in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

WOW!


http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/st...ation1029.html

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

We are living in, ummm, interesting times. :blink:
x

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

The new declaration will ask immigrants if they agree with Quebec's common values, including French as an official language, gender equality and the separation of church and state.

I guess that will come as a shock to some who consider the female to be servile and subordinate?

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

it makes perfect sense to me .. ignorance is no longer an excuse.

perfect common sense and sad this is indeed now mandatory

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

I guess coz I'm from there, it won't apply to me, incase (not likely) I move from Vancouver!!!

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

the bit about gender equality should be obligatory coast to coast

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

It's all common sense. Quebec is unique, and distinct, keep it so, and quit the whining, whiners.

They're preserving their culture, in the face of an invasion of dull homogenized North American mall-life and bland creeping consumerism.:thumbdown:

Keep at it, mon amis, et pardon les Franglaises.

R.

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

Like to see that in UK!

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

A couple of years ago I bought a book caled "What Canadians Think (About Almost Everything)". It was published by Ipsos Reid and summarised the results of cross-country opinion polls on a wide range of topics (religon, equality, drugs etc). I no longer have the book because it's the kind of thing you only read once, but I remember being quite surprised by some of the polls.

Anyone who thinks that Quebec is full of sexist, racist, gay-bashing rednecks who spend half their lives at Mass would be in for one hell of a shock. If I recall correctly, it came out as the most liberal and egalitarian province in the country almost every time.

Here's a curious one. Guess in which province there is the strongest support for legalising pot? Your first guess would be wrong.

The separation of church and state is a pillar of modern-day Quebec and people wanting to migrate here had better get used to it. There are very many Quebeckers alive today that remember when the separation did not exist and I suspect for most the memory is not a fond one. It is no coincidence that Quebec has Canada's highest rate of belief in God and the lowest rate of church attendance.

To go off at a slight tangent, I'd like an opinion from the longer-established Quebec Brits (or at least, those who speak better Quebecois than I do). Souvette tells me that Quebec humour, particularly the satirical stuff, like Infoman, is much closer to Brit humour than is anglo-Canadian humour. Is that the case?

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

I'm not too sure about this, but I've found in some ways that Québec humour is closer to English humour than French or Belgian humour. I'm not sure if it's closer than the rest of Canada. Québecers are, in any case, very very different from Frenchies and Belgians I find.

One of the things that really surprised me, and may be it oughtn't to have, was how well dressed people are going to work. I expected a greater level of informity, but people dress here more smartly than in Belgium.

As for Charest's new rule - it's just stupid. Frankly, if you're low enough to think that women are second class citizens you are low enough to lie by putting your signature to something that you don't believe in. Oh, and it's conveniently timed just before an election is going to be called in Québec for the "national" assembly.

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

LOL, "separation of church and state"; hasnt Quebec traditionally been dominated by the catholic church?

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

It was, as recently as when Souvette was a kid. It ain't now.

As I said in my post: highest proportion of people that believe in God and the lowest proportion that goes to church. The population of QC has to a very large extent told the catholic church precisely where it can go.

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

I think it was very much the case until the 60s and 70s - if I remember correctly the Catholic church was part of the "problem" of the French speakers not having an equal part of society. In any case, it's much less powerful today, thank God.

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

Quite. My MIL was thrown out of her congregation and ostracised by many for committing the crime of stopping breeding after three kids. That was in the mid-60s.

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

Oh my God! That's quite amazing really - Québec's society has come a long way in 30-40 years.

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

It has. I'm no historian but I suspect the current liberal attitudes are a direct result of the former power of the catholic church.

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

Let them do what they like, they will anyway and the rest of Canada will have the priviledge of paying them handsomely into the bargain!:blink:

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

Who was whining?

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

The rest of Canada does seem to be very tolerant of the Quebec "specialness".

Some quotes from Wikipedia..........

Institutional bilingualism in various forms therefore predates the Canadian Confederation in 1867. However, for many years English occupied a de facto privileged position, and French was not fully equal. The two languages have gradually achieved a greater level of equality in most of the provinces, and full equality at the federal level. The trend has been very different in Quebec, however, where in the 1970s English lost its status of full equality with French, which is now, both in practice and in law, the sole official language of Quebec.

[edit] Education Rights (section 23 of the Charter and section 59 of the Constitution Act, 1982)
Main article: Section Twenty-three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Section 23 provides a limited right to receive publicly-funded primary and secondary-schooling in the two official languages when they are "in a minority situation"--in other words, to English-language schooling in Quebec, and to French-language schooling in the rest of the country.


[edit] Asymmetrical application of education rights in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada
The right applies asymmetrically because section 59 of the Constitution Act, 1982 provides that not all of the language rights listed in section 23 will apply in Quebec. Specifically:

In Quebec, a child may be educated in English only if at least one parent or a sibling was educated in Canada in English.
In the rest of Canada, a child may be educated in French if at least one parent or a sibling was educated in Canada in French, or if at least one parent has French as his or her mother tongue (defined in section 23 as "first language learned and still understood").
One practical consequence of this asymmetry is to require all migrants who arrive in Quebec from foreign countries to place their children in French-language schools—including immigrants whose mother tongue is English and immigrants who received their schooling in English.

On the other hand, Section 23 provides a nearly universal right to English-language schooling for the children of Canadian-born Anglophones living in Quebec.

Section 23 also provides a nearly universal right to French-language schooling for the children of all Francophones living outside Quebec, including immigrants from French-speaking countries who settle outside Quebec.

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

Thank God... made me giggle.

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

re the thread title, this is a must link. It may be a little out of date but I am assured my many that its still pertanent today. I Have posted it before but many may not have seen it. Too much to 'cut & paste' hence the link.

http://www.languagefairness.org/Cost.php

Draw your own conclusions...:blink:

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

Quiet Revolution:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiet_Revolution

I for one, as an immigrant, agree with the spirit of the declaration. But they do need to make more effort to help people learn French.

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

I think that Quebec is closer to a mix of UK/France attitudes in many subtle aspects.
In many respects Montreal, with its English/Scot/Irish/French/Greek/Italian roots would be a model city for the European Union!

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

I'd agree - not that I am from Quebec, but I work with a woman who is. She is the only Canuck I know who can have me in fits with her one-liners (in French). It is the same dry observation based humour, without a doubt, but it does get a little lost in translation. In my head I have to go from her French, to my French and then to English....:blink:

Re: in case you are thinking of settling in Quebec
 

[QUOTE=Canada2006;6925907]I'm not too sure about this, but I've found in some ways that Québec humour .]

a perfect example

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...101?s_name=use