Montreal
The sentiments of separatism and nationalism among French-speaking Canadians date back centuries. Yet, even today after decades of so-called compromise and accommodation from the federal government, the fear of absorption into the pre-dominantly anglophone culture of the rest of Canada is still strong. This fear sometimes manifests itself in the many forms of Quebec nationalism. Most Quebec Nationalists don’t seem to agree on one form of nationalism, but the top three types seem to be territorial (Quebec sovereignty), linguistic (pro-French language) and ethnic (a pure, Francophone lineage; typically against immigration). Two examples of particularly active pro-language groups are the Mouvement Quebec Francais and the Mouvement Montreal Francais, who work hard to ensure that the French language and culture remain dominant in the province of Quebec.
A recent example of this worry of the regression of French language and culture in Quebec is the french-language protest by the Mouvement Quebec Francais at a NHL Montreal Canadiens game vs the Tampa Lightning in January this year. Montreal’s hockey team is one of the original 6 hockey teams, making it over a century old. In its century of existence, it has always been marketed and promoted as the hockey team of French Canada. It is especially one of the prides of Montreal, one of the oldest cities in Canada, where over 83% of the people have French as their first language.
Lately, there has been tension amongst Nationalist Quebecois about the music playing at home Habs games being only in English, and the announcements being bilingual instead of solely French. This is considered disrespectful by the pro-language groups as Quebec, with 95% of its population speaking French, is officially a Francophone province, not bilingual like the rest of Canada. There is also some disappointment that French Canada’s team has only 2 players who are actually Francophone.
The latest issue concerning the Montreal Habs is that despite the Canadiens’ historical record when it comes to winning Stanley cups, these days they’re actually close to being at the very bottom of the NHL team standings. As such, their coach was fired, and a new coach was appointed by the manager this past December. What upset the Quebec Nationalists is the new coach speaks no French, only English. Pro-French-language protestors were up in arms, and organized a rally outside the Bell Centre at the Habs’ next home game in January versus the Tampa Bay Lightning. They handed out Quebec flags to those coming to the see the game, chanted “Montreal, en Francais! (Montreal, in French!),” and even brought a dummy resembling the team’s president/owner and put a noose around its neck. They argued that the team, supposedly being a representative of French Canada, should have a coach who can speak French. More generally, hockey being “Canada’s Game,” and with Canada officially being a bilingual country, this coach, a representative of Canada’s Game, should at the very least have a grasp of both of Canada’s official languages.
The National Hockey League has developed into a privately owned, international organization with players coming from different backgrounds around the globe to play for North American teams. Teams are no longer recruiting from their own backyards to represent their city; rather, they are buying and trading players internationally in the interest of forming the best team possible in the hopes of winning the most coveted prize in the NHL – the Stanley Cup. As such, as Canada’s cultural fabric continues to become less of the “1 nation, 2 visions” model of the last century and a half and more a diverse “patchwork quilt” of people and cultures, perhaps Montreal should consider loosening its claim to their Habs as being representative of French Canada, and find pride instead in the hard work of their team’s international roster, doing what it takes to maybe one day bring the Stanley Cup back to Quebec.
A recent example of this worry of the regression of French language and culture in Quebec is the french-language protest by the Mouvement Quebec Francais at a NHL Montreal Canadiens game vs the Tampa Lightning in January this year. Montreal’s hockey team is one of the original 6 hockey teams, making it over a century old. In its century of existence, it has always been marketed and promoted as the hockey team of French Canada. It is especially one of the prides of Montreal, one of the oldest cities in Canada, where over 83% of the people have French as their first language.
Lately, there has been tension amongst Nationalist Quebecois about the music playing at home Habs games being only in English, and the announcements being bilingual instead of solely French. This is considered disrespectful by the pro-language groups as Quebec, with 95% of its population speaking French, is officially a Francophone province, not bilingual like the rest of Canada. There is also some disappointment that French Canada’s team has only 2 players who are actually Francophone.
The latest issue concerning the Montreal Habs is that despite the Canadiens’ historical record when it comes to winning Stanley cups, these days they’re actually close to being at the very bottom of the NHL team standings. As such, their coach was fired, and a new coach was appointed by the manager this past December. What upset the Quebec Nationalists is the new coach speaks no French, only English. Pro-French-language protestors were up in arms, and organized a rally outside the Bell Centre at the Habs’ next home game in January versus the Tampa Bay Lightning. They handed out Quebec flags to those coming to the see the game, chanted “Montreal, en Francais! (Montreal, in French!),” and even brought a dummy resembling the team’s president/owner and put a noose around its neck. They argued that the team, supposedly being a representative of French Canada, should have a coach who can speak French. More generally, hockey being “Canada’s Game,” and with Canada officially being a bilingual country, this coach, a representative of Canada’s Game, should at the very least have a grasp of both of Canada’s official languages.
The National Hockey League has developed into a privately owned, international organization with players coming from different backgrounds around the globe to play for North American teams. Teams are no longer recruiting from their own backyards to represent their city; rather, they are buying and trading players internationally in the interest of forming the best team possible in the hopes of winning the most coveted prize in the NHL – the Stanley Cup. As such, as Canada’s cultural fabric continues to become less of the “1 nation, 2 visions” model of the last century and a half and more a diverse “patchwork quilt” of people and cultures, perhaps Montreal should consider loosening its claim to their Habs as being representative of French Canada, and find pride instead in the hard work of their team’s international roster, doing what it takes to maybe one day bring the Stanley Cup back to Quebec.
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