which federal act or program was designed to address quebecois nationalism
Quebec nationalism Canada was first a French colony. Jacques Cartier claimed it for France in 1534, and permanent French settlement began in 1608. It was part of New France, which constituted all French colonies in North America.[1] Up until 1760, Canadien nationalism had developed itself free of all external influences. However, during the Seven Years' War, the British army invaded the French colony as part of its North American strategy, winning a conclusive victory at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. At the Treaty of Paris (1763), France agreed to abandon its claims in Canada in return for permanent French control of Guadeloupe. From the 1760s onward, Canadien nationalism developed within a British constitutional context. Despite intense pressure from outside Parliament, the British government drafted the Quebec Act which guaranteed Canadiens the restoration of French civil law; guaranteed the free practice of the Catholic faith; and returned the territorial extensions that they had enjoyed before the Treaty of Paris.[1] In effect, this "enlightened" action by leaders in the British Parliament allowed French Canada to retain its unique characteristics.[2][3] Although detrimental to Britain's relationship with the Thirteen Colonies, this has, in its contemporary assessment, been viewed as an act of appeasement and was largely effective at dissolving Canadien nationalism in the 18th century (especially considering the threat and proximity of American revolutionary ideology) yet it became less effective with the arrival of Loyalists after the revolutions.[4] With the Loyalists splitting the Province of Quebec into two identities; Upper Canada and Lower Canada, Canadiens were now labelled by the Loyalists as French Canadians.[1]
Canada under British rule Canada was under British rule beginning with the Treaty of Paris (1763) which ceded New France, of which Canada was a part, to the British Empire. Gradually, other territories, colonies, and provinces that were part of British North America would be added to Canada. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 enlarged the colony of Canada under the name of the Province of Quebec, which with the Constitutional Act 1791 became known as The Canadas. With the Act of Union 1840 Upper and Lower Canada were joined to become the United Province of Canada. Later, with Confederation in 1867, the British maritime colonies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were joined with the British colony of Canada to form the Dominion of Canada, which was subsequently divided into four provinces, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. A number of other British colonies, such as Newfoundland and British Columbia, and large territories such as Rupert's Land initially remained outside the newly formed federation. Over time, the remaining colonies and territories within British North America came under the control of Canada until the current geographic extent of the country was reached when Newfoundland and Labrador joined Canada in 1949.[1][2] Although confederation in 1867 led to an enlarged Dominion with increased autonomy over domestic affairs, Canada still remained a colony within the British Empire and was thus subordinate to the British Parliament until the enactment of the Statute of Westminster in 1931. This statute recognized Canada as an independent peer coequal with the United Kingdom, and thus provided the Parliament of Canada with legislative sovereignty over all federal matters except the power to change the constitutional laws of Canada which remained under the purview of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada's final vestige of legal dependence on the United Kingdom was terminated in 1982 with the enactment of the Canada Act, subsequently providing Canada with full legal sovereignty completely independent of the United Kingdom.