{"id":7102,"date":"2019-07-18T10:00:56","date_gmt":"2019-07-18T14:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/missionqc.org\/?p=7102"},"modified":"2019-07-18T09:57:52","modified_gmt":"2019-07-18T13:57:52","slug":"10-things-you-didnt-know-about-quebec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/missionqc.org\/en\/blog\/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-quebec\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Things You Didn\u2019t Know about Quebec"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\"\"<\/p>\n

THIS ARTICLE IS FROM
\nTHE GOSPEL COALITION CANADA<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\n

Editors\u2019 note:<\/span>
\nCanadians sometimes overlook the rich diversity of Canada. But our country spans three coasts, ten provinces, and three territories. One of our editors, Jean-Christophe Jasmin, helps us bridge this national gap by informing us about the great province of Qu\u00e9bec. He notes ten things that we (possibly) didn\u2019t know about Qu\u00e9bec.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”]

<\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][nectar_gradient_text heading_tag=”h1″ color=”extra-color-gradient-1″ gradient_direction=”diagonal” text=”1.”][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”2\/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\n

Quebecers were really the first \u201cCanadians\u201d<\/h2>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]As you may know, identity is a huge topic in Qu\u00e9bec. What we call \u201cThe National Question,\u201d while not as hot today as in the 1990s, is still the central politically structuring issue in Qu\u00e9bec politics. Liberalism and conservatism still take a back seat to the question of whether Quebec should form an independent nation. However, you may not know that Quebecers have only relatively recently begun to identify as Quebecers. From the time of the French Regime, the colonists were called \u201cCanadians\u201d by the metropolitans, who recognized in these rustic settlers a new nationality that was emerging from the fusion of French and Native American cultures.<\/p>\n

After the conquest, the newcomers in what was becoming Canada called themselves English, Scots, etc., while the French speakers saw themselves as Canadians. While English Canada was forming its own identity as \u201cCanada,\u201c the former Canadians changed the way they referred to themselves, as French-Canadians in the early 20th century, to Quebecer around the time of the quiet revolution. Now that\u2019s confusing![\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][nectar_gradient_text heading_tag=”h1″ color=”extra-color-gradient-1″ gradient_direction=”diagonal” text=”2.”][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”2\/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\n

Protestant origins<\/h2>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]While the Edict of Fontainebleau banned French protestants from emigrating in the colonies, recent historical research suggests that many of the nation\u2019s founding fathers were from a French Huguenot background. Among these, we find Samuel de Champlain (founder of Quebec City), Laviolette (founder of Trois-Rivi\u00e8res), Pierre du Gua de Monts (founder of Tadoussac and Port Royal)<\/span>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner column_margin=”default” text_align=”left”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/2″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”]
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A French specialist in genealogy has got his hands on the baptismal certificate of one who is considered the father of New France, Samuel de Champlain. He was Protestant and he was baptized in La Rochelle.1<\/sup><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][nectar_gradient_text heading_tag=”h1″ color=”extra-color-gradient-1″ gradient_direction=”diagonal” text=”3.”][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”2\/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\n

Its churches have European roots<\/h2>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]While the evangelical churches in Quebec have benefitted from a constant support from churches in English Canada and the U.S.A., its first churches were actually established by French-speaking Swiss missionaries. Henriette Feller and Louis Roussy were sent in Lower-Canada by the Lausanne Missionary Society in 1834 and established a network of churches on the South Shore of Montreal, some of which, like the Roussy Memorial Church in St-Blaise, or the Marieville Baptist Church in Marieville, are still active today.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][nectar_gradient_text heading_tag=”h1″ color=”extra-color-gradient-1″ gradient_direction=”diagonal” text=”4.”][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”2\/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\n

