Quebec City

Quebec is the capital of Canada's largest province, which bears the same name. As the oldest city in Canada, Quebec City has a distinguished history that harks back to the days of French settlers and missionaries. Its modern-day manifestation combines a provincial government with a strong economy, a rich architectural heritage, and an esteemed cultural scene. It is also represents the divided nature of much of the province: just over half of the city's population voted for secession in the failed 1995 referendum.

Landscape

The city of Quebec, in the southern part of the province, is situated at the intersection of the St. Lawrence and St. Charles Rivers, where the waterway narrows dramatically to less than a mile in width. The city proper occupies 88 square kilometers (34 square miles) and lies 1,370 kilometers (851 miles) from the Atlantic Ocean.

The core of Quebec nestles along the north shore of the river in two levels, divided by a ridge of steep bluffs. The Lower Town, encompassing industrial, business, and residential districts, is situated along the harbor. The Upper Town, built upon a lengthy stretch of tableland, is mostly commercial and residential. Past the confluence of the rivers, a promontory rises to an elevation of 333 feet above the St. Lawrence. Called Cape Diamond, it is the highest and most eastern point of the tablelands.

The Quebec metropolitan area has included the city proper and twelve other municipalities, divided into six boroughs: La Cité-Limoilou, Les Rivières, Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge, Charlesbourg, Beauport, and La Haute–Saint-Charles. These divisions brought about several new groupings of older entities. This large municipal conglomerate spreads across 3,149 square kilometers (1,216 square miles).

Winters in Quebec are severe, with an average January temperature range of 5 to 21 degrees Fahrenheit (−15 to −8 degrees Celsius). Snow lasts from the middle of December until the middle of March, yielding 3.16 meters (10.4 feet) annually. Summers are mild and humid and prone to frequent rainfall; the average July temperatures range from 55 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit (13 to 25 degrees Celsius).

People

Residents of Quebec City are called Québécois or, to avoid confusion with those who live in the province, Québécois de Québec. At the time of the 2016 census, the population of the city proper was 531,902. An estimated 812,205 lived in the Quebec metropolitan area in 2017, according to Québec International, the city's economic development agency.

The character of Quebec City is overwhelmingly French and overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. According to the 2016 census, over 507,000 residents spoke French as a first language, about 8,800 spoke English as their first language, and the remainder identified themselves as multilingual.

French is the official language. Provincial laws mandate that French be used in the workplace, on street and business signs, and in films and computer programs. There has, as a result, been some exodus of the English-speaking population from Quebec, generally to Toronto. In 2021 the government of Quebec proposed further reforms as well as an amendment to the Canadian Constitution that would institute French as the province's only official language.

Many of those claiming French heritage trace their genealogy to families who settled in Quebec centuries ago. By 2018, most new francophone immigrants came to Quebec from France and Haiti. A growing number of francophone immigrants come from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lebanon, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Guinea. This immigration trend reflects the province's policy of favoring francophone immigrants as a means to help preserve the majority.

Visible minority groups immigrating to the city of Quebec have arrived from a variety of countries. At times, relations have been tense between non-French immigrants and the French majority, since they, like anglophones and Indigenous peoples, largely voted to remain part of the Canadian federation in the 1995 referendum.

Quebec has evolved a distinct cuisine based on French and English cultures and the fish and game available in the region. One popular dish served throughout the province is fried potatoes covered with cheese curds and brown gravy, called poutine. Another is pizzaghetti, pizza topped with spaghetti. Smoked meats are common, as are savory pies made with fish or meat. Desserts are often made with maple syrup.

Traditions abound in Quebec City. The Winter Carnival usually lasts for three weeks and begins at the end of January. Events include night-time parades, dogsled races, a canoe race across the half-frozen St. Lawrence, an ice-sculpting competition, and other sporting and cultural activities. An annual tradition since 1954, the festival attracts visitors from around the world and earns approximately $31 million each year.

