Québec

ORIGIN OF PROVINCE NAME: From an Algonquin Indian word meaning "narrow passage" or "strait," referring to the narrowing of the St. Lawrence River at what is currently Québec City.

NICKNAME: La Belle Province (The Beautiful Province).

CAPITAL: Québec City.

ENTERED CONFEDERATION: 1 July 1867.

MOTTO: Je me souviens (I remember).

COAT OF ARMS: Consists of a shield with a royal crown above and a golden scroll with blue borders bearing the provincial motto below. The upper third of the shield has three white upright fleur-de-lis on a blue background, the middle third has a gold leopard on a red background, and the lower third a sugar maple sprig on a gold background.

FLAG: The flag of Québec, also known as the "fleurdelisé" flag, consists of a white cross on a sky-blue field, with an upright fleur-de-lis centered in each of the four quarters.

FLORAL EMBLEM: Blue flag.

BIRD: Snowy owl.

TREE: Yellow birch.

TIME: 8 AM AST = noon GMT; 7 AM EST = noon GMT.

1 Location and Size

Québec is almost entirely surrounded by water. It is bordered on the north by the Hudson Strait; on the east by Labrador (the mainland portion of the province of Newfoundland); on the southeast by the Gulf of St. Lawrence; on the south by New Brunswick and the US states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York; on the southwest and west by Ontario; and on the west and northwest by James Bay and Hudson Bay. Québec has an area of 594,857 square miles (1,545,680 square kilometers), three times that of France and seven times that of Great Britain. It is the largest of Canada's provinces.

2 Topography

From north to south, Québec takes in three main geographical regions: the Canadian Shield, the St. Lawrence lowlands, and the Appalachian Mountains. Extending from the shores of the Canadian Arctic to the Laurentians, the Canadian Shield covers about 60% of the land mass, and is the world's oldest mountain range. The highest point in Québec is located in this region; it is Mount D'Iberville—elevation 5,420 feet (1,652 meters) above sea level—located in the Torngat Mountains in extreme northeastern Québec

The St. Lawrence River, the province's dominant geographical feature, links the Atlantic Ocean with the Great Lakes. The St. Lawrence lowlands are dotted with more than a million lakes and rivers. To the south, the foothills of the Appalachians separate Québec from the United States. Québec's tens of thousands of lakes and rivers account for 16% of the world's fresh water supply.

Of Québec's total land area, 51% is forested area, 27% is arctic and forest tundra, and 22% is taiga (a transitional area between forests and tundra, with scattered trees).

Québec: Population Profile

Population by Age Group

Major Cities by Population

3 Climate

Southern Québec, along the St. Lawrence River, has a temperate continental climate, while the bay and Gulf of St. Lawrence have a temperate maritime climate. Permafrost reigns in the northern part of the Canadian Shield; only dwarf birches and lichen are able to grow there. Average temperatures for January are 16°f (−8.7°c) in Montréal, 10°f (−12.1°c) in Québec City, 8°f (−13.2°c) in Baie-Comeau, and −10°f (−23.3°c) in Kuujjuak. In July, average temperatures are 71°f (21.8°c) in Montréal, 66°f (19.1°c) in Québec City, 62°f (16.8°c) in Baie-Comeau, and 53°f (11.4°c) in Kuujjuak. The warmest recorded temperature in Québec was 104°f (40°c) on 6 July 1921 at Ville Marie and the coldest was −66°f (−54.4°c) on 5 February 1923 at Doucet.

4 Plants and Animals

The relatively temperate climate of the south is hospitable for a wide variety of native as well as imported European plants. A myriad of migratory ducks and geese annually fly across Québec, and large colonies of local bird species inhabit the numerous islands in the Bas-Saint-Laurant region of the St. Lawrence River. Several species of whale seasonally cruise through the St. Lawrence straits. Muskie and trout are common stream and lake fish species. Seals are common to Îles-de-la-Madeleine and the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Woodland caribou, moose, muskrats, beavers, eagles, and wolves inhabit the northern reaches of the province. Polar bears live in the far north along Hudson Bay.

In 2006, there were 24 animal species listed as threatened or endangered, including the barn owl, beluga whale, wolverine, peregrine falcon, stinkpot, and the Allegheny Mountain dusky salamander. The great auk, Labrador duck, and passenger pigeon have become extinct. The same year, there were 14 plant species listed as threatened or endangered, including American ginseng, spotted wintergreen, and the mountain holly fern.

5 Environmental Protection

Québec produces about 22% of Canada's hazardous waste. Annual air pollution emissions include about 2.5 million tons of nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide (gases that cause smog), some 930,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide compounds (gases that produce acid rain), and the equivalent of about 17 million tons of carbon dioxide. In 2001, Québec produced the third highest level of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada (12.5%), behind Alberta and Ontario.

For decades, tons of sulfur dioxide and other chemicals were put into the air by factories in the American Midwest. Prevailing winds carry the toxins northward across Québec, Ontario, and the northeastern United States. As a result, poisonous rain clouds release acidic rain on the lands and lakes to the north. By 1980, hundreds of lakes in Québec and Ontario were severely damaged; forests and farms were affected as well.

The Montréal Protocol is an international treaty that seeks to reduce and eliminate the consumption of substances believed to deplete the ozone layer. The protocol came into force on 1 January 1989 and by 2003 had been ratified by 183 other nations to reduce the global consumption of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons to 1986 levels. Since its adoption, the protocol has been amended four times to take into account progress made in scientific knowledge related to ozone depletion. The amendments led to the elimination of the production of halons in 1994, and to the elimination of the production of CFCs in developed countries in 1996. The amendments also set 2030 as the deadline for the elimination of the production of hydro-chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs).

According to surveys conducted by the province of Québec, in 2002, a total of 5,543,800 metric tons of non-hazardous waste was disposed of in public and private waste disposal facilities in the province. Of that total, residential sources accounted for 2,876,000 metric tons, while industrial, commercial and institutional sources accounted for 2,261,000 metric tons, and construction and demolition sources accounted for 406,800 metric tons.

6 Population

By 1931, some 63% of Québec's population lived in cities, up from 36% in 1901. During those 30 years, the population of Montréal doubled to over 818,000, accounting for 28% of the province's growth.

Québec's estimated population as of 1 April 2006 was 7.5 million, and was equivalent to just under one-quarter of the national total. The majority of Québeckers live in urban centers located along the St. Lawrence. Montréal had a population of 1.6 million in 2006. Québec City, North America's oldest fortified city and Québec's capital, is a seaport with a population of 491,142 in 2006. Other Québec cities and their populations include: Laval, 368,709; Gatineau, 242,124; Longueuil, 229,330; Sherbrooke, 147,427; Saguenay, 143,692; Lévis, 130,006; Trois-Rivières, 126,323; and Terrebonne, 94,703.

In 2006, Québec and Nova Scotia had the oldest populations in Canada, with median ages of 38.8 years. In 2006, those age 14 and under accounted for 16% of Québec's population, the lowest proportion in Canada. The number of elderly people aged 80 and older in Québec rose 42% from 1991 to 2001.

7 Ethnic Groups

In the early years of French settlement, men significantly outnumbered women. The imbalance between males and females prevented many men from finding a wife from within their own community. By the 1670s, French fur traders started marrying native women, and their descendants were absorbed into their mothers' cultures. The children of the Europeans and the natives became known as the Métis, who eventually developed into a distinct cultural group.

Québec has more than two million people of French origin, 374,500 of British origin, and about 130,165 Aboriginals (Native Peoples, including Mohawk, Cree, Montagnais, Algonquin, Attikamek, Micmac, Huron, Abenaki, and Naskapi). Eleven distinct Aboriginal nations in Québec have been recognized by the federal Indian Act; the largest native band in the province is at Kahnawake. Montréal is one of Canada's most ethnically diverse metropolitan areas, with large Italian, Greek, Portuguese, and Chinese communities, as well as a notable South American, Arab, and Asian population.

Ethnic divisions between francophones (speakers of French) and anglophones (speakers of English) have recently been replaced by tensions between ethnic Europeans and Aboriginals. In 1990, a group of Mohawks protested the rezoning of a burial ground in Oka, resulting in armed confrontation and a three-month siege by federal troops.

8 Languages

Most of North America's francophones live in Québec. French is the mother tongue of 80.9% of Québeckers, while 7.8% cite English as their mother tongue.

