Canada
Radhika Sharma
Why People Live In Canada
Quebec's Independence movement
Quebec is a predominately French Canadian province located in eastern Canada, where a large part if the Canadian economy is centered. By the early 1900s, most French Canadian families had been living in Quebec for hundreds of years, and majority of people lived on farms and rarely left their villages. While most British Canadians were Protestant, most French Canadians were Catholic. The idea of a separate French Canada spread slowly, and at first many French Canadians did not think Quebec needed independence just to be French. By the 1960s many French Canadians had become Quebec nationalists & thought of themselves as Quebecois instead of Canadians. Growing populations pushed into farmlands, and rural people grew poor, because of this many chose to leave farms & move to cities. They stopped going to Catholic churches, they no longer lived a traditional lifestyle, and English was spoken in most cities, while French was not. Many French Canadians felt that their language and culture might disappear because the French language and culture became overwhelmed by English. The Quebecois became tired of feeling like second class in their own country. Most started to feel that Quebec should secede from Canada so they can protect French language and culture, to make other Canadians respect French language and culture, to be treated as equals with English-speaking Canadians, and to preserve the French Canadian culture for generations. Some argued that Quebec should not become independent because it would result in economic disaster for Quebec, and ruin national unity and pride. in 1980 & 1995 the citizens of Quebec voted whether or not to secede from Canada, both votes were in favor of staying Canadian though the results were very close. The Canadian government does not want to Quebec to separate from Canada because, they are a huge economic help to Canada, they are rich in natural resources, and they have access to many waterways. The Canadian government had made several reforms in attempt to keep separatists happy. in 1982 The Constitution Act made Canada bilingual, they now had two official languages (English and French). French is now the only official language in Quebec. Some people are happy with the changes, but others still want Quebec to become independent.