We even take our words "Canada" and "Quebec" from Samuel de Champlain’s outpost on the St. Lawrence River. Quebec comes from kebec, the aboriginal name for the site of the present day city, "where the river narrows." Meanwhile, Canada is derived from the Huron-Iroquois word kanata or village. (When natives instructed explorer Jacques Cartier about how to reach their "kanata," he incorrectly thought they were using the word to describe the region as a whole.)
; y% }, @ M7 B% z( y& m | In 1759, the British defeated the French on a plateau known as the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec’s fortified walls, a battle that heralded the end of French claims in North America.
. x5 t: w/ B3 s8 B$ |3 H) y9 I0 ^ During the American Revolution, Quebec City was the target of the largest American incursion into Canada. A force led by Benedict Arnold was turned back in its efforts to "liberate" Quebec from British rule. The Americans mistakenly thought Quebecers would welcome the invaders, and in their gratitude join with America to push the British from the continent entirely.# Y5 {. _- M( ^* f" G! i6 P
For nearly 11 years before Confederation, the city was our colonial capital, and an important conference was held in the city by the Fathers of Confederation to determine the makeup of our nation’s first government and Parliament. Q% p1 c. C+ R- Y; H) l7 C6 D9 L* Q
Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt laid out the plans for D-Day in two wartime conferences they convened in Quebec City. And through Canada’s turbulent national unity debates from the 1970s to the 1990s, Quebec was a hotbed of separatist sentiment.# N6 s$ j4 A3 n+ F$ D) n; t
It’s remarkable, really, how many key Canadian events and ideas have touched and been touched by this remarkable city.
3 _3 z7 _( E+ e! M' l Yes, the celebrations of the city’s 400th anniversary have been marred by controversy. The opening ceremonies were a bust. The organizing committee is on its fifth president. A giant open-air opera had to be cancelled because few organizers could be found with the technological ability to pull it off, and the one originally selected was married to the producer. The Pope declined an invitation, and the Queen wasn’t invited out of fear her presence might spark separatist demonstrations.6 Y' A5 A: B& J3 L3 b, `: g
But events in recent months have been a smashing success. And the main celebrations -- which run from today through Sunday -- are expected to be sensational." _$ O( R0 k0 c( i* E7 t
It’s still not too late for other Canadians to go and mark this occasion so crucial to our country’s founding. Quebec City’s birthday is our birthday, too. |