Terry and I have just returned from a four day holiday in Magog, Quebec, a town of 25,000 located about 125 km south of Montreal.
It was a long overdue get-away to a scenic part of La Belle Province. Hiking in a nearby national park, tasting delicious foods ( bring on the maple syrup cake), visiting quaint museums and enjoying live music on a restaurant terrace were just a few of our pleasures.
Of particular note to me however was the insular or monochrome nature of the people we visited. The absence of cultural diversity and openness to outsiders was striking in a province where 95% of the people speak French and mother-tongue Francophones of European origin constitute 85% of the population.
In a word, we felt like outsiders.
And unless it was a figment of my imagination, I think the implicit separation of 'us' from 'them' has left the people of Quebec impoverished by their misguided belief that too much English will bring their culture to ruin.
Thank goodness for poutine.
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