National Holiday (Quebec) - Political Nature of The Celebration

Political Nature of The Celebration

During and immediately after the Quiet Revolution, Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day became highly politicized. The religious symbolism associated with the celebrations was replaced by political ideals of Quebec separatism.

Governor General Georges Vanier, who, as viceroy, had always fostered unity and biculturalism, found himself the target of Quebec sovereigntists in Montreal, on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, 1964, wherein a group of sovereigntists held placards reading "Vanier vendu" ("Vanier the sell-out") and "Vanier fou de la Reine" ("Vanier, jester to the Queen").

Four years later, with the new Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in attendance on the eve of a general election, a riot broke out on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day. A group of agitators threw bottles at the Prime Minister in an effort to make him feel unwelcome at the ceremony. Trudeau was filmed refusing to take cover or leave the grandstand, saying that he was a Quebecker and would not be intimidated by a drunken mob. The scene was broadcast on Télévision de Radio-Canada's and CBC's evening news. Many saw it as an open act of courage, and the Prime Minister's defiance impressed the electorate and contributed to his Liberal Party winning a significant majority the next day.

During the French-language network SRC's televised coverage of the 1969 Montreal parade, filmmakers Bernard Gosselin and Pierre Perrault were asked to withdraw from the airwaves after nationalist and sarcastic comments. At one point they suggested the creation of a Ministry of Boastfulness and a High Commissioner of kvetching. There was a riot and the St. John the Baptist icon was destroyed. This led to the interruption of the parade, which did not take place the next year.

In June 2009, Quebec bands Lake of Stew and Bloodshot Bill, whose members are English-speaking and bilingual Quebeckers, were added to the program of a local celebration of Quebec's National Day in Montreal called L'Autre St-Jean ("The Other St-Jean"). When it became known that they would be performing their songs in English, there were several complaints and later the musicians were barred from the celebrations. The Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste President, Mario Beaulieu, defended the decision to cancel these musicians' performances, by stating that the official language of Quebec is French. However, after public outrage from both the anglophone and francophone communities, these two bands were returned to the program when it was clarified that the bands were allowed to sing songs in English. Historically, this festival has attempted to be more inclusive as groups in the past have sung in Creole and for the 2008 celebrations, Samian, "the world's first aboriginal Algonquin-language rapper", sang at Montreal's celebration.