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Loyola10
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The failure of french immigration in Quebec
#23057929 - 03/29/16 07:16 AM (8 years, 1 day ago) |
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PARIS -- To reach Virginie and Ronnie's apartment, located in a working-class district near Paris's Gare du Nord station, you need to climb a narrow, endless spiral staircase. At the very top, under the eaves, their tiny living area has peeling paint and rising dampness. Given the space, the visitor can hardly fail to notice the three posters the tenants have hung on the walls. A breath of fresh air in these dank surroundings, they portray the wide open spaces of Quebec through the seasons. The slogan "Faire sa vie au Quebec" ("Make Your Life In Quebec") is splayed across the posters. It's a new mantra for this young French couple who long to escape their humdrum existence in Paris.
She is a business school graduate but can only find work as a receptionist. He has an English degree but dreams of becoming an illustrator. Next September they will both be flying out to Montreal, the economic capital of Quebec, to try their luck in French-speaking America, like so many of their compatriots before them. They have only bought one-way tickets: they intend to spend the rest of their lives in the Canadian province of their dreams - despite the fact that they have never even been there.
According to Quebec's Ministry of Immigration, every year 3,000 to 4,000 French people like Virginie and Ronnie decide to settle permanently in Quebec. 7,000 more come in on a temporary visa and over 5,000 as students. Montreal is the main non-European destination for French expatriates, where 40,000 of them are registered with the Maison des Francais, twice as many as in New York or Los Angeles and nearly four times more than in Sydney. And this figure is increasing: between 2000 and 2004 it soared by 47%.
However the Quebec dream can sometimes turn into a nightmare. Every year hundreds of these immigrants return home to France with the bitter aftertaste of failure. The exact number of returning immigrants is the object of fierce debate. The Delegation of Quebec in France, the organization in charge of recruiting immigrants, claims that 18% to 20% will be back within five years. The demographer Marc Termotte, however, argues that these figures are wide of the mark. "One out of every two French people who decide to settle in Quebec will go back to France within eight years of their immigration," says this professor from the University of Montreal, who based his study on census statistics.
Virginie and Ronnie know that the return rate is fairly high but this does not deter them from their immigration project. "Once we've left, we'll finally be able to shake off this depressing environment. Here in France, there's always someone to put a spoke in your wheel," sighs 24 year-old Virginie. And like all the others who hope to be leaving for good, she is certain that she and Ronnie will be in the half who succeed. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118680079272894989
Damn shame immigration to Quebec has slowed I wonder why the french aren't more inticed to move there.
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Loyola10
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Re: The failure of french immigration in Quebec [Re: Loyola10]
#23057979 - 03/29/16 07:38 AM (8 years, 1 day ago) |
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'An acre of France in America' Another element plays a part in the return rate: the culture shock. Their common language means that the French are unprepared for this. Many expect to find "an acre of France in America" rather than "America in French." And even then, it's not the same French. Johanna admits she still uses typical Quebecker expressions months after her return to France.
Language is only one aspect of the cultural divide faced by the French immigrant. The basic cultural precepts are also unique. "I know I shouldn't say this but I find the Quebeckers very… Anglo-Saxon," admits Françoise, as though this was the worst kind of insult. With their more right-wing economic vision, a culinary approach that is a long way from its French origins and policies based on individual freedom, the Quebeckers are first and foremost North-Americans.
The French are taken aback by the lack of hierarchy in the workplace. Bosses are addressed by the familiar "tu" pronoun in French and no appointment is required to see them. Jobs are more insecure but the unemployment rate is lower. Even friendship has its special codes. "Socially the Quebecans are less spontaneous than the French," says Johanna. "They invite you to 'supper' a week ahead and tell you to be there by 5 p.m.!" - three hours earlier than the normal French dinnertime.
Yann Rocq, a young computer specialist who recently moved to Montreal and launched the blog www.mauditfrancais.com, believes the French who decide to move to Quebec do not know enough about the province. Before settling in Quebec, he had already spent over a year in Montreal on a student exchange. "By the time I decided to settle here permanently, I had stopped idealizing Quebec and knew just what to expect. I had my feet firmly on the ground – I wasn't here to hunt caribou!" Yann says. He believes the romantic clichés of the lumberjack's log cabin and the vast snow-covered panoramas are still very much part of the immigrant dream.
