With apologies to any readers who aren’t Canadian, this next post probably won’t have much relevance to you. But for a Western Canadian, this past week has served as a personal epiphany.
I grew up in Western Canada. More than that, I grew up in Alberta, in a small town called Sundre. Sundre is unremarkable in most regards, and it is very much typical of the political views common in most of rural Alberta. In fact, one of Sundre’s distinguishing features is that it lies in the first and only riding (Canadian federal political district) to elect a western separatist member of parliament west of Quebec, back in the early eighties. One has to understand the political reasoning behind this footnote in Canadian politics. This was towards the end of Trudeau’s extended reign as prime minister. Many western Canadians were fed up with what they saw as alienation of the west and a never ending series of federal hand outs to Quebec to passify those calling for Quebec’s separation from Canada. In the west, we saw it simply as the whining of a rebellious child who didn’t realize how good they had it. There was no tolerance for Quebec in my town. In fact, there was a strident animosity towards Quebec and their cries for the preservation of their distinct society. And the voters of our region felt the best way to send this message was to elect a member of a party that was threatening to separate the western provinces from Canada, putting an end to what we saw as the constant pandering to Quebec and the Eastern-centric view of Canada. This was about 10 years after the FLQ crisis, and at the time of the separation referendum that publically poised the question of ending Canada as we know it. The referendum was defeated, but Anglo-French relations within Canada were probably at their lowest point.
We are now almost 30 years later. In that time, I had never set foot within the borders of Quebec. While I hope my views towards Quebec have become more tolerant with time (and with ideological distance from the political influences of Sundre) I can’t say that I had substantially changed my mind in any significant way towards Quebec.
For the past two days, I have had the opportunity to gain the briefest of glimpses of Quebec’s distinct culture, and I am awestruck. I admit, this was in Montreal, the most bilingual of Quebec’s cities, but even at this level, it was eye opening.
The distinction of the culture here can not be denied by anyone who sets foot on Quebecois soil. There is no place like Montreal anywhere in North America, and possibly the world. It goes beyond language to a Gallic attitude towards business, pleasure and every possible aspect of life. It resonates deeply in the buildings, the food, art, music, conversations overhead on the street, every single fragment of life here is infused with a different view and a different spirit. Perfect? No. But unique? Undeniably! I can only surmise that the distinction only grows as you travel around the province.
Illogical but oh so Elegant
The Montreal soul is that of the dreamer and the sensualist. It lives for the moment. It strives for the grandiose, for the memorable, for the monumental, and sometimes the price paid is common sense and logic. The result in Montreal is an imperfect but breathtaking mixture of stunning design, palpable culture and some of the world’s biggest boondoggles.
Consider Mirabel Airport. In the early 70’s it was decreed that one of the world’s greatest cities deserved an airport befitting it’s status. But in true Montreal fashion, this was not just to be another airport. This was to be the world’s grandest airport, both in size and design. Projects like this required room and to get enough room, construction began on a site over an hour’s drive from the city’s core. There was nothing within miles, but no matter, Montreal would soon grow into this gargantuan airport and it would become the gateway to Eastern Canada. But today, 30 years after ground was broken, the airport is still a 75 minute drive from the city. Of course, nobody takes that drive, because Montreal hasn’t grown to the extent that was planned. One of the world’s greatest airport sits empty, no passenger flights in, no flights out, because Montreal’s dreams extended too far beyond reality. The last time Mirabel airport saw significant traffic was when it was used for the Spielberg movie The Terminal. Rumours are that it will be made into a waterpark. While one can criticize the practicality, one can’t help but admire the passion behind the dream.
And passion, not practicality, defines the soul of Montreal. There are tangible reminders of that throughout the city, including the new Palais de’ Congres, hundreds of millions over budget, le Stade Olympique, on which the bill was finally paid, 30 years after the event and the remnants of Expo 67, one of the great world fairs, now a 6 Flags amusement park that’s having problems keeping its doors open. Montreal is the dreamer that never stops trying to amaze the world, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always doing it in spectacular fashion.
This is a distinct society, a cultural gem that far too few North Americans know exists. The preservation of language is integral to the culture, every word of French that’s spoken a vocalization of the uniqueness that is Quebec. For myself, painfully unilingual despite the best attempts of my high school French teacher, it created some challenges but after visiting the city, I wouldn’t have it any other way. There is a delicate balance to Montreal that is far too fragile, and I fear that small changes could forever upset it. Expect a rather dismissive arrogance if you’re not fluent in French, expect a general ennui with the affairs outside the borders of the province, and expect an aggressive preservation of their way of life. It’s the things that most visitors find frustrating that has allowed this culture to remain intact in the midst of an Anglo cultural tsunami for hundreds of years.
Accept Montreal for what it is, in all it’s glorious imperfection, and be ardently thankful that it exists. I just wish everyone from Sundre could make the trip, but I suspect that will never happen. Attitudes can be very difficult things to move.