The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, established in 1963, documented the ways that the French language and culture were given a secondary position in Canadian society. After the commission issued its findings in 1969, there was a tide of legislation requiring the use of both English and French in public activities, which stirred up opposition outside Québec. In 1977, Québec's National Assembly adopted the Charter of the French Language, with the aim of making French the language of the government, judicial system, and all official signs, as well as the customary language of work, instruction, communications, commerce, and business.

In addition to French and English, some 35 other languages are spoken by provincial residents, with Italian, Arabic, Spanish, and Greek the most prevalent. Each Aboriginal nation uses its own language, with the exception of the Abenakis, Huron-Wendats, and Malecites.

9 Religions

With the overwhelming majority of its residents Roman Catholic, Québec is unique to Canada. After 1840, the Catholic church started to grow across Québec, and many religious orders from France established themselves. Catholics established their own lay, burial, and philanthropic societies.

Eighty-three percent of the population are Roman Catholic, or about 5,939,700 people. Only 4.7% of the population, or about 335,590 people, are Protestant, including Anglicans, members of the United Church of Canada, Baptists, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, and Lutherans. Québec also has about 108,620 Muslims, 89,915 Jews, 100,375 people of Eastern Orthodox faith, 41,380 Buddhists, 24,525 Hindus and 8,225 Sikhs. About 5.8% of the population, or about 413,190 people, profess no religious affiliation, the lowest such rate in Canada.

10 Transportation

The St. Lawrence River's 2,330 miles (3,750 kilometers) of navigable length has been the transportation focus in Québec for 400 years. The expansion of farming, logging, and mining at the end of the 1800s helped with the original construction of the major arteries of the road system. Road transport is controlled by the Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ), while sea, air, and rail transport are mainly under federal control.

The 850-mile Grand Trunk Railroad first opened in 1856, connecting Québec City and Montréal to Toronto. Railroads are mostly operated by Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP). The preferred method of transport by manufacturers is often via railway, since much of Québec's exports are bulky natural resources (such as pulp and paper, lumber, and ore). The National Transportation Act of 1987 mandated the abandonment of unprofitable rail lines. As a result, much freight traffic has been switched from rail to road in Québec. In 2004, the province had about 5,853 miles (9,420 kilometers) of rail track.

Most of the highway system was built in the 1960s, and today serves 80% of Québec's population, linking urban centers and connecting to the networks of Ontario and New England. In 2005, Québec had 4,524,067 registered road motor vehicles, with 16,791 buses, 165,329 motorcycles and mopeds, and 605,324 off road, construction, and farm vehicles. There were about 1,348,714 registered trailers. During the winter, massive snow clearing and de-icing operations are necessary to keep roads open.

Public transportation companies serve about 3.5 million people and have almost 95% of the urban bus fleet. The MTQ is legally required by the Education Act to subsidize school busing. Ferries to the Côte-Nord region operate weekly from April to January.

In 1809, Canada's first steamer began operating between Montréal and Québec City, becoming the first mechanized transportation in Québec. Today, ferries throughout Québec annually carry over 5 million passengers and 1.7 million vehicles.

Canada's first canals were built around Montréal during 1779–83. The Rideau Canal opened in 1832 (at a cost of £1 million), providing a new route between Montréal and Lake Ontario. In 1843, the Cornwall Canal opened, providing a more direct route to Lake Ontario.

Québec has 78 commercial ports. The main ports are at Montréal and Québec City.

Québec has some 300 landing sites, public and private airports, seaplane bases, and heliports. Major international commercial air facilities are Montréal-Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport (formerly Dorval International Airport) and Mirabel International, both in the Montréal area. Other important commercial airports are at Québec City, Sept-ëles, Val-d'Or, Bagotville-Saguenay, Rouyn-Noranda, Mont-Joli, and Baie-Comeau. The MTQ also provides floatplane, skiplane, and helicopter service for remote areas in the Côte-Nord region.

11 History

French Settlement

The eastern Canadian province of Québec was originally inhabited by members of the Algonquin and Iroquois tribes. The northern part of the province was, and still is, inhabited by the Inuit (previously known as "Eskimos").

The European history of Québec began with the arrival of the French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1534. During the years that followed, a thriving fur trade was established and a longstanding rivalry developed between French and English colonists. Québec City, founded in 1608, became the capital of New France. In the early years of the 21st century, the region was still regarded as the cradle of French-Canadian civilization.

French-English rivalry in North America led to the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). Québec City fell to British forces in 1759. With the Treaty of Paris in 1763, New France became a colony of Britain, but the Québec Act of 1774 gave official recognition to French civil laws, guaranteed religious freedom, and authorized the use of the French language in the region.

In 1791, the colony was divided in two. Large amounts of Loyalists (American colonists who wished to remain British subjects) fled north after the American Revolution to settle in western Québec. This led to the creation of Upper Canada (now Ontario) and Lower Canada (Québec). After rebellions in both regions in 1837, the two were reunited by the Act of Union and became the Province of Canada. In 1867, Québec became a founding member of the new Dominion of Canada, and Pierre-Joseph-Olivier. Chauveau became its first premier. From the beginning, however, there were tensions between the French Canadians and the British.

Urbanization began in Québec at the end of the 19th century. Whereas only 16.6% of the province's population lived in urban centers in 1861, that number had jumped to almost 40% by 1901. The late 19th century also saw the formation of factory workers' unions in Québec. Laws were passed that prohibited employers from hiring girls under the age of 14 and boys under the age of 12, and weekly work hours were limited. Industrialization also took off in Québec at the end of the 19th century. Pulp and paper, mining, and aluminum industries were all developed in the regions of Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean, Trois Rivières and Abitibi at this time, with most products destined for export to the United States.

War and Depression

Canada experienced losses of over 68,000 soldiers in World War I (1914–18), and veterans returning to Québec faced a bleak future. Jobs were scarce and low paying, and tariffs (taxes) on imports kept prices for consumer goods high. Local farmers were hit hard by falling wheat prices in the postwar period.

For a long time, Québec's rural roots and domination by the Roman Catholic Church made it a traditional agrarian (farming) society. But in the 1920s, another wave of urbanization hit the province, bringing with it higher living standards. Grain prices recovered, and Canadian industry grew even more. Improvements to roads and railways enabled businesses to grow, and automobiles, telephones, electrical appliances, and other consumer goods became widely available.

All of Canada suffered during the Great Depression, a period of severe economic slowdown that began in 1929. In addition to the problems with grain prices during the early 1920s, droughts and frequent crop failures devastated the national economy, which still relied heavily on agriculture. Social welfare programs expanded rapidly during the 1930s to help the people of Canada through this especially difficult time. The Union Nationale, established by Maurice Duplessis, came to power in Québec in the 1930s. With the support of the Roman Catholic Church, the government launched a "back-to-the-land" movement, encouraging families to move from the city and settle in the regions of Gaspé, Côte Nord and Abitibi. Ultimately, the movement was unsuccessful, since the farms were isolated and located in areas where growing conditions were poor.

Following World War II (1939–45), consumer spending and immigration to Canada increased rapidly. Urbanization spread through most parts of Canada, but not to Québec, where Duplessis remained in power until 1959. Some agricultural improvements were made in the 1950s: rural electrification was undertaken so that 90% of farms in Québec had electricity by 1956, and farmers were offered farm credit so that they could buy new equipment. American mining companies also began to invest heavily in iron ore mining during this period, and manufacturing industries were growing and drawing more and more of the rural population to the cities. When Duplessis died in 1959, Québec was ready for change.

A Period of Transition

Beginning in 1960, Québec entered a period of transition: the "Quiet Revolution." It was an era marked by rapid economic expansion, cultural pride, and the overhauling of political institutions to meet the needs of contemporary society. In 1967, Canada's centennial anniversary, the world's fair was held in Montréal.

From this time onward, political tensions ran high as the province sought to assume greater control over its economy and society. The early 1970s were marked by hostility as acts of terrorism, politically motivated murders, and violent labor strikes struck Québec. In 1976, Québeckers elected the Parti Québécois (PQ), a party that sought independence for the region. The PQ made French the official language of Québec, and, as a result, many English-speaking people and their companies left the province.