Yann is the brother-in-law of Virginie and Ronnie, the young couple from Paris who will be leaving for Montreal in September. Even though he agrees with their decision to immigrate, he thinks they are making the typical mistakes that lead so many French immigrants to turn back. They have never visited Quebec and are immigrating in order to flee a country they have grown to hate.
"We know this is a leap in the dark" admits Ronnie. "It's true that we've never been there but we're preparing ourselves as much as possible. We read books on Quebec and log on to the Radio-Canada website every day." He claims that he is aware of the culture shocks he will have to face at some stage in his new country but this doesn't put him off. Quite the reverse: "I long for the culture shocks. When they happen I'll know I really have left France. At long last."
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psi
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Re: The failure of french immigration in Quebec [Re: Loyola10] 1
#23058162 - 03/29/16 08:57 AM (8 years, 1 day ago) |
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Quote:
Loyola10 said: Damn shame immigration to Quebec has slowed I wonder why the french aren't more inticed to move there.
Why do you think that's a shame?
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Loyola10
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Re: The failure of french immigration in Quebec [Re: psi]
#23058202 - 03/29/16 09:08 AM (8 years, 1 day ago) |
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Quote:
psi said:
Quote:
Loyola10 said: Damn shame immigration to Quebec has slowed I wonder why the french aren't more inticed to move there.
Why do you think that's a shame?
I want Quebec to be a sovereign republic.
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Ahab McBathsalts
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Re: The failure of french immigration in Quebec [Re: Loyola10]
#23058218 - 03/29/16 09:13 AM (8 years, 1 day ago) |
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Not even the French want to move to Quebec. It is truly a godless place. Tabernac!
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koods
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Spend a winter in a Montreal and you will understand why they go back to France.
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Ezuma
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Re: The failure of french immigration in Quebec [Re: Loyola10]
#23058252 - 03/29/16 09:25 AM (8 years, 1 day ago) |
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Quote:
Loyola10 said:
Quote:
psi said:
Quote:
Loyola10 said: Damn shame immigration to Quebec has slowed I wonder why the french aren't more inticed to move there.
Why do you think that's a shame?
I want Quebec to be a sovereign republic.
why? Twould be a shit country if it was run by the Quebecois
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Loyola10
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Re: The failure of french immigration in Quebec [Re: Ezuma]
#23059855 - 03/29/16 04:55 PM (8 years, 18 hours ago) |
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Quote:
Ezuma said:
Quote:
Loyola10 said:
Quote:
psi said:
Quote:
Loyola10 said: Damn shame immigration to Quebec has slowed I wonder why the french aren't more inticed to move there.
Why do you think that's a shame?
I want Quebec to be a sovereign republic.
why? Twould be a shit country if it was run by the Quebecois
I am sure they yearn to be free of the boot crushing them from Ottawa. Its time to rise up!
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Ezuma
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Re: The failure of french immigration in Quebec [Re: Loyola10]
#23060025 - 03/29/16 05:33 PM (8 years, 18 hours ago) |
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Nah separatist sentiment has been dying down for a while, the majority aren't in favor of it. In some ways I wish they would be, then we wouldn't have to adhere to stupid french language laws and watch em drown in debt and unproductiveness.
Imagine, if they separated what would they bitch about, and who would give them free shit?
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Loyola10
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Re: The failure of french immigration in Quebec [Re: Ezuma]
#23060031 - 03/29/16 05:35 PM (8 years, 18 hours ago) |
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Quote:
Ezuma said: Nah separatist sentiment has been dying down for a while, the majority aren't in favor of it. In some ways I wish they would be, then we wouldn't have to adhere to stupid french language laws and watch em drown in debt and unproductiveness.
Imagine, if they separated what would they bitch about, and who would give them free shit?
They could become a French department.
