An Extraordinary and Unique Sense of Quebec
A sense of place is a deeply felt attachment towards an area or region where one feels they belong. It is developed by living in the place over an amount of time resulting in a special bond to the society and landscape of the region. A sense of place can be different depending on the individual as each person views a place differently. A person may have a deep connection and history with a certain place, but another may find that place meaningless. Quebec City is the capital city of the Quebec province. It is the second-largest city in Quebec after Montreal and the eleventh largest city in Canada. Quebec City is the oldest municipality in the province and was founded by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain in 1608. It is known historically as the capital of New France and later became part of Lower Canada since its confederation. It was the location of the famous battle in 1759 on the Plains of Abraham between the British and French Empires. Quebec City has a great sense of place shown through its physical geography, human/social geography, political constitution, and its history.
Quebec City has a unique physical and historical appearance. It is the only city in Canada with military and religious history. Quebec City is located on top steep cliffs that have a beautiful view of the St. Lawrence River. This location was specifically picked to have a view of any enemies approaching the area via the St. Lawrence River. The Upper Town is known as Haute-Village which was originally developed for its military advantage that contains the defensive Citadel. With its surrounding walls are 4.6 km long that consist of 4 gates and 3 Martello towers and a Citadel that encircles the old town. These fortifications and military barracks occupied a substantial area and prevented the development of the inhabited suburban area. This also contains some of the city’s iconic landmarks like the fortifications and the Chateau Frontenac. In the 1600s when French settlers came to Quebec and they initially took a narrow strip of land between the peninsula and the port in the Lower Town then led to religious institutions and colonial administration which lead them to occupy the Upper Town. The upper town was built on a cliff and contains many religious and tourist attractions such as several churches, convents, the Citadel, Chateau Frontenac, etc. The Chateau Frontenac is a luxury castle-like hotel being the most photographed hotel in the world. The Lower Town being known as Basse-Ville which is where the original settlement of Quebec City was located. This place is known for its attractive European-like narrow streets and stone buildings which are best explored on foot. From this place, there is an entree to the Québec-Levis Ferry at Vieux Port (Old Port) as well as many tourist attractions such as the scenic Quartier Petit-Champlain neighborhood and the Musée de la Civilization. The Lower Town of Quebec City was the commercial and residential center. Both the Lower and Upper Town form the principal parts of Old Quebec. The lower town and upper town are connected by winding streets, a few steep staircases, and the Funiculaire which makes it look like a perfect fortified colonial city. It is a city which has a strong European influence as it is the only North American city to have conserved all its fortifications. This historic place was the result of more than four hundred years of history-making it quite different from cities like Toronto which have a more modernized, concrete-jungle type of look. Quebec City was an indication of the stages of European settlement in North America as the city itself reveals great evidence of the acts of French and British settlers. It was the capital of New France and after the war, in 1760 it became part of the new British colony that later became Canada. Quebec City experiences a climate like Montreal and Toronto with summers being occasionally hot with periods of high humidity. Winters are very cold, and windy, and bring lots of snow.
The population of Quebec City is 542,298. The city’s population density is 1197/is one of the least densely populated cities in North America. Of that population, 333,830 people are in the 18-64 age group, 109,975 are senior citizens and 88, 495 are 0-17 years of age. In terms of ethnicities, 87.1% of people are white and 12.9% are minorities. About 87% of people living there have been born in Canada, 2.77% were born in Europe, 2.45% in Africa and the rest were from other places in the world. Quebec City has a peaceful and laid-back culture. It is known to be the city in North America with the least amount of crime. While there is a business district in Quebec the people of the city do not have a money-minded, workaholic mentality as they value life and family far more than their job. Quebec City is known for its summer music festival, winter carnival, and the Saint-Jean Baptiste Day celebrations. The carnival is a pre-Lenten festival held in Quebec City which has been celebrated every year since 1955. Up to one million people attend the Carnival making it the largest winter festival in the world. The summer music being held in downtown Quebec City has a total attendance of 1.5 million people every year which has been taking place annually since 1968. Lastly, there is the Saint-Jean Baptiste Day celebrations which a public holiday celebrated in Quebec by French Canadians. It is the celebration of the traditional feast day of St. John the Baptist. The culture of Quebec came from a few hundred years of French settlers establishing their country of New France. It is the only region in North America with a French-speaking majority and one of two provinces with French being a constitutionally recognized language. About 95% of the residents speak French as French is the official language of the region. All road signs and advertisements are in French as it is their first language. Quebec as a province is a meeting place for cultures where tourists from all around the world experience western culture from the point of a French-speaking minority. Even though there is a strong French influence within the society, they are strongly connected to the cultures of Canada, the U.S., and the U.K. The culture in Quebec is described as a meeting point between Europe and North America. Quebec City is one of the safest cities in Canada as it has one of the lowest crime rates and crime severity index of all Census Metropolitan Areas. According to statistics Canada in 2018, Quebec City had a crime severity index is 44.7 where the national average was 75.0. Quebec has a crime rate of 3304 per 100,000 compared to the national average of 5488. These unique characteristics and demographics all contribute to Quebec City’s easy-going, fun, French-influenced culture that it has established over hundreds of years. These create factors contribute to a strong and extraordinary sense of placemaking this city quite different than other Canadian cities.