The Question of Secession

Canada's unity has been threatened by the possibility of Québec's secession, or separation, from the rest of the country. As a French-speaking area that places high value on the preservation of its French culture, Québec has found itself in a unique position: key issues of concern for its residents are the survival of all things French. Québeckers felt that the Canadian Constitution of 1982 did not address their cultural concerns sufficiently. When Robert Bourassa became Premier of Québec in December 1985, he demanded five minimum conditions be met before he would sign the Canadian Constitution. These demands set off the negotiations that resulted in the Meech Lake Accord (1987) and the Charlottetown Accord (1992).

The Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords both proposed the recognition of Québec as a "distinct society" within the nation. The Canadian government had hoped that these accords would alleviate Québec's fears of cultural loss and discrimination while maintaining a unified Canada. But both accords were rejected in a general vote.

If Québec does eventually secede from the rest of the country, Canada would lose a large percentage of its population, money, and power. Moreover, the ability for the remainder of Canada to stay unified would also be seriously impaired. For example, the fate of the traditionally poorer Maritime Provinces to the east would be uncertain, and one or more of them might explore the possibility of admission to the United States. Although a referendum in 1995 did not result in secession, the margin was so narrow that Québec's separation issue remained unresolved.

In January 1998, a blackout left 3 million people without power at the peak of a five-day storm. In response to the ice storm, the Canadian army undertook its biggest-ever peacetime deployment, sending more than 14,000 soldiers to the affected areas of Québec and Ontario. The blackout occurred when transmission lines fell from the weight of ice.

On 1 December 1998, voters returned Québec's separatist premier, Lucien Bouchard, to power but made clear there was no overwhelming support for secession. With only 43% of the vote, Parti Québécois still controlled the legislature, but lacked the mandate to push quickly for independence. Bouchard pledged to hold such a referendum only when confident the separatists could win, but retired in 2001 before realizing his goal. Bernard Landry was then elected as the leader of the party and premier of Québec.

On 7 June 2002, the Québec National Assembly passed the Civil Union law, which granted some of the rights associated with marriage to same-sex couples. On 20 August 2005, same-sex marriage in all jurisdictions within Canada became legal, when federal law C-38, passed in July of that same year, went into effect.

March 2007 election results indicated that secession was no longer the top priority among Québec voters. The economy appeared to be of greater concern. The Action Démocratique du Québec (ADQ), campaigning on economic issues, increased its number of seats in the National Assembly to 41, becoming the opposition party.

12 Provincial Government

The parliamentary system is based on both the French and British systems. Québec's National Assembly is the chief parliamentary body, with 125 elected representative members. The National Assembly's prime minister is the majority party leader (an elected member of parliament) who serves a term of five years, at the end of which time he or she must call an election. The prime minister selects and presides over the 25 members of the executive cabinet.

Premiers of Québec

13 Political Parties

In theory, Québec has a multiparty system, but in reality there are two main parties (Liberal and Conservative), with one or two others receiving a small proportion of votes. Since the 1940s, various splinter groups such as the nationalist Bloc Populaire, the créditiste Union des Electeurs, the separatist Rassemblement pour l'Indépendence Nationale, Ralliement Nationale, and more recently Parti Québécois have occasionally challenged the traditional two-party rule. Since 1939, the Liberal Party has been especially popular among the urban electorate.

In 1976, voters elected into majority power the Parti Québécois (PQ), a party wanting independence for Québec. The PQ made French the sole, official language of Québec, and, in 1980, conducted a referendum on negotiating an arrangement for sovereignty-association with Canada. In 1995, another referendum was held regarding the possibility of secession. Both referenda were defeated, although the 1995 referendum lost by only 1%.

In the general election held on 14 April 2003, the separatist Parti Québécois won 45 of the legislature's 125 seats, while the anti-separatist Québec Liberal Party won 76. Action Démocratique du Québec (ADQ) won 4 seats. Following the March 2007 general elections, ADQ held 41 seats.

14 Local Government

Québec is divided into 11 administrative regions, 86 regional county municipalities, and two urban communities (Montréal and Québec City). Rural municipalities are classified as villages, parishes, townships, united townships, not designated, and Indian reserves. Cities and towns are both often referred to as "villes."

As of 1 January 2006, there were 9 cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants; 9 municipalities of 50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants; 71 municipalities of 10,000 to 49,999 inhabitants; 288 municipalities of 2,000 to 9,999 inhabitants; and 764 municipalities with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants.

15 Judicial System

The Canadian Constitution grants provincial jurisdiction over the administration of justice, and allows each province to organize its own court system and police forces. The federal government has exclusive domain over cases involving trade and commerce, banking, bankruptcy, and criminal law. The Federal Court of Canada has both trial and appellate divisions for federal cases. The nine-judge Supreme Court of Canada is an appellate court that determines the constitutionality of both federal and provincial statutes. The Tax Court of Canada hears appeals of taxpayers against assessments by Revenue Canada.

The judiciary is independent of legislative or executive powers, and administers the Civil Code of Québec and the Canadian Penal Code. The Civil Code of Québec is based on the Napoleonic Code, which was developed in France.

The provincial court system consists of the Court of Québec, which is the trial court hearing criminal, civil, and youth matters; the Superior Court of Québec, which hears serious civil and criminal cases, as well as administrative and family matters, and bankruptcies; and the Court of Appeal of Québec, which is the province's highest court.

In 2005, there were 739 violent crimes per 100,000 persons, and nearly 3,133 property crimes per 100,000 persons.

16 Migration

Between 1608 and 1756, some 10,000 French settlers arrived in Canada. Since the 1950s, more than 650,000 immigrants from over 80 countries have moved to Québec, particularly to the city of Montréal. Italians and Eastern Europeans were traditionally the largest immigrant groups to settle in Québec, but since 1960 the ranks of new Québeckers have been swol-len by Portuguese, Haitians, Lebanese, South Americans, and Southeast Asians. In 1968, the Québec government created its own department of immigration, the only such provincial office in Canada at that time.

In 2001, 18.2% of the 706,965 immigrants living in Québec had come from Southern Europe. About 11.8% had come from Northern and Western European countries (other than the United Kingdom). Some 11.5% came from Africa, and 9.9% came from the Caribbean and Bermuda. Many immigrants in recent years have come from Italy, Haiti, France, Lebanon, China, and Romania. About 90% of all immigrants live in Montréal.

Ontario is the leading province of origin for most internal migration into Québec. Most of Québec's residents who leave the province to live elsewhere in Canada relocate to Ontario.

In the period 1996–2001, Québec was among six provinces or territories to experience a net domestic migration loss across all five census age groups (5-14 years; 15-29 years; 30-44 years; 45-64 years; and 65 years and over). For that period, the province had a net domestic migration loss of 57,315 or 0.9%.

17 Economy

Québec's economy is highly industrialized and quite diversified. The province has abundant natural resources and energy, along with well-developed agriculture, manufacturing, and service sectors. The service sector is by far the largest sector of the economy, followed by manufacturing; finance, insurance, and real estate; public administration and defense; retail trade; wholesale trade; transportation; utilities; agriculture, forestry, fishing, and mining; communications; and warehousing.

In 2005, Québec's gross domestic product (GDP) totaled c$274.863 billion, up from c$265.063 billion the year before.

18 Income

Average family income in the province was c$54,400 in 2004. As of 2005, average weekly earnings in the province amounted to c$688.10.

19 Industry

Québec's manufacturing sector produces a wide variety of high quality products for export, such as air traffic control equipment, software, subway trains, helicopters, compact discs, air purifiers, and toys. More than 60% of the province's manufacturing firms are small or medium-sized companies. Montréal accounts for 70% of Québec's manufacturing production and is especially strong in space and aeronautics, telecommunications, energy, and transportation.

In 2005, the shipment value of all manufactured products was c$136.704 billion, of which transportation equipment was the largest sector at c$15.763 billion, followed by primary metals at c$15.387 billion, and food products at c$14.276 billion.

A total of 615,700 people were employed in the province's manufacturing sector in 2005, or 16.5% of all those actively employed.

In 2002, the value of manufacturers' shipments totaled over c$122 billion.

The high-technology sector and the transportation manufacturing sector felt the adverse effects of the global economic downturn in 2001. In 2002, the province lost its only automobile manufacturing plant. A decision by the United States to impose a 29% duty on Canadian lumber had a negative impact on that industry. A pulp and paper mill was to resume operation in 2003, however. Those industries in Québec that depend directly on natural resources were growing in 2002 and 2003.

