Je ne suis pas bien attaché aux Tachés, but I figure that’s an excellent sentiment that perhaps Québec should start owning more. We’ve got an strong, secure society that takes care of its own, but there are still some glaring holes that need to be filled. Is Québec remembering its friends among the First Peoples? Its friends in its diverse and multiethnic communities? Its friend in Mother Nature?

Anyways, there’s a lot embedded in that ambiguous motto. It’s probably worth remembering, lest we forget.

And the motto is frenquently used by people to express their anger (for example “Je me souviendrai des OGM” of Greenpeace I think to ask for GM being notified and “Je me souviendrai des fusions forcées”. That’s the kind of usage that make the Québec motto such a negatif and backward thing.

– George Carlin

(Famous Potatoes is Idaho)

As for our motto, I never really gave much thought to “Je me souviens”, but I really am not an advocate of living in the pain of the past. I remember when our license plates said “Le belle province”, but I suppose I’d be more inclined to having something pro-active as well as positive, and yet not as overly dramatic as say New Hampshire’s “Live free or die”.

;-)

Je Me Souviens: A License to Remember

A License to Remember: Je me souviens
2002, 51 min 02 s

Abstract
Quebec license plates don’t sport cutesy tourist slogans like “Canada’s Ocean Playground” or “Land of Living Skies.” Instead, they draw attention to the past with “Je me souviens” (“I remember”)–a motto that cuts to the heart of Quebec history and society.
To find out just what “Je me souviens” means to Quebecers, director Thierry Le Brun sets off across the province, license plate in hand. He rides a dog sled, goes ice fishing, visits an emu farm, joins the Carifiesta celebrations and even gets pulled over by the cops. In the process, he meets a cast of characters–both famous and unknown–with wildly differing views on the provincial motto.
Over the course of this illuminating, entertaining and funny documentary, “Je me souviens” becomes a Rorschach ink blot into which Quebecers peer, each bringing their own interpretation. In the process, they can also see each other in a new way, and come to understand the concerns of the many communities that make up their land.

Also available in French
Un certain souvenir

a) an anglo federalist
b) an anglo fence-sitter
c) a recent immigrant (english 2nd language)
d) a recent immigrant (french 2nd language)
e) a francophone fence-sitter
f) a francophone separatist

what does: “je me souviens” mean? curious that the explanation you linked to goes out of its way to essentially say: “we remember all of our history.” but certainly it’s interpreted differently by different groups. in the anglo world it’s seen as i described it … which may be a total misreading, but at least reflects what one group reads it as – an official statement on every license plate that anglos will not be forgiven. which again, could be wrong.

regardless, quebec is this really fascinating political story: a place that got completely transformed in 35-odd years, with a complete shift in power from one group to another. not a drop of blood, all done politically, and for the most part successfully.

My impression is that Quebec has been successful in that transformation phase, but hasn’t really started to ask, “Now What?” yet.

The world of 1970 Quebec is nothing like the world of 2007 … but it seems politics were stuck forever in an old dynamic. Lib-PQ-Lib-PQ…etc. I don’t like ADQ, but at least the last election bashed some of the existing structures, which I think is a good thing.

Now Quebec needs to ask: what are we to become? Not just quebec has changed, the world too is a very different place. i guess because I live on the net, i believe the net is in the process of really changing the world. the connected world anyway. Quebec – because it is small and potentially nimble – could take a lead here, certainly in Canada, probably in the world. will we? how will we deal with the 21st century? lets ask these questions instead of parroting on as the “leaders” did in the last election.

There’s a problem there – worthy of a whole other post – in that English grows in importance with the growth of the net. This is something francophone quebec will have to come to terms with one way or another.

for instance, the last democamp happened (almost) entirely in English…I don’t know quite what to think of that, but it is significant, and potentially problematic. What does it mean? Is it bad? Good? Neither? Does it impact the anglos? the francos? … I don’t know.

Anyway … all this to say, I think it is time that we considered looking to the future rather than focusing on the past.

so: tentative suggestion to replace “je me souviens” … “et, alors, qu’est ce qu’on fait maintenant?”