Quebec Totally Explained

Everything about Quebec totally explained

ť For the city, see Quebec City. For other uses, see Quebec (disambiguation) and Québécois (disambiguation).

Quebec (or /kəˈbɛk/), in French, Québec (. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population, and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level. Other elements of French tradition, such as the civil law legal system, also remain strong in Quebec. Nationalism plays a large role in the politics of the province, with all three major provincial political parties seeking greater autonomy and recognition of the Quebec people as a nation. Sovereigntist governments held referendums on independence in 1980 and 1995, and the Canadian House of Commons passed a symbolic motion recognizing the "Québécois as a nation within Canada".
   Quebec is Canada's largest province by area and its second-largest administrative division; only the territory of Nunavut is larger. It is bordered to the west by the province of Ontario, James Bay and Hudson Bay, to the north by Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay, to the east by the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick. It is bordered on the south by the American states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. It also shares maritime borders with the Territory of Nunavut, the Province of Prince Edward Island and the Province of Nova Scotia.
   Quebec is the second most populated province, behind Ontario. Most inhabitants live in urban areas near the Saint Lawrence River between Montreal, the largest city, and Quebec City, the capital. English-speaking communities and English-language institutions are concentrated in Montreal but are also significantly present in the Outaouais, the Eastern Townships, and Gaspé regions. The central and northern portion of the province is sparsely populated and inhabited primarily by Aboriginal peoples.
   While the province's substantial natural resources have long been the mainstay of its economy, sectors of the knowledge economy such as aerospace, information and communication technologies, biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry also play leading roles.

Etymology and boundary changes

The name "Quebec ", which comes from an Algonquin word meaning "Where the river narrows", originally referred to the area around Quebec City where the Saint Lawrence River narrows to a cliff-lined gap. Early variations in the spelling of the name included Québecq (Levasseur, 1601) and Kébec (Lescarbot 1609). French explorer Samuel de Champlain chose the name Québec in 1608 for the colonial outpost he'd use as the administrative seat for the French colony of New France.
The Province of Quebec was founded in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 after the Treaty of Paris formally transferred the French colony of Canada to Britain after the Seven Years' War. The proclamation restricted the province to an area along the banks of the Saint Lawrence River. The Quebec Act of 1774 restored the Great Lakes and the Ohio River Valley regions to the province. The Treaty of Versailles, 1783 ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. After the Constitutional Act of 1791, the territory was divided between Lower Canada (present day Quebec) and Upper Canada (present day Ontario), with each being granted an elected Legislative Assembly. In 1840, these become Canada East and Canada West after the British Parliament unified Upper and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada. This territory was redivided into the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario at Confederation in 1867. Each became one of the first four provinces.
In 1870, Canada purchased Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company. Over the next few decades the Parliament of Canada transferred portions of this territory to Quebec that would more than triple the size of the province. In 1898, the Canadian Parliament passed the first Quebec Boundary Extension Act that expanded the provincial boundaries northward to include the lands of the aboriginal Cree. This was followed by the addition of the District of Ungava through the Quebec Boundaries Extension Act of 1912 that added the northernmost lands of the aboriginal Inuit to create the modern Province of Quebec. In 1927, the border between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador was established by the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Quebec officially disputes this boundary.

Geography

The province occupies a vast territory (nearly three times the size of France or Texas), most of which is very sparsely populated. Quebec's highest point is Mont D'Iberville, located on the border with Newfoundland and Labrador in the northeastern part of the province.
The Saint Lawrence River is one of the worlds largest, sustaining large inland Atlantic ports at Montreal (the province's largest city), Trois-Rivières, and Quebec City (the capital). It's access to the Atlantic Ocean and the interior of North America made it the base of early French exploration and settlement in the 17th and 18th centuries. Since 1959, the Saint Lawrence Seaway has provided a navigable link between the Atlantic Ocean and Great Lakes. Northeast of Quebec City, the river broadens into the world's largest estuary, the feeding site of numerous species of whales, fishes and sea birds. The river empties into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. This marine environment sustains fisheries and smaller ports in the Lower Saint Lawrence (Bas-Saint-Laurent), Lower North Shore (Côte-Nord), and Gaspé (Gaspésie) regions of the province. The most populated physiographic region is the Saint Lawrence Lowland. It extends northeastward from the southwestern portion of the province along the shores of the Saint Lawrence River to the Quebec City region, and includes Anticosti Island, the Mingnan Archipelago and other small islands in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Its landscape is low-lying and flat, except for isolated igneous outcrops near Montreal called the Monteregian Hills. Geologically, the lowlands formed as a rift valley about 100 million years ago and are prone to infrequent but significant earthquakes. The most recent layers of sedimentary rock were formed as the seabed of the ancient Champlain Sea at the end of the last ice age about 14,000 years ago. The combination of rich and easily arable soils and Quebec's warmest climate make the valley Quebec's most prolific agricultural area. Mixed forests provide most of Canada's maple syrup crop every spring. The rural part of the landscape is divided into narrow rectangular tracts of land that extend from the river and date back to settlement patterns in 17th century New France. More than 90 percent of Quebec's territory lies within the Canadian Shield, a rough, rocky terrain sculpted and scraped clean of soil by successive ice ages. It is rich in the forestry, mineral and hydro-electric resources that are a mainstay of the Quebec economy. Primary industries sustain small cities in regions of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, and Côte-Nord. In the Labrador Peninsula portion of the Shield, the far northern region of Nunavik includes the Ungava Peninsula and consists of Arctic tundra inhabited mostly by the Inuit. Further south lie subarctic taiga and boreal forest, where spruce, fir, and poplar trees provide raw materials for Quebec's pulp and paper and lumber industries. Although inhabited principally by the Cree, Naskapi, and Innu First Nations, thousands of temporary workers reside at Radisson to service the massive James Bay Hydroelectric Project on the La Grande and Eastmain rivers. The southern portion of the shield extends to the Laurentians, a mountain range just north of Montreal and Quebec City that attracts local and international tourists to ski hills and lakeside resorts.
The mixed forests of the Appalachian Mountains flank the eastern portion of the province, extending from New England into the Eastern Townships, northeastward through the Beauce region, and on to the Gaspé Peninsula, where they disappear into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This region sustains a mix of forestry, industry, and tourism based on its natural resources and landscape.

