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).

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.

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.