equanimity.blog

Montreal

I am lucky to be hosted close to the old part of town where stands the exquisite Notre Dame Basilica.  Beside it is the second oldest building in Montreal, The Saint-Sulpice Seminary, built between 1684-1687, opposite the old Bank of Montreal.  These buildings are of a pleasant human scale, but someone has plonked a big, bland, black tower between them in what seems to me poor city planning; imposing modernity over a cathedral designed to inspire awe in God.

However, this ugly black box is somewhat redeemed by two statues on either corner humorously depicting the antipathy between English and French Canadians. The English pug and the French poodle. These two snobs look with disdain at the other’s cultural icons; the Englishman at the Catholic Basilica, the Frenchwoman at the English bank.

Montreal is on an island in the mighty St Lawrence River, upstream from where it mixes with the salt of the Atlantic Ocean.  On its banks, those statues got me wondering whether the Canadians ditched the Union Jack in their flag for a maple 🍁 leaf out of respect for the Quebecois.  A symbol of nature is touching (if only the politicians were genuine environmentalists), but Quebec’s separatist, ethno-nationalist ambitions are no secret, so I started wondering what their views on multiculturalism are.  What border controls do they envisage?  Later, I found some answers to my questions on a guided tour of the provincial parliament in Quebec City…

Here’s a fun way to get around the old part of town with a group of friends:

Quebec City

Dating back to 1604, Quebec City is the site of the first enduring French settlement in Canada. It sits on a hilltop where the St Charles enters the St Lawrence River. It’s strategically defensive and a wall surrounds the old town. After the British defeated the French in 1759 on the nearby Plains of Abraham, they built a citadel at the top to face attacks from Americans.

The National Assembly of Quebec is an impressive palace with free guided tours.

We learnt that due to changes to the legislative process in the early 1980s, 60% of laws achieve unanimous approval in the Assembly. This is a remarkably high percentage. Apparently a Premier, who had become exasperated when in opposition, decided to give some of his power to the opposition in standing committees that has fostered less adversarial behavior. It’s a truly admirable reform. However, they still have first-past-the-post voting. We were also told Quebec is welcoming of a diversity of immigrants, as long as they learn French, which they’ll be paid to do. At some point after arriving, services are only provided in French, so as far as language is concerned, the pressure to assimilate is on.

Appearances really matter here. This Irish church, which houses a modern research facility, was wrapped in a patterned canvas until its stone veneer could be replaced. Many renos in the city are pleasantly disguised this way.

The Canadian Highway Code, stipulates a speed limit on freeways of 100 km/hr. The signed limit on the freeway in the video below that runs alongside the Montreal-Quebec City fast train is 110 km. “There is a tacit understanding that speeds up to 120km/h are tolerated”, but as you can see, the vehicles in the fast lane are reaching nearly 140 km/hr (the train is doing 145 km/h). On Australian freeways, there are more lanes, but everyone’s stuck at around 100 km/hr. Perhaps the Quebecois realize that a genuinely fast lane gets more traffic through and mitigates the need to add ever more lanes? Oh for a genuinely fast fast lane in Australia!

Back in Montreal, I found there really is a whole world underground – something of a necessity in winter. I noticed in some places they sort the rubbish for you!

My host and I go back a long way.  He accepted a two-year post in the U.N.’s bloated bureaucracy and, being notoriously indoor-ish and unadventurous, I told him I’d get over there and drag him out to see Canada. Also, I ordered two boxes of See’s Chocolates from the USA that can’t be delivered overseas. They’ve been waiting for me in his fridge. They are truly like no other chocolates on Earth! (No I’m not being paid by them.)