Cultural politics pathology: the Charter of Québec values†
The paper argues that the Québec Government Bill 60, popularly known in English as The Charter of Québec Values, is symptomatic of a pathological strain in Québec's cultural politics.
The October Riots in France: A Failed Immigration Policy or the Empire Strikes Back?
In October 2005, the predominately Arab-immigrant suburbs of Paris, Lyon, Lille and other French cities erupted in riots by socially alienated teenagers, many of them second- or third-generation immigrants. For many French observers, it was a painful reminder that France's immigration policy had, quite bluntly, failed. The grand French ideal of egalite, the equality of all citizens of the Republic, itself a by-product of France's colonial past, demonstrated its incompatibility with twenty-first century reality. 
 
The French immigration experience is markedly different than those of other European countries, as France's is tainted by colonial history, republican idealism, a rigidly centralized government structure, and deep-seeded traditions of xenophobia. Indeed, the nineteenth century French policy of the mission civilicatrice (civilizing mission) still influences French policy toward its immigrants today: rather than accept cultural differences, the French government demands that all its citizens adhere to a rigid and exclusive “French” identity. 
 
As such, the children of the generation of immigrants that the French government actively brought to France to fuel its post-war expansion now find themselves unemployed and socially marginalized. Government social structures meant to ease the disparity between social classes, such as public housing and education, generally do more to aggravate problems than to solve them; public housing is woefully inadequate and the education structure institutionalizes the poor quality of schools in immigrant communities. Despite this generally poor outlook, the French have recently made some progress toward better integration of their immigrant communities, though these efforts are generally met with wide-spread demagogic and populist opposition.
The 2007 Provincial Election in Quebec
The 2007 provincial election in Quebec may be considered a milestone in recent Quebec politics. For the first time since 1878, voters elected a minority government in the province (Jean Charest’s Liberals), a third party (ADQ) replaced the Parti Quebecois (PQ) as Official Opposition, and the PQ had its worst showing in 37 years. The pre-campaign was marked by the “reasonable accommodations” debate, which gave the ADQ the boost it needed to rival the two main parties. The incumbent Charest government suffered from its low popularity, due to what was largely perceived as a disappointing record. The PQ’s loss of support was mostly attributable to its new leader Andre Boisclair’s lack of appeal and to the party’s insistence on holding another referendum on Quebec sovereignty. Quebec’s new three-party system may last for some time, due to each party having strong and relatively well-defined regional support bases.