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as an American i’ve fallen down the canadian politics rabbit hole and can’t get enough

Quebec is so interesting to me because of its left-wing nationalism. Something considered weird in my country because usually nationalism is aligned with the right. ⚜️

Despite the predictable results, I'm happy to have played a small part in your election-viewing! Great video

Glad to see you come back safely from Quebec without any assassination attempts

Quebec politics when it comes to right vs left seems a lot like Eastern European politics, where fiscal leftist stances paired with social conservatism are the norm, the big difference is the environment being a big ticket issue, though that has also been the case in some Eastern European countries, notably Serbia, it’s often framed more as a fight against foreign economic influence, kind of saying “foreign companies don’t care about our environment as much as locals would and thus pollute our beautiful motherland”

It’s a low bar, but Quebec provincial politics are the most interesting of all the provinces of Canada

I've always been curious about Quebec and its peculiar relation with the rest of Canada. Thanks for this birthday present, J.J.!

As a French person I'm amazed at how similar Quebec politics are to ours. Especially the bit about big campaign signs with scribbled-on faces. They really are our cousins aren't they. Also Québec solidaire definitely feels more like an iteration of La France insoumise or Podemos than the NDP

JJ referencing Breaking Bad is something I thought I would never see.

I noticed JJ used the word "French-Canadian" a couple times while describing Quebec nationalism. I think it's worth noting that this term has almost entirely disappeared from Quebec politics as a result from efforts by both the Quebec Liberal Party and the Parti Québécois since the 1960s to move away from ethnic nationalism and promote a more inclusive nationalism (modern Québec nationalism has sometimes been referred to as "cultural nationalism"), hence the "Québécois" identity has almost fully replaced the "French-Canadian" identity. This also led to the use of the term "francophone" to describe native French speakers, which applies not only to French-Canadians but also immigrants from French-speaking country. Nowadays, Québec nationalism is spread across much of the political spectrum with different political parties embodying different conceptions of nationalism. As JJ mentioned, Québec Solidaire is a (very) left-wing party yet it also supports some nationalist policies, while the CAQ has taken a more "hardline" stance on identarian issues (though it is much more moderate than right-wing nationalists parties in Europe). An interesting dynamic we can observe in the results is that the Liberal Party won in all of Montreal's anglophone/allophone ridings (allophone = mother tongue is neither French nor English), whereas Québec Solidaire won in francophone ones. This, and the Liberal Party's poor results in those same francophone ridings as well as among francophones across the province, goes to show that francophones in Québec, even on the left, tend to favor some form of nationalism but may very well reject the CAQ. Also, a few corrections I'd like to add. The Parti Québécois's leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, has, as far as I know, never been a member of the Liberal Party. Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, Québec Solidaire's co-spokesperson, was never a member of the Parti Québécois, though they were technically allies in 2012's student crisis. Éric Duhaime, the Conservative Party's leader, was not a member of the CAQ, but the ADQ, a former right-wing party which was absorbed into the CAQ. Many former ADQ supporters (particularly the more libertarian-minded ones) have complained that the CAQ has been too economically left-wing and see the Conservative Party as the ADQ's "true successor". About bill 21, it does not prevent citizens from wearing religious headwear to receive public services. Rather, it bans religious symbols for some public employees, namely cops, judges and teachers. There is a law requiring citizens to have their face visible when receiving public services that was passed by the previous Liberal Government in 2017, however.

Wtf? Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon never was a member of the PLQ, Gabriel Nadeau Dubois never was a member of the PQ and Eric Duhaime was not member of the CAQ he was a member of the ADQ which is the ancestor of the CAQ.

Here we are less than two years later and the Parti Québécois is leading the polls.

Interesting. In Louisiana, they stopped teaching French and classes in French in the Cajun areas a while back. There were 1,000,000 folks who spoke French at home in 1970, now it is about 200.000, and the Cajun population fears in a decade or so Cajun French will be a memory.

I’m a Québecer. Great video J.J. One thing I’d like to add is that in Québec, politics often hinges a lot on the leader, with people voting for, but also against a person whom they like\dislike, irrespective of that person’s policies. This explains the orange wave of 2011, and the gains made by Harper before that.

I'm Jewish and I somewhat understand the ban on religious symbols at work. I personally wouldn't wear a Kippah if I was a teacher or cop on duty. Too many stares.