Climate

Quebec has three main climate regions. Southern and western Quebec, including most of the major population centres, have a humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dfb) with warm, humid summers and long, cold winters. The main climatic influences are from western and northern Canada which move eastward and from the southern and central United States that move northward. Due to the influence of both storm systems from the core of North America and the Atlantic Ocean, precipitation is abundant throughout the year, with most areas receiving more than 1,000 mm (40 inches) of precipitation, including over 300 cm (120 inches) of snow in many areas. During the summer, severe weather patterns (such as tornadoes and severe thunderstorms) are far less common than in southern Ontario, although they occasionally occur.
Most of central Quebec has a subarctic climate (Koppen Dfc). Winters are long and among the coldest in eastern Canada, while summers are warm but very short due to the higher latitude and the greater influence of Arctic air masses. Precipitation is also somewhat less than farther south, except at some of the higher elevations.
The northern regions of Quebec have an arctic climate (Koppen ET), with very cold winters and short, much cooler summers. The primary influences in this region are the Arctic Ocean currents (such as the Labrador Current) and continental air masses from the High Arctic.

Culture

Quebec is the largest French-speaking society in the Americas. Most French Canadians live in Quebec, though there are other concentrations.

Language

The official language of Quebec is French. Quebec is the only Canadian province whose population is mainly francophone and they make up 79% (5,877,660) of the population according to the 2006 Census. However, 95 % of the people speak French as either their first, second or even third language. English isn't an official language at the provincial level. According to the 2006 Canadian census, however, 575,560 (7.7% of population) in Quebec declare English as their mother tongue, 744,430 (10.0%) use mostly English as their home language, and 918,955 (12.9% according to the 2001 Census) comprise the Official Language Minority, having English as their First Official language spoken. The English-speaking community or Anglophones are entitled to services in English in the areas of justice, health, and education; services in English are offered in municipalities in which more than half the residents have English as their mother tongue. Allophones, whose mother tongue is neither French nor English, make up 11.9% (886,280) of the population.
   There is a considerable number of people that consider themselves to be bilingual (having a knowledge of French and English). In Quebec, about 40.6% (3,017,860) of the population are bilingual, and for the Island of Montreal, this proportion grows to 60% (1,020,760) of the island population. It is notable that Quebec has the highest proportion of bilinguals among the other Canada provinces. The proportion in Canada is only about 17.4% (5,448,850) of the population having a knowledge of both of the country's official languages.
   Furthermore, both English and French are required by the Constitution Act, 1867 for the enactment of laws and regulations and any person may use English or French in the National Assembly and the courts of Quebec. The books and records of the National Assembly must also be kept in both languages.
   Languages other than French on commercial signs are only permitted if French is given marked prominence but recent arguments have lead to many conflicts to this given rule.

History

First Nations: before 1500 At the time of first European contact and later colonization, Algonquian, Iroquoian and Inuit groups were the peoples that inhabited what is now Quebec. Their lifestyles and cultures reflected the land on which they lived. Seven Algonquian groups lived nomadic lives based on hunting, gathering, and fishing in the rugged terrain of the Canadian Shield: (James Bay Cree, Innu, Algonquins) and Appalachian Mountains (Mi'kmaq, Abenaki). St. Lawrence Iroquoians lived more settled lives, planting squash and maize in the fertile soils of St. Lawrence Valley. The Inuit continue to fish, whale, and seal in the harsh Arctic climate along the coasts of Hudson and Ungava Bay. These peoples traded fur and food, and sometimes warred with each other.