20 Labor

In 2006, Québec's labor force numbered around 4.09 million people, with 3.76 million employed and about 325,000 unemployed, giving an unemployment rate of 7.9%. The hourly minimum wage as of January 2004 was c$7.30. In 2005, the average hourly wage among all industries was c$17.04.

The sectors with the largest numbers of employed persons in 2005 were trade, 619,600; manufacturing, 615,700; health care and social services, 444,700; educational services, 243,800; professional, scientific, and technical services, 224,100; accommodation and food services, 215,700; public administration, 215,600; finance, insurance, and real estate and leasing, 203,800; construction, 179,200; information, culture, and recreation, 167,900; transportation and warehousing, 164,400; other services, 161,100; business and other support services, 130,600; agriculture, 60,800; forestry, fishing, mining, and oil and gas, 38,400; and utilities, 31,800.

21 Agriculture

In 2001, Québec had over 8.5 million acres (3.4 million hectares) in 32,139 farms, of which 4.6 million acres (1.8 million hectares) were in crops. Québec had 1,159 farms with greenhouses under glass, plastic, or other protection. There were 60 sod farms, 395 farms growing Christmas trees, and 627 farms growing nursery products. In 2001, 372 farms reported growing certified organic products.

Québec is a major producer of canned green and waxed beans. Other important processed vegetables include peas, corn, and tomatoes. In 2004, potatoes were one of the largest single crops with production at about 509,400 metric tons. Other crops produced that year included 89,144 metric tons of carrots, 70,285 metric tons of cabbage, 50,327 metric tons of onions, and 65,408 metric tons of lettuce. About 3,382 metric tons of mushrooms were produced with a value of about c$11 million. Over 110,000 metric tons of apples were produced along with over 56,600 metric tons of berries (including strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, and blueberries). In 2005, total farm cash receipts were over c$6.2 billion.

22 Domesticated Animals

Dairy, beef, pork, and poultry production significantly contribute to provincial self-sufficiency in food. In 2003, cash receipts from livestock products totaled c$3.79 billion. In 2006, there were 1.4 million head of cattle, with over 400,000 dairy cows. The same year there were about 4 million pigs and over 280,000 sheep and lambs. Poultry production in 2005 included 162 million chickens valued at over c$427 million and 4.3 million turkeys valued at over c$55 million. In 2005, milk and cream production totaled about 739 million gallons (2.8 billion liters) with a value of over c$1.8 billion. Egg production was valued at over c$143 million the same year.

23 Fishing

Commercial fishing in Québec benefits from some of the most productive fishing areas in the Atlantic as well as large consumer markets for fish and fish products. Québec has around 1,800 registered commercial fishing vessels. About 75% of the annual provincial fisheries production is exported, especially crustaceans and shell-fish. Production from aquaculture (fish farming) centers around trout and salmon. In 2004, 63,784 metric tons of fish and shellfish, valued at c$198.4 million, were caught in the waters off Québec's sea coast.

In 2000, Québec had 813,590 residents actively engaged in sport fishing within the province.

24 Forestry

Québec's forests cover 207.3 million acres (83.9 million hectares). About 62% of Québec's lands are covered with forests, of which 58% is softwood. About 89% is provincial Crown land, while 11% is owned privately. Major softwood species include white, black, and red spruce as well as balsam fir and eastern white pine. Common hardwood species include sugar and red maple, trembling aspen, paper and yellow birch, and American beech.

In 2004, Québec produced 724.9 million cubic feet (20.526 million cubic meters) of lumber. Forestry product processing in Québec is diversified, and includes furniture and lumber, wood chip mills, sawmills, and particle board and plywood plants. Forestry directly accounted for 107,000 jobs in 2005. Québec's forestry exports had a value of c$11.6 billion in 2004, of which newsprint accounted for 20% of total exports, and softwood lumber 14%.

25 Mining

Metallic minerals predominate in the mining sector and include gold, copper, nickel, zinc, silver, and iron. Gold production in 2005 was 52,505 pounds (23,816 kilograms) valued at c$406.2 million. Copper production included 39,090 metric tons valued at c$168 million. Québec also produces large amounts of cement and stone. In 2005, production included 2.9 million metric tons of cement, 31.9 million metric tons of sand and gravel, and 40.5 million metric tons of stone. The total value of metallic minerals in 2005 was estimated c$2.1 billion and the total value of non-metallic minerals (excluding fuels) was estimated at c$1.4 billion.

26 Energy and Power

As of 2005, Québec had no reported production of crude oil, natural gas or coal. As a result, the province has had to import all of the petroleum products, natural gas and coal that it consumes. However, Québec continues to explore for potential reserves of crude oil and natural gas, for which the most extensive work has occurred in the Saint Lawrence Lowlands, and on the Gaspe Peninsula. As of 2003, natural gas deposits have been identified at Pointe-du-Lac, Saint-Flavien, and Galt.

Québec has enormous hydroelectric resources, which produces the majority of the province's electric power. In 2004, Québec's installed power generating capacity stood at 37.768 million kilowatts, of which hydroelectric power generation accounted for 35.074 million kilowatts, followed by thermal (steam, nuclear, internal combustion, and combustion turbine) generating capacity at 2.58 million kilowatts. Of all thermal generating capacity, steam accounted for 878,428 kilowatts, followed by combustion turbine at 901,250 kilowatts, and nuclear at 675,000 kilowatts. Electric power output in 2004 totaled 174.950 million megawatt hours, the largest in Canada, of which hydroelectric sources accounted for 166.572 million megawatt hours. Thermal sources accounted for 8.191 million megawatt hours, of which 4.877 million megawatt hours came from nuclear sources. Wind/tidal generation produced 186,783 megawatt hours of power.

Hydroelectricity is controlled by Hydro-Québec, a state-owned company that distributes electricity throughout Québec, the Maritime Provinces, and to much of New England.

27 Commerce

In 2005, international exports by Québec amounted to almost c$71 billion, while imports that same year totaled c$65.2 billion. The United States was the largest consumer of Québec's exports at c$57.4 billion, followed by the United Kingdom, Japan, and France. The United States was also the leading source of imports to the province that same year at nearly c$18.7 billion, followed by China, the United Kingdom, and Algeria.

In 2005, general merchandise store sales amounted to over c$8.5 billion. Total retail trade that year amounted to over c$83 billion.

Major export areas for Québec include the forest industry (printing, lumber and paper), mining (aluminum and iron ore) and transportation equipment manufacturing (including aircrafts and parts).

28 Public Finance

The fiscal year runs from 1 April to 31 March. For fiscal year 2006, Québec had total revenues of c$69.3 billion, total expenditures of c$69.83 billion, and a deficit of c$521 million. Leading expenditures were for health, education, social services, debt charges, resource conservation and industrial development, and transport and communications. As of 31 March 2004, the province's total net direct debt amounted to c$97.025 billion.

29 Taxation

In 2005, the provincial personal income tax system was set in three brackets with rates ranging from 16% to 24% (the highest rate in the nation). The retail sales tax was 7.5%. Major excise (consumption) taxes were levied on gasoline at c$0.152 per liter and cigarettes at c$20.60 per carton (in addition to the federal tax of c$15.85 per carton). The municipality of Montréal adds an additional gasoline tax of c$0.15 per liter. Some alcoholic beverages are subject to taxes and duties as well. As of 2006, the corporate income tax for small businesses was 8.5%. The rate for large corporations was 9.9% in 2006, but is expected to rise to 11.9% by 2009. Property taxes are levied by municipalities.

The average family of four (two parents and two children) in 2003 earned c$81,057. Such a family paid c$41,068 in taxes.

In 2005/06, it was estimated that the province collected c$16.6 billion in personal income tax, c$4.3 billion in corporate income tax, and c$9.7 billion in general sales tax.

30 Health

In 2005, there were an estimated 75,303 live births in Québec, an increase of 925 from 2004. There were 55,429 deaths in 2005, a decrease of 705 from the previous year. Life expectancy for men in 2001 was 77.5 years, and 82.2 years for women. Reported cases of selected diseases in 2002 included campylobacteriosis, 2,541; salmonellosis, 1,213; giardiasis, 949; gonococcal infections, 878; and hepatitis type B, 255. Between November 1985 and June 2003, 10,948 residents had become infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Québec has over 700 health establishments.

