Discuss some of the historical,social,economic and political reasons many Quebecois support the notion of the separate state fro - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages For the purpose of this research, the cultural, political, economic and social causes shall be discussed individually. There are many reasons why it is important to study the issue at hand. First, the study shall be conducted so as to enlighten the Canadian people of the Quebecois struggle for identity within their society. Notably, Quebec is the only place in Canada which uses French as its primary language. It is the sole Canadian province in which most of the residents speak French. In fact, of the seven million people living in Quebec, about eighty percent (80%) of its population speaks French based on the demolinguistic data provided by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (“Statistics,” 2007). This means that majority of its people have French ancestry (Croats, 2002). Montreal, a city in Quebec is actually the world's "second largest French-speaking city" (Croats, 2002). According to Rennay Croats (2002, p. 22), Quebec is a home to many French Canadians who descended from the original French occupants of the sixteen hundreds (1600s) and seventeen hundreds (1700s). In this context, it can be observed that Quebec is quite different from the other provinces in Canada. The difference is substantially cultural. In comparison with the other Canadian provinces, Quebec is primarily a French-speaking society. The other provinces use English as their official language of communication. By simply knowing these facts, one could somehow understand why to an extent an ethnic struggle is happening within the Canadian society. Language is actually part of a culture. It makes a certain group of people unique from the others. It creates an identity. In this sense, it is also relevant to study the controversy for everyone to understand the relationship between language and ethnicity. It is contended that the two are interrelated. The third and last reason for this research endeavor is to provide a possible solution to the Canadian societal conflict. The main topic of the research paper shall have four subtopics. The subdivision shall be composed of the following ideas: Quebecois Culture vs. Canadian Culture, Political Developments, Economic Influence and Social Differences. First and foremost, the paper will compare the Quebecois culture to the culture of the rest of Canada. This is to be done so as to arrive at the most comprehensive analysis of their cultural differences. Comparison actually provides a foundation for formulating statements with regard to empirical regularities and for interpreting as well as evaluating situations relative to theoretical and substantive criteria (Ragin, 1989). The comparative method of research is concerned with cross-societal similarities and differences (Ragin, 1989). Significantly, this comparison shall also tackle some historical accounts to know the origin of their cultures. Historical data are most of the time effective in exposing ethnic differences. As cited by Kenneth Bailey (1994), historical research can be "an effective complement to generalized scientific research" through the documentation of particular historical event. Second, the paper will investigate the political issues which are related to the separatist movement of the Quebecois. It is actually claimed that the recent political developments in Canada have contributed to the Quebecois move for independence. These political developments are actually centered on the evolution of two Canadian laws, the Canada Act of ...Download file to see next pagesRead More