Early European exploration: 1500

Basque whalers and fishermen traded furs with Saguenay natives throughout the 1500s. (External Link

) The first French explorer to reach Quebec was Jacques Cartier, who planted a cross either in Gaspé in 1534 or at Old Fort Bay on the Lower North Shore. He sailed into the St. Lawrence River in 1535 and established an ill-fated colony near present-day Quebec City at the site of Stadacona, an Iroquoian village.

New France

Samuel de Champlain was part of a 1603 expedition from France that travelled into the St. Lawrence River. In 1608, he returned as head of an exploration party and founded Quebec City with the intention of making the area part of the French colonial empire. Champlain's Habitation de Quebec, built as a permanent fur trading outpost, was where he'd forge a trading, and ultimately a military alliance, with the Algonquin and Huron nations. Natives traded their furs for many French goods such as metal objects, guns, alcohol, and clothing. Hélène Desportes, born July 7, 1620, to the French habitants (settlers) Pierre Desportes and his wife Françoise Langlois, was the first child of European descent born in Quebec.
   From Quebec, coureurs des bois, voyageurs and Catholic missionaries used river canoes to explore the interior of the North American continent, establishing fur trading forts on the Great Lakes (Étienne Brûlé 1615), Hudson Bay (Radisson and Groseilliers 1659–60), Ohio River and Mississippi River (La Salle 1682), as well as the Prairie River and Missouri River (de la Verendrye 1734–1738).
   After 1627, King Louis XIII of France introduced the seigneurial system and forbade settlement in New France by anyone other than Roman Catholics. Sulpician and Jesuit clerics founded missions in Trois-Rivières (Laviolette) and Montréal or Ville-Marie (Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance) to convert New France's Huron and Algonkian allies to Catholicism. The seigneurial system of governing New France also encouraged immigration from the motherland.
   New France became a Royal Province in 1663 under King Louis XIV of France with a Sovereign Council that included intendant Jean Talon. This ushered in a golden era of settlement and colonization in New France, including the arrival of les "Filles du Roi". The population would grow from about 3,000 to 60,000 people between 1666 and 1760. Colonists built farms on the banks of St. Lawrence River and called themselves "Canadiens" or "Habitants". The colony's total population was limited, however, by a winter climate significantly harsher than that found in France; by the spread of diseases; and by the refusal of the French crown to allow Huguenots, or French Protestants, to settle there. The population of New France lagged far behind that of the 13 Colonies to the south, leaving it vulnerable to attack.

Conquest of New France

In 1753 France began building a series of forts in the British Ohio Country. They refused to leave after being notified by the British Governor and, in 1754, George Washington launched an attack on the French Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh) in the Ohio Valley in an attempt to enforce the British claim to the territory. This frontier battle set the stage for the French and Indian War in North America. By 1756, France and Britain were battling the Seven Years' War worldwide. In 1758, the British mounted an attack on New France by sea and took the French fort at Louisbourg.
   On 13 September 1759, General James Wolfe defeated General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec City. France ceded its North American possessions to Great Britain through the Treaty of Paris (1763). By the British Royal Proclamation of 1763, Canada (part of New France) was renamed the Province of Quebec.
   In 1774, fearful that the French-speaking population of Quebec (as the colony was now called) would side with the rebels of the Thirteen Colonies to the south, the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act giving recognition to French law, Catholic religion and French language in the colony; before that Catholics had been excluded from public office and recruitment of priests and brothers forbidden, effectively shutting down Quebec's schools and colleges. The first British policy of assimilation (1763–1774) was deemed a failure. Both the petitions and demands of the Canadiens' élites, and Governor Guy Carleton, played an important role in convincing London to drop the assimilation scheme, but the looming American revolt was certainly a factor. Through the Quebec Act, the Quebec people obtained their first Charter of Rights, which paved the way to later official recognition of the French language and French culture. The Act allowed Canadiens to maintain French civil law and sanctioned freedom of religion, allowing the Roman Catholic Church to remain. It also restored the Ohio Valley to Quebec, reserving the territory for the fur trade.
   The Act, designed to placate one North American colony, had the opposite effect among its neighbors to the south. The Quebec Act was among the Intolerable Acts that infuriated American colonists, who launched the American Revolution. A 1775 invasion by the American Continental Army met with early success, but was later repelled at Quebec City.

Revolutionary War

When the American army came to Quebec they found many sympathetic supporters. According to Baby, Tachereau and Williams, as many as 747 people in Quebec took up active service with the Americans, most notably Clément Gosselin of the 2nd Canadian Regiment.
   The 2nd Canadian Regiment fought at the Battle of Brandywine in 1777. The 1st Canadian Regiment under James Livingston served at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777.
   At the end of the war, 50,000 Loyalists came to Canada and settled amongst a population of 90,000 French people.
   The American Revolutionary War was ultimately successful in winning independence for the Thirteen Colonies. In the Treaty of Paris (1783), the British ceded their territory south of the Great Lakes to the newly formed United States of America.

