优质Chapter11TheQuebecIssue

1、Chapter 11The Quebec IssuesI .Background of Quebec1. Populati on and ResourcesQuebec is the largest province in Canada with a population of about 6.5 million, accounting for 27% of the total populati on of Can ada. It occupies(cover) most of East Can ada with a land area of some 1.5 million square k

2、ilometers, which is 3 times the size of France and 7 times that of Great Brita in .It contains a wealth of min erals, much water power and great forests. It faces both Europe and the heart of North America. In the south lies the St. Lawre nee River valley and lowlands, where 90% of the population is

3、 concentrated. This is the most fertile and developed region. Quebec also neighbors on 4 American states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York.2. Provin cial capitalQuebec is one of Can adas two most importa nt provin ces. The city of Mon treal on the St. Lawrence River in southern Quebec is t

4、he chief port and the second largest city in Canada. It is also a busy center of Canadian commerce and the largest overseas grain-shipping city in the world. The regi on is the most highly developed part of Can ada. This part of the country has bee n known as the heartla nd of Can ada.3. “ Quiet Rev

5、olution”However, for decadesQuiet Revoluti6 n has tfeen going on in this provjiacebee n trying to seek either a special status with in Can ada or outright indepe nden ce. Sometimes the dema nd was so strong that a refere ndum had to be held to decide its future status.4. ASpecial provinceThe provinc

6、e of Quebec differs from other provin ces of Can ada, because it has a stro ng French culture. Of its 6.5 million population five million are French Canadians accounting for 81.9% of the total population of the province. It is the only predominantly French-speaking territory in North Americaand It i

7、s one of the largest French-speakingpommunities)utsideFranee. Fren ch-speak in Quebecker on siderthemselveso ne of Can adasfo undin gpeople. Their Ianguage, traditions, culture and institutions set Quebec apart from all other provinces. Ever since 1763, whe n France lost its empire in North America

8、to En gla nd, French Can adia ns have struggled to preserve their Ian guage and culture.5. French traditi onsFrance ruled easter n Can ada for 150 years as a colony. En gla nds victory in the French and Indian War ended Frances power in North America, and Quebec was given to Britain in 1763. But, th

9、e people of Quebec have kept many of the traditi ons of their an cestors. Farm houses are still built in the traditional French styles, and many people still speak only French. Since 1763 as more and more immigrants came from Britain, French Canadians have found it difficult to withstand the strong

10、pressures of an English majority, whose Ianguage and heritage is different from theirs. At varioustimes they have protestedaga in stthe treatme ntthey havereceivedat the han dsof Can adas En glish-speak ing majority.n . Separation from Canada1. Quebecois PartyIn the early 1960s, FrenchCanadianscompl

11、ainedhat they were kept out of jobs in gover nmena nd in some large bus in esse由ecausethey spokeo nly Fren ch.A few FrenchCan adia nSelt that the only way for them to mai ntaintheir uniq ueide ntitywas to separate completely from Can ada. .The moderate Party Quebecois (foun ded in 1968) dema nded po

12、litical separation from Canada and the radical Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ, founded in 1962) soughtthe same end by terrorism.The struggleswere mai nl yover la nguageec onomyand politics.2. a policy of bili ngualism:The struggle on the Ian guage front was aimed at hav ing Fren ch, the Ian guag

13、e of the majority in the provin ce, fully recog ni zed as the Quebecs primary la nguage. In an effort to keep Quebec stay within the Can adia n family, the Can adia n gover nment has followed a policy of bili ngualism since 1969 when the Official Language Act made both French and English the officia

14、l languages of this largely En glish-speak ing coun try. Accord ing to the Act two Ian guages appear on Can adas postage stamps and mon ey: En glish and Fren ch. And both of these Ian guages are used in the debates of the Canadian parliament at the national capital in Ottawa. In the rest of Canada,

15、as well as in Ottawa, people have a choice of using either French or En glish in their deali ngs with federal offices. Bilingualismrepresentedan effort to recognizethe rights of Canadas Fren ch-speaking-m-iflority. However, bili ngualism has not had its desired effect.3. the separatist moveme ntIn 1