31 Housing

Québec had 2,978,115 households in 2001. The average household size was 2.4 persons. There were 1,370,505 households living in single-detached houses, 154,220 households living in apartments in buildings with five or more stories, 21,360 households living in mobile homes, and 1,432,025 households living in other dwellings, including row houses and apartments in buildings with fewer than five stories. In 2002, c$11.1 billion was invested in residential housing construction. From 2001–05, there were 229,781 new housing starts in the province.

32 Education

Schooling is available in both French and English. In 2003/2004, Québec had 1,241,071 students enrolled in its provincial public elementary and secondary schools. In that same year, there were 93,360 educators in the province's public elementary and secondary school systems. Total spending in 2003/2004 on public elementary and secondary schools came to c$9.108 billion.

In most schools, French is the language of instruction. The Ministère de l'Éducation (ME, Ministry of Education) is responsible for determining which educational services are to be provided in the school system. Historically public schools were either Roman Catholic or Protestant. In the early 1990s, however, legislation was passed to eliminate the religious nature of the schools and to reorganize the system into French-language and English-language schools. Many students attend two years of preschool, followed by six years of elementary school, five years of secondary school, and two years of college. Elementary, secondary, and college education is free. College students choose either vocational or pre-university programs. Students who continue to university must pay tuition. As of 2000, over one-fourth of Québec students went on to earn a bachelor's degree. In 2003/04, aver-age undergraduate tuition fees in Québec were $1,862 a year, the lowest in Canada.

The ME is responsible for managing higher education at Québec's colleges. The 47 public colleges as well as 10 other institutions operated by the government (such as music conservatories, farm technology institutes, and the Institut de tourisme et d'hotellerie) charge no tuition. Québec also has 61 private colleges, of which 27 receive funding from the government.

As of November 2004, there were 14 public, 11 private, and 47 community college or university campuses in Québec. A total of 260,060 students were enrolled in the province's colleges and universities in 2003/2004, of which 161,775 were full-time and 98,285 were parttime students.

The Université du Québec in Québec City, founded in 1968, is the second-largest university in Canada and the nation's largest French-language higher education institution. Other universities (with location and year founded) include Université Laval (Québec City, 1852); McGill University (Montréal, 1821); Université de Montréal (1920); Concordia University (Montréal, 1974); Université de Sherbrooke (1954); and Bishop's University (Lennoxville, 1843). Four of the province's universities offer courses taught in French (Université Laval, Université de Montréal, Université de Sherbrooke, and Université du Québec); the others offer instruction in English (McGill, Bishop's, and Concordia).

33 Arts

Québec, with the Grands Ballet Canadiens, is well-known for its numerous dance companies, and a North American center for dance. Montréal annually hosts the Festival international de nouvelle danse, which attracts dance professionals from around the world. Montréal also has some 50 theaters and 20 permanent theater companies that stage traditional works as well as a repertory from Québec's avant-garde playwrights.

Québec also offers several yearly music festivals, including a classical music competition, the Festival international de Lanaudière, and the International Jazz Festival, all in Montréal; the Festival d'été de Québec (a summer music festival) is held in Québec City. Cinema productions by the National Film Board of Canada in Québec have included Denys Arcand's The Decline of the American Empire and Jesus of Montréal, Frédérick Back's The Man Who Planted Trees, and Jason Young's Animals, which won the award for best documentary at the 2003 Atlantic Film Festival. In 2000/01, per capita provincial spending on the arts in Québec was c$99, higher than the national average of c$68.

34 Libraries and Museums

Québec has about 165 public library systems, with 929 branches. The Université du Québec and McGill University (a United Nations depository library) maintain large academic libraries in Montréal. Other large academic libraries include those of Université de Montréal and Université Laval (Québec City), both of which also serve as depository libraries for the United Nations. The Université de Sherbrooke also has a notable library. In 2004, 92.2% of all secondary and elementary schools had libraries.

In 2006, there were about 536 museums in the province. The Musée du Québec in Québec City is one of Canada's most prominent museums, with a distinguished collection of 17th-19th century art as well as a collection of contemporary art. Montréal has some 20 museums and many art galleries, including the McCord Museum of Canadian History, Montréal Museum of Modern Art, and the International Museum of Cartoon Art. Biosphere, built for the 1967 World's Fair, has been operated as a museum by Environment Canada since 1995. The Canadian Museum of Civilization is located in Hull.

35 Communications

The government offers subsidies for radio programming by and about aboriginal (native) Canadians. As of 2004, there were 6 AM, 29 FM, 7 Internet radio stations, and 6 television stations broadcasting in the Montréal area. About 77% of all television programming is in French. Montréal produces 65% of the world's French-language television programming and original productions. Montréal is also Canada's main routing center for international telecommunications connections—including one of the world's first digital telephone switching systems. As of 2005, about 52.5% of the population had home access to the Internet.

36 Press

In 2005, there were 11 major daily newspapers in the province. Le Journal de Montréal was ranked as the third largest newspaper in the country in 2006 with an average weekly circulation of 1,909,510. La Presse (Montréal) ranked fourth in the nation the same year with a weekly circulation of about 1,504,772. The Gazette, also from Montréal, ranked eight in the nation. Québec City had Le Journal de Québec (15th in the nation) and Le Soleil (18th).

There were about 140 weekly newspapers published in the province in 2005, many of which were published in French. Québec has about 100 publishers and a dozen annual book fairs. Les Affaires is a popular French-language business magazine from Québec.

37 Tourism, Travel, and Recreation

Québec is famous for its expansive system of large urban parks; the province maintains 20 parks and wildlife reserves. The taiga and tundra of the north is a popular destination for adventurous travelers. Montréal's Botanical Garden, the second largest in the world, has ornate Chinese and Japanese gardens. Also in Montréal, the Biôdome exhibits four distinct ecosystems, and has become the city's most popular tourist destination since its opening in 1992. The Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival is held near Ottawa. Casinos are located in Montréal and Charlevoix. Besides traditional hotel, motel, and inn accommodations, Québec's tourist accommodations include a wide variety of vacation centers, bed-and-breakfasts, and youth hostels. Tourists in Québec numbered more than 21.5 million in 2001, of which 70% were Québécois, 13.8% were Canadians visiting from other provinces, and 16.2% were foreigners. Travelers and tourists spent c$5.5 billion in the province in 2001. The tourism industry in Québec employs over 117,400 persons.

38 Sports

The Montréal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) are one of the best-known teams in hockey and have won the NHL champion-ship (the Stanley Cup) a record 23 times—the earliest in 1924 and the most recent in 1993. The Québec Nordiques played in the NHL from 1979 to 1996 before the franchise became the Colorado Avalanche. Professional women's hockey is played by the Montréal Axion and Québec Avalanche in the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL). The Québec Major Junior Hockey League, a development league for the National Hockey League, sponsors 18 teams, of which 10 are based in the province.

The Montréal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League won the Grey Cup in 1970, 1974, 1977, and 2002. The Montréal Expos of Major League Baseball (1969–2004), the first franchise the league awarded outside the United States, moved to Washington, D.C., after the 2004 season and became known as the Washington Nationals. The Québec Capitales, a minor league baseball team in the Northern League, completed their inaugural season in 1999; as of 2006 they were a part of the Canadian-American League. The Laval Dynamites play for the Canadian Soccer League. The Montréal Impact is in the First Division of the Untied Soccer Leagues. The Laval Comets are in the Northern Division of the W-League (women's league), an affiliate of the United Soccer Leagues.

Major sporting events in Québec include an international tennis tournament, the Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Grand Prix cycliste des Amériques, the Valleyfield International Regatta, the international swim across Lac Saint-Jean, and the Harricana snowmobile rally from southern Québec to James Bay. Montréal hosted the summer Olympics in 1976.

39 Famous Québécois/Québeckers

Early explorers included Jacques Cartier (b.France, 1491–1557), who navigated up the St. Lawrence River. Geographer Samuel de Champlain (b.France, 1570–1635), the "Father of New France," also led expeditions and organized settlements. Ÿtienne Bržlé (b.France, c.1592–c.1633) was the first European explorer to live among the Aboriginal people and translated the Huron language. Louis de Buade, Comte de Palluau et de Frontenac (b.France, 1622–1698), was the greatest of the French royal governors and promoted French expansion into North America by establishing fur-trade posts and defending them against the Iroquois and the English. Louis Jolliet (1645–1700) was commissioned by Frontenac to explore the Mississippi River. Fur trader James McGill (b.Scotland, 1744–1813) was the founder of the university in Montréal that bears his name.

