Montreal vs Quebec, an ongoing theme
The Journal is running with the idea that there are two Quebecs – Montreal and the rest of the province – and that Montreal is getting less and less “Québécois” and this is a big problem.
These guys should page through the old census forms from 1901, 1911, 1921, 1931. I’ve done this while doing genealogy for myself and a few others. So many non-French names all over town! Hochelaga, where my dad was a boy in 1931, was about half French names and half others – mostly English and Irish names. In other parts of town there are Polish and Ukrainian names in some areas, Italian names and typically Jewish names in others. Montreal is not in decline from being purely French, and to say so is to perpetuate a big xenophobic lie.
Ian 18:57 on 2024-01-18 Permalink
Considering how many people that didn’t feel like they fit in left after the first referendum and subsequent provincial governments have been fine-tuning immigration, it’s amazing the brain trusts of Quebec nationalism aren’t satisfied with how much more French Quebec has become. It’s lke they are working towards reviving a fictive past francotopia where Quebec was just French people, everyone was small-town Catholic, and natives didn’t exist.
Uatu 09:36 on 2024-01-19 Permalink
Blah blah blah. Anything to distract from the housing crisis, labor shortage, healthcare problems etc . Gotta keep Journal readers busy while sitting in the ER for 12hrs.
steph 10:00 on 2024-01-19 Permalink
Maybe Montreal could separate from the rest of this province. We clearly have a different history & identity. I suppose these are criteria for separation that the rest of Quebec understand…