INCREDIBLE! If we swap the names of the parties we'll have a video on the matter about Catalonia in Spain. I didn't know the circumstances were SO similar regarding independence, blurring of left and right and more. Great video as always. Thanks

Voters generally having no loyalty towards any political party is what defines Quebec. And frankly, it's the most awesome thing in the world! Means politicians never get to have much hubris and are always one election away from total destruction.

I’m an American who visits Montreal and Quebec at least twice a year. I appreciate getting yours, as well as locals’ opinions, on the quite unique and oftentimes complex nature of Quebec politics. Merci!

Gabriel Nadeau-DuBois never ran and was never elected to the Parti Québécois, I think you're confusing him for Léo Bureau-Blouin who was elected to the Parti Québécois, he was president of the FECQ student union and played a key role in organizing the 2012 student protests.

It’s fascinating that Quebec (similar to Scotland) politics competes on both left-right and nationalist-unionist axes. Prob could benefit from some type of proportional representation/RCV

Faces on election campaign signs is a really European thing to do. Anglos in the Americas rarely ever do this.

16:00 I think that it does need to be said that Québec does have a long standing tradition of street protests. They are widely accepted and generally rather peaceful. The Earth day walk can easily draws several hundred thousand every year in Montreal. In other words, while the protests against health measures were large, they pale in comparison to the size of the crowds drawn by other issues.

Very interesting JJ! I had no idea how unique Quebec politics was and how even though a lot of the total vote counts were similar, the seat distribution was not. Thanks for this JJ! Happy Sunday!!

That was a lot more in-depth then I was expecting. Nice work J.J.

You know JJ, if you walk around Australia during election time, you’ll see only the Quebec style of campaign posters. As you said, a big invitation for vandalism

Love these longer videos that deep dive into Canadian politics. Being from the US it’s so refreshing to learn about another country’s politics. Keep up the great work JJ.

One of the biggest point is the sharp contrast between urban Montréal and rural Québec, both of which have about half the population. The rural population overwhelmingly supports the CAQ, while the urban population supports the Liberal party and Québec Solidaire. Politically and culturally, Montréal is effectively a distinct city-state. The second point is that there are big distinctions between "nationalism", "sovereignty", and "separatism". Nationalists support the preservation of Québec culture and the French language, but do not support separatism. The word "Nation" is used much more ambiguously than we typically do in English, most Québeckers I know view Québec as "nation within a nation", which is hard to understand if we take it as a direct synonym for a "country". Also, as an Albertan who's immersed myself in Québec culture since 2016, I realized that most of what I had learned about Québec in Western Canada was inaccurate, or at best, not the whole picture. I knew nothing about the context and reasoning behind the separatist movements, or Québec's original role in the confederation of Canada and that Québec is in fact not a province like the others and never has been.

First inaccuracy: Muslims aren't banned from wearing hats and head coverings while interacting with the government! Bill 21 actually bans every visible religious symbols on "government employees in position of power", defined as police officers, prison guards, judges and teachers, while they are in function.

This video is an instant classic. I need more election coverage like this from you, JJ!

Great video JJ! I love that through your videos I'm more interested in Canadian politics than my own Australian politics. I love your artistic style and balanced journalism. 🙂

I went to Montreal last year and loved it, Quebec is a wild place and I highly recommend everyone visit at least once!

When the video starts with the stereotypical accordion ''french'' music played over footage of Québec, you know it's going to be totally unbiased.

Fascinating video. Quebec's duality in the Canadian confederation always been quite puzzling to me, in how the central government is able to square this political circle. Your videos have helped educate me on the political realities of Canada. Thanks for highlighting Quebec's unique political constructs.

Paul St-Pierre plamondon, chief of the Parti Québecois was never in the Parti Libéral.

Great analysis! I love how simplified and easy to understand it is. I wish someone would make this in French for every election. Maybe then more people would vote. I'm form Quebec and so many people I know don't vote because they find politics to hard to understand, which is a shame.

Awesome video, would love to see some more content on the maritime provinces or the territories

I’m a Montreal Quebecer who’s lived his whole life here and I have to say that I really liked your video :). I especially liked it when you said Québec Solidaire is left of the NDP, a perfect description!

As somebody who lives in Quebec, this video is spot on. Quebec is very hard to define in political terms. Even the politicians don't know what to run on.

This was a very nice video JJ! We can tell you worked exceedingly hard on it to bring us this in-person view into Quebec's politics and the political and cultural issues they are trying to address. thank you!

