The Canadian province of Québec has an original cultural identity

by Jun Kuzuya
(Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan)

Talking of Canada, I remember two things. The first is ice hockey. Because when I was a high school student, I played ice hockey. Ice hockey was chosen as the national sport in Canada.

The second thing is the existence of one of Canada's provinces, because this province is special and I'm interested in it. So this time I would like to talk about the Canadian province which people call "Québec."

Do you know the province of Québec? Québec is in the eastern part of Canada and its largest city is Montreal.

In Canada, there are two official languages: English and French. But the official language in Québec is only French. It's very interesting and strange. The reason is based on the historical background of Québec.

Originally, Québec was controlled by France in the 17th century. And then, many French started to immigrate to Québec. So various aspects of French culture were established there.

In the 18th century, the United Kingdom started to occupy Canada. Then, many aspects of British culture were introduced to Canada and the immigration from France stopped. But the people who adopted French culture protected their cultural identity from British culture. This thing affected the current official language in Québec. And I think the people who live in Québec cherish their cultural identity.

But now, their cultural identity causes a problem between Québec and the government of Canada. The problem is that Québec intends to declare independence from Canada. And this thing causes serious opposition from both parties.

I think that the problem of independence which is based on cultural identity is a very difficult problem, for the establishment of identity takes a very long time. So settlement of this issue may be very difficult. But I hope the government seeks the best solution for both people.

If you are OK, please tell me your opinion about the problem of Québec's independence from Canada, which is based on its cultural identity. What do you think?