Recently in Quebec Category

For the past few weeks, a team of citizen bloggers has been capturing the conversations in their communities during this election campaign -- and keeping us informed of what's really resonating with Canadians. Now that the election is over, the Your Take bloggers have been sending in their final posts and giving us a sense of how everything played out in their area. The following are some of the entries we'd like to highlight.   

By Cédric Levasseur-Laberge (Montreal)

I must confess something. This is the first time that I truly voted. During the federal and provincial elections of 2008, I was studying abroad under the palm trees of southern France, and got absentee ballots that I brought to school and filled under the eyes of my classmates, bewildered to be staring at a moment of foreign democracy. But then I was voting only because I thought voting was important - my riding always being safe for a party I did not intend to vote for.

By Liam Chapman (Montreal, QC)

The "orange wave" metaphor really crested as election day dawned, and by the day after journalists had rebranded it as the "orange tsunami" phenomenon.

Hurricane Jack reshaped the Quebec political landscape.

By Claude Boucher (Quebec City)

When the House of Commons is called in session later this spring, nearly half of all opposition members - at last count, 70 MPs out of 142 - will represent Quebec ridings, clearly rejecting the Prime Minister's agenda. But Canadians have decided otherwise.

By Cédric Levasseur-Laberge (Montreal)

Cédric heads to his hometown of Granby, Que. this past weekend to explore voter sentiments heading into Election Day.

Liam Chapman, a CBC volunteer citizen blogger in Montreal, talks about the NDP's growing popularity in Quebec.

The CBC has assembled a team of more than 30 citizen bloggers from across the country to help keep you informed of what real Canadians are saying about this election. The following are some entries we'd like to highlight today.

By Cédric Levasseur-Laberge (Montreal)

This week of royal wedding was strange, as the panicked Bloc Québécois and Liberals called in old charismatic heroes to strengthen their base, but also -- and not quite as ironically as it may sound -- to enthuse young voters who are more and more attracted to the smiley-faced NDP.

By Liam Chapman (Montreal, QC)

I went to a surprise party this week. It was in honour of the 30th birthday of a talented actress, a woman I've known since high school. Our paths have diverged significantly, with the result that I knew no one at the party except her. The party was populated by a constellation of mostly artists and actors. A great opportunity to catch a vibe -- especially since one guest had organized a night of political theatre (intriguingly titled "The Wrecking Ball") intended to inspire people to vote. The conversation turned often to the developments in Quebec.

The CBC has assembled a team of more than 30 citizen bloggers from across the country to help keep you informed of what real Canadians are saying about this election. The following are some entries we'd like to highlight today.

By Cédric Levasseur-Laberge (Montreal)

Media on Montreal's West Island and federalist columnists are on full cheers. The rise of NDP support in Quebec has them all celebrating the long-awaited crumbling of the separatists. The saviour's name is Jack, hallowed be his name, amen.

As the third week of the election campaign draws to a close, we asked our Your Take citizen bloggers to give us a temperature check, and assess the mood and level of political engagement in their communities. This is what they're finding.

By Cédric Levasseur-Laberge (Montreal)

The sky is gray, and it's raining. I have to admit that, as one who studies political science, my friends and I may not be the most representative sample of the population. But here is what I can tell: if an election manages to bore people who study politics, it definitely is a boring election.

By Cédric Levasseur-Laberge (Montreal)

What is, in my view, the greatest film of Quebec cinema, Denys Arcand's The Decline of the American Empire, opens on the following words: "Three things matter in History: numbers, numbers, and numbers." If you want to understand political parties' attitude to the youth vote, this is what you must have in mind.

By Claude Boucher (Quebec City, Que.)

(entry received April 15)

Régis Labeaume has a short temper and large ambitions for Quebec's capital. But, will his bark be bigger than his bite this election?

Your Take blogger Cédric Levasseur-Laberge with his take on the most important campaign moment so far in Quebec: the provincial Parti Québécois' convention this past weekend.

By Claude Boucher (Quebec City, Que.)

The political arena may at times feel like a circus. And on Friday, Gilles Duceppe took an hour to scout new talent.

By Cédric Levasseur-Laberge (Montreal)

I received an online invitation to an event designed to stir some interest among young voters about the election.  The Forum Jeunesse de l'Île de Montréal (the Montreal Island Youth Forum) organized an evening where we could watch the French-language leaders' debate while having a beer with some local candidates and discussing the campaign, the issues and all that came to mind.

By Liam Chapman (Montreal)

Within moments of the curtain coming up on the four men and zero women participating in the 2011 Leaders' Debate, my heart sank and my ire was raised. There was to be no debate - this would be a marathon session of creative, and totally unhelpful, contradiction and incessant, thinly veiled insults.

By Cédric Levasseur-Laberge (Montreal)
(entry received April 12)

Up to this day, the campaign, locally and coast-to-coast, was one slowly and quietly waking up. So far people around me are interested but not passionate about this election, being vocal on only two issues: the use/cost of the election, and the possibility of a Harper majority.

By Liam Chapman (Montreal)
(entry received April 12)

It's clear that we live in a ultra-fast-paced information age: the pace of the developments in the campaigns so far are liable to give Canadians vertigo. From platform announcements, to the recent Conservative run-ins with Sheila Fraser, to candidates being sacked for racist remarks, to attack ads in every conceivable channel of media, to anticipation (or dread) about this week's leader's debates, the roller coaster is off and running and certainly already throwing many voters for a loop.

By Claude Boucher (Quebec City, Que.)

While the four party leaders are busy in Ottawa prepping for Tuesday and Wednesday's leaders debates, local candidates will tour the Quebec City area in high style for the next two days in a visible effort to reach voters in Quebec's National Capital area.

By Cédric Levasseur-Laberge (Montreal, Que.)

Here is a short video of a - rapid - overview of the social, political and visual landscape in three ridings in my area of east-end Montreal. They are a bit like our country's overall political scene: some are enthralling, hard-fought, ground-level political campaigns where every vote will count, while the fate of others almost seem like the divine order of things. But yet again, there always are cases where fate is overturned by action or particular circumstances.

By Claude Boucher (Quebec City, Que.)

There is one thing you need to know about Quebec City: the locals are crazy about hockey.

This weekend, 1,600 Nordiques Nation supporters clad in fleurdelysée livery boarded 31 buses to attend a meaningless match up in Newark, New Jersey between the Devils and the Boston Bruins.

CBC News has assembled a team of citizen bloggers and CBC staff to capture the conversations happening in communities across the country during the federal election. We'll be working together to tell you what Canadians are really saying.