I've been critical of your other videos about Quebec but this one is very accurate and well done and I must say good job.

The Breaking Bad joke was funny AF. A strong analogy.

holy shit, i literally just got back from Quebec (visited Saguenay and Quebec City, both quite lovely) and a tour guide actually brought up the recent elections--if only i had this video to help me stay in the loop! this'll be a very good watch

I recently found your channel because of your fight for a more liberal youtube in Canada. After watching a few of your videos on Quebec to get a different perspective on how canadians view us in Quebec, I (and I can't believe I'm saying this) am actually starting to find the idea of the Quebec indepence movement more attractive, even though I know it will never happen. You give me the impression english canadians outside Quebec want as little to do with Quebec and the french language as possible. It makes me wonder if independence (not separatism, it's such a pejorative word) is desirable when both sides are unhappy with the current state of affairs. Then again, I had bilingual parents and I'm a bilingual man in a bilingual area of Quebec (eastern townships) where pretty much everyone speaks both languages equally, so I wonder if Quebec independence would mean losing the bilingual culture of the eastern townships. It's confusing being a bilingual Quebecer I gotta tell ya. We have our own thing going on here, and we like it this way.

From the perspective of someone on the far edge of the country, Quebec really seems like a European country that's stuck in North America.

Canadian politics as breaking bad and quebec politics as better call saul is a such a good comparison

A solid overview under 25 minutes, just wish you would briefly cover René Lévesque as someone who kicked the sovereigntist movement into hyperdrive and who seems to even be deeply respected amongst Anglo federalist. Someone of very modest physical height yet far larger than life

Fun fact: I was in Montreal the same days that JJ was, and I saw him leaving the place we were staying at, at the same time we were leaving for the day. So we both stayed at same hotel in downtown Montreal. I wanted to say hi when I saw him, but I was too shocked to say anything to him for some reason. I immediately thought when I saw him “I guess he’s either on vacation or going to do a video on Québec”. Glad to see that this was the outcome of his time there.

The Québec election posters are very similar to European election posters. We also put faces on our election posters on the other side of the Atlantic ocean. :D I feel like the French/Québécois attitude towards secularism is something most Americans/Anglos don't really understand because of their own cultural bias. The USA are a borderline theocracy in which religious issues heavily dominate all aspects of public life. American culture is very warped when it comes to the role religion should play in society, but because Americans think that their culture is the "default" and everything else just an abberation, they can only resort to calling other cultures racist or oppressive whenever they deviate from the American model. Freedom of religion can be about the freedom to pratice a religion, but it is also about the freedom *from* religion and religious paternalism. Americans/Anglos tend to forget that second aspect and only focus on the first. In countries like France on the other hand, both freedoms are guaranteed - religious people have the freedom to believe in whatever they choose, but the state also ensures that society remains free from religious tyranny. You would never see something like the recent American abortion ban in France, for example. I really like JJ's videos, but his cultural biases become very obvious whenever he talks about non-Anglo countries/cultures.

Really good overview of Quebec politics JJ! This election perfectly illustrated how screwed up our current First Past the Post voting system is. Legault actually promised to introduce some form of electoral reform but went back on that promise when he realized he’d lose his crushing majority… Maybe one day, Canada will have leaders who care more about actual democracy than about how many seats their party has. One can dream…

