A QUEBEC KISS?

QUEBEC'S CHÂTEAU DISNEY

By RICHARD CARREÑO

[WC News Service]

Quebec

Gare du Palais

Château Frontenac

Every visitor to this historic city, founded in 1608 and one of the oldest in North America, can't miss the monumental, turreted structure that looms over St. Lawrence River. In fact, the Château Frontenac almost swallows whole the city's legendary Haut-Ville, dominating the skyscape as the iconic symbol of this capital of Quebec Province and the indisputable heart of French Canada. 

 

Iconic. Also ironic.

 

First, the Frontenac, despite its vague architectural conceit to Loire Valley antecedents, isn't really a château. (It's a hotel). In addition, the building's founding was rooted in a very American  instinct -- capital and economic growth. Its owner, the Canadian Pacific Railway, wanted to expand and centre tourism and commerce in what still a riparian backwater, and hired American staritect Bruce Price, who was then making the rounds in Anglo-Canadian business circles, to do the job. Historic? Hardly. Most telling of all, at least by local standards, the edifice isn't really that old. Construction began only in 1893.

Richard Carreño travels to Quebec



Malbaie, Quebec

... On Canada's
'Gold Coast,'Discovers Whales and Fat Cats

 

Richard Carreño

[Writers Clearinghouse News Service]
La Malbaie, Quebec
Think the Gold Coast of Florida. Without the palm trees. Think the Cote d'Azur. With a similar French flair. For almost a century, this riparian town, part former fishing village and now year-round tourist mecca, has been the coastal centre of what may be the closest thing that Quebec, even Canada, has to a European-styled Riviera. Including the rich and famous.

Join Us at CANADA DAY Fete 1 July!

Canada DayFete du Canada

Join other Canadians and Friends of Canada in honouring Canada DayFete du Canada 1 July in Center City at the only Philadelphia venue to recognise the event!

Where: The Irish Pub, 1123 Walnut Street

When: From 5 PM to 8 PM, Wednesday, 1 July

This event is for all Canadians (les francophones sont bienvenues!), for all friends of Canada, those related to Canadians, and those who want to learn more about Canada's great national health insurance programme, the best in the world. (Beware! It's socialism).

Special pricing for drink and food on offer!

No RSVP is necessary. Just show up and look for the Maple Leaf and Quebecois flags. If you want to indicate your attendance, or for more details, contact Richard via JohnBullEsq@yahoo.com.

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL EVENT OF THE CANADIAN EMBASSY IN WASHINGTON'S 'CANADA ACROSS AMERICA' PROGRAMME. DETAILS VIA mailto:Connect2Canada@CanadianEmbassy.org

Buckin' the Trend

Canada Launches New 'Loonie'

Québec en blanc et noir

Québec & Hitchcock

Pix from 'I Confess,' 1953 Alfred Hitchcock picture, via www.andrewcusak.com, one of the most brilliant, interesting sites around!

Fortress America

US's Alarming Canadian Border-Jamming Policies, or Why Not Build a Moat Around the Whole-Damned Place? Lawrence Martin From Monday's Globe and Mail 30 December 2007 In a pre-Christmas interview, International Trade Minister David Emerson issued a warning and a plea. The warning? The security clampdown at the Canada-U.S. border is undermining trade and threatening the two countries' special ties. The plea? The U.S. has to "recommit to the North American relationship. … Somebody at the high level has to say it's time that this stopped." The minister's outburst signalled how disturbing the raft of new border barricades: the fees, the inspections, the passports are becoming. "You get this absolute supremacy of security trumping everything," Mr. Emerson told The Globe and Mail's Steven Chase. He said he was hearing one border horror story after another. It used to be a "just in time" supply chain, he said. Now it's more like "just in case." He described the mindsets of Washington's security overlords as "rigid" and threatening to "the special relationship." The border-jamming policies have come at the worst of times. The rising Canadian dollar has already hit our exports hard. The declining American economy will further dampen bilateral trade. On top of that is the rightful concern that this country hasn't developed alternative markets to cope with a decline in bilateral trade. With China and India, the ascendant big powers, we do little business. With Brazil and Russia, it's essentially the same. With the European Union, we're squeezed out. On the question of national champions, we haven't as the hollowing-out theorists have noted got any. What we do have is a commodities boom, and that can't last forever. It is therefore easy to understand why Mr. Emerson is sounding the alarm. His strong wording, given the way our government operates, probably had Prime Minister Stephen Harper's blessing, which is a good thing. Our ambassador in Washington, Michael Wilson, needs to be heard from as well. In Mr. Wilson's day in Ottawa, when he was finance minister in the Mulroney government, Allan Gotlieb was at large in Washington. Mr. Gotlieb was famous for having half the Ronald Reagan cabinet over for cocktails every fortnight. "Whenever Reagan found someone missing from a cabinet meeting," wrote Allan Fotheringham, "he'd phone Gotlieb's chef to check the table setting." That kind of lobbying is needed now. What must be galling for Ottawa is the timing of the American measures. The 9/11 calamity was more than six years ago. There hasn't been a terrorist hit on this continent since. But, while the calm has ensued, the border barricades have risen. Reverse logic. Catching wind of Mr. Emerson's reproach, David Wilkins, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, brushed it off, saying the headlines should be boasting of bilateral trade's high numbers without any security incidents. "We don't talk about the good news," he said. The good news? In March, having undercut the spirit of the free-trade agreement with its hard-line antics during the softwood lumber dispute, Washington, bidding to impose more costs on our lumber producers, issued a formal complaint alleging unfair conduct by Ottawa and the provinces. In April, the U.S. scuppered a pilot project that would have seen customs inspections conducted well before crossing the border, saving important time. In June, Washington levied new border taxes and inspections for trucks and railway cars from Canada. In November, a Transport Canada report put the cost of anti-terror security measures to our transportation industry at half a billion dollars. We should hardly be astonished that David Emerson isn't talking about the good news. The mindset south of the border doesn't change. In the wake of 9/11, some initially chose to blame our porous border. They were proved wrong. We brought in anti-terrorist measures, but they weren't enough. With the news from Pakistan, the "absolute supremacy," as Mr. Emerson put it, of the American security apparatus will hardly be diminished. The minister's pleas for reason to prevail at the border will fall on deaf ears. Our troubling trade situation will be further aggravated. We're not Pakistan, but that doesn't matter.