The two neighborhoods that contain the most historic and cultural value are the Upper and Lower Towns, linked by a funicular (a cable railway) as well as by stairways and streets; together they comprise the Old Town. Both areas have fine, well-preserved buildings, pedestrian areas, squares, shops, and cafes. The promenade in the Upper Town, called Dufferin Terrace, offers views of the river and busy harbor. Within the Lower Town is the Quartier du Petit-Champlain, one of the most heavily visited areas of the city.

Economy

The prospect of the province's secession brought about some economic upheaval, including shaken investor confidence and the out-migration of English-speaking companies and citizens. Forecasters predicted that, had the referendum on secession succeeded, it might have made a shambles of the provincial economy. In the early 2000s, it performed promisingly, although it did lag behind Montreal and the province of Ontario for total output. The recession of 2009 adversely affected most of the Canadian economy but had a minimal impact on Quebec City, which saw continued growth. In 2017, it had an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent, well below the national average of 6.3 percent.

Though its importance has decreased over the years, Quebec City's deepwater port is still a significant source of income for the city and conduit for foreign trade. It is well situated with access to the Great Lakes, the Atlantic Ocean, and other port cities on the St. Lawrence River system; it is also connected to the Canadian Pacific railway, giving it access to the entire country.

In the 1990s, the port infrastructure was modernized in order to cope with the volume of traffic and compete with other ports. It is divided into sectors, two of which deal with industrial cargo, and a third that deals with general cargo, cruise ships, and leisure craft. Between 2012 and 2017, the Port of Quebec reported handling an average of 27 million metric tons of cargo. The United States is Quebec City's largest trading partner.

Tourism and government are two of the largest sectors of the economy. Based on data from Québec International, as of 2017, about 87 percent of the city's labor force was engaged in the service economy. Every year, approximately 5 million visitors came to the city, some as tourists, others to attend the many conferences held there. Most tourists come from elsewhere in the province. Tourism itself accounts for a large percentage of Quebec City's economy, with many tourists arriving by cruise ship. As for the government sector, the National Assembly and most ministries are centered in the city. Through them, the eastern part of the province is managed.

Other sectors that contribute to Quebec City's economy include information and environmental technology, biomedics, electronics, life sciences, finance, green and smart building, and advanced materials industries. It is home to at least numerous research centers, underlining the economy's high-tech, knowledge-based trend.

Quebec City is served by the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National Railways as well as highway, air, and sea. Jean-Lesage International Airport offers national and international flights via Montreal. Within the city, the Quebec Urban Community Transit Commission operates an extensive bus system. There is also a ferry connecting the city proper with Lévis, a town on the south bank of the river that is now part of the metropolitan area.

Landmarks

Quebec City is home to many cultural attractions and historical landmarks, as befits a city with such a pedigreed past and the care and money devoted to preserving it. Towering above it all is the Château Frontenac, a luxury hotel rising atop Cape Diamond, built in the nineteenth century in a pastiche of medieval and Renaissance styles to resemble a castle.

Also atop Cape Diamond is the Citadel, a star-shaped fortress enclosing forty acres of parade grounds, barracks, and earthworks. Construction was completed in 1831 by the British, based on fortifications begun by the French. Once a bastion of defense against various attackers, it is now occupied by the Royal Twenty-Second Regiment of the Canadian Forces.

Next to the Citadel are the Plains of Abraham, the site of the final, decisive battle in which the French lost control of North America. The 250 acres are preserved as parkland, with noteworthy historical monuments commemorating past wars and battles and an observatory, a formal garden, and a golf course.

There are several significant churches and church-related buildings located in Quebec, reflecting the city's long-standing Roman Catholic traditions, among the oldest in North America and still strong to this day. These structures include the Ursuline monastery and convent (1639), the Notre-Dame de Québec basilica (completed 1829), and the Notre-Dame-des-Victoires chapel (completed 1723).

