Why is the official language of Quebec French?

Canada is a Commonwealth country, but why is the official language of Quebec, Canada French?

The name "Quebec" comes from Hindi, which means fjord. Indigenous people use this word to refer to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec City. The St. Lawrence River flows here from the west and suddenly opens.

The earliest European explorer who came here was Jacques Cartier. He arrived in Gaspas in 1534 and sailed into the St. Lawrence River in 1535.

After 1627, King Louis XIII of France ordered that immigrants outside Roman Catholicism should not settle in New France. This ensured that the education and welfare of the colonies were in the hands of the church. 1663, New France became a province directly under the royal family and was under the jurisdiction of Jean Talon.

1763, Britain signed the Paris Treaty with King Louis XV of France, and France gave up New France in exchange for keeping the melon drooping in the West Indies. The British renamed Canada (then part of New France) Quebec.

1774, the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act, which ensured that Quebec's French and French culture were not threatened. This bill also allows Quebec to retain France's civil law and the whole legal system, and also guarantees religious freedom. Roman Catholicism was preserved.

After the American Revolution, many British royalists poured into Canada, which changed the population composition. Therefore, the constitutional bill of 179 1 divides the original colony in two with the Ottawa River as the boundary. In the west, Upper Canada changed to British legal system, while in the east, Lower Canada remained unchanged.

184 1 year, the British government will go up and down Canada and become a province of Canada. 1867, Canada and two other British colonies, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, merged into the Canadian Federation, but Canada itself was divided into Ontario and Quebec.

With the support of the Catholic Church, Maurice du plessis led the National Alliance to realize the Conservative Party's ruling period from 1944 to 1960. Pierre trudeau and other liberal intellectuals attacked the Conservative government of Duplessis, which laid the foundation for the silent revolution led by Jean Le Sage and Quebec Liberal Party. The silent revolution led to great changes in Quebec's social and political structure. The influence of Roman Catholicism declined rapidly, and Quebec Hydropower Company was nationalized. At the same time, the independence movement led by Rene Leveque began to rise.

In 1960s, the terrorist organization "Quebec Liberation Front" began a decade-long anti-government action. 1968 They kidnapped British Trade Commissioner Cross and Quebec Labor Minister laporte, and laporte was killed a few days later.

From 65438 to 0977, Leveque René Visk led the Queenie Party to win the provincial elections, and the situation of independence became increasingly grim. Leveque has promulgated the Charter of the French Language (also known as the Bill 10 1). The Act establishes French as the only official language in Quebec. Up to now, all the symbols of Quebec are marked in French; The bill is still controversial.

Leveque held the first provincial sovereignty referendum from 65438 to 0980, and 60% of Quebec voters voted against it. 1995101On October 30th, Quebec's second referendum on independence failed again. This time, the votes of both sides are very close (50.6% against and 49.4% in favor).

On October 27th, 2006/kloc-0, Canada 165438+ Parliament passed Prime Minister Harper's motion "Quebec forms a country within a unified Canada" with 266 votes in favor and 16 votes against. However, because the word "nation" can be interpreted as "country" or "nation", some Canadians say that Quebec feels independent.