Quebec!

Big Phil

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Not that I know of. I remember when Eric Lindros was drafted in 1991 in his autobiography he stated that one of the problems he had was being a pro-Canadian who wanted the country to stay together and he felt this would be a problem in a city that was in the heart of the French Revolution.

As for most French Canadian players I dont see that being a problem. Most if not all of them are happy to be Canadian. Brodeur and Lecavalier stated on the record that they would still play for Canada if Quebec ever separated. That's the norm, IMO. Although Quebec gets a bad rap, most people in that province are glad to be part of one of if not the best countries in the world to live in, the rest are well, for lack of a better word ungrateful idiots with a low self esteem. But that's another story........
 

MoonlightGraham

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Professional athletes rarely get involved in politics. That's also true for the separatist movement in Quebec. I see no reason to believe there would be more or less separatist among Quebecer NHL players than any other "group" of Quebecers. So it means around 40% of them are separatists. That doesn't mean they would refuse to play for Canada obviously.

I'd say very few separatists would actually refuse to represent Canada if they had the chance because of their political opinions. Obviously that doesn't mean there are no separatists among Quebecer athletes, they don't say it because they would get in huge trouble if they did. The Nicolas Gill controversy is a good example of that (he was the flag bearer for Canada in the 2004 Olympic Games and some english newspaper said he was a separatist and it became a big story).
 

Blackhawkswincup

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I'd say very few separatists would actually refuse to represent Canada if they had the chance because of their political opinions. Obviously that doesn't mean there are no separatists among Quebecer athletes, they don't say it because they would get in huge trouble if they did. The Nicolas Gill controversy is a good example of that (he was the flag bearer for Canada in the 2004 Olympic Games and some english newspaper said he was a separatist and it became a big story).


That was especially what I was wondering due to the amount of international hockey Canadians participate in.
 

Kafka

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The funny part is that there are more nationalists in Montreal than in Quebec (speaking only of quebecois). It turns out that only 50% of Quebec city citizen voted for sovereignty while it was estimated to 60% elsewere. Something linked with that city relying a lot on civil servants who where afraid of the change.
 

Transported Upstater

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The funny part is that there are more nationalists in Montreal than in Quebec (speaking only of quebecois). It turns out that only 50% of Quebec city citizen voted for sovereignty while it was estimated to 60% elsewere. Something linked with that city relying a lot on civil servants who where afraid of the change.

That is interesting, I certainly didn't expect that result, given that Quebec is so much more overwhelmingly French than Montreal is.
 

MoonlightGraham

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That is interesting, I certainly didn't expect that result, given that Quebec is so much more overwhelmingly French than Montreal is.

It is indeed surprising not only because of the number of french people there, but also because Quebec City has a lot to gain from seperation. Obviously going from a province capital to a state capital will bring embassies and whatnot. Montreal is the city that could have problems if Quebec ever separates. And yet french Montrealers are much more separatist than the people of Quebec City. Go figure...
 

Little Nilan

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That is interesting, I certainly didn't expect that result, given that Quebec is so much more overwhelmingly French than Montreal is.

He was talking about french Canadiens in Quebec but used the wrong term of "Quebecois" which should apply too all citizens of Quebec. Montreal is not close to being more seperatist then Quebec city, I'd like to see the stats though.
 

bruinsfan46

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Not that I know of. I remember when Eric Lindros was drafted in 1991 in his autobiography he stated that one of the problems he had was being a pro-Canadian who wanted the country to stay together and he felt this would be a problem in a city that was in the heart of the French Revolution.

Eric Lindros is a whiny, spoiled waste of talent. He was just looking for reasons not to go to a city where the first language is French. I've never really heard any opinions from French players on politial issues.
 

mcphee

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During the late 70's early 80's , the media worked very hard to get players to take sides though most of the time, players stayed above the fray. There have been many issues over the years that were reported as language related that weren't, as well.

A lot of pressure was introduced to the Hab/Nordique rivalry, hoping to make it political, but players stayed out of it.


