I have focused very heavily on Québec’s Francophone nature in this blog.

But it is undeniable that Anglophones have always been major contributors to Québec’s overall fabric, and are as equally Québécois.  Québec would not be Québec without its Anglophone flare and evolution (as Québec’s society evolves).

You may recall I talked a little bit about Anglophone historical contributions to building Québec in the post “200th Anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo: How it shaped Québec and Canada (#289)”  

In this post and the next, we will look at people who internet-users have voted as their favorite Anglophone Québécois (via Rankopedia).

You will notice that some people on this list are less contemporary than others.  I assume that many of the voters come from all age-brackets, and thus voted for personalities who used to be quite famous, but perhaps are not so well-known to younger people.  Regardless, this is still a great list!! (After all, every society is the sum of its past, as much as its present).

I’ll also provide you with some videos links of well-known Anglophone Québécois who also sing in French (near the bottom).

One thing you may have noticed is that I have used the word “Québécois” to describe Anglophones in Québec (rather than the term “Quebeckers”).  More and more Anglophones in Québec are choosing to use the word “Québécois” to describe themselves.  They use it as an “all-inclusive” term for anyone from Québec and who has Québec’s society as a whole at heart.

(You may recall that I wrote a blog post in FRENCH, in which I explained some of the nuances between various  Anglophone “residents” of Québec:  Une pub forte intéressante “pro-français” à la télé en Saskatchewan, qui passe à l’écran aux heures de grande écoute (#207)).  I described how many Anglophone Québécois feel quite integrated into Québec’s Francophone fabric, and I also accounted for the nuances ahd circumstances of others who may not fit such a mould (a touchy subject, but one which I tried to tactfully take on nonetheless).

This change in semantics is a major shift from the 1980s and 1990s, when it seemed that the word “Québecker” was used for Anglophones and “Québécois” for Francophones.  It is a wall which appears to be falling.

I think it’s a good sign of progress when the semantics of demarcation start to fall.   It’s evidence that the Two Solitudes are being bridged.

Here is the first list in a two-part post of voter’s favorite ANGLOPHONE Québécois:

1.  William Shatner

• Actor (from Montréal)
• “Capitain Kirk” on Star Trek, with many other acting, activism, and musical roles

2.  Leonard Cohen

• Singer Songwriter (from Montréal)
• One of Canada’s more successful singers.

3.  Glenn Ford

• Actor (Raised in Sainte-Christine-d’Auvergne, half way between Quebec City & Trois-Rivières).
• Born in Québec City (when there used to be a much larger Anglophone population in the region).
• Named after his father’s hometown, Glenford, in Alberta (wink, wink – Go Oilers!!!).
• 50 year career in Hollywood’s golden era (first half of 1900s), as well as post-war era through to the 1970s.
• One of Canada’s first major international movie actors.

4.  Elisha Cuthbert

• Actress (Grew up in Montréal, although she was born in Calgary, Alberta – Go Flames Oilers!!!).
• Perhaps not so well known to Francophones as she is to Anglophones (I’m guessing people who voted for her were mostly Anglophones).
• Known to people under 25 and other younger adults for her performances in kids shows, Hollywood films and US TV programs geared towards young adults.

5.  Emmanuelle Chriqui

• Actress (Born in Montréal.  Raised in Toronto area).
• Main actress in numerous Hollywood box office films.

6.  Christopher Plummer

• Actor (Born Toronto, raised in Montréal).
• If you’re an Anglophone Canadian or an American, I don’t think I need to describe Christopher Plummer.  But I asked a couple of Francophones, and they were not sure who he was (that ‘ole 2-way door of the Two Solitudes… works in both directions).   It is kind of strange because Plummer is bilingual, and I believe he has done stage performances in French.
• One of Hollywood’s most successful film actors, stage actors and Broadway actors of the past 50 years.  Think of a major acting award (in Canada, the UK, or the US), and he has won it.

7.  Scotty Bowman

• NHL Hockey Coach (from Montréal)
• Has coached numerous NHL teams to five Stanley Cup wins.
• He has been coach of the Montréal Canadiens, Baffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings, as well as Team Canada (Go Oilers!!… ok, ok… no affiliation – I just wanted to get in another Go Oilers!!).

8.  Mike Bossy

• Hockey Player (Born & raised in Montréal)
• Was a major factor for the NY Islander’s 4-year Stanley Cup winning streak in the early 1980s (for two of which he scored the winning goals as forward).
• The NHL’s 3^rd highest goal average, and the NHL’s only 50 goals / 50 games record.

9.  David Usher

• Rock Musician (Actually, a number of places can claim him, but he calls Montréal as his home town.)
• Was top-of-the-charts a few years ago.
• Although he’s Anglophone, he sings in both French and English.  In fact one of his better known French songs was his hit duet with the Franco-Ontarien singing star, Marie-Mai (Marie-Mai’s status is sort of Canada’s and Québec French equivalent of Justin Bieber… but without the “issues”).
• If you only know him for his ENGLISH songs but haven’t heard him sing in FRENCH, here’s your chance:

10.  Corey Hart

• Pop Musician (Born in Montréal and still lives there).
• One of Anglophone Canada’s most popular pop singers of the 1980s.
• Married to the very famous and popular Québécoise singer, Julie Masse
• Sings in both French and English, and thus is known to both Francophones and Anglophones.
• If you only know him in English, here is one of his French hits from a few years ago in which he sings a duet with his wife:

• Here is an excerpt on his family life in Montréal (he has a very French/English balanced lifestyle)

That sums up the top 10 most popular ANGLOPHONE Québécois, as voted by web-users.

The next post will introduce you to the next 10 ANGLOPHONE Québécois, as voted by internet users.

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SERIES:  WEB-USERS’ VARIOUS QUÉBEC CULTURAL RANKINGS (11 POSTS)

You are going to know a hell of a lot more about Québec after this series of posts

• Various cultural rankings — Introduction (#301) – Post 1 of 11

• Québec’s favorite Major Junior hockey teams (#303) – Post 2 of 11

• Québec’s top 25 favorite hockey players of all time (#304) – Post 3 of 11

• Web-users’ favorite ANGLOPHONE Québécois – Part A (#305) – Post 4 of 11
• Web-users’ favorite ANGLOPHONE Québécois – Part B (#306) – Post 5 of 11

• Web-users’ favorite FRANCOPHONE Québécois – Part A (#307) – Post 6 of 11
• Web-users’ favorite Francophone Québécois – Part B (#308) – Post 7 of 11
• Web-users’ favorite Francophone Québécois – Part C (#310) – Post 8 of 11
• Web-users’ favorite Francophone Québécois – Part D (#311) – Post 9 of 11
• Web-users’ favorite Francophone Québécois – Part E (#312) – Post 10 of 11
• Web-users’ favorite Francophone Québécois – Part F (#314) – Post 11 of 11)