Patriotes' Rebellion in Lower and Upper Canada

Like their counterparts in Upper Canada, in 1837 English and French speaking residents of Lower Canada, led by Louis-Joseph Papineau and Robert Nelson, formed an armed resistance group to seek an end to British colonial rule. They made a Declaration of Rights with equality for all citizens without discrimination, and a Declaration of Independence in 1838. Their actions resulted in rebellions in both Lower and Upper Canada. An unprepared British Army had to raise a local militia force and the rebel forces were soon defeated after having scored a victory in Saint-Denis, Quebec, east of Montreal. The British army also burned the Church of St-Eustache, killing the rebels who were hiding within it. The bullet and cannonball marks on the walls of the church are still visible to this day.

Act of Union

After the rebellions, Lord Durham was asked to undertake a study and prepare a report on the matter and to offer a solution for the British Parliament to assess.
   The final report recommended that the two provinces of Upper and Lower Canada be united, and that the French speaking population of Lower Canada be assimilated into British culture. Following Durham's Report, the British government merged the two colonial provinces into one Province of Canada in 1840 with the Act of Union.
   However, the political union proved contentious. Reformers in both Canada West (formerly Upper Canada) and Canada East (formerly Lower Canada) worked to repeal limitations on the use of the French language in the Legislature. The two colonies remained distinct in administration, election, and law.
   In 1848, Baldwin and LaFontaine, allies and leaders of the Reformist party, were asked by Lord Elgin to form an administration together under the new policy of responsible government. The French language subsequently regained legal status in the Legislature.

Canadian Confederation

In the 1860s, the delegates from the colonies of British North America (Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland) met in a series of conferences to discuss self-governing status for a new confederation.
   The first Charlottetown Conference took place in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island followed by the Quebec Conference in Quebec City which led to a delegation going to London, England to put forth a proposal for a national union.
   As a result of those deliberations, in 1867 the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the British North America Act, providing for the Confederation of most of these provinces.
   The former Province of Canada was divided into its two previous parts as the provinces of Ontario (Upper Canada) and Quebec (Lower Canada).

New Brunswick and Nova Scotia joined Ontario and Quebec in the new Dominion of Canada.
Prince Edward Island joined in 1873 and the Dominion of Newfoundland entered the Confederation in 1949.

Quiet Revolution

The conservative government of Maurice Duplessis and his Union Nationale dominated Quebec politics from 1944 to 1960 with the support of the Roman Catholic church. Pierre Elliot Trudeau and other liberals formed an intellectual opposition to Duplessis's regime, setting the groundwork for the Quiet Revolution under Jean Lesage's Liberals. The Quiet Revolution was a period of dramatic social and political change that saw the decline of Anglo supremacy in the Quebec economy, the decline of the Roman Catholic Church's influence, the nationalization of hydro-electric companies under Hydro-Québec and the emergence of a pro-sovereignty movement under former Liberal minister René Lévesque.
Beginning in 1963, a terrorist group that became known as the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks directed primarily at English institutions, resulting in at least five deaths. In 1970, their activities culminated in events referred to as the October Crisis (External Link

) when James Cross, the British trade commissioner to Canada, was kidnapped along with Pierre Laporte, a provincial minister and Vice-Premier, who was murdered a few days later. In their published Manifesto, the terrorists stated: "In the coming year Bourassa (Quebec Premier) will have to face reality; 100,000 revolutionary workers, armed and organized."
At the request of Premier Robert Bourassa, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act. In addition, the Quebec Ombudsman (External Link

), Louis Marceau, was instructed to hear complaints of detainees and the Quebec government agreed to pay damages to any person unjustly arrested (only in Quebec). On February 3, 1971, John Turner, the Minister of Justice of Canada, reported that 497 persons had been arrested throughout Canada under the War Measures Act, of whom 435 had been released. The other 62 were charged, of which 32 were crimes of such seriousness that a Quebec Superior Court judge refused them bail. The crisis ended a few weeks after the death of Pierre Laporte at the hands of his captors. The fallout of the crisis marked the zenith and twilight of the FLQ which lost membership and public support.
In 1977, the newly elected Parti Québécois government of René Lévesque introduced the Charter of the French Language. Often known as Bill 101, it defined French as the only official language of Quebec in areas of provincial jurisdiction.

