What makes you proud of Quebec? To celebrate the National Day, The Press turned to its readers to try to answer this big question. Here are a few of the responses we received.
Posted at 6:46 p.m.
great wealth
During my 31 years in the health network and my union involvement, I have met hundreds of people from many backgrounds. These people, like me, are proud to have chosen Quebec as a land of welcome. They can flourish, evolve and grow while contributing to the greatest wealth there is, this beautiful diversity that unites to build a strong, unique, efficient and avant-garde nation.
John Bottari
Culture first
I love the unique writers who shaped this province: Réjean Ducharme, Michel Tremblay, Anne Hébert, Nelly Arcan… to name but a few. These meetings were a culture shock in the same way as the music: Richard Desjardins, Robert Charlebois, Daniel Bélanger, Jean Leloup… The list would be long if I had to enumerate all the artists who rocked my integration in Quebec. Always with a backdrop of poetry, literature and music that make us love snowstorms, Siberian cold, fleeting spring, frenzied summer and autumn in all its splendor. A song, a book, a poem for each season!
Chantal Costes
F for French
I teach writing and French translation at university. I take great pleasure in making my students realize how much the Quebec in which they grew up, for the most part, keeps the French language alive, strong, innovative in the heart of an English-speaking America!
Valerie Descoteaux
A “more egalitarian” society
We have the most equal society in America. Relations between men and women in Quebec are at the forefront compared to the rest of the continent. We produce less greenhouse gases per capita than the rest of the continent. We live in an increasingly secular society, but there is still a lot of work to be done. We live longer than elsewhere in Canada. All this in French. That’s wonderful.
Richard Champagne
Quebec, a quiet force
Quebec is a quiet force that has democratically resisted Anglo-Canadian assimilation for centuries. Our nation defends French, more than France does. This language is at the heart of our identity, our difference and our fight to continue to exist.
Celine Jalbert
new heights
For 20 years, we have reached new heights. We are no longer the last of the pack. We are now leaders in many ways. Congratulations to our visionaries, to our builders and to all those who are helping to elevate Quebec! I just came back from a business trip to South Carolina and, yes, people are proud to speak with Quebecers and Canadians.
The big ones
Maurice Richard, René Lévesque, Félix Leclerc… and all the others who created and nourished a missing or failing pride when I was born in 1954. On a personal note, before René Lévesque, when asked about my nationality, I answered: French Canadian . Since then, I proudly answer: Québécois.
Raymond Deneault
Go further
I am very proud of our dynamic, creative, entrepreneurial, innovative and progressive Quebec. However, I would like us to support agriculture more and work to increase our food self-sufficiency, while making more room for organic farming. I also agree with the idea of making June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day, a statutory holiday. This will be one more reason to be proud and to celebrate our wonderful Quebec.
Dom Hov
feeling of pride
More than 400 years of history of a very small community of people who first arrived from France and who knew how to develop by inventing their own cultural identity, original and unique in the world in many respects. All this in an English-speaking context with more than 350 million people today! This is the feeling that lives deep inside me and that I want to see flourish even more with the generations that will follow me.
Michael Audet
The jackpot
Anyone who has traveled abroad and who follows international news somewhat can testify that a baby born in Quebec, without knowing it, comes into the world with a winning lottery ticket. We can be proud to live in one of the most beautiful democratic societies in the world.
Patrick Leduc
Being part of “we”
Quebec is simply love at first sight and a beautiful love story that has lasted for 38 winters in Quebec. I was never made to feel that I came from elsewhere and I was always made to feel that I was part of “us” despite the vagaries of political or economic circumstances. To be part of “we”, you also have to go towards it, it takes two to dance the tango. To love Québec is to love its people, to understand its struggles and its challenges, and above all to contribute to its development.
Samir Ghrib