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Ezuma
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Re: The failure of french immigration in Quebec [Re: Loyola10]
#23060048 - 03/29/16 05:41 PM (8 years, 17 hours ago) |
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Honestly I'd like to keep Montreal but Quebec city can fuck itself, they're snobby as fuck over there, call themselves 'capital of the nation' yet of course soak up government spending while not contributing much. I'd like to see em go.
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Loyola10
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Re: The failure of french immigration in Quebec [Re: Ezuma]
#23060720 - 03/29/16 08:18 PM (8 years, 15 hours ago) |
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So there like the south in the us?
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Tantrika
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Re: The failure of french immigration in Quebec [Re: Loyola10]
#23060842 - 03/29/16 08:41 PM (8 years, 14 hours ago) |
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Quote:
Loyola10 said: 'An acre of France in America' Another element plays a part in the return rate: the culture shock. Their common language means that the French are unprepared for this. Many expect to find "an acre of France in America" rather than "America in French." And even then, it's not the same French. Johanna admits she still uses typical Quebecker expressions months after her return to France. ...
This is a polite way of stating that one still swears in Québécois. Can relate.
It was really interesting to run into people from France while living in Montréal. They would frequently tell me, in English, that they could not understand the local French.
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Ezuma
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Re: The failure of french immigration in Quebec [Re: Loyola10]
#23060878 - 03/29/16 08:47 PM (8 years, 14 hours ago) |
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Quote:
Loyola10 said: So there like the south in the us?
1. obnoxious accent that makes them often unintelligible to others speaking allegedly the same language? check 2. rampant alcoholism? check 3. fear of immigrants and general xenophobia/racism? Check 4. largely religious? Check
they aren't quite as south as the south, theres nice parts for sure, and some aspects of Quebec are good, but ya
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akira_akuma
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Re: The failure of french immigration in Quebec [Re: Ezuma]
#23060992 - 03/29/16 09:10 PM (8 years, 14 hours ago) |
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people who want to secede and segregate should be killed swiftly by Eagle.
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Ezuma
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Re: The failure of french immigration in Quebec [Re: akira_akuma]
#23061014 - 03/29/16 09:12 PM (8 years, 14 hours ago) |
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leave em to their own devices, they'll die off from rampant alcoholism faster than you can cut em down anyway
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my3rdeye
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Re: The failure of french immigration in Quebec [Re: Ezuma]
#23061591 - 03/29/16 11:58 PM (8 years, 11 hours ago) |
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Quote:
Ezuma said:
Quote:
Loyola10 said: So there like the south in the us?
1. obnoxious accent that makes them often unintelligible to others speaking allegedly the same language? check 2. rampant alcoholism? check 3. fear of immigrants and general xenophobia/racism? Check 4. largely religious? Check
1 I don't speak french so I don't care 2 Alberta is way worse, so is the north, so are the prairies in general. 3 they hate anglos from Ontario more. Though it is true Quebecois is a race and the hatians and algerians will never be one of them. 4 LOL not really.
Why Montreal is the best city in Canada. 1) nite life. No where is even close. 2) food. The foo foos in the article are complaining it's not Paris, no it's not. But killer food just the same. Actually I am rating it number one for that. If you want to eat late go to the Main on St Laurent across from swartzs or whatever that smoked meat place is called. 3) early 20th century architecture preserved unlike Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary who all tear down classic buildings to put up shit condos. I could spend all day wandering plateau or mile end. Even shit hoods like park X or NDG are cool places. 4) transit. Metro is the best subway in Canada 5) events. Just for laughs, grand prix, piknik electoniqe (sp), Tam Tam. There is always something to do there.
Hon mention for decent drugs at reasonable prices delivered by those guys on bikes and beer at depaneur. And strip joints that don't require you to be rich. I would have stayed there but was making shit money and wasn't learning french, If i spoke French I would have stayed.
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ThatKidWithTheFace
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Re: The failure of french immigration in Quebec [Re: my3rdeye] 1
#23061671 - 03/30/16 12:30 AM (8 years, 11 hours ago) |
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Canadians talking about the South.
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koods
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Quebec supported the confederacy during the civil war
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psi
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Quote:
ThatKidWithTheFace said: Canadians talking about the South.
The southern US does have its own version of French Canadians though. Cajun = Acadian
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