Canadians and Canadian movies

Last week was an important one for the Canadian movie industry. The 32nd Annual Genie Awards, honoring Canada's greatest, was held Thursday. As expected by many, Québécois movies did rather well.

Among the many recipients, one particularly caught my attention, Starbuck. It's the story of a perpetual adolescent who discovers that, as a sperm donor, he fathered 533 children. It won the Golden Reel Award, presented annually to the Canadian film that has earned the highest domestic box office. It won the same award last night at La soirée des Jutras [in French], the ceremony honoring Québec's greatest.

In the province, Starbuck raked in $3.4M. In the whole country, its box office performance totals a little more than $3.5M. You read this right... the Canadian film that earned the highest domestic box office sold for a little over $100,000 outside Québec! In other words, with a market more than three times the size of my province, the English language industry was not able to produce a movie as commercially successful as Québec did for itself.

What's wrong?... this is certainly not about lack of talent. Why aren't Canadians watching domestic movies? A recent survey [Google translation] found that 83% of the Québécois are favorably biased to Québec films. How do Canadians in other provinces feel about their own production? I mean... Uncle Sam produces some great flicks, but he's not the only one!

With theaters basically the property of American majors, can Canadians really watch movies produced outside the USA? Movies play an important part in a society's cultural fabric... how does this situation contribute to the Canadian psyche in terms of identity?

Some people probably think I don't get it... I wish they would explain.

Times are good for Sovereigntists - Part 2

Léger Marketing published the results of yet another survey concluding that the PQ is in majority territory [in French]. Overall, the CAQ is at 24%, the PLQ at 28% and the PQ at 33%. This lead may not seem important, but one has to keep in mind that support for the PQ among Francophones is at 40% and they basically determine the results in 100 of the province's 125 ridings.

It's still a bit early to qualify the trend as strong, but it adds an interesting variable to the possibility of an election prior to the public hearings of Quebec's commission of inquiry into construction corruption, a.k.a. the Commission Charbonneau.

Times are good for Sovereigntists

Three months ago, The Globe and Mail headlined: "Sovereignty on its death bed in Québec" (click here to read my reaction to it). The underlying premise to such a statement is the conclusion much of the English press has reached by equating support for sovereignty with the demise of the Bloc Québécois. This conclusion doesn't hold.

A CROP survey, conducted in the weeks that followed the Bloc's collapse, showed support for sovereignty at 43% [Google translation]. A more recent Léger Marketing survey (conducted in late January) also puts support for sovereignty at 43% [in French].

Had there been an election in Québec two weeks ago, yet another poll from CROP put the PQ in the driver's seat [Google translation]. Those who doubt the conclusions of a Québécois research firm may want to look at an Ontarian source; Forum Research saw a possible majority [Google translation].

Why?... the PQ hasn't made any drastic change to its offering... the PLQ is still plagued with the same problems... Harper!?... yep!

While most of English Canada has been busy celebrating the demise of the Bloc on the federal scene, the Québécois have been acknowledging what the Bloc contributed to shield them from:

• Canada's withdrawal from Kyoto
• Purchasing of F-35 fighters
• The rise of the Monarchy in Canadian symbols
• Military patriotism in general
• Impact of C-30 on privacy
• Using intelligence derived from torture
• End of the long-gun registry
• Fetal rights and their impact on abortion
• Hints at death penalty under certain conditions

These initiatives have been so unpopular in Québec, and to many Canadians, that Justin Trudeau said he's enormously sad about where Canada is heading, and that if he ever believed Canada was Prime Minister "Stephen Harper's Canada," he would think about sovereignty."I always say that if ever I believed Canada was really Stephen Harper's Canada — that we were heading against abortion, against gay marriage, that we were going backwards 10,000 different ways — maybe I would think about wanting to make Quebec a country."Say whut Justin??... sovereigntists are carrying your father's vision of a progressive Canada?"No, absolutely, if I no longer recognized in Canada my values... But I believe deeply in Canada and I know that Quebec in Canada can put it back on the right path."Ah... Québec is an important contributor to progressive Canadian values. I see what you mean, but I doubt the average Canadian shares this vision.

At any rate... the Estates General on Sovereignty has now kicked into gear. And the PQ is seizing the opportunity by revamping some 148 sovereignty related studies. The plan is simple... if support for sovereignty is at 43%, they only need to convince everyone that the PQ is serious about it to harvest corresponding votes.

Now... what Harper could do to help the PQ further... is... tinker with the equalization program... reduce health transfers... legislate in a way that incurs higher provincial burden... or plain simply... anything that reduces financial benefits to the province.

Many of my sovereigntist friends would say: "Let the Reform perform."

Quebeckers charged in child-porn case

Glancing through The Globe and Mail, this headline caught my attention: "Five Quebeckers charged in international child-porn case". It felt odd. I wondered what information was being conveyed by using the word "Quebeckers". Or was I simply being too sensitive?

I googled the headline to see if other media carried the news. I found out that other publications simply referred to "Quebec men". Which somehow didn't feel as odd.

Then I thought... would The Globe and Mail publish something using the headline "Five Ontarians charged in international child-porn case"? I can't picture it.

What do you think? Is Québec such a different place that Canada's national newspaper dares not calling its inhabitants Canadians?... or is the newspaper pointing at something else?

Writer's note: The report was updated and the headline changed at 7:35PM. My imagination is playing tricks on me.