The Museum of Civilization and the Museum of Fine Arts contain two of Canada's foremost collections. The Museum of Civilization focuses on world history and ethnography, while the Museum of Fine Arts showcases, for the most part, provincial artists in a collection that surpasses twenty-two thousand pieces.

History

Indigenous people of the Huron-Wendat nation had settled the site of Quebec long before the first Europeans arrived; their village was named Stadacona. Disease and war depleted their numbers, however, and the survivors eventually resettled elsewhere.

Though Jacques Cartier wintered at the site during his second exploration of the St. Lawrence River in 1535–36, a European settlement was not founded until July 3, 1608, the date Samuel de Champlain established Quebec. Within a relatively short period of time, the settlers made it a seat of French power in North America. This power would be lost and regained over the next century as the British and French fought for regional domination.

The city quickly developed as the settlers began exploiting the region's vast natural resources. The value of pelts and timber was high, and Quebec was in a perfect position to harvest and then ship the resources.

The British first captured the city in 1629 and held it for three years. In 1632, it was returned to French rule and Champlain was restored as governor. Challenges to the rule came several more times over the next century, but the British did not hold Quebec and Canada decisively until 1759.

The final battle commenced when a British naval force, commanded by Major General James Wolfe, disembarked and ascended onto the Plains of Abraham. They were met by French and First Nations soldiers commanded by General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon. In the brief battle that ensued, the French forces were routed and both commanders were fatally wounded. The city was surrendered to the British on September 18, 1759. Subsequent French attempts to retake the city failed, and the 1763 Treaty of Paris named Canada as a British colony.

Even centuries ago, the population of the region was divided between the original French settlers and British Loyalists who had fled the United States following the American Revolution. The solution was to partition the region into Upper and Lower Canada, the equivalent of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The city of Quebec was named the provincial capital in 1791. It was incorporated in 1832 and twice served as the capital of the United Provinces of Canada during the nineteenth century.

The city and province underwent great changes during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as the move from a rural agrarian society to an industrial society took place, with a commensurate improvement in the quality of life. Nonetheless, there is still a strong rural tradition, even near major cities like Quebec.

In the 1960s, another kind of revolution began, the so-called Quiet Revolution. It called for provincial independence from Canada and gave birth to a political party devoted to the cause in 1968. The movement's more radical wing even bombed public places and kidnapped public officials to draw attention to the issue. French was designated as Quebec's sole official language in 1974, and two years later, members of the Parti Quebecois were voted into office.

The revolution led to two referendums on secession and serious rifts in the social fabric. The first referendum in 1980 failed, as did the second referendum in 1995 (the latter by under than 0.5 percent, with 94 percent of the province voting). Since then the issue has cooled somewhat, though it still has active partisans mobilizing for a third referendum.

Despite having been economically eclipsed by Montreal, Quebec City remains a vital center of government and French culture with a promising future.

Trivia

• The name "Quebec" is thought to derive from the Algonquian word "kepeck," which means "a sudden narrowing of the river."
• Early in its history, Quebec was called "the cradle of the New France."
• In 1985, UNESCO declared the Old Town of Quebec a World Heritage Site.

Bibliography

Conrad, Margaret. A Concise History of Canada. New York: Cambridge UP, 2012. Print.

Daveluy, Pierre, and Pierre Ledoux. Québec in Mind. Montreal: Ulysses, 2012. Print.

Jean, Michèle. "History." Ville de Québec. Ville de Québec, 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.

Economic Report and Outlooks: Québec City CMA, 2017–2018, Québec International Economic Development, Apr. 2018, www.quebecinternational.ca/media/3813943/bilan‗rmr‗2017-2018‗ang‗web.pdf. Accessed 17 Aug. 2018.

"Québec, V, Quebec." Census Profile, 2016 Census, Statistics Canada, 24 Apr. 2018, www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm. Accessed 17 Aug. 2018.

Stein, Michael B. "Separatism." Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada, 16 Dec. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.