16、970 the separatistmovementook a violent turn with the kidnapping two key government officials in Montreal James R. Cross and the Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laports. When the federal and provincial governments, acting in unison, refused their terms, the FLQ murdered Laporte. The kidnappers were ar

17、rested and sent to prison. But the call for separation did not cease. In November 1976, the people of Quebec elected a separatist local gover nment for the first time since the movement began. The Party Quebecois, which gained control in this election, is committed to gaining more self-rule for Queb

18、ec.One of the new provin cial gover nmen ts acts was to challe nge the federal gover nmen ts policy of bilingualism with a one-language or unilingual program of its own. A new language law, known as the“ Charter of the French LaaduagrenichQheboficial language ofthe province. This meant that court pr

19、oceedi ngs and gover nment and private bus in esses were to be con ducted en tirely in Fren ch. Also n ewcomers to Quebec were required to send their childre n to French schools. Conflicts over the law establishing French as the dominant Ianguage in Quebec, particularly schooling, kept separatism as

20、 a national issue.In the past, French Can adia ns felt threate ned by the greater nu mber of En glish-speak ing Can adia ns. But with new Ian guage law, it was Quebecs English mi nority who felt un comfortable. As a result, many young En glish-speak ing Canadians left Quebec and moved to On tario or

21、 to cities in the west, like Calgarya nd Van couverTherethey did not have to lear n a sec ond Ian guage. But by 1980 French was spoke n and recog ni zed everywhere in the provin ce.4. gover nment objectiveIn the struggle for econo mic power, one government objective was to in troduce cha nges into t

22、he workplace so that French Can adia ns would have better jobs and career opport un ities in the privatesector. Ano thergoal was to supporta nd assist Fren chCa nadianbus in essmeia nd companies they owned so that they would grow and gain a larger share of the market. A third aim was to have large C

23、an adia n and intern ati onal corporati ons which operated in the province take Quebecs specific n eeds in creas in gly into acco unt. And a final objective was to make the Quebec gover nment a major part ner with private en terprise in Quebecs econo mic developme nt. In the1960s and 1970s Quebecs e

24、cono mic situati on improved and new French Can adia n provin ces compa nies moved their head offices or manu facturi ng operati ons to On tario.Politically the Quebec gover nmen tsgoal was to in crease Quebecs in flue nee inCon federatio n and to make itself the gover nment with primary resp on sib

25、ility for French Can adia ns. The debate over the Con stitutio n was one of the major themes. Quebecs refusal to accept the new Can adia n Con stituti on in 1982 showed the i nten sity of the struggle.5. Meech Lake AccordIn June 1987 Can adas top politicia ns reached an agreeme nt offeri ng the prov

26、ince special status with in the country and privileges to promote its French culture and Ian guage. However, that agreeme nt called Meech Lake Accord, was killed in June 1990 because of strong oppositi on from Can adas En glish-speak ing majority.The failureof the Meech Lake Accordope nedthe doorsto

27、 in creasi ngiatio nalisma nddema nds for a referendum on its future status were grow ing as separatist forces stepped up efforts towards in depe nden ce. On October 30, 1995 a refere ndum on Quebecs future status was held in the provin ce. The result was that those who were aga inst in depe ndence

28、defeated advocates of in depe ndence by a slender majority (50.6% to 49.4%), thus temporarily bringing to an end the lasti ng debate on the provin ces future.However, what is worth noting is that though the advocates of independence are thelosers, the differe nee betwee n the popular votes of the tw

29、o sides is only about 1%, which is quitedifferent from what it was in the 1980 referendum. In the referendum held in 1980 those who were aga inst in depe ndence got 59% of the popular votes and the advocates of in depe ndence got only 41% of the votes. This shows that the nu mber of people for in de

30、pe ndence is grow ing quickly. It is estimatedthat of all the 82% French-speakingDanadians60% are for in depe ndenceT his grow ingn atio nalisnmea nsthat Quebecsfuture statushas remained unresolved.Multiple ChoicesI. Quebec s legal system is based onA. Canan dia n lawB. French civil lawC. French criin al lawD. British com mon law2. Th