Sir John Abbott (1821–1893), Canada's first native-born prime minister, was from St. Andrews, Lower Canada (Québec). Other prominent political leaders from Québec include Canadian prime ministers Sir Wilfred Laurier (1841–1919), Louis St. Laurant (1882–1973), Pierre Trudeau (1919–2000), Brian Mulroney (b.1939), and Jean Chrétien (b.1934). René Lévesque (1922–1987) led the separatist Parti Québécois to power in 1976 and served as Québec's premier until 1985. Lucien Bouchard (b.1938) is the leader of the Bloc Québécois, a political party that desires the independence of Québec from Canada.

Famous entertainers from Québec include actors Glenn Ford (1916–2006), Joseph Wiseman (b.1918), Madeleine Sherwood (b.1926), William Shatner (b.1931), John Vernon (b.1932), Michael Sarrazin (b.1940), Geneviève Bujold (b.1942), and Robert Joy (b.1951); director and producer Paul Almond (b.1931); pianist Oscar Peterson (b.1925); operatic singer Maureen Forrester (b.1930) and baritone Louis Quilico (1931–2000); and singers Leonard Cohen (b.1934), Burton Cummings (b.1947), Corey Hart (b.1962), and Celine Dion (b.1968).

Noted francophone Québecois authors include novelists Yves Thériault (1915–1983), Roger Lemelin (1919–1992), and Hubert Aquin (1929–1977); and poets François-Xavier Garneau (1809–1866), Octave Crémazie (1827–1879), Émile Nelligan (1879–1941), Gratien Gélinas (1909–1999), Anne Hébert (1916–2000), and Roch Carrier (b.1937). Famous anglophone authors include critic Northrop Frye (1912–1991), novelists Constance Beresford-Howe (b.1922), Mordecai Richler (b.1931); short story writer Mavis Gallant (b.1922); and poet F. R. Scott (1899–1985). Distinguished Québec authors known for their works in both French and English include novelist Marie-Claire Blais (b.1939), poet and novelist Nicole Brossard (b.1943), and playwright Michel Tremblay (b.1942). Sculptor Akeeaktashuk (1898–1954) was one of the first Inuit artists to receive individual acclaim.

Québec has been the home of many great hockey players, including Maurice "Rocket" Richard (1921–2000), Jacques Plante (1929–1986), Jean Beliveau (b.1931), Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion (1931–2006), Rodrique "Rod" Gilbert (b.1941), Yvan Serge Cournoyer (b.1943), Bernard Marcel Parent (b.1945), Marcel Dionne (b.1951), Guy Damien Lafleur (b.1951), Richard Lionel "Rick" Martin (b.1951), Denis Charles Potvin (b.1953), Jean Ratelle (b.1953), Mike Bossy (b.1957), and Mario Lemieux (b.1965).

40 Bibliography

BOOKS

Ferry, Steven. Québec. San Diego: Lucent, 2003.

Kizilos, Peter. Québec: Province Divided. Minneapolis: Lerner, 2000.

LeVert, Suzanne. Québec. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2001.

Morganelli, Adrianna. Samuel de Champlain: From New France to Cape Cod. New York: Crabtree Publishing Co., 2005.

Walsh, Kieran. Canada. Vero Beach, FL: Rourke Publishing Co., 2005.

WEB SITES

Québec Government Portal. www.gouv.qc.ca/portail/quebec/pgs/commun?lang=en (accessed on March 28, 2007).

Statistics Canada. www.statcan.ca/start.html (accessed on March 28, 2007).

Tourist Site of Québec. www.bonjourquebec.com/ (accessed on March 28, 2007).

Quebec , Fr. Québec , province (2001 pop. 7,237,479), 594,860 sq mi (1,553,637 sq km), E Canada.

Geography

Quebec is bounded on the N by Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay, on the E by the Labrador area of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, on the S by New Brunswick and the United States, and on the W by Ontario, James Bay, and Hudson Bay. Quebec is Canada's largest province; it is three times the size of France and seven times the size of Great Britain. The Canadian (or Laurentian) Shield underlies the northern nine tenths of the province, which is relatively unexplored and uninhabited; the region has been planed by glacial action into a pattern of rounded hills (including the Laurentian Mts.), swiftly flowing rivers, and numerous lakes and bogs. Dense forests cover much of the land, and the region is rich in minerals.

South of the Canadian Shield lies the great St. Lawrence River. On both sides of the river south of Quebec city are lowlands that are the centers of agriculture, commerce, and industry. Quebec city and Trois Rivières are on the north bank of the river, and Montreal , the leading industrial center of Canada, occupies an island where the Ottawa River joins the St. Lawrence. Another industrial center is the region of Jonquière and Chicoutimi, on the Saguenay River north of Quebec city. In the southeast are the Appalachian Highlands, which run parallel to the St. Lawrence. The Gaspé Peninsula , on the south of the St. Lawrence, extends into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Quebec's climate is generally temperate, with variations among the regions. Tourism is important throughout the province during the summer season, and in the winter the Laurentian Mts. attract skiers. The Eastern Townships (Estrie) region, near the New York and Vermont borders, has many fashionable lake and country resorts. Quebec has vast waterpower resources—Hydro-Quebec is the largest producer of electricity in Canada. The massive James Bay Project , whose first phases exploited the flow of La Grande and nearby rivers, was dealt a severe blow in 1992, when the New York State Power Authority refused to sign a purchase contract; the proposed development of the Great Whale River was held up by opposition from the Cree who live in and claim the area. Further work on the entire project was suspended in 1994, but a 2002 agreement with the Cree allowed completion of the La Grande complex.

The city of Quebec is the capital. Montreal is the largest city; other important centers are Verdun , Laval , Trois Rivières, Gatineau , Sherbrooke , and Hull .

Economy and Higher Education

The forests of the north yield wood for pulp, paper, and lumber industries, and throughout the north copper, iron, zinc, silver, and gold are mined. Iron ore deposits in the Ungava Bay region have been exploited in recent decades. Asbestos is found in the far north, but more importantly in the Thetford Mines region of the Appalachian Highlands. Jonquière has one of the world's largest aluminum plants.

The small farms of the lowlands yield dairy products, sugar beets, and tobacco. Quebec is second to Ontario among the Canadian provinces in industrial production. Its main manufactures include refined petroleum, food products, beverages, motor vehicles, aircraft, clothing, furniture, iron and steel, chemicals, and metal and paper products. The fur and fishing trades are still important in Quebec. The service sector has grown significantly since 1970. Although many anglophone businesses have abandoned the Montreal area since the 1960s in response to separatist agitation and provincial laws requiring the nearly exclusive use of French, Quebec continues to be a center of international commerce. Montreal and Quebec city are both tourist magnets.

Quebec has many universities, including Bishop's Univ., at Lennoxville; Concordia Univ., McGill Univ., and the Univ. of Montreal, at Montreal; Laval Univ., at Quebec city; the Univ. of Sherbrooke, at Sherbrooke; and the Univ. of Quebec, with an administrative center at Sainte-Foy and campuses at Chicoutimi, Hull, Montreal, Rimouski, Rouyn, and Trois Rivières.

History and Politics

Early History

Since many continental explorations began in the region, Quebec has been called the cradle of Canada. In 1534, Jacques Cartier planted a cross on the Gaspé and the following year he sailed up the St. Lawrence. In 1608, Samuel de Champlain built a trading post on the site of the present-day Quebec city, and from this and subsequent settlements Catholic missionaries, explorers, and fur traders penetrated the North American continent. The activities of private fur-trading companies ended, for a time, in 1663 when Louis XIV made the region, then known as New France, a royal colony and chose Jean Baptiste Talon to be intendant, or administrator.

The long struggle to protect the colony and the fur trade from the Iroquois (other tribes were allies of the French) and the British was effectively lost in 1759, when the British defeated the French on the Plains of Abraham (see Abraham, Plains of ). By the Treaty of Paris of 1763, Great Britain acquired New France. In an attempt to conciliate the French inhabitants, the British passed the Quebec Act of 1774, under which the colony was allowed to continue its semifeudal system of land tenure and to retain its language, religion, legal system, and customs.

After the American Revolution, many British Loyalists came to settle in Quebec. By the Constitutional Act of 1791 the British separated the area west of the Ottawa River and created the colony of Upper Canada (now Ontario) there. Quebec became known as Lower Canada, and in 1791 the first elective assembly was introduced.

