Happy National Day Québec!

[matai]

Bonne St-Jean & bonne Fête Nationale à tous les Québécois / Québécoises!



In English:
http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/can ... ptiste-day

[Captain Awesome]

removed.

[LoneWolf_53]

removed.

[matai]

C'est la langue qui court
Dans les rues de ma ville
Comme une chanson d'amour
Au refrain malhabile
Elle est fière et rebelle
Et se blesse souvent
Sur les murs des gratte-ciel
Contre les tours d'argent

Elle n'est pas toujours belle
On la malmène un peu
C'est pas toujours facile
D'être seule au milieu
D'un continent immense
Où ils règlent le jeu
Où ils mènent la danse
Où ils sont si nombreux

Elle n'est pas toujours belle
Mais vivante elle se bat
En mémoire fidèle
De nos maux de nos voix
De nos éclats de rire
Et de colère aussi
C'est la langue de mon cœur
Et le cœur de ma vie

On la parle tout bas
Aux moments de tendresse
Elle a des mots si doux
Qu'ils se fondent aux caresses
Mais quand il faut crier
Qu'on est là, qu'on existe
Elle a le son qui mord
Et les mots qui résistent

C'est une langue de France
Aux accents d'Amérique
Elle déjoue le silence
À grands coups de musique
C'est la langue de mon cœur
Et le cœur de ma vie
Que jamais elle ne meurt
Que jamais on ne l'oublie…

Il faut pour la défendre
La parler de son mieux
Il faut la faire entendre
Faut la secouer un peu
Il faut la faire aimer
À ces gens près de nous
Qui se croient menacés
De nous savoir debout

Il faut la faire aimer
À ces gens de partout
Venus trouver chez nous
Un goût de liberté
Elle a les mots qu'il faut
Pour nommer le pays
Pour qu'on parle de lui
Qu'on le chante tout haut

C'est une langue de France
Aux accents d'Amérique
Elle déjoue le silence
À grand coups de musique
C'est la langue de mon cœur
Et le cœur de ma vie
Que jamais elle ne meurt
Que jamais on ne l'oublie…

C'est la langue de mon cœur
Et le cœur de ma vie
Que jamais elle ne meurt
Que jamais on ne l'oublie…

[coffeeFreak]

While this is Wiki, this write-up contains some interesting info on the history of what is now called Quebec's National Day:

Quebec's National Holiday[1] (French: La fête nationale)[2] or Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day[3] (French: Fête de la Saint-Jean-Baptiste) is a holiday celebrated annually on June 24, the feast day of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. In Quebec, it is a public holiday[1][4][5] with festivities occurring on June 23 and 24 which are publicly financed and organized by a Comité organisateur de la fête nationale[6] (National Holiday Organizing Committee). June 24 is also celebrated as a festival of French Canadian culture in other Canadian provinces[7][8][9] and the United States.[10][11]

The feast day of Saint John the Baptist or Midsummer was a very popular event in the Ancien régime of France, and it is still celebrated as a religious feast day in several countries, like Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Spain, Latvia and Lithuania.

The tradition landed in Canada with the first French colonists. According to the Jesuit Relations, the first celebrations occurred on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River on the evening of June 23, 1636, with a bonfire and five cannon shots.

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day[edit]

In Lower Canada, the celebration of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist took a patriotic tone in 1834 on the initiative of one of the founders of the newspaper La Minerve, Ludger Duvernay, who would later become the first president of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society. In the spring of 1834, Duvernay and other patriotes attended the celebrations of the first St. Patrick's Day, the celebration of the Irish diaspora, in Montreal. This would have given him and others the idea of organizing something similar for all the Canadiens and their friends.[13]

On that June 24, George-Étienne Cartier's "Ô Canada! mon pays, mes amours" was first sung during a grand patriotic banquet gathering about sixty francophones and anglophones of Montreal,[14] in the gardens of lawyer John McDonnell, near the old Windsor Station. The Canada in the song refers to Lower Canada, today's southern Quebec. Rounds of toasts went to the Parti patriote, the United States, Ireland, and the Ninety-Two Resolutions.[15]

Two days later, La Minerve concluded: "This holiday, whose goal is to solidify the union of the Canadiens, will not go without bearing fruit. It will be celebrated annually as a national holiday and will not miss producing the happiest results."[16] The celebration recurred in 1835, 1836, 1837.

Following the defeat of the insurrectional movement during the Lower Canada Rebellion and the military repressions which followed, the day was not celebrated for several years.[13]

In 1834, Duvernay established the charitable Association Saint-Jean Baptiste in order to have the Saint-Jean-Baptiste celebrated that year. The association was chartered in 1849 with the mission of promoting social and moral progress. (See Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society.)

