Your Email:

Subject:

Message:
Entry: Christ at the heart of Quebec Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/christ_at_the_heart_of_quebec#27623 Post contents: I'm a Quebec's residant for more than 33 years, im an european immigrant,almost one of the last to cross the atlantic from that part of the world in mid-seventies.After the end of the eighties the majority of immigrants to Quebec and to Canada came from the Est Europe, North Africa, Middle Est, Asia and Haiti, cultures little differents from the old French and British cultures.My first thing here was to go to school to lern the french language. I did it and after that I got two university degrees.To remind,les Quebecois are the only french speaking majority in North America, surrounded by a more than 330 milions culturally threatening english speaking people and they feel threateded. The central question of the Bouchard-Taylor commission was the so called reasonable accommodation, accomodation raisonable,of the competing immigrant's cultures practiced in various every days domains and the follow-up of some courts decisions based on the Charter of Rights.Todays Quebec society is a secular one, open and tolerent and not so religious as in the past. The churches are empty, many stranformed in luxurious condominiums.Quebec has one of the lower birth rates in the world, 1.4 child per women.So Quebec needs immigration.The vast majority of the immigrants choose Montreal, 40% of the population of Monrteal are immigrants or immigrants descendants.The question then is not the one of the crucifix or any other religious symbol, those are for the politicians, for electoral purposes.The real question is the integration of the immigrants in the Quebec's society and the best way, as we know, it is not by some accomodations left and right but the real integration of the immigrants in the works force. Only 4% of the municipal jobs are allocated to immigrants and it is the same in the public sector.Quebecers keeps the best paying jobs even if the new immigrants are more educated and skilled.The immigrants obviously feel excluded and the authorities know the problem. As long as this will be unchanged the problem of the immigrants integration will stay unsolved and the crucifix will be always a convenient scapegoat. Sent at: 2008 11 20