Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Wasn't that what the Meech Lake accord was all about?
It was torpedoed by a number of provinces and public opinion in the ROC, and the fallout ended up re-energizing the Quebec independence movement in the 1990-1995 period, and even beyond.
I was a baby when that happened. Why did the other provinces torpedo the accord?
That's surprisingly more reasonable than I thought.
I made some comments in the Decline of French thread about Quebec that in retrospect may have really misjudged Quebec's stance towards other provinces. What you are saying isn't too different from what a lot of Albertans feel. I've never heard it told from this perspective, so that could be my own lack of exposure talking.
No problem. There are linguistic and cultural barriers that are more significant than one might expect.
A classic book which offers more insight into this topic in English is "The Two Solitudes" written by Hugh MacLennan.
Quote:
Originally Posted by redfirehose
Basically you support a more devolved style of Canadian government?
I was a baby when that happened. Why did the other provinces torpedo the accord?
Long story short the French handed over one of their classic lists of demands to the Canadian government that were impossible to meet. They hoped to extort more from the government and instead were told enough is enough. So they decided to take their ball and go home.
I was raised by my single (almost) unilingual-French Quebecois father in a western territory that is closer to Anchorage than it is to Vancouver and rhymes with "Yukon". My mother died when I was very young in an unexpected accident.
My father was my hero. He was someone you could always look up to. He encouraged me to always do my best, and to stay true to who I was.
We moved back to Quebec when I was twelve and I was very involved in hockey and the study of science.
Years later, I had a life-changing moment after the birth of my first daughter, and decided to no longer pursue my PhD in biochemistry at Simon-Fraser. Through a friend of a friend, I was offered an opportunity to join a business that helps children born with birth-defects, and other physical disabilities.
That was several years ago, and today I am just a guy on City-Data who runs a small business in the Montreal area with my incredible wife and my three (teenaged) children.
If it makes you feel better, the francophones are all "English" in my culture.
Thinking about this more, and it's funny how people can play fast and loose with group labels.
I remember having discussions with ROCer Canadians (at the time I lived outside Quebec), especially some from the Prairies, who insisted that former PM Brian Mulroney was "French".
It didn't matter that his parents were Irish anglophones named Benedict Martin Mulroney and Irene Mary O'Shea, just the simple fact the he was from Quebec and bilingual, made him "French".
I was a baby when that happened. Why did the other provinces torpedo the accord?
The short scholarly version of this (backed up by the history books) is that the federal government under Trudeau Senior wanted to change the Constitution in the early 1980s. Quebec was in the talks but in the end opted not to sign it as Quebec felt it changed its powers (ie reduced them) without its consent.
A few years later when Mulroney became PM he wanted to get Quebec to sign the Constitution.
He held talks and obtained an accord (named Meech Lake because of where it was signed) and all of the provinces including Quebec were on board. So it seemed acceptable to everyone at least at that time.
All of the provinces had a certain time limit to have it ratified by their legislatures and in the meantime some had elections and their Premiers were no longer the same person.
Some of the new Premiers decided to go back on the decision of the predecessors, either by reversing their province's approval of the accord or simply not having a vote on it as they were supposed to.
Since the agreement of all provinces was needed the accord died.
I was raised by my single (almost) unilingual-French Quebecois father in a western territory that is closer to Anchorage than it is to Vancouver and rhymes with "Yukon". My mother died when I was very young in an unexpected accident.
My father was my hero. He was someone you could always look up to. He encouraged me to always do my best, and to stay true to who I was.
We moved back to Quebec when I was twelve and I was very involved in hockey and the study of science.
Years later, I had a life-changing moment after the birth of my first daughter, and decided to no longer pursue my PhD in biochemistry at Simon-Fraser. Through a friend of a friend, I was offered an opportunity to join a business that helps children born with birth-defects, and other physical disabilities.
That was several years ago, and today I am just a guy on City-Data who runs a small business in the Montreal area with my incredible wife and my three (teenaged) children.
I think it really depends on who you're talking about, and often how long they've been in the country.
I do think that which language you use to live most of your life does have a significant impact on who you are culturally.
I remember hearing David Suzuki speaking about culture. He is 100% Japanese in origin but he still finds Japanese culture totally alien. He said something like "my language is English, my literature is Shakespeare, my music is..." and so on and so on.
So I think culture is mostly learned and acquired, and not something we necessarily have in our bones simply by virtue of our 21AndMe DNA profile.
Obviously people with similar 21AndMe profiles often have similar cultural characteristics, but that's by virtue of culture being "shown" to people, by their parents, families or wider society (where the culture of a specific 21AndMe profile is dominant).
I have members of my family who have the exact same background as I do (French-speaking Canadian with roots going back 400 years in Canada) and yet some people I know here in Quebec who were born abroad have more francophone Canadian culture in them than my relatives (who do not live in Quebec).
My kids have multiple friends born of immigrant parents who don't have a drop of New France settler blood in their bodies but who are more "French Canadian" culturally than their first cousins who live in Ontario (the children of some of my siblings and my wife's).
Their parents don't deride or disrespect Quebecois French culture or its roots in European French culture, they don't teach their children to do the same, and they don't routinely accuse (with the help of the media) Quebecois with full "New France blood," as you say, of being "racist."
It's not the same where Anglo culture is concerned in Southern Ontario. Basically, if you're an Anglo in Southern Ontario -- and especially if you're, God forbid, a WASP () -- the subtle but steady underlying message is that you come from racist, unacceptable stock whose entire legacy should be squashed. WASP culture, the narrative goes, is the root of all evil.
That is, of course, until a member of the British Royal Family comes to visit. Then Canada's British roots are celebrated. Or, at a funeral of a slain police officer or public official, where they'll proudly play bagpipes, in which case, Scottish/Irish culture suddenly isn't quite so evil, I suppose.
It's either a case of major cherry picking, or cultural appropriation. Because if there's "white guilt" in the US, then Canada, especially Ontario, is full of Anglo shame and vilification.
So, yes, I'm sensitive to non Anglos being referred to as "Anglo," and I'm guessing many non Anglos object to it, as well.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
) -- the subtle but steady underlying message is that you come from racist, unacceptable stock whose entire legacy should be squashed. WASP culture, the narrative goes, is the root of all evil. 