Francophonie

No Dial Tone:









New England's Franco-Americans are New 'Silent Minority'

[The following is a slightly amended version of an original-draft proposal for the Franco-American Political Project. Details regarding the Project follow the text. It was written in 1978].

By Richard Carreño
The Franco-American Political Project targeted New England's single largest minority.

Federal census figures, based on the latest, 1970 census, showed a Canadian-American population in New England of about 1 million. Reliable estimates, including those from the federal Bureau of Census, now placed the Franco-American population -- representing the overwhelming majority of the Canadian-American population -- at an increased 1.5 million.

Almost half of this population resides in the most populous of the five New England states, Massachussetts.

Among the most concentrated Franco-American communities are those in Maine, where about 15 percent of the state's school-aged children are from French-speaking homes, according to the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. In some areas along the Quebec border, that figure increases to more than 90 percent. In Lewiston, Maine's second largest city, children from francophone families represent 60 percent of total schools enrolment.

In New Hampshire, Franco-Americans are heavily concentrated in the Manchester area, where, in 1971, 31.7 percent of the city's population was identified as of French-Canadian ancestry.

Connecticut's population, about 6 percent of the state's total population, is largely located in the state's northeastern corner, nearby to Putnam and Killingly.

Despite their numbers and significant minority presence as foreign-language speakers, Franco-Americans in New England have historically maintained low profiles in politics, civil rights, and in minority affairs. Unlike other ethnic groups with equally deep roots in the region -- Irish-Americans and Italo-Americans are common examples -- the Franco-American community has never matched these other ethnic groups in wielding political clout and ballot-box success. The result? Franco-Americans have been long known as the 'silent minority.'

According to many analysts, the community's low political involvement evinces an ethnic character trait -- in this case, the lack of personal aggressiveness and ego, often associated with successful political ventures. The community, as a whole, is often described as self-centred, suspicious of 'alien' institutional power, and under-educated. These realities are attributed to a social system -- one transplanted from Quebec-- top heavy with Roman Catholic clerics as community leaders and spokesmen.

In addition, the community's fierce efforts to preserve cultural values has accounted for an ethnic introspection that allowed for little contact with the diluting influences of the larger society. This, despite an increasingly losing struggle to retain French as a chief defining characteristic.

The community's introversion can also be linked to 19th century migratory patterns, highlighted by geographical proximity to homelands in Quebec and New Brunswick. At least initially, many migrants to New England saw themselves as only transients. Because of proximity and easy border crossings -- again in the early stages of late 19th century migration -- many French-Canadians would frequently return 'home' to visit remaining family and renew ties through renewed contact with local affairs and politics.

Despite an increasingly stronger bond with their new residence -- made only stronger by births, deaths, and work -- close physical contact with Canada still worked to diminish an even greater political and societal commitment. What resulted was a tightly-wrought ethic enclave that -- because of its lack of assimilation -- became a ready target of prejudice and stereotyping.

