Wilfrid Laurier Quotes
Quebec does not have Opinions, but only sentiments.
Skelton, Oscar Douglas. Life and Letters of Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Vol. 1, Century Co., 1922, p. 257.
In 1990 Lucien Bouchard resigned from his government positions to further the cause of Quebec separatism. A reporter from the Vancouver Sun asked him whether he felt like a traitor to this country.
This parochial and sectional point of view was held much more strongly by the South and to a great extent, still is. We are all conflicted by wanting and American culture (that can be adopted by the world in globalization) and also wanting local customs, cultures, norms, policies and thought patterns to exist. However, there is inevitable conflict between the two, so it is a constant American source of debate, ebb and flow.
Once the Muslims got their separate country, the Buddhists tried to do the same. The disaster of the Pakistan partition was not about to be be repeated so it never happened.
Very few countries make such overt recognition of the arts and their cultural heritage a part of their constitutions. Even nations which are fanatic about their cultures such as France do not have such overt constitutional provisions.
The second child of Carolus Laurier and Marcelle Martineau, Wilfrid Laurier was born in Saint-Lin, Canada East (modern day Saint-Lin-Laurentides, Quebec), on 20 November 1841. Laurier was among the seventh generation of his family in Canada. He was a sixth-generation Canadian. His ancestor François Cottineau, dit Champlaurier, came to Canada from Saint-Claud, France. He grew up in a family where politics was a staple of talk and debate. His father, an educated man having liberal ideas, enjoyed a certain degree of prestige about town. In addition to being a farmer and surveyor, he also occupied such sought-after positions as mayor, justice of the peace, militia lieutenant and school board member. At the age of 11, Wilfrid left home to study in New Glasgow, a neighbouring village largely inhabited by immigrants from Scotland. Over the next two years, he familiarized himself with the mentality, language and culture of British people. Laurier attended the Collège de L'Assomption and graduated in law from McGill University in 1864.