The resentment of leaders of the French community toward the British precipitated a revolt in 1837 led by Louis Papineau . Although the rebellion was crushed, the disturbances in Upper and Lower Canada caused the British to send the Earl of Durham (see Durham, John George Lambton, 1st earl of ) to study conditions in the British North American colonies. His report led ultimately to internal self-government and the creation of the Canadian confederation. Upper and Lower Canada were reunited in 1841, and Quebec became known as Canada East. Responsible (elected) government was granted in 1849.

Confederation and the French-English Question

With the formation of the confederation of Canada in 1867, Canada East became the province of Quebec. Provisions for the preservation of its special, traditional institutions were specifically written into the Canadian constitution. English and French were made the official languages of both Quebec and the Canadian parliament, and a dual school system was established within Quebec. However, in 1974 French was made the sole official language of the province, and all non-English-speaking children were required to attend French-language schools. But the coexistence of majority-French and minority-English cultures within the province and the reverse situation within Canada as a whole have remained sources of tension. Attempts in Manitoba and Ontario at the beginning of the 20th cent. to curtail or abolish separate Catholic schools increased the French Canadians' feeling of isolation. In 1917 they vehemently opposed conscription for World War I.

Twentieth-Century Economic and Political Developments

During the 20th cent. great economic growth in Quebec was coupled with increased determination to maintain and broaden provincial rights. The boundary between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador was only finalized in 1927, when Newfoundland was not yet part of Canada; although the boundary was accepted by Canada, Quebec has never officially recognized it. In the 1960s separatist groups, advocating an independent Quebec, gained attention. In 1970 separatist terrorists kidnapped a British diplomat, James R. Cross, and the Quebec Minister of Labour, Pierre Laporte. Cross was later released, but Laporte was found murdered.

In 1976 the Parti Québécois (PQ), a party of French-Canadian nationalists formed in 1970, won control of the provincial parliament under René Lévesque . The new government initiated a series of language and cultural reforms whereby the use of English was discouraged; this caused an out-migration of English-speakers and their companies, mainly to Ontario. During the 1980s, however, Montreal attracted many high-technology and financial services companies.

In 1980, Lévesque's plan for an independent Quebec, called sovereignty-association, was rejected in a provincial referendum by 60% of the voters. The PQ was returned to power in 1981, however, and in 1982 the provincial government refused to accept the new Canadian constitution. From 1985 to 1994, the Liberal party, led by Robert Bourassa and Daniel Johnson, controlled the assembly. In 1987 there appeared to be progress on the issue of Quebec separatism, when the Meech Lake Accord was signed, but the accord collapsed in 1990. A package of constitutional reforms was subsequently drafted by the Canadian government and presented to voters in a national referendum in Oct., 1992, but it was defeated.

In 1994 the PQ, now led by Jacques Parizeau, regained control of the provincial government. A referendum on independence was narrowly defeated in Oct., 1995. Parizeau announced his resignation and was replaced in 1996 by Lucien Bouchard , who had led the Bloc Québécois in Ottawa. Quebec was recognized by Parliament as a "distinct society" because of its language and culture and was granted a veto over constitutional amendments. Separatists said the changes were symbolic and vowed to continue their struggle. They suffered two blows in 1998, however, when Canada's Supreme Court ruled that Quebec could not legally secede on its own and the PQ's majority shrank in provincial elections.

In 1999 polls showed that support for secession had shrunk to about 40% of Quebec voters; in the Oct., 2000, national elections the Bloc Québécois received fewer votes than the Liberals for the first time since 1980. A federal law designed to make it harder for Quebec to secede was passed in July, 2000; it required that a clear majority support a clearly worded proposition and that borders, the seceding province's responsibility for a share of the national debt, and other issues be resolved by negotiations. In 2001, Bouchard resigned; he was succeeded as premier by the new PQ party leader, Bernard Landry. The Liberals, led by Jean Charest , decisively defeated the PQ in the Apr., 2003, elections, and Charest became premier. The Bloc Québécois scored gains in the June, 2004, national elections, but the vote was regarded more as a rejection of the Liberals than as support for secession. In the Mar., 2007, provincial elections, the Liberals lost seats but secured a plurality and formed a minority government. The PQ placed third, surpasssed by the Action Démocratique, a conservative party that called for autonomy, instead of independence, for Quebec.

Quebec sends 24 senators and 75 representatives to the national parliament.

Bibliography

See C. C. Nish, ed., Quebec in the Duplessis Era, 1935-1959 (1970); F. Grenier, ed., Quebec (1972); W. D. Coleman, The Independence Movement in Quebec, 1945-80 (1984); A. Greer, Peasant, Lord and Merchant: Rural Society in Three Quebec Parishes, 1740-1840 (1985); R. Handler, Nationalism and the Politics of Culture in Quebec (1988); H. Guidon, Quebec Society (1988).

QUEBECAlso Québec. The name of both the largest province of Canada (home of the largest FRENCH-speaking community in North America) and of its capital city (founded by Samuel Champlain in 1608). Out of a population of c.6m, 82% speak French, 16% English. ITALIAN and GREEK are prominent immigrant languages, and Cree and Mohawk are prominent indigenous languages. The first Europeans to settle in the region were the French in the 17c, and their colony was known as Nouvelle France (New France) until well into the 18c. In its heyday, the French empire in North America stretched from the valley of the St Lawrence down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to the Gulf of Mexico, limiting British expansion west. In the late 20c, however, Quebec is the only politically significant French-speaking community in North America.

Quebec French

The French of Quebec descends from the speech of 17c Normandy and Picardy. Distinctive and varied, it has a broad form known as joual (pronounced ‘zhwal’: a variant of cheval horse). The traditional standard of education and the media has been that of Paris, often referred to as le français international. Local French of all varieties and most social levels has been stigmatized both in France and in Quebec as a patois marred by its accents, its ARCHAISMS, and its ANGLICISMS.

Quebec English

British Empire Loyalists from the US, after the end of the War of Independence in 1783, were the first significant English-speaking settlers in Quebec. They founded the Eastern Townships south-east of Montreal. By 1831, ANGLOPHONES of British descent were in the majority in Montreal itself, but an influx of rural francophones, who filled the ranks of the urban working class, had by 1867 reversed that trend. By 1981, 66% of the city's population was French-speaking. Such facts explain why English as used in Montreal (and more generally in Quebec) is not as homogeneous as other Canadian regional Englishes. Rather it exists as a continuum, from long-established unilingual anglophones broadly similar to anglophones in Ontario through bilinguals of various kinds to francophones using English as a second language. Until 1970, Montreal was the economic capital of Canada, but many controlling anglophone companies relocated, especially in Toronto, as a result of mounting separatist pressures in the 1970s and early 1980s among the French majority and under the government of the secessionist Parti Québécois (1976–85).

Much has been written in French on the effects of English on French in Quebec. In such works, the dominating role of English in North America has generally been considered pernicious, and francophones have often been urged to éviter les anglicismes (avoid Anglicisms) and not commettre un anglicisme (commit an Anglicism) in their French. The French of Quebec and Canada as a whole, however, continues to be heavily influenced by both CANADIAN ENGLISH and AmE, as for example the widespread use of bienvenu(e), the equivalent of You're welcome (in response to merci thank you), rather than the de rien (It's nothing) of France. There has been little comparable concern in Quebec about the effects of French on English and there have been few studies of Quebec English. However, the research that has been done indicates that in Montreal, for socio-economic reasons, English was until c.1975 regarded in both communities as the language of prestige. In the last 15 years, however, under the impact of pro-French legislation, French has gained greatly in prestige. In addition, English in Montreal tends to favour the norms of AmE more than English in Ontario, and Montrealers are less likely to employ Canadian Raising in their speech.

The most marked feature of local English is the influence of French. Many expressions have simply moved into English, such as: autoroute highway, caisse populaire credit union, depanneur convenience store, corner shop, and subvention subsidy. Anglophones who speak French constantly use such loan expressions as: give a conference give a lecture (from donner une conférence), sc(h)olarity schooling (from scolarité), and syndicate a trade union (from syndicate). The Gallicisms of francophones when speaking English range from such easily grasped expressions as collectivity (for community) and annex (for the appendix to a document) to a common place misuse of faux amis, such as deceive in I was deceived when she didn't come (from décevoir to disappoint), reunion in We have a reunion at 5 o'clock (from réunion a meeting), and souvenir in We have a good souvenir of our trip to Louisiana (from souvenir a memory). See CAJUN, CANADIAN LANGUAGES, DIALECT IN CANADA, MÉTIS.