Parti Québécois and constitutional crisis

Lévesque and his party had run in the 1970 and 1973 Quebec elections under a platform of separating Quebec from the rest of Canada. The party failed to win control of Quebec's National Assembly both times — though its share of the vote increased from 23% to 30% — and Lévesque himself was defeated both times in the riding he contested. In the 1976 election, he softened his message by promising a referendum (plebiscite) on sovereignty-association rather than outright separation, by which Quebec would have independence in most government functions but share some other ones, such as a common currency, with Canada. On November 15, 1976, Lévesque and the Parti Québécois won control of the provincial government for the first time. The question of sovereignty-association was placed before the voters in the 1980 Quebec referendum. During the campaign, Pierre Trudeau promised that a vote for the NO side was a vote for reforming Canada. Trudeau advocated the patriation of Canada's Constitution from the United Kingdom. The existing constitutional document, the British North America Act, could only be amended by the United Kingdom Parliament upon a request by the Canadian parliament.
   Sixty percent of the Quebec electorate voted against the proposition. Polls showed that the overwhelming majority of English and immigrant Quebecers voted against, and that French Quebecers were almost equally divided, with older voters less in favour, and younger voters more in favour. After his loss in the referendum, Lévesque went back to Ottawa to start negotiating a new constitution with Trudeau, his minister of Justice Jean Chrétien and the nine other provincial premiers. Lévesque insisted Quebec be able to veto any future constitutional amendments. The negotiations quickly reached a stand-still.
   Then on the night of November 4, 1981 (widely known in Quebec as La nuit des longs couteaux and in the rest of Canada as the "Kitchen Accord", Federal Justice Minister Jean Chrétien met with all of the provincial premiers except René Lévesque to sign the document that would eventually become the new Canadian constitution. The next morning, they presented the "fait accompli" to Lévesque. Lévesque refused to sign the document, and returned to Quebec. In 1982, Trudeau had the new constitution approved by the British Parliament, with Quebec's signature still missing (a situation that persists to this day). The Supreme Court of Canada confirmed Trudeau's assertion that every province's approval isn't required to amend the constitution.
   In subsequent years, two attempts were made to gain Quebec's approval of the constitution. The first was the Meech Lake Accord of 1987, which was finally abandoned in 1990 when the province of Manitoba didn't pass it within the established deadline. (Newfoundland premier Clyde Wells had expressed his opposition to the accord, but, with the failure in Manitoba, the vote for or against Meech never took place in his province.) This led to the formation of the sovereignist Bloc Québécois party in Ottawa under the leadership of Lucien Bouchard, who had resigned from the federal cabinet. The second attempt, the Charlottetown Accord of 1992, was rejected by 56.7% of all Canadians and 57% of Quebecers. This result caused a split in the Quebec Liberal Party that led to the formation of the new Action Démocratique (Democratic Action) party led by Mario Dumont and Jean Allaire.
   On October 30, 1995, with the Parti Québécois back in power since 1994, a second referendum on sovereignty took place. This time, it was rejected by a slim majority (50.6% NO to 49.4% YES); a clear majority of French-speaking Quebecers voted in favour of sovereignty.
   The referendum was enshrouded in controversy. Federalists complained that an unusually high number of ballots had been rejected in pro-federalist areas, notably in the largely Jewish and Greek riding of Chomedey (11.7 % or 5,500 of its ballots were spoiled, compared to 750 or 1.7% in the general election of 1994) although Quebec's chief electoral officer found no evidence of outright fraud. The federal government was accused of not respecting provincial laws with regard to spending during referendums (leading to a corruption scandal that would become public a decade later, greatly damaging the Liberal Party's standing), and of having accelerated the naturalization of immigrants in Quebec before the referendum in order that they could vote, as naturalized citizens were believed more likely to vote no. (43,850 immigrants were naturalized in 1995, whereas the average number between 1988 and 1998 was 21,733.)
   The same night of the referendum, an angry Jacques Parizeau, then premier and leader of the "Yes" side, declared that the loss was due to "money and the ethnic vote". Parizeau resigned over public outrage and as per his commitment to do so in case of a loss. Lucien Bouchard became Quebec's new premier in his place.
   Federalists accused the sovereignist side of asking a vague, overly complicated question on the ballot. Its English text read as follows:

Do you agree that Québec should become sovereign after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership within the scope of the bill respecting the future of Québec and of the agreement signed on June 12, 1995?

After winning the next election, Bouchard retired from politics in 2001. Bernard Landry was then appointed leader of the Parti Québécois and premier of Quebec. In 2003, Landry lost the election to the Quebec Liberal Party and Jean Charest. Landry stepped down as PQ leader in 2005, and in a crowded race for the party leadership, André Boisclair was elected to succeed him. He also resigned after the renewal of the Quebec Liberal Party's government in the 2007 general election and the Parti Québécois becoming the third opposition party, behind the Action Démocratique. The PQ has promised to hold another referendum should it return to government.

