Canada

Introduction

Montreal the metropolis in the south-west of Canada and biggest town of the French speaking province Quebec has always been famous for its bilingual society. The majority of the citizens consist of Franco-Canadians but in spite of the official language being French one could easily get along his whole life speaking English in Montreal. The news-stands are crammed with English and French newspapers, traffic signs written in both languages strike the eye and fresh croissants for breakfast are as usual as in Paris. In the cinemas, English and French films are shown at the same time like in New York or in Paris and English people from London visiting the town have a certain déja-vue experience because of the architects being influenced by the style of former British colonists. On the other hand the existence of two languages in a town also entails many momentous problems. On account of the different culture and behavior and the fear of the French language being extinct a quite big number of Quebecois want Quebec to become an independent, self-administered state separated from the rest of Canada. Especially Montreal, the residence of many Franco-Canadians has become the stage of the struggle for separatism. Regarded with the eye of a tourist the town offers many interesting squares, buildings, shops and parks. The inner-city is quite safe even after midnight and so visitors can stroll along the shop windows without any risk. The huge bridges over the St. Lawrence in addition to the beautiful landscapes surrounding Montreal make it a really interesting town that is worth seeing. The following report wants to give some impressions of Montreal, describe the way of living of the inhabitants, point out the special character of the town because of its bilingual society but also show up the problem of Canadian separatism.

Foundation of Montreal

After Columbus' discoveries of the New Continent a lot of expeditions were undertaken to explore the new world. One of the leaders of these expeditions setting off for the new world was Jacques Cartier, a native of St. Malo who received his orders from the French king Francis I. Cartier left Europe on the 20th of April,1534, with two ships and reached the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the 10th of August. After having made some discoveries on the coast which are not worth to be mentioned, he decided to examine the interior by following the river of St. Lawrence. But not far away from the coast of a huge island in the river he was stopped by impassable rapids. It was here where the foundation of Montreal had its origin. On the 3rd of October, 1534, Cartier entered an Indian village named Hochelaga. This little village was situated on the island of today's Montreal. Having had friendly contacts to the natives he left Hochelaga to winter at St. Croix but returned in the next year. One day he made the decision to climb up the mountain of the island to get a wide view of the landscape surrounding the island. Being overwhelmed by the beauty of the nature he had experienced over there he gave the mountain the name of "Mount Royal", "from which the city of Montréal took its name". Then he took possession of the mountain in the name of Francis I. This event took place on October the 2nd ,1535. Cartier also "was induced to consider the village below him as a favourable site for a French settlement", but it was not him who made this idea come true. In fact it took one more century to the foundation of the settlement. In the following years the Canadian area became more and more attractive for the Europeans. The fur trade especially with beaver furs expanded and the new continent was thought to contain a plenty of mineral resources like gold or silver. The new king of France "Henry IV" gave the monopoly of the fur trade to his friend "Sieur de Monte" who was a very faithful protestant. One of his most important friends named Samuel de Champlain, a well-known scholar, accompanied him to the new world. Champlain should become one of the two first Europeans to visit Montreal island since Cartier left it in the 16th century. He made several expeditions to "La Nouvelle France" how the French Colony in North America was also called "to meet the savages and to identify an appropriate place for a settlement". On July the 3rd, 1605, he founded the city of Quebec what made him known as the "Father of 'La Nouvelle France". In 1611 Champlain came to Montreal island and had to recognize that the Indian village of Hochelaga which was mentioned in scripts of Cartier didn't exist any more. He instructed his men to reclaim a petite region on the coast that he baptised "Place Royale", a name that is still used today for this location. In 1615 he visited Montreal island once more where he got to know two priests of the Récollet Order. These two priests and the men of Champlain celebrated the first Christian mass on North-American territory. In 1627 the Prime Minister of France, Cardinal Richelieu made king Louis XIII grant the property rights of "La Nouvelle France" to "The Company of One Hundred Partners"- a group of men with much property and credits. This company gave the rights for Montreal island to two missionaries: Jean-Jacques Olier and Jerôme de la Royer de la Dauversière. These men decided to establish a mission on the island of Montreal to convert the heathen Indians. In 1641, after having collected a plenty of money, they set off for Montreal island accompanied by 50 members of the lately founded "Société de Notre Dame de Montréal". Their leader was Paul de Chomedey who was also called Sieur de Maisonneuve. Having arrived at the island Maisonneuve founded his colony "Ville Marie" on top of Champlain's "Place Royale". Montreal was born. In the beginning the settlers distinguished between the name of the settlement - Ville Marie and the name of the island - Montreal. But in the course of time the town used to be called Montreal as well. There has always been a tremendous conflict between the historians whether Montreal was founded on the 17th or the 18th of Mai, 1642. Some historians insist on the fact that workings for the settlement started right after the arrival, others say that there wasn't done any work until the next day.