If I remember correctly, Dryden spoke of the night that the PQ was first elected [in The Game]. He spoke of the crowd reaction and how it affected him, and how he knew it mattered to players on the team, but not in an open fashion. Teams could divide over an issue like that, and that team was full of leaders.
 

baston

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Nov 25, 2005
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Montreal is not close to being more seperatist then Quebec city

What? Come on. The separatist movement is a Montreal thing. French speaking people in Montreal are mostly separatists, English speaking people are obviously federalists. The rest of the province doesn't give a **** about this issue anymore. "Let's move on".

There is in Quebec City what the Montreal medias calls "Le mystère Québec" (Quebec mystery).

Quebec is by far, with Chaudière-Appalaches (Quebec's south shore), the most conservative, federalist region in the province. Quebec massively voted for the ADQ in the last provincial elections, a party that sais Quebecers are bored of the separatist movement.

Those 2 regions also elected 8 members of the Conservative party and only 2 from "Le Bloc Québecois" in the last federal election.

In the provincial elections of 2003, we also elected 9 deputees from the Liberal party out of 11!

Here are a couple of interesting articles :

- ADQ shines in Quebec city (CBC)
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/quebecvotes2007/story/2007/03/26/qc-quebeccity20070326.html?ref=rss

- Here is another awesome article on the subject by Richard Martineau (in french) : http://www.canoe.com/infos/chroniqu...bec2007/archives/2007/02/20070227-204842.html
 

saskganesh

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Jun 19, 2006
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Not that I know of. I remember when Eric Lindros was drafted in 1991 in his autobiography he stated that one of the problems he had was being a pro-Canadian who wanted the country to stay together and he felt this would be a problem in a city that was in the heart of the French Revolution.

nice spin. but I guess he couldn't cop to being a bigot.

... and that's why hockey players hire ghostwriters.
 

Scandale du Jour

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Not that I know of. I remember when Eric Lindros was drafted in 1991 in his autobiography he stated that one of the problems he had was being a pro-Canadian who wanted the country to stay together and he felt this would be a problem in a city that was in the heart of the French Revolution.

As for most French Canadian players I dont see that being a problem. Most if not all of them are happy to be Canadian. Brodeur and Lecavalier stated on the record that they would still play for Canada if Quebec ever separated. That's the norm, IMO. Although Quebec gets a bad rap, most people in that province are glad to be part of one of if not the best countries in the world to live in, the rest are well, for lack of a better word ungrateful idiots with a low self esteem. But that's another story........

Ungrateful idiots with a low self esteem? It's comments like that that make me happy to be part of the great country Canada is... Most french Canadiens federalists are prouder of being Québécois than they are of being Canadians. They are, for the most part, scared of what could happen if Québec was to leave Canada. The others just don't really care or are happy with the current situation. If you KNEW about Québec you would know that must of us don't really care about Canada. We are proud of being who we are which is a french people surronded by english people. Don't think we love being part of your malfonctionning country.
 

Sens Rule

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Sep 22, 2005
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This thread is dead. Lindros bashing and a political debate on Quebec.

No mentions of actual players taking either side in the debate. If I were the mods I'd give this thread an unnatural end. Or send it to the politics forum.
 

Tb0ne

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If Lindros wanted to do what was best for Canada he would have stayed in Quebec and made an attempt to learn French.
 

Big Phil

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Ungrateful idiots with a low self esteem? It's comments like that that make me happy to be part of the great country Canada is... Most french Canadiens federalists are prouder of being Québécois than they are of being Canadians. They are, for the most part, scared of what could happen if Québec was to leave Canada. The others just don't really care or are happy with the current situation. If you KNEW about Québec you would know that must of us don't really care about Canada. We are proud of being who we are which is a french people surronded by english people. Don't think we love being part of your malfonctionning country.

Sorry to "break" your heart but your a Canadian. So is anyone else that was born in Quebec. Someone born in the province of Quebec is no more a Quebecer than I am an Ontarian. I know you guys think you're so different but are you that much more different from Newfoundlanders compared to the rest of thecountry? Newfoundland became part of Canada in 1949 and I never hear them moan about being part of this "awful" country of Canada. If you lived in 98% if the other countries in the world you'd be begging to see the Maple Leaf again. Count your blessings.
 