Sheesh reading some of your comments here, we gave you: -The Canadian national anthem that was about us but you appropriated. -One of the greatest MMA fighter Georges St-Pierre aka GSP -A worldwide renowned singer Céline Dion -Poutine, your latest theft which is now the ''National Canadian Dish'' -Renewable energy like Hydroelectricity and wind power -The most successful team in the history of the NHL (with 24 Stanley Cups remember?) -An actual chance to form a country (see George-Étienne Cartier) -The strongest economy out of all provinces (as of 2019) -The term "Canadian" was originally referring to a Québécois or a francophone in Canada, but your culturally appropriated that as well. -One of the most impressive and successful World Fair in history (Expo 67) -The maple leaf as a national symbol, representing us Québécois and franco-canadians, but you appropriated it as well. -The Men without Hats -William Shatner -Wilder Penfield -The largest production of maple syrup in the entire country (you can't do more canadian than that) -Léo Major a Québécois WW2 hero who single-handedly chased the Nazis from Zwolle in 1945. -The M1 Garand which was created by Jean-Cantius Garand a Québécois and it was used by every branch of the United States military in WW2. -2/3 of the aluminium used by the allies during WW2 (and the 22nd regiment starting at WW1) -Wilfred Laurier -The Rhinoceros Party -The first olympic games in Canada (1976) -Ubisoft Montreal -Fez (the indie game) -Arcade Fire -Gilles Vignault - Denis Villeneuve Frederic Back (who won oscars) -Inspirational stories of people triumphing against obscurantism (see Quiet Revolution) -Great movies in the NFB -Fought for Ontario's right to collect taxes according to the constitution -Fabricated the Landing Gear for the Appolo 11 module (see Héroux-Devtek) -A town named Normetal -Cyrille Duquet (one of the pioneers of the telephone) -Leonard Cohen -The McGill University -The Ski-doo (go thank Louis-Joseph Armand Bombardier) -Many olympic athletes who won medals (including gold ones) and so much more... And you STILL hate us despite of all this? I don't get it. Go get lost, Canada.

Thanks for this video, J.J.! I've just watched it a month late, but I found it provided an interesting topic right after the midterm elections here in the US. I love learning from you, Thanks again

J.J. McCullough wrote the following thing in a newspaper article: "This month’s reelection of Quebec Premier Francois Legault - a canny but unsophisticated populist who has used blunt xenophobia and arrogant chauvinism to assemble a formidable coalition of French Canadian voters - marked a moment of regression and stagnation for Canada.". As a quebecois, this is outright fiction and an outrageous exageration of the situation in Quebec. I suggest you take anything he says in this video with a grain of salt.

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon was ever a member of the PLQ? I need a source for that. Because that sounds so absurd when you listen to what he says.

Very true what you said, albeit a bit mockingly, that we see Québec politics as the vehicle for the destiny of the French Canadian nation, because it really is that! Couldn't have said it better myself.

I’m so glad you released this video, feels like watching older JJ, I wish I could’ve made it to your meet and greet at McGill 😔

The main problem is that you think that the French-speaking québécois have the mentality of the French from France.

#FreeQuebec Quebec has the right to be independent.

I didn’t think I would enjoy this video as much as I did. To be far I didn’t know how unique Quebec politics was but super interesting

Well, your starting statement couldn't be more true, Quebec political scene is already very different than that one year ago.

I don’t live in Quebec nor Canada for that matter but Im just here cause I love hearing JJ explain things

I found it interesting that the political posters used are the same style as those here in Denmark (with the vandalism included). I wonder how many other places do it like that, how that exact style ended up in Denmark, and if they also look like that in France.

The big poster style of election signage is pretty common in Europe I think, its everywhere in Ireland, UK and some northern European countries too anyway

J.J should do more ‘on the ground’ election footage and reviews because they’re so interesting especially on a local, regional and national level. I hope to see more soon and how you connect previous elections like this one to other elections like the national elections

Even as a Quebeqer this video made me learn things I didn't know about the history of the partys thank you J.J

I want to walk through life with the confidence JJ walks through Quebec

Fun fact - Australia does the giant face posters, placed up high on lamp posts during state and local elections. 🙂🐿❤️🌈

So happy whenever you drop a video!!

Thanks for stopping to take a pic with me when you were in mtl!

It’s interesting to hear about all the parties Canada has. In America there’s only two parties that ever get anywhere. I wish we had more so things weren’t so split in two.

Do you have the source for the "ancient alliegiance" of Gabriel Nadeau Dubois and Paul Saint-Pierre-Plamondon ? GND always said that in his first provincial election, he voted QS. And PSPP seems like a guy so convinced about independence, it would really surprise me if he did come from the Liberals. Btw Duhaime came from the ancestor of the CAQ, once known as the ADQ, even though he voted for Legault in 2018.

Thank you for this. I haven't been able to follow my provinces elections because of work, but I was surprised at how well the CAQ did considering how (imo) authoritarian they turned on lockdowns.

Super interesting, as a person from Eastern Europe, the Quebec political scene seems more familiar and makes more sense to my sensibilities than the politics of the US or the anglophone part of Canada. Heck, even the UK has more distinct politics, this feels very continental European. I guess that nationalism and populism is a lot more common in European countries and their politics, both in right wing and left wing parties, with liberal and green parties usually being a distinct thing, supporting a more globalist, cosmopolitan view of politics and having different economic policies from the other, more traditional parties.