Quebec Colonized by the French as New France, it came under British control in 1763, though in order to obtain the support of the French-speaking majority against the emerging USA, the British allowed its distinctive culture and education to continue. Ever since, its identity has been closely linked to the perceived threat to its culture from the USA to the south and from the English-speaking areas to the west. For almost a century after the creation of the Confederation of Canada in 1867, it chose to ally itself with the English-speaking areas, since the USA was clearly the greater threat to its existence. An agricultural territory largely without industries before 1900, 500,000 of its population had emigrated to the USA (1850–1900) in search of employment. Initially a bastion of the Conservative Party (Progressive Conservative Party), it became a Liberal stronghold from 1896/7, when Laurier became Canada's first Prime Minister from Quebec. The province's crucial support for the Liberal Party beyond Laurier's period in office ensured that the federal government, which had been hitherto preoccupied with the development of Ontario and the new western provinces, began to invest more heavily in Quebec's infrastructural and economic development. This facilitated its industrialization from around 1900, which was triggered by demand in the US market. The Great Depression caused further emigration to other parts of Canada and the USA, and focused increased attention on the province's relative backwardness compared with the rest of Canada. This led to the victory of the Union Nationale party in 1936, which continued to govern the province until 1960, with one brief interruption (1939–44).

Economic progress during the 1940s and 1950s did not bring social or cultural change, and this led to the election victory of the Liberals in 1960, heralding the Quiet Revolution. Industrial relations were regulated, education became a state matter, and industries came under provincial control. The power of the provincial government was substantially enhanced, both within Quebec society, and against the federal government in Ottawa. It was soon recognized that this development would lead to a fundamental shift of Quebec's role within Canada. A hitherto backward and insulated society which had sought to preserve its culture against its principal threat, US cultural and economic domination, had attained economic and social maturity without threatening its identity.

To a more self-confident and assertive Quebec, the principal threat to its cultural identity appeared to be no longer the USA, but an English-speaking Canadian majority seemingly refusing to recognize its distinctiveness. This became clear when the separatist Parti Québecois (PQ) won the provincial elections of 1976. Its referendum on the province's sovereignty failed, however, as most Québecois defined their distinctive identity within, rather than outside, a Canadian context. The move for further sovereignty gained ground during the 1980s, owing to the failure of the federal Constitution in 1982 (Canadian Constitution, patriation of) and of the Meech Lake Accord to take sufficient account of the province's grievances. In a renewed referendum of 1995, the Bloc Québecois narrowly lost, whereupon separatism's most popular advocate, Bouchard, became Premier in an attempt to boost the popularity of the PQ by addressing the province's economic problems. However, the Province's economic backwardness relative to the rest of Canada and the potential costs of separation became a liability for the PQ. The Liberal Party won the 2003 Provincial elections by gaining 76 out of 125 seats, and formed a government headed by Jean Charest.

Quebec Fr. Québec, city (1991 pop. 167,517), provincial capital, S Que., Canada, at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and St. Charles rivers. The population is largely French speaking, and the town is at the ideological core of French Canada. Quebec is an important port and is an industrial, cultural, service, and tourist center. Part of the city is built on the waterfront and is called Lower Town; that part called Upper Town is on Cape Diamond, a bluff rising c.300 ft (91 m) above the St. Lawrence. Winding, narrow streets link the two sections of the city. The chief industries are shipbuilding and tourism, and the manufacture of pulp, paper, newsprint, leather products, textiles, clothing, machinery, and foods and beverages. The site of Quebec was visited by Cartier in 1535, and in 1608 Champlain established a French colony in the present Lower Town; this was captured (1629) by the English, who held it until 1632. In 1663, Quebec was made the capital of New France and became the center of the fur trade. The city was unsuccessfully attacked by the English in 1690 and 1711. Finally in 1759 English forces under Wolfe defeated the French under Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham (see Abraham, Plains of ) and captured Quebec. During the American Revolution, Americans under Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold failed (1775-76) to capture the city, although Arnold briefly held the Lower Town. Quebec became the capital of Lower Canada in 1791. After the union (1841) of Upper and Lower Canada, it was twice the capital of the United Provinces of Canada (1851-55 and 1859-65). The Quebec Conference was held in the city in 1864. Historic old Quebec, much of which is preserved, was named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations. There are many notable old structures, including the Ursuline Convent (1639); the Basilica of Notre Dame (1647); Quebec Seminary (1663); and parts of the fortifications enclosing Old Quebec. The surrounding area also has many notable sights, such as Montmorency Falls, the Île d'Orléans, and the shrine of Ste Anne de Beaupré. Laval Univ. is a center for the city's largely francophone culture.

Bibliography: See M. de la Roche, Quebec, Historic Seaport (1944); W. P. Percival, The Lure of Quebec (rev. ed. 1965); M. Gaumond, Place Royale: Its Houses and Their Occupants (tr. 1971); D. T. Ruddel, Quebec City, Seventeen Sixty-Five to Eighteen Thirty-Two (1988).

Québec Province in e Canada; the second-largest province in area and in population; the capital is Québec and the largest city is Montréal. Most of the province, however, is on the Canadian Shield and is relatively uninhabited. In 1535, Jacques Cartier landed on the Gaspé Peninsula of e Canada, and in 1536 he sailed up the St Lawrence River. In 1608, Samuel de Champlain established the first settlement on the present-day site of Québec City. It served as headquarters for the fur-traders' exploration of the interior. Following the French and Indian Wars (1754–63), Britain gained French Canada in the Treaty of Paris (1763). Québec retained its distinctive French culture. The Constitution Act of 1791 separated off the area w of the Ottawa River as the colony of Upper Canada (now Ontario). Québec became the British colony of Lower Canada. The revolt (1837) led by Louis Papineau saw the appointment of the Earl of Durham. With the establishment of the Dominion of Canada in 1867, Québec became a province. In the late 20th century, the French-speaking inhabitants of the province intensified their demands for recognition of their cultural heritage, including complete independence. In a 1995 referendum, a small majority of the population voted against independence. The lowlands by the St Lawrence River are the centre of industry and agriculture; the province's small farms provide vegetables, tobacco and dairy produce. Québec produces much hydroelectric power and timber. Copper, iron, zinc, asbestos and gold are mined. Area: 1,540,687sq km (594,860sq mi). Pop. (2001) 7,237,479.

http://www.gouv.qc.ca

Québec (Québec) City and seaport at the confluence of the St Lawrence and St Charles rivers, s Québec province, Canada; capital of Québec province. Samuel de Champlain established a French trading post here in 1608. Captured by the British in 1629, France later regained the city and it became the capital of New France in 1663. Britain took control of Québec at the end of the French and Indian Wars (1754–63). It served as the capital of Lower Canada (1791–1841) and of the United Provinces of Canada (1851–55, 1859–65), before becoming capital of Québec province in 1867. In recent years, the city of Québec has become a focal point for Canada's French-speaking separatists. Industries: shipbuilding, paper, leather, textiles, machinery, canned food, tobacco, chemicals. Pop. (2001) 169,076; 682,757 (metropolitan).

Quebec, Canada Stadacona A province and a city‐port which was originally a Huron village called Stadacona. This was discovered by Samuel de Champlain^† who is credited with founding the city of Quebec in 1608. The city was captured by the British in 1759 and ceded to Great Britain in 1763. At the same time the colony of New France, claimed for France by Jacques Cartier^† in 1534, became the province of Quebec. In 1791 it was renamed Lower Canada and in 1841 Canada East. The present Province of Quebec came into existence in 1867 when the Confederation of Canada was created. The name is derived from the Algonquian quililbek ‘place where the waters narrow’, a reference to the lessening width of the St Lawrence River here.

University of Quebec administrative center at Sainte Foy, Que., Canada; provincially supported; French language; founded 1968. Its largest campus is at Montreal and there are also campuses at Trois Rivières, Chicoutimi, Rimouski, Hull, and Rouyn. The university maintains a school of advanced technology at Montreal, an oceanography center at Rimouski, and a gerontological institute at Hull. A popular distance-learning program, the Télé-Université (1972), is run from Sainte-Foy.

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