Quebec as a nation

Given the province's heritage and the preponderance of French (unique among the Canadian provinces), there's an ongoing debate in Canada regarding the status of Quebec and its people (wholly or partially). Prior attempts to amend the Canadian constitution to acknowledge Quebec as a 'distinct society' – referring to the province's uniqueness within Canada regarding law, language, and culture – have been unsuccessful; however, the federal government under prime minister Jean Chrétien would later endorse recognition of Quebec as a distinct society. On October 30, 2003, the National Assembly of Quebec voted unanimously to affirm "that the Quebecers form a nation". On November 27 2006, the House of Commons passed a motion moved by prime minister Stephen Harper declaring that "this House recognize[s] that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada." although there's considerable debate and uncertainty over what this means.

Government

The Lieutenant Governor represents Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. The head of government is the Premier (called premier ministre in French) who leads the largest party in the unicameral National Assembly or Assemblée Nationale, from which the Council of Ministers is appointed.
Until 1968, the Quebec legislature was bicameral, consisting of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly. In that year the Legislative Council was abolished, and the Legislative Assembly was renamed the National Assembly. Quebec was the last province to abolish its legislative council.
The government of Quebec awards an order of merit called the National Order of Quebec. It is inspired in part by the French Legion of Honour. It is conferred upon men and women born or living in Quebec (but non-Quebecers can be inducted as well) for outstanding achievements.

Administrative subdivisions

Quebec has subdivisions at the regional, supralocal and local levels. Excluding administrative units reserved for Aboriginal lands, the primary types of subdivision are:
At the regional level:

17 administrative regions. At the supralocal level:

86 regional county municipalities or RCMs (municipalités régionales de comté, MRC);

2 metropolitan communities (communautés métropolitaines). At the local level:

1,117 local municipalities of various types;

11 agglomerations (agglomérations) grouping 42 of these local municipalities;

within 8 local municipalities, 45 boroughs (arrondissements).

Population centres

The data are from the 2006 census of Canada.

Census metropolitan areas by population

Census metropolitan area	2006 pop.	2001 pop.¹	Region²
Greater Montreal	3,635,571	3,451,027	Montréal
Quebec City (provincial capital)	715,515	686,569	Capitale-Nationale
Gatineau³	283,959	261,704	Outaouais
Sherbrooke	186,952	175,950	Estrie
Saguenay	151,643	154,938	Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean
Trois-Rivières	141,529	137,507	Mauricie

¹These figures are adjusted to reflect boundary changes for the 2006 census.
²Where a metropolitan area straddles more than one administrative region, the region of the central municipality is given.
³These figures pertain to the part of the Ottawa-Gatineau census metropolitan area that's in Quebec. The total figures for the CMA, including the part in Ontario, are 1,130,761 (2006), 1,067,800 (2001).

Major municipalities

The municipalities of the Montreal, Quebec, and Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan areas exceeding 50,000 in population in 2006 are given below with their administrative regions in parentheses. Montreal CMA:

Montreal (Montréal), 1,620,693;

Laval (Laval), 368,709;

Longueuil (Montérégie), 229,330;

Terrebonne (Lanaudière), 94,703;

Repentigny (Lanaudière) 76,237;

Brossard (Montérégie), 71,154;

Saint-Jérôme (Laurentides), 63,729. The population of the Island of Montreal was 1,854,442. Quebec CMA:

Quebec City (Capitale-Nationale), 491,142;

Lévis (Chaudière-Appalaches), 130,006. Ottawa-Gatineau CMA:

Gatineau (Outaouais), 242,124. The population of Ottawa, Ontario is 812,129.

Other census agglomerations

Census agglomeration	2006	2001¹	Region²
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu	87,492	79,600	Montérégie
Drummondville	78,108	72,778	Centre-du-Québec
Granby	68,352	63,069	Montérégie
Shawinigan	56,434	56,412	Mauricie
Saint-Hyacinthe	55,823	54,275	Montérégie
Victoriaville	48,893	46,908	Centre-du-Québec
Sorel-Tracy	48,295	47,802	Montérégie
Rimouski	46,807	46,012	Bas-Saint-Laurent
Joliette	43,595	39,720	Lanaudière
Rouyn-Noranda	39,924	39,621	Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	39,672	39,028	Montérégie
Alma	32,603	32,930	Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean
Val-d'Or	32,288	32,433	Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Saint-Georges	31,364	29,759	Chaudière-Appalaches
Baie-Comeau	29,808	30,401	Côte-Nord
Sept-Îles	27,827	27,623	Côte-Nord
Thetford Mines	26,107	26,721	Chaudière-Appalaches
Rivière-du-Loup	24,570	23,229	Bas-Saint-Laurent
Amos	17,918	18,302	Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Matane	16,438	16,597	Bas-Saint-Laurent
La Tuque	15,293	15,725	Mauricie
Dolbeau-Mistassini	14,546	14,879	Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean
Cowansville	12,666	12,558	Montérégie
Lachute	11,832	11,628	Laurentides

