QUEBEC, FLAG OF

Canadian provincial flag consisting of a blue field (background) divided into quarters by a central white cross; within each quarter is a white fleur-de-lis. The origin of the provincial flag can be traced to France, which controlled vast areas of North America during colonial times. Since at least the 12th century, fleurs-de-lis were displayed, usually with a religious connotation, in the area now known as France. The background of the French royal arms was blue, and many French flags utilized blue and white, especially before the late 16th century. An old flag found in Montreal in the mid-19th century was attributed to the victorious French Canadian troops at the Battle of Carillon (Ticonderoga) in 1758. A modified version of that design later became popular as a French Canadian ethnic flag. Its background was blue, and a gold fleur-de-lis appeared in each corner, between the arms of a white cross, pointed toward the Sacred Heart of Jesus that formed the centrepiece of the flag. In 1946 the provincial legislature sanctioned the concept of a distinctive Quebec flag, and Premier Maurice Duplessis issued an order in council on January 21, 1948, that approved the flag now in use. The new design was based on the Carillon (Sacred Heart) flag, but with significant changes: the religious symbol was removed from its centre, the fleurs-de-lis were pointed toward the top edge, and their colour was changed from gold to white. Legislative approval was given to that flag on March 7, 1950. There is no official attribution of symbolism to the colours or design elements, but it is understood that they evoke the historical origins of the province and its status as a francophone nation in the New World. Whitney Smith History When in 1534 the French explorer Jacques Cartier landed at present-day Gasp and took possession of the land in the name of the king of France, he brought with him the traditions of mercantile expansion of 16th-century Europe to this land where Indians and Inuit had been living for some thousands of years. There is a debate among historians, however, as to when the real history of Quebec should begin. Because the Province of Quebec as a political and geographic entity was created by the proclamation of 1763, the notion is sometimes also advanced that its real history should start with the capitulation of the French army in 1760, although Quebec city was founded in 1608. The various definitions given by historians are not simply semantic questions, for they contain diverse assumptions concerning the political identity of the Quebec government. For example, there is a political tradition among French Canadians that the government of Quebec is also the government of the French Canadian people, and, therefore, they are heir to what was New France. The 196667 Annuaire du Qubec (Qubec Yearbook) states this claim most clearly: Quebec is a state with limited responsibilities that belongs to the Canadian Federation as a province. It is also the national state of the French-Canadians and exercises its governmental prerogatives, in the areas of its responsibilities, on the majority of the heirs of those who colonized New France. To this, some authorities have replied that the territories covered by New France and those now included in the Province of Quebec cannot be equated. Although New France began with the founding of three citiesQuebec city in 1608, Trois-Rivires in 1616, and Montreal in 1642it finally included territories that extended west in what is now the United States to the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Even if the British government, by the Quebec Act of 1774, did in fact include practically all the territories of New France in the new Province of Quebec, this situation lasted only briefly. Some English-speaking historians assert that the Quebec Act created what is now Quebec as well as the practice of trying to fuse British and French institutions in the new political entity. The new British colony was, thus, to be administered by a governor and a council, using British criminal law and French civil law. Whatever the British government intended, however, when the composition of Quebec's population gradually changed as a result of increasing English-speaking immigration, it became increasingly difficult to carry out a policy that could give satisfaction to both the English- and French-speaking groups. In 1775, the year the American Revolution broke out, Quebec city was besieged by American troops, and Montreal was occupied. When peace was restored in 1783, the loyalists who had fled from the United States were settled west of Ottawa River, in what became the province of Ontario. This was the beginning of the basic geographic dichotomy in Canada between French and English. In 1791, Canada was split into Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (the future Ontario). Furthermore, although throughout the province the rural population remained overwhelmingly French, Montreal became the domain of the English merchants, who were bitterly anti-French. The metropolis of Canada was to have an English-speaking majority until the middle of the 19th century, and, even after that, it took nearly a century before French speakers gained control of its economic life. Discrimination existed between the two groups not only in economic, political, and religious activities but also in such other fields as education. Gradually, two different educational systems came into being. English-speaking McGill University was opened in 1821, but it was not until 1852 that the French-speaking Quebec Seminary, founded in 1668, became Laval University. During the first part of the 19th century, the causes for conflict between the two groups increased with the rapid growth of the English-speaking population in Canada. The English merchants of Montreal tried in 1822 to obtain an Act of Union that would have united Lower and Upper Canada and given them an English-speaking majority in the country as a whole. The reaction against this attempt among French Canadians was strong and prepared the way for the 1837 rebellion. This rebellion, the first major manifestation of political nationalism among French Canadians, was led by Louis-Joseph Papineau, whose Patriote Party became a centre for radical politics. After the rebellion was put down, the British government sent out the Earl of Durham to investigate; his report, published in 1839, offended French Canadians by referring to them as a people without a history or culture and by characterizing the situation in Lower Canada as a war between two races. The report also suggested the setting up of responsible government in Canada as a solution to the tensions between the two groups. In 1841 a new Act of Union joined the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, and, in 1867, the British North American Act created the confederation of Canada by the federation of the four provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario. From then on, French Canadian nationalism became a permanent feature of Canadian as well as Quebec politics. Doctrines of papal supremacy over national authority introduced the idea of the religious mission of French Canadians in North America. Under the leadership of such men as Henri Bourassa and the abb Lionel Groulx, the province evolved its special vocation as the political home of French Canadians, and the government of that province assumed special responsibility for the defense of French culture. This situation also resulted in the doctrine of provincial autonomy that was used by Prime Minister Maurice Duplessis between 1936 and 1957. French Canadian nationalism also led to the quiet revolution of the Liberal government under Jean Lesage, who took office in 1960, and to the not-so-quiet revolution of a terrorist group known as the Front de Libration du Qubec (FLQ), which was responsible for sporadic violence and the murder in 1970 of Quebec's labour minister, Pierre Laporte. The creation of the Parti Qubcois in 1970 brought into being a new forum of Quebec nationalism, one that is no longer strictly French Canadian: it has English-speaking members as well as members of other ethnic groups, and its advocacy of separation from Canada is based on issues of economic and social development. In 1976 the party won the general elections and control of the provincial parliament, under the premiership of Ren Lvesque. In a referendum held in May 1980 the Quebec electorate rejected the opportunity to negotiate with the national government for sovereignty-association status (see above Canada since 1920). In elections held the following year the Parti Qubcois maintained its majority in the provincial parliament, but in 1985 it was defeated and a Liberal Party government was installed. From that time the appeal of the political ideology of separatism declined steadily, although some revival occurred in 1990 when the Meech Lake accords, which would have recognized Quebec as a distinct society, failed to be ratified by the Canadian Parliament. Philippe Garigue