French-Canadians weren't quick to become naturalised Americans. The average waiting time between immigration and seeking citizenship was 16.4 years, according to published studies. These reports also showed that almost 50 percent of French-Canadian immigrants in the 19th century returned to Canada, not to return to New England. (More on this later).

This migratory pattern infused New England's Franco community with a strong, ongoing bond to the 'patrie.' In more recent years, members of second and third generation families have come to more strongly identify with this country. Yet, even later generations of Franco-American are still known to experience a tug-of-war -- and a tug at the heartstrings -- between their values as French-Canadians and as French-Americans. (It's not uncommon, even today, for many Franco families to vacation in Quebec and New Brunswick).

Franco-Americans, then, are distinguishable from other 19th century and early 20th century immigrant groups to the United States. European immigrants, for one, were forced by necessity (cost, distance) to sever relations with native countries. Franco-Americans -- much like Puerto Ricans in the mid-20th century -- were not.

While other groups assimilated, losing native languages, all the while creating romanticised myths of their early years in America, Franco-Americans in large measure preserved French as a principal lingua franca, and transplanted their institutions (mainly religious, or quasi-religious as in the case of the Union St. Jean-Baptiste). An authentic heritage was maintained, albeit one crystallised in a Quebec of a remote past.

The Franco-American community in New England defied many of the assimilation stereotypes often associated with other ethnic groups of equal longevity in this country.

As noted previously, the Franco experience here shares -- because of proximity to homeland and a commitment to the retention of a native language -- a common ground with Puerto Rican immigration, the newest wave of 'foreign' settlement in New England. In turn, differences are notable, as well. The Franco's community long presence in New England has meant that class, economic, and social structures have scaffolded that community in ways that the Hispanic community has yet to achieve.

Still, the Franco-American community is not as unified as a casual observer might believe. General social policy (community organisation by and for the elderly) and issues regarding the degree of identification with American, French, and/or Quebec cultural values still are debated.

Dividing the discourse are those aligned or identified as the community's elder 'grandees,' its younger leaders, French cultural elitists, community-based populists, the politically conservative and the politically liberal, and, of course, Quebec chauvinists and activists grounded in New England ethnic identification.

In the fore, as well, is the direction of the moribund Union St. Jean-Baptiste, a prominent 'national' fraternal group that critics see as having too little fiery, activist zeal. Federally-funded bilingual education, linked to language retention and fashioned after the Latino model, also gets a frequent airing.

The preservation of French is related the well-being of the French-language press, historically the domain of Quebec nationalists, and those in intellectual and cultural vanguards.

Despite divisions, New England's Franco community is, by most accounts, brimming with a renewed ethnic consciousness and pride. This self-recognition was evident during the second annual Franco-American Conference, held in June 1979 in Providence, Rhode Island. More than 300 representatives of a dozen Franco-American community groups, education associations, and cultural organisations met to form a national coalition. That new group, the Franco-American Confederation, was organised to sponsor task forces to explore health issues, social services, opportunities for youth, equality for women, and the advocacy for bilingual education.

What external forces, if any, have activated the community's once dormant consciousness? Has Quebec involvement -- political, cultural, monetarily -- figured in manipulating, covertly or overtly, Franco public opinion?

Has Quebec's separatist movement, led by the Parti Quebec and Quebec Premier Rene Levesque, contributed to greater cultural awareness? Levesque has already made it clear that he wished for closer ties between his province and the five states, and he made that even plainer on a personal level, as well. Like many French-Canadians, Levesque spends his summer holidays in New England. (In his case, he vacations on Cape Cod in Massachusetts).

Ironically, the 'Free Quebec' movement has also had unintended consequences. Some disaffected Quebecois have said to spur new immigration to New England, bringing theirs and other financial capital and investment as a bonus.

Direct Quebec involvement in French-Canadian affairs in New England already has a precedent. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the provincial government organised a repatriation movement to encourage French-Canadians to return to their homeland. As noted before, the drive was not without success.

Lastly, has France -- echoes of General Charles de Gaulle's divisive 'Quebec Libre!' statement during the 1967 Montreal World's Fair ring in one's ears --played any role in the community's activism?

About the Franco-American Political Project
Whether known as New England's 'French-Canadians,' 'Franco-Americans,' or, more recently, as 'Quebecois,' or 'French Quebekkers,' this French-language community -- a vestige of French 17th and 18th century colonial power -- has always been an under-reported minority group. The Project was an early, ground-breaking attempt explore the inner-workings of the Franco community. The project sought funding from the National Endowment for Humanities and was a project of Quinebaug Valley Community College, Danielson, Connecticut.
For additional information and citations to further readings, contact the author at mailto:JuntoEzine@yahhoo.co.uk.