With the Treaty of Paris in 1763, France gave up Canada and all of its claims to the territory east of the Mississippi River to Britain. France also recovered Puducherry, an important segment of French India.
Jean Charest's recent trip to India saw the premier stop by the former French colony and raise local awareness for the Canadian province. In the words of Lieutenant Governor Iqbal Singh: "I would like to suggest to the Vice-Chancellor to explore the possibility of setting up a chair for Québec Studies at the university. This would facilitate the younger generation to understand Québec's rich and diverse social, historic and political realities."
Click here for the full story on this potential long-term relationship between Québec and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
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A Québécois Pure Laine reaching out to Anglos and Allophones
About Me
- Michel Bolduc
- Montréal, Canada
- A middle class family man who tackled his second language with his will and his wits. "Studying in your second language is the amazing opportunity to take a step back, observe two cultures and realize why you appreciate them both."
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4 comments:
Your assessment is probably right. There are no more than 300,000 Francophones in India, a drop in the ocean. I personally wasn't aware of any connection between French and India and was surprised to see an interest for Québec on their part.
Regarding your first point... as an environmental priority, I would assume asbestos to be very low in the list. As an health issue it's a different story, but Canada exports other products that are much more dangerous without problems. Hiting on Charest seems to me like a very long shot for the workers involved in the Indian asbestos industry, but I obviously don't know much about the leverage they have at their disposal.
I gather the situation of many of these Indian workers is a bit like that of my forefathers in the early 1900s. Sad indeed.
The experience of your friend's friend in India reminds me of a trip I did some 15 years ago to Lafayette, Louisiana. I crossed a few French-speaking black men with whom I could instantly relate. These impromptu encounters are always nice.
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