Québécois

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The word Québécois (in French, [keɪbɛˈkwɑ] in English), or in the feminine Québécoise ([kebeˈkwɑːz] in French, [keɪbɛˈkwɑz] in English), means a native or resident of the Canadian province of Québec, but, in English, usually refers specifically to a French-speaking or French Canadian native or inhabitant of the province, or to someone who identifies with Quebec's French-speaking majority culture. In English, Quebecer or Quebecker (or /kəˈbɛkɚ/) is used to refer to any resident of Québec.

The term Quebecer includes minorities such as English-speaking Quebecer, allophone, Amerindian, and Inuit natives or residents of Québec. The term Québécois, used in French, is usually understood to have the same meaning. In English, while the word Québécois is sometimes understood to have this territorial meaning, it is most often used with the meaning "francophone Quebecer.

With a lower-case initial, the word québécois is also used to refer to Quebec French, the variety of French spoken in Quebec. As an adjective, it can refer to Québec's francophone culture or population or the culture of French Canadians living in Québec.

In French, Québécois refers to any native or resident of Quebec. Sources disagree as to whether the word may in some cases have an ethnic or linguistic connotation. (See below.)

Origin of term

The name "Québec" comes from a Mi'kmaq word meaning "where the waters get narrow" and originally referred to the area around Québec City, where the Saint Lawrence River narrows to a cliff-lined gap. French explorer Samuel de Champlain chose this name in 1608 for the colonial outpost he would use as the administrative seat for the French colony of Canada and New France. The Province of Québec was first founded as a British colony in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 after the Treaty of Paris formally transferred the French colony of New France to Britain after the Seven Years' War. Québec City would remain the capital. The term Québécois has since been used in French as a way of referring to people and things originating both from Québec City and from the Québec territory. However, to differentiate each, Quebecers would say: "Un(e) Québécois(e) de Québec" to mean a Quebecer from Québec City.

Québécois identity

The term became more common in English as Québécois largely replaced French Canadian as an expression of cultural and national identity among French Canadians living in Québec during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960's. The predominant French Canadian nationalism and identity of previous generations was based on the protection of the French language, the Roman Catholic Church, and Church-run institutions across Canada and in parts of the United States. In contrast, the modern Québécois identity is secular and based on a social democratic ideal of the an active Québec government promoting the French language and French-speaking culture in the arts, education, and business within the Province of Québec. Politically, this resulted in a push towards more autonomy for Québec and an internal debate on Québec independence and identity that continues to this day. The emphasis on the French language and Québec autonomy means that French-speakers across Canada now self-identify as québecoise, acadienne, or franco-canadienne, or as provincial linguistic minorities franco-manitobaine, franco-ontarienne or fransaskoise.As a result, francophone and anglophones now borrow the French terms when discussing issues of francophone linguistic and cultural identity in English.

Québécois as a possible ethnonym in French

According to the dictionary Le Petit Robert, published in France, the word québécois can, as an adjective and in addition to its territorial meaning, refer to francophone or French Canadian culture in Québec. The dictionary gives as examples cinéma québécois and littérature québécoise, presumably with the meaning "French-language Quebec cinema/literature."

However, an ethnic or linguistic sense is absent from Le Petit Larousse, also published in France, as well as from French dictionaries published in Canada such as Le Dictionnaire québécois d'aujourd'hui and Le Dictionnaire du français Plus, which indicate instead Québécois francophone "francophone Quebecer" in the linguistic sense. When these dictionaries include phrases such as cinéma québécois, they treat them as not being ethnic or linguistic in character, a meaning best translated as "Quebec cinema," etc.

Québécois nation

The political shift towards a new Québec nationalism in the 1960's led to Québécois increasingly referring to provincial institutions as being "national". This was reflected in the change of the provincial Legislative Assembly to National Assembly in 1968. Nationalism would reach an apex the 1970's and 1990's, with contentious constitutional debates resulting in close to half of all Quebecers and a clear majority of French-speaking Quebecers seeking recognition of nation status through tight referendums on Québec sovereignty in 1980 and 1995. Having lost both referendums, the sovereignist Parti Québécois government would renew the push for recognition as a nation through symbolic motions that would gain the support of all parties in the National Assembly. They would affirm the right to determine the independent status of Québec. They would also rename the area around Québec City the Capitale-Nationale (national capital) region and rename provincial parks Parcs-Nationales (national parks). In opposition in October 2003, the Parti Québécois tabled a motion that was unanimously adopted in the National Assembly affirming that the Québec people formed a nation. Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe scheduled a similar motion in the House of Commons for November 23, 2006 that would recognize "Quebecers as a nation". Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper tabled the Québécois nation motion the day before the Bloc Québécois resolution came to a vote. The English version changed the word Quebecer to Québécois and added "within a united Canada" at the end of the Bloc motion.

The "Québécois nation" was recognized by the Canadian House of Commons on November 27, 2006. The Prime Minister specified that the motion used the "cultural" and "sociological" as opposed to the "legal" sense of the word "nation". According to Harper, the motion was of a symbolic political nature, representing no constitutional change, no recognition of Québec sovereignty, and no legal change in its political relations within the federation. The Prime Minister has further elaborated, stating that the motion's definition of Québécois relies on personal decisions to self-identify as Québécois, and therefore is a personal choice.

Despite near-universal support in the House of Commons, several important dissenters criticized the motion. Intergovernmental Affairs minister Michael Chong resigned from his position and abstained from voting, arguing that this motion was too ambiguous and had the potential of recognizing a destructive ethnic nationalism in Canada.. Liberals were the most divided on the issue and represented 15 of the 16 votes against the motion. Liberal MP Ken Dryden summarized the view of many of these dissenters, maintaining that it was a game of semantics that cheapened issues of national identity. A survey by Leger Marketing in November, 2006 showed that Canadians were deeply divided on this issue. When asked if Quebecers are a nation, only 48 per cent of Canadians agreed, 47 per cent disagreed, with 33 per cent strongly disagreeing; 78 per cent of French-speaking Canadians agreed that Quebecers are a nation, next to 38 per cent of English-speakers. As well, 78 per cent of 1,000 Quebecers polled thought that Quebecers should be recognized as a nation. Among French native-speaking Quebecers the support was at 96%.

Usage

French usage Most French usage employs references to people and things of Québec origin.

Les Québécois et Québécoises (masculine and feminine genders) to include women when referring to Quebecers as a whole.
Le québécois (Ex: Je parle québécois which means I speak québécois).

English usage English expressions employing the term usually implies specific reference to francophones.

Québécois people
Québécois society
Québécois literature
Québécois cinema

In each case above, Québécois could be replaced with Quebec, with a very tangible difference in meaning in "Quebec society" and "Quebec people". In "Quebec cinema," and "Quebec literature," implicit reference to works in the French language may subsist, perhaps because francophones are in the majority in Quebec, or because works in English are more likely to be viewed as part of an English Canadian whole.

Special terms using 'Québécois'

French expressions employing "Québécois" often appear in both French and English.

Parti Québécois - Provincial-level political party that supports Québec independence from Canada
Bloc Québécois - Federal-level political party that supports Québec independence from Canada

Québécois de souche - "old-stock Quebecker" - Quebecer that can trace their ancestry back to regime of New France
Québécois pure laine - "true blue" or "dyed-in-the-wool" Quebecker
Québécois francophone - "francophone Quebecer"
Québécois anglophone - "anglophone Quebecer"
néo-Québécois - "new Quebecers" - immigrant Quebecers
Le Québec aux Québécois - "Québec for Québécois" - slogan chanted at Québec nationalist rallies or protests.