A truly multi-ethnic church<\/h2>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]You might picture a Sunday morning in a Quebec evangelical church as a meeting of plaid-shirt, poutine eating white francophones. While I do wear plaid shirts and poutine eating is a Sunday lunch tradition in my family (no kidding!), the Quebec church is very multi-ethnic and diverse. I would say that immigration is a major factor behind the evangelical church\u2019s growth in Quebec. While the majority of these Christians come from French speaking countries in Africa or from Haiti, a great number come from Latin America. In the church where I serve, I would estimate that more people speak French and Spanish, or French and Cr\u00e9ole than people who speak French and English.[\/vc_column_text]
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\u00c9glise \u00c9vang\u00e9lique Baptiste de Pointe-aux-Trembles, in Montr\u00e9al.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][nectar_gradient_text heading_tag=”h1″ color=”extra-color-gradient-1″ gradient_direction=”diagonal” text=”5.”][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”2\/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\n

1970s revival<\/h2>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]In his book recounting the work of his father as a minister in Qu\u00e9bec, D.A. Carson notes \u201cIn the decade of the seventies, evangelical work in French Canada exploded. From about forty evangelical churches, the work grew to just under five hundred churches and preaching points before settling down to just over four hundred.\u201d The effect of this revival is still felt today in Quebec as the church born of the revival was, for the most part, a young church composed of eager baby-boomers who learnt how to be the church as we say in French \u201csur le tas\u201d (as you go).<\/p>\n

Most Quebec-born Christians today are \u201cfirst generation\u201d Christians. This generation was the first to raise kids in the church, buy buildings, or start a Sunday school.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][nectar_gradient_text heading_tag=”h1″ color=”extra-color-gradient-1″ gradient_direction=”diagonal” text=”6.”][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”2\/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\n

Canada almost wasn\u2019t British<\/h2>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]It seems that during the negotiations for the treaty of Paris following the Seven years\u2019 war (and the conquest of Canada by Great Britain) no one really knew what to do with Canada. France preferred to retain control of its Caribbean outposts, while Britain was reluctant to integrate a colony that reminded its own North American colonies of it\u2019s needs for the British Crown\u2019s protection. Reluctantly, Britain added the \u201cProvince of Quebec\u201d to its portfolio and changed the continent\u2019s history in the process.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][nectar_gradient_text heading_tag=”h1″ color=”extra-color-gradient-1″ gradient_direction=”diagonal” text=”7.”][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”2\/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\n

Je me souviens<\/h2>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Quebec\u2019s official motto means \u201cI remember.\u201d Ironically, no one remembers what it is that we are supposed to remember. The motto was integrated in the construction of the parliament building in Quebec City by its architect Eug\u00e8ne-\u00c9tienne Tach\u00e9 yet no one knows exactly why.<\/p>\n

It seems that it refers to Quebec\u2019s history (which the parliament building tries to commemorate through its numerous statues of significant historical figures). One interesting theory comes from E-E Tach\u00e9\u2019s grand-daughter who identifies the motto as the first part of a poem that recognizes Quebec bi-cultural heritage: \u201cJe me souviens que n\u00e9 sous lys, je cro\u00ees sous la rose\u201d \/ I remember that, born under the lilly (the French monarchy\u2019s flower), I grow under the rose (the English monarchy\u2019s flower).[\/vc_column_text]

\"\"<\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][nectar_gradient_text heading_tag=”h1″ color=”extra-color-gradient-1″ gradient_direction=”diagonal” text=”8.”][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”2\/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\n

A missionary field<\/h2>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Quebec is considered the largest unreached people group in North America with an estimate of about 99.3% of the population that is not Evangelical (although the way the Canadian census studies religion since 2001 has really muddied the water). It is sometimes difficult for other Canadian Christians to imagine what the sheer proportion of unreached people mean in everyday life. I remember being a student in a 1500 student High School in Montreal and not knowing any other Christian there. Only very rarely would I work at a place where there would be one other believer.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][nectar_gradient_text heading_tag=”h1″ color=”extra-color-gradient-1″ gradient_direction=”diagonal” text=”9.”][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”2\/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\n

The western world\u2019s \u201cAnti-Rhode-Island\u201d<\/h2>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]What I mean by that is this: The state of Rhode Island has the historical peculiarity of being the first state to sign the declaration of independence, yet the last state to ratify the United States Constitution.<\/p>\n

Quebec was among if not the last western Christian culture to go through a secularization process when it did in the 1960s, but when it did, it went \u201cfull throttle\u201d into modernity (and post-modernity) across most metrics:<\/p>\n