Behind the blue cordon that demarcates the end of the official parade, members of the Réseau de résistance du québécois carried large letters that spelled DEHORS CHAREST — Out Charest.
“Today is (Quebec Premier Jean) Charest’s birthday, so we decided to make him a gift,” said Patrick Bourgeois, spokesperson for the militant separatist group.
It’s not every year the RRQ brings its politics to the yearly parade. In fact, it’s a first for them.
“Usually our activists go home for the summer to take care of their personal lives, but with this explosive year we had in Quebec, we’re sending a message to Charest and the rest of the population ... that this movement is not losing breath,” Bourgeois said.
As the parade trotted eastward on Sherbrooke St. through the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood, many residents decked in blue and white cheered the group. some showing their support by banging on pots that defined the resistance to Bill 78.
One supportive observer was Luz Maria Olguín, a Chilean native and a regular at the parade. She was holding a sign of the rebellious Argentine cartoon character Mafalda wearing a red square while saying “No pasarán!” — You will not pass.
“Every year I come to watch. This year it had a more social and political connotation,” she said.
The parade also had a more diverse flavour, with several nods to the ethnic soup that Quebec, a place that relies on immigrants for population growth, is becoming.
A walking mural of faces representing the many races of the province passed by, followed by two samba drum lines that added a tropical thump to the day.
“St. Jean symbolizes the arrival of all newcomers to Canada, which includes immigrants,” said Myriam Alphonse, watching with her daughters. “It’s a chance for us to express ourselves, that we may not look like the typical pure-laine Quebecer but that Quebec is a variety of nationalities and cultures.
“It’s a party for all.”
But the parade also paid plenty homage to its roots, with giant effigies — les géants — of Quebec luminaries presenting a visual history of the province: Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, Jeanne Mance, René Lévesque, and Maurice Richard were among those represented, each of them led by kids and teens in doing thematic choreographies.
For Jean-Guy Trudel, a retiree watching the parade with his wife on foldable chairs, watching the parade is an annual tradition.
“I really like this one,” he said, “They get better year after year.”
Original Article
Source: montreal gazette
Author: Roberto Rocha
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