Bon fete du Quebec! Happy Quebec Holiday. Today is St. John the Baptist Day in Quebec, a summertime celebration in La Belle Province.
Provinces have their own holidays, but as we've learned on CanadianCrossing.com, Quebec is a world of its own.
To celebrate Quebec's holiday, we're featuring recent news stories about La Belle Province.
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Rob Ford has attracted a lot of attention south of the border for his antics, including allegations of smoking crack. Ford has been kicked out once so far in his first term, yet Montréal has found a way, or two ways, to top its rival city.
Last week, interim Montréal Mayor Michael Applebaum resigned after being charged with 14 counts, including defrauding the government and corruption in municipal affairs. The allegations stem from the time before Applebaum became interim mayor. Applebaum was a rare sight: the first Anglophone mayor in Montréal in a century.
Applebaum had replaced Gerald Tremblay late last fall after Tremblay resigned following allegations in the ongoing Charbonneau Commission investigation into kickbacks from the construction industry.
Both Applebaum and Tremblay say they are innocent of the charges.
Neither of them are as large or obnoxious or thin-skinned as Rob Ford, but this level of allegation and corruption is worthy of a story south of the border, n'est pas?
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Burlington, Vermont is recognizing its close bond with Quebec by posting signs in English and French. 700 bilingual stickers are being added to the city's parking meters courtesy of the local Alliance Française branch.
The Vermont city is a 45-minute drive from the Canadian border. Roughly 2.5 million Canadians visit Vermont, many from La Belle Province.
Previous coverage:
Burlington, VT restaurants targeting Quebecers for being bad tippers
Burlington's last gesture toward its French Canadian neighbours was restaurants teaming up to charge an automatic 18% gratituty for patrons who spoke French.
Of course, the city didn't participate in the gratituty scandal. Hopefully, the city realized that the bilingual stickers would send a positive message to encourage more travel between the two countries.
So, to Burlington, VT, merci pour les autocollants (thanks for the stickers).
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If you are traveling to Montréal this summer, you will definitely want to check out the food scene. Great restaurants with all different types of food. Now the city has lifted a 66-year ban on food trucks as part of the summertime food experience.
While you could find food trucks at outdoor festivals, regular use of the food trucks will be a new experience for those in Montréal. The new rules are limiting in many ways from where they are to what they can serve.
Montréal has a pilot program of food trucks in 9 designated spots with 17 trucks rotating in those areas. The test period started last Thursday and runs through September 29 from 7 am to 10 pm. More details on the program and what trucks will be out there can be found here.
Also check out Street Food Montréal to track down where the street food is in the city.
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The Quebec Soccer Foundation banned turbans from the soccer field, claiming they were a safety hazard. The organization also pointed out that FIFA doesn't specifically allow turbans.
The Canadian Soccer Association suspended the Quebec Soccer Foundation until they lifted the ban. FIFA came out and said turbans were okay. The Quebec Soccer Foundation then lifted the ban.
"They can play in their backyard." This was the response from Brigitte Frot, director-general of the Quebec Soccer Foundation, was asked about what she would say to a child who wanted to play soccer with a turban.
This felt more like concerns about the Sikh culture in Quebec than in following the rules that no one was really sure actually existed. Canada is very multicultural as is Quebec, but Canada outside Quebec -- politically -- is more friendly about that. Matters didn't help that Quebec Premier Pauline Marois of the separatist party Parti Quebecois backed the Quebec Soccer Foundation as having the right to make those rules.
Whatever people might have thought of former Liberal Premier Jean Charest, one couldn't imagine Charest taking a similar stance.
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