Impact of student's protests on Montreal's image

[someone123]

It all depends on what time period you are talking about, but if you go back to 1900 or earlier there was not a single "Anglo mass", and in fact many of the people with ancestors from the British Isles did not speak English. A large percentage (as in, majorities in many areas) of rural Scottish immigrants spoke Gaelic. If you go back to the 18th century, many immigrants from England didn't speak English either. There were more linguistic minority groups then (both in England and France -- Wikipedia cites an estimate that over 39% of France's population in 1860 spoke Occitan! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vergonha) and they were disproportionately likely to emigrate from their home countries. There weren't a lot of affluent Londoners or Parisians making the crossing back in 1650 or 1750.

In Western Canada many of the original settlers were from Germany or Eastern Europe.

Today the question of "ethnic origin" doesn't even make sense for a lot of people. For a certain part of the population the "French vs. English" distinction is also pretty murky.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by someone123

It all depends on what time period you are talking about, but if you go back to 1900 or earlier there was not a single "Anglo mass", and in fact many of the people with ancestors from the British Isles did not speak English. A large percentage (as in, majorities in many areas) of rural Scottish immigrants spoke Gaelic. If you go back to the 18th century, many immigrants from England didn't speak English either. There were more linguistic minority groups then (both in England and France -- Wikipedia cites an estimate that over 39% of France's population in 1860 spoke Occitan! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vergonha) and they were disproportionately likely to emigrate from their home countries. There weren't a lot of affluent Londoners or Parisians making the crossing back in 1650 or 1750.

In Western Canada many of the original settlers were from Germany or Eastern Europe.

Today the question of "ethnic origin" doesn't even make sense for a lot of people. For a certain part of the population the "French vs. English" distinction is also pretty murky.

Good additions to the discussion.

I think that at this juncture in history, it's not so much about ethnic origin than it is about culture. My African-born neighbours are more "French Canadian" culturally than certain members of my family in the West who could be said to be close to 100% French Canadian in bloodlines but who are totally assimilated into "English Canada".

[SignalHillHiker]

Do you now perceive Montreal as a dangerous place?

Not at all - and, even if I did, I would be more fearful of being caught up in a disproportionately violent police crackdown than being in any sort of danger posed by protesters. I'm kind of impressed, actually, at how quickly the protests grew in scope and support as a result of the misguided attempts to crush it.

Would you cancel a planned trip there because of this?

Possibly, if it would prove too inconvenient for travel or if the reasons for my visit were no longer possible. But if whatever I was coming to see/do was still happening, and I could reasonably expect to get to it, I'd still go.

Would you be scared of going there?

No, not at all.

How are the medias depicting the events in your community?

The media in Newfoundland didn't spend much time covering these protests. I did see an article about a solidarity protest in downtown St. John's that drew a small crowd. The governments of Newfoundland and Quebec traditionally don't get along and I find our media tends to ignore Quebec as much as possible.

[davidivivid]

SignalHillHiker, you've started to post here recently but I'll say that your interventions have been quite ineteresting. Great insights and pics from Newfoundland.

[cjbs1]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

How are the medias depicting the events in your community?

The media in Newfoundland didn't spend much time covering these protests. I did see an article about a solidarity protest in downtown St. John's that drew a small crowd. The governments of Newfoundland and Quebec traditionally don't get along and I find our media tends to ignore Quebec as much as possible.

NTV for the win !!!

After spending many months all across NL, I also figured out Quebec is pretty much absent from the medias, much more than say in Nova-Scotia or Ontario.

But I also realized Nler's and Qcer's have much more in common than they could ever imagine.
Except perhaps the language, we are both very close on several levels.