The Uncertain Future of Quebec Culture

The Challenge of Maintaining Quebecois Culture At first glance through Tremblay's article, "Is Quebec Culture Doomed to Become American?" he proposes that the vulnerable and threatened Quebec province is in danger of a cultural invasion by our Big Brother the United States. He fails to directly answer the question "Is Quebec Culture Doomed to Become American?" According to the statistics presented Quebec is hardly in such a bad state. The data outlined in the article assessed the degree of American influence over Canadian and Quebecois cultural industry and the demand of Quebecois programming by the Francophone people, thus allowing the readers to make their own assumptions about the apparent threat to Quebec's culture.

Americanization and Canadian Culture Gaëtan Tremblay is a professor at the University in Quebec in Montreal. As a concerned Quebecois, He wrote an article which discusses the Americanization of Canada, in particular Quebec. Tremblay seems to have a strong stand point about the future of Quebec. Using statistical and literary evidence, primary and secondary sources, he attempts to support his argument that Quebec is a victim of American cultural colonization. Tremblay fears that Canadian culture is going to disappear as a result of the Canadian-American Free Trade Agreement.

I have argued that while he is right in the identity as British and antipathy towards Americanism, this does not mean that some ideas need to more expanded and have more evidence. Further development and discussion of this issue especially in the area of Canadian identity express in the Civil War is needed advance research on these matters. Works Cited Gabrial , Brian . "The Second American Revolution": Expressions of Canadian Identity in News Coverage at the Outbreak of the United States Civil War." Canadian Journal of Communication 33 (2008): 21-37.

Quebec’s attempt to be more like the rest of Canada and to protect French Canadian identity unleashed a new form of nationalism, capable of threatening Canada’s unity and destroying Quebec itself, as witnessed during the Quiet Revolution. The first consequence to be investigated with regard to the revolution having a more negative impact on Quebec rather than a positive one is the encouragement of separatism. Maître chez-nous, the new mentality for Quebec to be masters in their own house, was established by Premier Lesage with goals for Quebec to determine their own fate; however, separatists advocated full independence as the only real solution. The strong feelings of separatism consequently led to the formation of the Front de Liberation du Quebec and other revolutionary groups who were committed to terrorism because they, “believed words didn’t get them anywhere so perhaps someone in Ottawa would listen to bombs.” (FLQ Backgrounder Web) The FLQ was responsible for more than 200 bombings between 1963 and 1970 (Baldwin 15) to push... ... middle of paper ... ...lcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/06/23/tasha-kheiriddin-parlez-vous-francais-only-in-canada-m-duceppe/>. McKillop, Scott.

By bringing the constitution home, Canada would have full control over its constitutional laws. This patriation complemented in helping Canada gain full political independence, because now laws in the United Kingdom could not extend over to Canada, neither could the Statute of Westminster be of any application. After a near century of striving for ... ... middle of paper ... ...Constitution was undoubtedly the greatest defining moment in Canadian history. It helped complete the dreams of full sovereignty by getting rid of the BNA act. Additionally, the patriation of the Constitution reaffirmed the same principles that the government is based around today.

Quebec has threatened Canada throughout history with separation from Canada. These threats have not been ignored, the rest of Canada realizes the devastating impact economically and politically if Quebec did separate but they cannot reach a compromise. Canada has as tried to encourage Quebec not to separate from Canada. In 1995 Quebec held its second referendum on sovereignly and the separatists narrowly lost the province wide. The province brought the case to the Supreme court of Canada to rule on the legal guidelines of unilateral secession under Canadian and international law, in the end some say the federalists (those not wanting to separate) came out on top.

Therefore, with this quote, Penelope realises that Canada would be willing to throw away what make its provinces unique just for the sake of assisting the United States and the British Empire with the war effort. This quote also demonstrates the impact the United States can have on the culture and heritage of Canada and demonstrates the dangers of Canada becoming non-independent due to the eagerness to be cooperative. To summarize, Hugh MacLennan asks a moral question of whether it is acceptable to destroy culture to be able to assist other

That being said, Mulroney thought he was still keeping with Trudeau’s vision of a “just society” by giving the provinces more say in what happens to them. Mulroney examined what Trudeau had previously expressed as possible agreements between the provincial and federal governments and found Trudeau was sabotaging Mulroney’s plans only because Trudeau could not stand to watch another Prime Minister succeed at what he had failed to do. Whether this is true or not, it is obvious the battle for the Meech Lake Accord was won by Trudeau in the end.

In my opinion, the heart of the Canadian matrix lies in the nationalist view that Canada is a ‘Cultural Mosaic’. The term Cultural Mosaic stems from the idea that Canada, as a country is made stronger with each immigrant. This is due to the fact that they generate a culturally diverse society that which Canadians can learn from. As a country we have coined this term because we feel as though we are so ‘different’ from the United States in the sense that we do not instill a “melting pot” environment— where immigrants, no matter their past, are American and should believe in said American values (i.e. The American Dream) once they get here.

The purpose of government is to create peace and order to maintain a functioning society. Legislation from the federal government of Canada is to do exactly that, but at what point does the law over state its presence and harm the people it attempts to protect? The October Crisis that occurred in 1970 under the Trudeau government is one such contentious issue: while it may have been supported by some it was highly criticized for damaging human rights in a democratic society. Essentially martial law was produced and the effects of the October Crisis caused a developed nation to take a step backward in their work to create and maintain a safe, functioning democratic state: a democratic state became a despotic driven country in a momentary lapse due to a fear driven decision. To understand the October Crisis and the implementation of the War Measures Act a brief look at the incidents preceding the kidnapping must be acknowledged.