The political constitution of Quebec City builds a sense of place with particular laws being incorporated only in Quebec. These politics and laws of a city can create a positive or negative effect on society and way of life. The political constitution of Quebec is a government resembling that of other Canadian provinces where they have a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. Quebec City being the capital of Quebec has a Premier, Lieutenant Governor, legislature, and cabinet. In the national assembly of Quebec, it has a legislature founded from the Westminster government System developed in England. This government functions mainly in French. This means that it is the prior method of communication within the parliament even though English is also the official language and the records are published in both languages. The member of parliament is elected with the first-past-the-post method electoral system where voters would choose their candidate of choice and the candidate who receives the most votes wins the election. Many center-right parties such as Credit Social, Union Nationale, Conservative Party, etc. are very popular within the Quebec City region than anywhere else in the province. When the British North America Act was formed in 1867, Quebec became one of the four founding provinces of the Canadian confederation. The Canadian Confederation guarantees the maintenance of its language and religion under the Quebec Act formed in 1774. The Quebec school system was provided public funding for a dual system based on the Roman Catholic and Protestant religions. Under the constitution act formed in 1867, the provinces were granted control of education and these religious-based school systems continued in Quebec until the 1990s. Quebec City is very historic because it is one of the oldest European settlements in North America and is home to the earliest French civilization. This French civilization was established in 1541 by the famous explorer Jacques Cartier with roughly 400 people. This settlement was later abandoned in less than a year because of the resentment from the native people and the harsh winter. Quebec was later founded by another French explorer known as Samuel de Champlain on July 3, 1608, at a site of an abandoned Iroquoian settlement. Samuel de Champlain was a hero to his people and was named “The Father of New France” for the jurisdiction he successfully created. However, many battles took place as the British, English and Americans wanted to claim the land as there own. In 1690 the city was attacked by the English but the French managed to successfully defend it. Quebec was later captured in 1759 and held until the end of the war in 1763 where the French surrendered New France to the British. Another battle later took place in 1775 known as the Battle of Quebec. This was where revolutionary troops from America attacked the British barracks as they were to capture Quebec City. The successful defeat of the Americans put an end to there hopes that the people of Quebec would associate with the American Revolution. During the War of 1812, the United States tried to capture Canadian lands and as the British feared another American attack on Quebec City, the Citadelle Quebec being an active military installation was created in 1820. It is still used by the military and a tourist attraction. In 1864 the Quebec conference of Canadian confederation was held in Quebec City and in 1867 Queen Victoria chose it to be the capital city of Quebec and Ottawa to be the capital of Canada.
The economy of Quebec consists of many jobs concentrated in defense, services, commerce, transportation, and tourism. The provincial government is the largest employer in the city, employing about 27,900 people. The local hospital network is the city’s largest institutional employer with more than 10,000 employees. The city has an unemployment rate of 3.8% is below the national average of 6 %. This makes it the second-lowest of Canada’s 34 largest cities. The traditional central business districts are found around Parliament Hill and Saint-Roch which is known as the new IT industry.
The slogan of Quebec is “Je me Souviens” which translated to English means “I remember” and is paraphrased to mean that the people of Quebec will never forget their ancient lineage, traditions, and memories of the past. Sir Etienne-Paschal Tache being one of the fathers of the confederation was credited to having popularized the slogan. He had the motto carved in stone below the coat of arms of Quebec which appears on car license plates and in the coat of arms. This slogan has an influence amongst the French Canadians as they still live in a very French-influenced culture to this day that is against fully changing to a more Canadianized way like the rest of Canada. This also shows as Quebec is quite different in law and regulation than the rest of Canada and the majority of the government constantly votes for it to be a separate country. This reflects on the sense of place making it extraordinary making it a place like no other in North America.
In conclusion, Quebec City has a strong, extraordinary, and unique sense of place. With its European influence and European identity, it has created an amazing physical, human/social, and political geography. These characteristics made it different than any other city in Canada resulting in local residents having a deep affection toward the place which cannot be fulfilled anywhere else.
