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I am a parish minister currently serving the Eliot Church of Natick MA. Eliot Church is a Community Church affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ. Any statements made and postions held in "Unity," however, are solely mine(of course, they may be used with appropriate atribution). Therefore if you disagree, please do not blame the church!

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Quebec Nationhood



Here is a picture of son #2's Kindergarden class singing that Reagan-Era hit "Proud to be an American". The things on their heads are paper turkeys. I will never think of that song the same way again...

While we were all eating our turkey and giving thanks something interesting occured just north of us. the Canadian Parliament voted to recognize Quebec as a nation within Canada. This may have some interesting implications for Canadians in particular and for the concept of nationalism and nationhood in general. What, exactly is a nation (Quebec) within another nation (Canada)? It isn't clear that everyone has even close to the same idea...

My wife and I lived in Montreal for a while "pre-children". We were there during the emergence of the Bloc Quebecois and their then-leader Lucien Bouchard. Since then I have followed the unique relationship between Quebec and the rest of Canada. It is intriguing to me on many levels. It looks like it will continue to be.

Finally just a reminder to folks. The Canadians live right next door! Take an interest, people. They are a large, industrialized, wealthy nation with an interesting perspective on the US, democracy, and life in general. They also impact how we see ourselves and how we live. They even play football. I actually have a dream of someday becoming the Alex de Toqueville of Canada, traveling across the country, writing pompous things about Canadian culture, etc. Maybe you should pay attention, too.