¹These figures are adjusted to reflect boundary changes for the 2006 census.
²Where a census agglomeration straddles more than one administrative region, the region of the central municipality is given.
The municipalities of Quebec which are not part of a CMA or CA but which had populations exceeding 10,000 in 2006, with administrative regions in parentheses, are: Gaspé (Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine), 14,819; Saint-Lin-Laurentides (Lanaudière), 14,159; Mont-Laurier (Laurentides), 13,405; Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine (Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine), 12,560; Sainte-Marie (Chaudière-Appalaches), 11,584; Montmagny (Chaudière-Appalaches), 11,353; Sainte-Adèle (Laurentides), 10,634; Roberval (Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean), 10,544; Saint-Félicien (Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean), 10,477; Sainte-Sophie (Laurentides), 10,355; Prévost (Laurentides), 10,132; Rawdon (Lanaudière), 10,058.

Economy

The St. Lawrence River Valley is a fertile agricultural region, producing dairy products, fruit, vegetables, foie gras, maple syrup (Quebec is the world's largest producer), and livestock.
North of the St. Lawrence River Valley, the territory of Quebec has significant resources in its coniferous forests, lakes, and rivers—pulp and paper, lumber, and hydroelectricity are still some of the province's most important industries.
There is a significant concentration of high-tech industries around Montreal, including aerospace companies such as aircraft manufacturer Bombardier, the jet engine company Pratt & Whitney, the flight simulator builder CAE and defence contractor Lockheed Martin, Canada. These companies and other major subcontractors have made Quebec the world's fourth-largest producer of aviation related products. In the video game industry, large video game companies such as Electronic Arts and Ubisoft have studios in Montreal.

Demographics

Quebec's fertility rate is now lower than the Canadian average. At 1.52, it's slightly below the Canada-wide rate of 1.54 and well below the replacement fertility rate of 2.1. This contrasts with fertility rates before 1960, which were among the highest of any industrialized society. Although Quebec is home to only 23.9% of the population of Canada, the number of international adoptions in Quebec is the highest of all provinces of Canada. In 2001, 42% of international adoptions in Canada were carried out in Quebec.

Population of Quebec since 1851

Year	Population	Five-year % change	Ten-year % change	Rank among provinces
1851	892,061	n/a	n/a	2
1861	1,111,566	n/a	24.6	2
1871	1,191,516	n/a	7.2	2
1881	1,359,027	n/a	14.1	2
1891	1,488,535	n/a	9.5	2
1901	1,648,898	n/a	10.8	2
1911	2,005,776	n/a	21.6	2
1921	2,360,665	n/a	17.8	2
1931	2,874,255	n/a	21.8	2
1941	3,331,882	n/a	15.9	2
1951	4,055,681	n/a	21.8	2
1956	4,628,378	14.1	n/a	2
1961	5,259,211	13.6	29.7	2
1966	5,780,845	9.9	24.9	2
1971	6,027,765	4.3	14.6	2
1976	6,234,445	3.4	7.8	2
1981	6,438,403	3.3	6.8	2
1986	6,532,460	1.5	4.8	2
1991	6,895,963	5.6	7.1	2
1996	7,138,795	3.5	9.3	2
2001	7,237,479	1.4	5.0	2
2006	7,546,131	4.3	5.7	2

Source: Statistics Canada (External Link

)(External Link

)

Ethnic origin

Ethnic origin	Population	Percent
Canadian	4,897,475	68.7%
French	2,111,570	29.6%
Irish	291,545	4.1%
Italian	249,205	3.5%
English	218,415	3.1%
Scottish	156,140	2.2%
North American Indian	130,165	1.8%
Québécois	94,940	1.3%
German	88,700	1.2%
Jewish	82,450	1.2%
Haitian	74,465	1.0%
Chinese	63,000	0.9%
Greek	58,645	0.8%
Lebanese	48,990	0.7%
Portuguese	48,765	0.7%
Polish	46,990	0.7%
Spanish	43,115	0.6%
East Indian	34,125	0.5%

Percentages are calculated as a proportion of the total number of respondents (7,125,580) and may total more than 100% due to dual responses.
Only groups with more than 0.5% of respondents are shown.

Aboriginal status

The 2006 census counted a total aboriginal population of 108,425 (1.5%) including 65,085 North American Indians (0.9%), 27,985 Métis (0.4%), and 10,950 Inuit (0.15%). It should be noted however, that there's a significant undercount, as many of the biggest Indian bands regularly refuse to participate in Canadian censuses for political reasons regarding the question of aboriginal sovereignty. In particular, the largest Mohawk Iroquois reserves (Kahnawake, Akwesasne and Kanesatake) were not counted. Percentages are calculated as a proportion of the total number of respondents (7,435,905)

Visible minorities

Visible minority	Population	Percentage
Black	152,195	2.1%
Arab	73,345	1.0%
Chinese	56,830	0.8%
Latin American	59,515	0.8%
South Asian	59,505	0.8%