The celebrations were supported by the Catholic Church and were primarily religious around that time. The lighting of bonfires, a traditional custom on the Nativity of Saint John which ultimately reached back to pre-Christian Midsummer celebrations were still lit at night.[17] In addition, the first Saint-Jean-Baptiste parades were organized. They became an important tradition over time. The procession of allegorical floats was introduced in 1874.[18]

On June 24, 1880, the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society organized the gathering of all francophone communities across North America. The event was the first National Congress of French Canadians (Congrès national des Canadiens français). On this occasion, the citizens of Quebec City were the first ones to hear the "Ô Canada" of Calixa Lavallée, based on a poem by a Quebec Superior Court judge, Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The song was commissioned by the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society. It was well received but did not become a widely known song for many years. English words were later written for a royal tour in 1901. In 1980, "O Canada" became the official national anthem of Canada.

In 1908, Pope Pius X designated St. John the Baptist as the patron saint of French Canadians. From 1914 to 1923 the processions were not held. In 1925, 91 years after the Ludger Duvernay's banquet in Montreal, June 24 became a legal holiday in Quebec.

The Fête nationale[edit]

In Quebec, June 24 (Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day), or National Holiday, is officially a paid statutory public holiday covered under the Act Respecting Labour Standards.[1][4][5] In 1977, an Order in Council by Lieutenant Governor Hugues Lapointe, on the advice of René Lévesque, declared June 24 the national holiday in Quebec.

The following year, the National Holiday Organizing Committee was created. The committee initially entrusted the organization of the events to the Société des festivals populaires du Québec. In 1984, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the SSJB, the organization of the celebrations was entrusted to the Mouvement national des Québécoises et des Québécois (MNQ).[19][20]

By making it a statutory holiday, the day became a holiday for all Quebecers rather than only those of French-Canadian or Catholic origins. Celebrations were gradually secularized, primarily due to actions taken by the MNQ, and June 23 and 24 became as we now know them. While the religious significance of the civic celebration is gone, the day remains popularly called la St-Jean-Baptiste or simply la St-Jean and is still observed in churches.

In 2010 and 2011, Franco-Ontarian New Democratic MP Claude Gravelle introduced a private member's bill in the House of Commons to recognize Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day as a federal holiday in Canada.[21][22]

Political nature of the celebration[edit]

During and immediately after the Quiet Revolution, Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day became highly politicized. The religious symbolism associated with the celebrations was replaced by political ideals of Quebec separatism.

Governor General Georges Vanier, who, as viceroy, had always fostered unity and biculturalism, found himself the target of Quebec sovereigntists in Montreal, on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, 1964, wherein a group of sovereigntists held placards reading "Vanier vendu" ("Vanier the sell-out") and "Vanier fou de la Reine" ("Vanier, jester to the Queen").[23]

Four years later, with the new Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in attendance on the eve of a general election, a riot broke out on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day. A group of agitators threw bottles at the Prime Minister in an effort to make him feel unwelcome at the ceremony. Trudeau was filmed refusing to take cover or leave the grandstand, saying that he was a Quebecker and would not be intimidated by a drunken mob. The scene was broadcast on Télévision de Radio-Canada's and CBC's evening news. Many saw it as an open act of courage, and the Prime Minister's defiance impressed the electorate[citation needed] and contributed to his Liberal Party winning a significant majority the next day.[citation needed]

During the French-language network SRC's televised coverage of the 1969 Montreal parade, filmmakers Bernard Gosselin and Pierre Perrault were asked to withdraw from the airwaves after nationalist and sarcastic comments. At one point they suggested the creation of a Ministry of Boastfulness and a High Commissioner of kvetching.[24] There was a riot and the Saint-Jean-Baptiste icon was destroyed. This led to the interruption of the parade, which did not take place the next year.

In June 2009, Quebec bands Lake of Stew and Bloodshot Bill, whose members are bilingual anglophone Quebeckers, were added to the program of a local celebration of Quebec's National Day in Montreal called L'Autre St-Jean ("The Other St-Jean").[25][26][27] When it became known that they would be performing their songs in English, there were several complaints and later the musicians were barred from the celebrations. The Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste President, Mario Beaulieu, defended the decision to cancel these musicians' performances, by stating that the official language of Quebec is French. However, after public outrage from both the anglophone and francophone communities, these two bands were returned to the program when it was clarified that the bands were free to sing songs in English as well as French. (By regulation, however, the St-Jean program must be conducted in French.[28])

Historically, this festival has attempted to be more inclusive as groups in the past have sung in Creole and for the 2008 celebrations, Samian, "the world's first aboriginal Algonquin-language rapper", sang at Montreal's celebration.[29][30][31]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Holiday_(Quebec)

[matai]

A pretty accurate musical lesson of History:



Sur les plaines d´Abraham, l´armée trinquait à l´eau d´vie (bis)
Tout en bas de la falaise, les Anglais prenaient fusils (bis)
Ils avaient préparé l´assaut en catimini (bis)
Et quand un grand coup de canon est venu déchirer la nuit (bis)
Montcalm enfourcha son cheval, les facultés affaiblies!

