Eric

Born and bred in Quebec City and now living in Europe, I am always happy to read that so many people have enjoyed their stay in that city. However, one thing that tourists may not know is that Quebec City is slowly but surely turning into a museum city, a backwater place where nothing much happens on the business side. Who cares, you might say. Well, let me cut to the chase: I don't like Montreal very much. The current capital of the province is Quebec City, but for how long I wonder as I keep reading of government jobs, whole departments in the past, being transferred to Montreal. And all that is often done in a sneaky way. I cannot unfortunately substantiate my claims, but it would not be too difficult for a researcher to prove me right. Very few people complain about this, and the first one to blame is the mayor of Quebec city, Mr. L'Allier (who hails from the Montreal area...). My father tells me that when he (my dad) moved from Abitibi to Quebec City in the late 50s, Quebec was smaller than Montreal, but the difference was not so apparent like today. Quebec City had a vibrant economy, and the seat of power was based there. Montreal really shot up in the 70s, leaving the other cities in the province way behind. Personnally, I think that the Quebec govt always wanted Montreal to keep up with Toronto, and proceeds in emptying Quebec city of its civil servant for that purpose. Call me bitter, but I have not yet seen a government in Europe that neglects its regions so badly as Quebec does. The term "regional developpement" does not exist in the vocabulary of the decision-makers, which are now based in...yes, Montreal. If Quebec is so popular with the tourists, why is it still awkward to get there by plane? (well, from Europe it is awkward I remember when I was still living in Quebec city, the authorities were blaming the lack of demand for not promoting flights. In spite of the recent renovations, the airport was still desperately dead the last time I was there. It is a bush airport, unfit for a provincial capital and such a touristic city. A development programme should have been in place a long, long time ago. Maybe there was such a thing, but I doubt the political will was there. Quebec City has a Winter Carnival, Montreal has to have one, and bigger. Quebec City has a summer festival, Montreal has to have one, and bigger. Phew, yes could say I have a lot of issues Anyway, sorry for boring you - I just wanted to let it out. Thank you.

Kate

Whew~Glad you were able to vent
I would not even begin to comment on something I really know nothing about, aside from the fact that I enjoy my visits to both Montreal and Quebec City very much and have such good feelings for Canadians and their country.
I hope these things change for the better and that you are more content with those changes.
Cheers!Kate

Louis

???????

Kate:
How does the airport in Albany compare with JFK, La Guardia or Newark? Come on, let it out!

xxx

Eric, I don't think that there is anything in the world that can convince me that the PQ government in its reign of terror since the mid-90's has done anything worthwhile of praise.

Kate

Lol~ Louis!!
I have to say that we use Newark exclusively because I cannot deal with the traumatic experience of JFK and all those terminals and crowds, and LaGuardia has always given me the horrors!
Maybe we will fly to MOntreal next time and I will compare that airport to ours

Eric

YUL is pathetic airport that that did not change in too many years and they charge Can $15.00 each time you use this airport

Eric

I was expecting some "Eric bashing" this morning. Well, thanks Kate for the good wishes. I forgot to say yesterday that one of my brothers settled down in Montreal in 1990 with his family, and he is now so pro-Montreal... still love him though! XXX, I would prefer not to talk about language politics but would tend to agree with you about the PQ government. I know there exist similar rivalry/tensions between cities in both the US and Canada, so Quebec/Mtl is not an isolated case. My father had a business in Quebec City at the height of the Quebec Nordiques/Montreal Canadien ice hockey rivalry in the mid-80s and he noticed a decrease in business coming from Montreal. It was that bad!

Daniel Williams

Living in Montreal for 5 1/2 years and having visited Quebec City on 5 occasions for about 3 days each, I find it interesting reading about your perspective. I find it unfortunate that you seem to perceive Quebec as "a museum city, a backwater place". When I visit Quebec, yes, certainly I see its touristic side. But I also know that Quebec has become a leader and innovator in the optics industry (my good friend works at INO in Ste.-Foy), is home to the well-respected Universite Laval. One thing I notice is the pride with which residents infuse their city, with well-kept homes, charming stores, generally clean streets...and I'm talking outside the main tourist drags too, out to Sillery, Limoilou, even in working-class bastions like Saint-Roch.

Quebec might not be the global financial power of say, Toronto. I can't say that I would want Quebec to become that way. It seems like such a great place right now, an affordable North American city on a human scale, a nice place to raise a family, a place where people smile and say "Bonjour" to one another, in an extremely pleasant natural setting. I say, glory in the positives of your home town. I've lived in many cities around the world, and Q.C. is by far one of my favorites.