Percentages are calculated as a proportion of the total number of respondents (7,125,580).
Only groups with more than 0.5% of respondents are shown

Religion

Quebec is unique among the provinces in its overwhelmingly Roman Catholic population. This is a legacy of colonial times when only Roman Catholics were permitted to settle in New France.
The 2001 census showed the population to be 83.4% Catholic Christian (including 83.2% Roman Catholic); 4.7% Protestant Christian (including 1.2% Anglican, 0.7% United Church; and 0.5% Baptist); 1.4% Orthodox Christian (including 0.7% Greek Orthodox); and 0.8% Other Christian; as well as 1.5% Muslim; 1.3% Jewish; 0.6% Buddhist; 0.3% Hindu; and 0.1% Sikh. An additional 5.8% of the population said they'd no religious affiliation (including 5.6% who stated that they'd no religion at all).
Percentages are calculated as a proportion of the total number of respondents (7,125,580)

Mother tongues

Of the 7,546,131 population counted by the 2006 census, 7,435,905 people completed the section about language. Of these 7,339,495 gave singular responses to the question regarding mother tongue. The languages most commonly reported were the following:

Language	Number of native speakers	Percentage of singular responses
French	5,877,060	80.1%
English	575,555	7.8%
Italian	124,820	1.7%
Spanish	108,790	1.5%
Arabic	108,105	1.5%
Chinese	63,415	0.9%
Creole	44,145	0.6%
Greek	41,845	0.6%
Portuguese	34,710	0.5%
Romanian	27,180	0.4%
Vietnamese	25,370	0.3%
Russian	19,275	0.3%
German	17,855	0.2%
Polish	17,305	0.2%
Armenian	15,520	0.2%
Persian (Farsi)	14,655	0.2%
Cree	13,340	0.2%
Panjabi (Punjabi)	11,905	0.2%
Tagalog (Filipino)	11,785	0.2%
Tamil	11,570	0.1%
Urdu	9,685	0.1%
Bengali	9,660	0.1%
Inuktitut	9,615	0.1%
Montagnais-Naskapi	9,335	0.1%
Khmer (Cambodian)	8,250	0.1%
Yiddish	8,225	0.1%
Hungarian (Magyar)	7,750	0.1%
Gujarati	6,050	0.1%
Turkish	5,865	0.1%
Ukrainian	5,395	0.1%
Atikamekw	5,245	0.1%
Bulgarian	5,215	0.1%
Lao	4,785	0.1%
Hebrew	4,110	0.1%
Korean	3,970	0.1%
Dutch (Nederlands)	3,620	~

Numerous other languages were also counted, but only languages with more than 3,000 native speakers are shown.
(Figures shown are for the number of single language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses)

National symbols

Coat of Arms

In 1939, the government of Quebec unilaterally ratified its coat of arms to reflect Quebec's political history: French rule (gold lily on blue background), British rule (lion on red background) and Canadian rule (maple leaves) and with Quebec's motto below "Je me souviens".

Motto

Je me souviens ("I remember") was first carved under the coat of arms of Quebec's Parliament Building façade in 1883. It is an official part of the coat of arms and has been the official license plate motto since 1978, replacing "La belle province" (the beautiful province). The expression La belle province is still used mostly in tourism as a nickname for the province.

Flag

The fleur-de-lis, the ancient symbol of the French monarchy, first arrived on the shores of the Gaspésie in 1534 with Jacques Cartier on his first voyage. In 1900, Quebec finally sought to have its own uniquely designed flag. By 1903, the parent of today's flag had taken shape, known as the "Fleurdelisé". The flag in its present form with its 4 white "fleur-de-lis" lilies on a blue background with a white cross replaced the Union Jack on Quebec's Parliament Building on January 21 1948.

Other official symbols

The floral emblem of Quebec is the Iris versicolor.

Since 1987 the avian emblem of Quebec has been the snowy owl.

An official tree, the yellow birch (bouleau jaune, merisier), symbolises the importance Quebecers give to the forests. The tree is known for the variety of its uses and commercial value, as well as its autumn colours. In 1998 the Montreal Insectarium sponsored a poll to choose an official insect. The White Admiral butterfly (Limenitis arthemis) (External Link

) won with 32 % of the 230 660 votes against the Spotted lady beetle (Coleomegilla maculata lengi), the Ebony Jewelwing damselfly (Calopteryx maculata), a species of bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) and the six-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata sexguttata).

Quebec's National Holiday

In 1977, then premier René Lévesque declared June 24 to be Quebec's National Holiday. Historically June 24 was a holiday honouring one of Quebec's patron saints, St. John the Baptist, which is why it's commonly known as La Saint-Jean-Baptiste (often shortened to La St-Jean). On this day, the song "Gens du pays" by Gilles Vigneault is often heard and commonly regarded as Quebec's unofficial anthem.