Though something you forgot to mention about PQ is that it rapidly became more left leaning than the liberal party and was very very very much so one of the actors of the Quiet Revolution, just look at Rene Levesques story and you will understand why. The quiet revolution is also the moment when the French Canadians began québécois in Quebec and also when both parties were creating a welfare state. Quebec has also always been very autonomiste, even the liberal party of Quebec wishes for more autonomy and clntrol on cultural matters. After all quebec is a nation and it is often debated how to protect Quebec’s identity.

What the hell? « Banning muslims and other minorities from wearing religious symbols» ? The law (loi 21) bans religious symbols (every single one of them no matter what religion its part of) to be worn when working in a position of authority. It's French secularism. Innaccurate and dangerous to misinform the public about Quebec in that way. Makes us seem like we're outrageous racists...

Thank you for making a video about the Quebec election! As of Vermont or, I don't exactly have much of a reason to be very invested in Canadian politics outside of just curiosity and wanting to be aware of the world around me, but it was fascinating to hear about the variety of races that have been held over the past century. It was particularly interesting that your statement about how the normal left right divide seems to often break down in Quebec was so true, as the left right divide is so strong in America -- even Vermont! (Or perhaps especially, hahaha)

Amazing video, and meeting you in Ottawa was surreal. I hope that pumpkin cookie was tasty!

ce mépris pour la période la plus importante de notre histoire durant la vidéo et à quel point les anglophones sont oppressés (lol) vraiment c'est un peu fatigant

Legault is chauvinistic ??? I'm a Quebecois who doesn't like Legault, but wtf are you talking about?!

Jeez, I completely forgot about the election! Thanks for a great report!

Merci JJ ,bi really enjoy that video. Keep the good work up

Brexit? Time to get out of your anglocentrict bubble ! Let talk about the successful really independent countries . Baltic countries , Slovania , Czech Republic etc !

It’s interesting as an American Quebecois to see how different my Canadian brothers are

Awesome for JJ to visit Québec after the 2019 video!

Ah, I love the chaotic implications of JJ uploading a video about Quebec.

I’m a bilingual British Columbian but I want to live in Montreal in the future!

Latest polls shows that Parti québécois is now 2nd and climbing thanks to PSPP who's doing a great job. Separatism is not dead.

I think it's cute how anglos can cosplay "the oppressed" in Quebec because --checks notes-- they added a couple of french courses to college programs and Wallmart is called "Wallmart mégacentre" ha ha.

One video idea I would love to see is JJ explaining the parties of the EU parliament. Or even explaining the EU... that would keep him busy for a few years...

I am a french Quebecer and I’ve been following J.J for a few years now. Whenever he made a video about Quebec I would always be hopeful that that he’d try to accurately depict the reality of an issue, but I was often disappointed because I knew that more often than not, his depiction needed to be nuanced. I must say that for the first time, I didn’t frown while watching a J.J’s video about Quebec’s politics. Everything said was pretty spot on ! Congrats on the neutral coverage. I’m glad you’ve improved. 😉 Edit : After J. J’s article in the Washington Post, I no longer think he’s improved

Such good videos JJ! However, this video still shows me the political and cultural differences from Canada. Such great differences should reflect the need for Quebec's independence.

Great vid JJ. It was going to be my first provincial vote, but I forgot to register my new address and couldn’t vote 😢

The sound design is great in this video!

As a guy who’s both French and British (amongst others) I find this place a truly weird mix of these two countries in ways that I quite possibly might never understand 😂

Protect Language Protect Culture! I agree with this. Look at Louisiana in the US it's only now a history of French Culture once was, and barely there now.

Great and helpful analysis JJ

Interesting politics over there! Thanks, JJ. Good luck with the straight razor!😜✌️

beaucoup d'erreur d'interprétation personnelle sur le placement sur l'échiquier politique des diffèrent partis.

As a québécois, there's one major point that's completely off regarding the CAQ party with this video. FYI, CAQ is pronounced as a word "CAK", not C-A-Q. Anyway, they're not considered left or progressive on climate stuff(or on anything at all). It's completely the opposite. Legault's considered to be on the right on this issue and anti-climate action. He's actually one of the least progressive on the climate issue and many other issues. To us, CAQ is center-right.

JJ big fan! Crazy to see that you were filming one block from my house!