Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Dear Canada

Quebec is a nation within a nation by definition. They get to have French as the only language required while the rest of us have to put up with dual language issues.

Think of all the money you could save on ink by not having to print both languages. You guys should make it an environmental issue.

I deduced on the trip to and from that 1) Canada must have gotten a REALLY big quantity discount on big blue and white signs that say "Ontario" on 2/3 of the surface area, leaving the other 1/3 to tell you something important in really small font and 2) the really small font was simply used to annoy BobKay if he spends 12-14 hours driving each way on a trip to Canada.

Legally, they're allowed to put smaller versions in English, but they don't. There's actual Language Police in Quebec that make sure French is the predominant language on any sign. Pre 90's they actually shutdown and charged any store with any English at all on their signs.
And the roads in Quebec are all awful as the money the province gets from the federal government for such things is squirreled away in a rainy day fund for when the province separates.

And speaking of Highway 1, I drove from L.A. to San Fran over the period of a week just a couple of weeks ago; what a gorgeous drive; feels like the edge of the Earth, which I suppose it is, depending on how your flat map is arranged.

If we have anything to match the Highway 1 drive I haven't found it yet. But I'm still looking.

I was working in Quebec at the peak of the language fights, when the local Subway (the only place to eat in the area) was closed down because they responded to the new language laws with a sign proudly identifying the store as "le Subway". Actually it was more of a "Subway" sign with a "le" sticker

When I was at my last company we ran into the language police in Montreal while doing a seminare in a Hotel. They were making sure that most of the content was presented in French.

We were complying, the up side is she thought our software was so compelling, she was goining to recommend it to her son for his business.

Wherever we live and the country we live in, we are products of our history. To understand Quebec, the people and its quirks, requires an intense study of Canadian history. They are still upset that the British defeated the French back in the 1700s on the Plains of Abraham(just north of what is now Quebec City) and they make sure the rest of the country never forgets it.
From time to time, this relationship and the politics involved, can make life quite interesting.

For our American friends I would compare Quebec to Texas. They are a little more off the wall than most of the rest of the US(just look at their current oddball governor)and in their history, on a couple of occasions they have threatened to secede from the union.

I might suggest the next trip, although maybe a little out of your way, to avoid all this stuff, is through New York state crossing at maybe Gananoque(on the eastern end of Lake Ontario then along the 401 west to Toronto) OR further west to Niagara Falls or Buffalo up through Toronto and points north from there.

The Buffalo contingent (medic8r, tomtuttle, and I) crossed here and would do it again. Convenient from US90 and takes you past some picturesque industrial plants on the western tip of Lake Ontario.

No, Quebec is not like Texas. Ugly Chauvinism run amok.

Texas is part of America and by and large proud of it. If Texas reviled the US and yearned to be part of Mexico then it would be more like Quebec.

My take on Quebec is that they like being part of Canada when it suits them and also want to be on their own to maintain their French identity/culture. I think many feel threatened by the amount of english around them and fear if they do not try to protect their French culture/background it will be lost. I believe they tend to take that protection too far and it becomes a detriment to them at times.