Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
I get your points but Quebec isn't really 100% Canuck or North American, let's be honest. Quebec is... Québécois. It is very much its own place and there are real differences between it and the rest of the country and continent. Sure there are differences between two other parts of Canada that are not Quebec and among other parts of North America as well, but nowhere are the differences as great, obvious and "foreign-feeling".
As for Quebec being "European", well... it is true that there are a number of things that distinguish it and that may seem "European" to the outside observer since they tend to be stereotypically associated with the Old Continent or certain parts of it: tolerance for sexuality and nudity on TV and elsewhere, tolerance for high taxation levels and the "nanny state", lower obesity rates than almost the entire rest of NA, preference for smaller vehicles, prevalence of wine at meals and dominance of wine in liquor sales, and a whole bunch of others that I could bring up if I thought of it.
The "Euro-philic" aspirations (which do exist) of a certain elite in Quebec notwithstanding, are these really "European traits" or simply Québécois traits that people here have in common with Europeans?
Are Brazilians mad about soccer because they are European-influenced or simply because they are Brazilian?
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Well said. I agree with this...Quebec IS North American, and it IS Canadian, but like you said, not 100% - key word. Its really Quebec. Its a mix of a ton of things, but the culture there is Quebecois. But the key word is "not 100%"... For instance, Quebec has just as much a hard-on for hockey as the rest of the country. Montreal has more in common with Winnipeg or Edmonton than it does with Paris. But the amount of "cultured" people you see in Quebec as a whole, in general, is not comparable to anywhere else in Canada. Fashion and language is totally different in Quebec. Among students, I find the exception is more the trend in Quebec.
I'm also originally from Europe, and I even live there part of the year (caveat: though London really isn't the best city to compare what continental Europe is) and I can say that I do agree with isaidso, Quebec really isn't European in the term many people describe it. Its more of a misnomer, I find, that even I use because there isn't another way to describe the uniqueness of Quebec to your average North American.
That said, I do also believe, as indicated by my friends from Quebec, that many Quebecois feel isolated from Canada because of this unique culture. But one thing I always point out is that its the same wherever you go in Canada. Its not like BC culture is the same as Manitoban culture, or even Saskatchewan and the Atlantic Provinces are...I think that is also what is strange to former outsiders such as isaidso and myself...maybe its the space of the country? Its so spread out and populations are so isolated to specific regions that people feel less connected to one another? Who knows. Maybe once Alberta hits 8 million people you'll see more of an "identity" and more cultural pride of the whole province emerge?
It is more what you said, and I think you hit the nail on its head,
the similarities are there (regarding traits/commonalities) - that I can agree with. Makeup of the city/province? Not at all. Quebec does feel more like its own unique place in Canada, the same way the Atlantic Provinces, or BC or the North is. But people-wise? Definite commonalities with European culture...like you mentioned, people are generally better dressed, better cultured, in Quebec.
Quebec culture definitely has its own spark. For instance, I agree with jigglysquishy, that French Canadian cinema is much, much better than anything else general Canadian cinema pumps out.
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