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The showers held off as thousands lined St-Denis St. for the St-Jean parade Saturday.
Figurines representing historical episodes like the founding of Montreal, Chinese dancers twirling parasols, and yellow-clad practitioners of Falun Gong bearing banners reading “truthfulness,” “compassion” and “forbearance” entertained the relaxed crowd, dotted here and there with fleurdelisé flags.
Marc-André Filion-Pilon, 42, wrapped himself in a giant flag to watch the 183rd edition of the Fête nationale with his wife, Pénélope Darcy, 40, and daughter Margot, 3.
Darcy, who recently received her Canadian citizenship, is from northern France.
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“I’ve converted my wife into a proud Quebecer,” said Filion-Pilon, who worked in Europe for seven years before returning to his native province.
“Maybe it’s less political than it was in the 1970s,” he said of the parade.
“But I still think there’s a place for the St-Jean,” he added.
Zhuyin Xu, 23, a third-year medical student at McGill University, said it was the first she had gone to St-Jean parade, even though she has lived in Montreal since 2003.
“I especially wanted to come this year because it’s the 375th anniversary of Montreal,” she said.
“It’s not only Quebec’s parade, but it’s also Montreal’s.”
Xu praised the historical displays. “It’s already exceeded my expectations,” she said.
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Danny Myint, 44, a New York resident originally from Burma who met his Canadian wife while living in Ottawa, also liked the depiction of Quebec history.
“There was a lot of history I didn’t know,” said Myint, an administrative officer at the United Nations, like the fact Montreal was founded in 1642. “I didn’t know Montreal was that old,” he said.
Myint’s friend Daniel Brevé, 41, a Montrealer who works as a planning analyst at the Canadian Space Agency, said the Fête nationale has become a lot more inclusive than it used to be.
“You can see it from the people here,” he said, pointing to the multicultural crowd and international flavour of the parade.
“There are people from all over the world.”
Myint said the Fête nationale is much more diverse than he expected, but he would like to see Quebec become as diverse as New York.
But Pascal Riverin, 39, a mechanic from Lac-St-Jean, said the parade is about Quebec’s language and culture.
“We have to protect our language,” said Riverin, who bristled at the idea of public schools placing other religions on an equal footing with Catholicism, “the basic religion of real, old-stock Quebecers.”
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Riverin’s friend Éric Pilote, 48, a technician at the École de technologie supérieure who moved to Montreal from Lac-St-Jean two years ago, waved a large Quebec flag. Pilote said Quebecers should fight to protect their language but also be open to diversity.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire, celebrated St-Jean-Baptiste Day in the Villeray district, in his riding of Papineau.
In a statement, Trudeau hailed French language and culture as “foundational to our country.”
“Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day is an opportunity for all of us to reflect on the essential contributions Francophones have made to build the diverse, strong and inclusive country that we all call home,” the PM said.
Federal Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly said this year’s St-Jean and Canada Day celebrations are unique because they form part of 150th festivities from June 21 to July 2.
“On this important day, I invite Canadians to let the French language shine all across the country, and to celebrate the bright future of the Francophonie in Canada. This exceptional year gives us a fantastic opportunity to open doors and build bridges between the various Francophone communities that are at the heart of our history and our future,” she said in a statement.
St-Jean festivities date back to June 24, 1834, when printer and journalist Ludger Duvernay organized a banquet for about 60 guests in the garden of the home of lawyer John McDonnell, on the present-day location of Windsor Station. It was inspired by the founding of Montreal’s St. Patrick’s Society three months earlier. It became an official provincial holiday in 1925.
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