La bataille v´nait juste de commencer
Les Français étaient ben trop paquetés
Y ont mangé une cibole de raclée

Les Anglais ont marché sur Québec
Ça mes amis c´était l´pire échec
Notre nation aux mains des Red Necks

Si Montcalm avait pas été saoul
Si l´armée avait pas pris un coup
Les Anglais frappaient leur Waterloo

Le Québec c´t´une histoire de boisson
Y a d´l´argent à faire avec les saoulons
Y´ont ouvert la brasserie Molson!

Les patriotes sont révoltés
Le régime anglais devra tomber
Y ont sorti leurs ceintures fléchées
Les patriotes étaient solidaires
Pour arriver à la victoire
Il faudra arrêter de boire!

La morve au nez pis les dents serrées
Y ´ont ben tenté de s´insurger
Mais comme d´habitude tout a foiré

Nos patriotes c´taient pas des chieux
Mais les Anglais étaient trop nombreux
Fa´qu´y sont retournés chez eux!

Pis y a eu octobre 70
On a ben parlé des felquistes
Y avait même un buté et un ministre
Le gouvernement a eu l´air con
Mais ç´a duré l´temps d´une saison
Yé ont tout´ sacré en prison

Depuis c´temps-là on s´est écrasé
On passe not´temps d´vant la Télé
À jouer au dart su´l vidéoway

Ramène les bouteilles au dépanneur
Fais ça vite, ça ferme à onze heures
Tu mettras les bières dans l´cooler!

[matai]

Stadacone Kabak Quebec
Fortifiee depuis Frontenac
Assiegee bombardee detruite au mortier mortifiee
Reconstruite incendiee
Quatre mois par annee dans les glaces prise et protegee
Pour lhistorien ou le topographe
De pied en cap Quebec est toute sauf plate
Carnaval festival fete nationale
Hiver comme ete les nuits sont malades mentales !
La basse et la haute ville cest la mort des automobiles
Pour mordre dans cette ville faut rester mobile
30 escaliers declinent ces deux realites
Du Cap-blanc aux Plaines jusquau faîte de la ville
Au loin les Laurentides lîle dOrleans : panorama splendide
Depuis lAstral le St-Laurent irrigue sa vallee en aval
Comme une carotide car

Quebec : cest le cœur du pays du
Quebec : fier fief de la francophonie
Quebec : capitale septentrionale bijou boreal
Des trois Ameriques
Quebec : attitude authentique du
Quebec : latitude nordique de
Quebec : 400 ans sur le cap Diamant
Porte ouverte sur le continent

Depuis des lunes et des lunes on a pu prosperer en paix
Proteges par la plume et lesprit de Wendake
Et sil faut un chiffre ou une date à celebrer
Ça fait des milliers dannees que les Wendats sont arrives. Kuei !
En ce lieu dexception forteresse et bastion
De ses lèvres pleines le St-Laurent souffle son haleine
Sur les Plaines on respire et ça paraît
Un air pur un air frais

Chez-nous lhiver on lembrasse à bras ouverts
Amenez-en des flocons du frimas du frette : on est pas frileux
Au hockey on sprend contre nimporte qui mais jtavertis :
Ça barde le long des bandes à larena Bardy
Ici cest français ça sentend depuis plus que 100 ans
Pour la prononciation tu lsais ben quon a raison
Comme Casseau on placote avec nos poteaux
Pis on fait des clins dœil quand on se fait prendre en photo

Quebec : cest le cœur du pays du
Quebec : fier fief de la francophonie
Quebec : capitale septentrionale bijou boreal
Des trois Ameriques
Quebec : attitude authentique du
Quebec : latitude nordique de
Quebec : 400 ans sur le cap Diamant
Porte ouverte sur le continent

Quebec
Je me souviens
Quebec
Ste-Foy Sillery La Cite Les Rivières Limoilou Laurentien Haute St-Charles...bourg et
Beauport

[LoneWolf_53]

*removed*

Quelle hypocrisie de l'appeler une journée nationale lorsqu'ils font de leur mieux pour ne pas être ou agir en tant que partie de la nation.

*removed*

[sobrohusfat]

La Fierte national - Vive le Quebec CANADIEN!






LOL

"...i finally noticed my wife was pregnant when she walked passed and it seemed to take her a little longer to clear the TV screen."