share and many will demonstrate the affection they have for our province.

On June 24th of this year, the Montreal Gazette published an article titled "Québec, je t'aime! 24 things we love about our province". The list goes like this:
  1. Bring your own wine
  2. Ça sent la Coupe
  3. Cheap chic
  4. Construction holiday
  5. Humble hyphen
  6. Political contrariness
  7. Rules of the road
  8. Sexy male dancers
  9. Terrasse-ville
  10. Tout le monde en parle
  11. Ubiquity of stripclubs
  12. Xavier Dolan
  13. Bikes and cigarettes
  14. Cheese, please
  15. Fleeing the city
  16. Chocolate blueberries
  17. Extra! Extra! Four daily newspapers
  18. Made for Québec
  19. Marriage? Why?
  20. Multilingualism
  21. One per cent
  22. Vistas
  23. Têtes à claques (available in English here)
  24. Quebec City renaissance
Say what?... that doesn't make them Québécois? Well... what are we suppose to call residents of this province if not Québécois or Quebecker? Of course, as in any society, you'll find individuals who won't embrace the ways of the majority. Is that a reason for alienating them? Isn't that the behavior of many Québec nationalists towards Canada? Do some people question their Canadianity?... hmmm... ok... bad example, but I trust you get the idea.

5 comments:

toddsschneider said...

I'm a bilingual anglo, from Ontario no less. When I converse in French, francos switch to English most of the time.

I wish they wouldn't do that, but
I'm glad to help them practice their English. We belong here, too.

Gébé Tremblay said...

Just wishfull thinking from Karl Moore.

Québec is not a country and has no citizenship.

The definition of the "Quebecois nation" motioned by all parties in the house of commons is that of the descendants of the people who called themselves Canadiens français and before that Canadiens descendants of the French who settled on the territory called Canada 400 years ago.

Karl Moore is no way remotely close. He is a Canadian of Irish and Finnish descent living in the province of Québec and married to a Canadian woman of the Québécois nation. Thus, his children are also Québécois. But Karl Moore is no Québécois.

If Karl Moore decides to move out of Québec with his familly, his familly will still be Québécois.

Is Karl Moore also saying to his Italian friends in Montreal that their italian DNA means nothing ? Does he also say this to his jewish friends at McGill ?

I doubt it very much.

So why is he negating the Québécois' ethnic heritage ? So he can claim he and anyone can claim that identity ?

Or is it because he has some identity problem himself ?

Benjamin said...

En ce qui me concerne, c’est très simple, si tu es contre la souveraineté du Québec (geste ultime de défense de la culture, de la langue et de l’histoire de ce peuple), et bien, tu n’es tout simplement pas Québecois. Si tu votes Non au référendum, c’est parce que tu prends parti pour le Canada et contre le Québec. Donc, tu es canadien, point à ligne. Tout comme ceux qui votent Oui se définissent comme québécois et rien d'autre. On ne peut être une chose et son contraire à la fois. Qu'on cesse de se raconter des histoires et d'avoir le cul entre deux chaises, c'est un, ou c'est l'autre, et il n'y a rien de mal là-dedans.

Pour ce qui est de l'amour du Québec par The Gazette, vraiment, on repassera, parce que le discours dudit journal change drastiquement n'importe quel jour du restant de l'année. Les dernières élections municipales en furent un très bel exemple ! On préfére voter pour la mafia plutôt que pour Louise Harel qu'ils nous ont dit le plus sérieusement du monde, entre deux gorgées d'une bonne bouteille de vin apporté au resto du coin !

Duke Nukem said...

Benjamin,

You're reasoning like a computer bit... yes or no, on or off, black or white... George W. Bush sold his operation in Iraq with that reasoning... "you're either with me or you're against me."

Pretty impressive stuff!

Gébé Tremblay said...

Duke Nukem,

it is called fidelity.

The basis of a nation.

A multicultural federation with no common culture just can not comprehend that.