GB

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Guys, either this turns back to a hockey related debate or it is closed. Go to the politics board if you want to debate sepratism vs federalism.
 

Kafka

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He was talking about french Canadiens in Quebec but used the wrong term of "Quebecois" which should apply too all citizens of Quebec. Montreal is not close to being more seperatist then Quebec city, I'd like to see the stats though.

I used the rght word for english speakers I though:
Quebecois = french quebecers
Quebecers = citizen of the province of Quebec
 

mcphee

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I used the rght word for english speakers I though:
Quebecois = french quebecers
Quebecers = citizen of the province of Quebec
Isn't Quebecer just the angicized version of Quebecois ? If I'm speaking in English I'm a Quebecer, in French, je suis quebecois ? Granted I don't hear many of my anglo cousins calling themselves that but grammatrically, I thought that was the right description. It doesn't matter I guess because no matter who you are or where you're from, someone manges to be offended these days.

Back to the subject, I have heard French speaking players complain about insults made due to their or about their heritage, but I've never heard a player openly discuss Quebec's place in Canada.
 

Canadarocks

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It would have been very interesting to hear Maurice Richard's views but, from what I understand, he stayed out of politics as much as he could.
 

GB

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Briesbois is the recent one that comes to mind, when he was called a 'frog'. I can't remember who it was, infact it may have been Brunet, not Briesbois.
 

mcphee

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Briesbois is the recent one that comes to mind, when he was called a 'frog'. I can't remember who it was, infact it may have been Brunet, not Briesbois.
Prospal mouthed off to Brisebois. Prospal said afterwards he thought itr was just how people talked and he didn't mean to be offensive, and he's probably being honest.

I remember years ago, some mikes picking up Bobby Carpenter calling Petr Svoboda an effing Czech. I think that stuff is watched a little more closely now, as it should be. Maurice Richard would still catch a high stick but the verbal abuse would be different. Stan Mikita wouldn't be spearing people because they called him a dp.
 

discostu

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Briesbois is the recent one that comes to mind, when he was called a 'frog'. I can't remember who it was, infact it may have been Brunet, not Briesbois.

It was Brisbebois, I'm pretty sure, and, it was Vinny Prospal who said it.

I don't think Brisebois brought in any politics into his reaction, other than saying that any deragotory remarks should be taken out of the game. I believe there were some politicians that were trying to use the issue as a launch point for the politial aspect, but, given that it was a Czech born player who really had very little knowledge of the context of the word, there wasn't much there to really make a big deal of.
 

GB

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Yeah, I know Briesbois didn't bring politics into it, I was just trying to bring the thread back to hockey.

What always amuses me about this is the indignation that fellow Habs fans had about Prospal (who as you say almost certainly didn't fully understand what he said), yet had no problems about booing Briesbois every time he was on the ice.
 

Ott_Chef*

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I'm sure there are Québecers in the NHL who are seperatists, but they will not come out and say so because of the reaction it would cause (both from teammates and in the media). As much as we think people in Québec and Canada are civilized, there are some issues where people just lose reason and go on tirades and insults.. seperation is one of those.

A seperatist believes that Québec should be its own country, and feels in his heart that he is a Québecer before a Canadian.
A federalist feels Canadian before anything else and believes that Québec should stay in Canada.

As much as you want to try and "convince" the other side of your point, going on and insulting will only result in the opposite. You might actually convince people who are on the fence to choose the other side.

One last point: a seperatist does not just vote PQ or Bloc. Just like a Federalist does not just vote liberal. I know a lot of seperatists who vote ADQ or Québec solidaire (or lesser known options), and even a member of the liberal party last election was seen as a seperatist (if i recall correctly). Francophones in Québec flocked to the ADQ last election. If the anglophones had not voted, the ADQ would be the ruling government right now.

To go back to hockey, i think players can vote for whatever option they prefer, and if Québec was ever to seperate, then they could choose to play for Québec or not. It's a question of attachment and who you are..
 

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