Greetings! We recently returned from a trip to Montréal (mohn-tray-AHL), the largest city in the Canadian Province of Québec (kih-BEK). While we have been to Canada several times, I have decided to try to visit all ten Provinces in Canada. We have visited Ontario (Toronto) and British Columbia (Vancouver), and ventured to Québec during a trip during which we also visited a second Province (Newfoundland and Labrador), which has a separate blogpost entry. Below, you will find information from our trip.
Montréal is an island, and has a population of about two million people. Eighty percent of the population (mostly people who live near the city center) is bilingual (French and English), but those who live farther away (in the country) only speak French. Montréal is considered to be the artistic capital of Canada. It also has 6000 restaurants per capita, second after Manhattan (New York, USA). Despite the role of religion in its development and settlement, Montréal is considered to be one of the most atheist and agnostic places in the world due to the significant issues they have had with religion.
The First Nation people lived in Québec and Montréal when the first settlers arrived in Montréal in 1608 from France, escaping religious wars and looking for a shortcut to China. They wanted to go as deep as possible into the Saint Lawrence River, but very soon into their journey, they ran into huge rapids that they were not able to navigate. As a result, they stopped in Montréal and decided to settle in 1642 permanently. The first settlers were a group of 40 people on two ships, and they brought religion (Catholicism) to this area.
Still one of the most important churches in Montréal
In 1663, the King of France wanted to figure out how to make this area his and populate the area accordingly. He tasked Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve to lead this charge, and Paul brought over Jeanne Mance to spearhead the process of building a hospital. During this time, the original inhabitants of the land (The First Nation people) were expected to leave, and they eventually became extinct.
Jeanne Mance was designated in 2012 as the Co-Founder of Montréal
In 1721, a fire burned 170 buildings, including the hospital that was established by Jeanne Mance. It was subsequently determined that nobody was allowed to use wood to build houses going forward. They were expected to have simple roofs with ladders (for ease of egress) and a fire wall (to keep the fire from jumping to neighboring buildings). Before the 1721 fire, everyone (rich and poor) lived inside of the walled city. After the fire, the poorer people had to move outside of the walled city because they did not have the resources to rebuild.
In 1760, there was a war between Great Britain and France, and Great Britain won. After the war, the King of France was given the option to choose the Caribbean or Canada as colonial/territorial land and he chose the Caribbean. As a result, Canada became a British Colony. The expectations for the inhabitants of Montréal included showing allegiance to the King of England, and to not give the Pope the same religious power. The British reportedly did not mind the French language being spoken, but they wanted the religion to be Protestantism, not Catholicism. The British brought people over, primarily from Scotland, but also from Ireland and England. They also brought Protestantism to Montréal, and they had to learn to live together with those who practiced Catholicism. This proved to be difficult and resulted in the French/Catholics moving to one area of the city, while the British/Protestants moved to the opposite side of the city. This is represented in the sculptures below, which are on opposite corners of a side of a building in the square between Notre Dame Cathedral and the First Bank of Canada (BMO). Immigrants who moved to Montréal tended to live on St. Lawrence Street, as the French and British had moved away from St. Lawrence Street, and this was the only area where the immigrants felt like they could settle.
The message within these sculptures (above) is as follows: The man is British, has an exaggerated nose/mask, is looking at the church (Notre Dame), and is thinking “The Francos and their religion.” The Woman is French, has the same exaggerated nose/mask, is looking at the first bank built in Canada (BMO Bank), and is thinking, “The Anglos and their money, so shallow.” This represents the difficulties that historically existed between the cultures that live in Montréal. Of note, French is the national language of Québec, and if a family moves to Québec with children who have not previously been educated in a French language school, their children must attend school in French. In addition, Federal Law in Canada requires that documents be printed/displayed in both French and English in all Provinces. In Québec, the French is prominent.
Interesting Fact: Canada was involved in the Civil War of the United States of America. 40,000 Canadians fought to support the North because they were against slavery, while the business people sent money to the South to keep the US from becoming too strong. They wanted the US to separate so it would not be so powerful. This ultimately contributed to the Canadians building the TransCanadian railroad.
Marguerite Bourgeoys (mahr-guh-reet bor-zhwah) came to teach in the second group of arrivals to Montréal in the 1600s, when the King of France sent 700 young women to New France (which referred to the area including Montréal, the Atlantic Provinces, and the land/area down to the Mississippi River). Marguerite took these young women (who were chosen from orphanages and referred to as The King’s Daughters) and taught them what they needed to know, including how to pick a husband (jokingly referred to as “the first speed dating in Canada”). It is said that 20 million Canadians can trace their ancestry back to The King’s Daughters.
Murals in Montréal
Interesting Fact: Natives of Québec are called Québécois (keh-beh-kwah)
View of Montréal from Mount Royale Park
Olympic Stadium (1976)
This mesh ball was the pavilion for the United States.
It is now the location of the only Grand Prix race (F1) in Canada.
Poutine is the National Food of Canada
We enjoyed our time in Montréal, and hope to explore other areas of Québec in the future. Until next time, take care and be well…