Ok, let’s wrap this puppy up.   

This will be the last in the list of web-users’ 25 favorite Francophone Québécois.

23.  Gilles Vigneault

• Singer, Songwriter, Poet, Bad boy (Born Natashquan, Québec’s North Coast, live most of his life in Southern Québec).

I’m trying to think how on earth I can possibly sum up one of Québec’s most celebrated and legendary song-writers in just a few words.   I’ll give it a shot.  Here we go…

• Gilles Vigneault is one of Québec’s most prolific singers.  He has been singing since before the Quiet Revolution, during which his songs became emblematic battle cries for Québec’s self-affirmation and nationalist ambitions.
• Vigneault is VERY political and very vocal:  pro-nationalist, and pro-sovereignty.
• In the above video, his most famous song has become Québec’s de facto anthem:  Gens du pays (People of the nation).
• His stature in Québec society is next to a God-like figure for many people of older generations (to the point that there have been funding battles to preserve his childhood home as an untouchable piece of national heritage).
• He is well known to younger people, but he does not incarnate the old “political flame” for younger people (he’s a famous singer of a past era for most young people).
• If I were asked what 5 people would immediately would come to mind as being emblematic of Québec, I would say that most people would say that Gilles Vigneault is one of them.   He may not be the highest in the “favorite” list, but he certainly is waaaay up there in the notoriety list.

Here is one of his other most famous songs (which has become a de facto motto for Québec – one which you see and hear everywhere!):  “Mon pays”…   Mon pays ce n’est pas un pays, c’est l’hiver (My country is not a country, it is winter).

Here is a video of a more recent interview of him on Tout le monde en parle (I believe this episode of Tout le monde en parle was watched by over 1 million people the night it aired on television).   Excellent interview — even if ideologically I do not agree with many things he believes.

24.  Guy Lafleur

• Hockey Player (Born in Thurso, Québec, lived mostly in Montréal).
• Lafleur is a living legend.  You may recall that he is listed as #1 in the list of Québec favorite hockey players.
• His career went from 1971 to 1991.  He is one of the few who played for both the Montréal Canadiens and the Québec Nordiques (winning over both cities).
• Not many people can claim to have 5 Stanley Cups under their belts like Lafleur.
• And if you ever want to take a helicopter tour of Montréal, you might just be able to meet Guy Lafleur.  He currently owns a helicopter rental company there (now there’s an expensive way to try to get a hard-to-comeby autograph… but I’m sure some die-hard fan out there has tried that stunt).

25.  Jacques Villeneuve Sr.  

• Race Driver (Born St-Jean-sur-Richelieu)
• Wait a second… didn’t we already list Jacques Villeneuve and his father?  Yup!   But this time we’re talking about Jacques Villeneuve’s uncle (the younger brother of Gilles Villeneuve) – hence the Sr. at the end.
• The first three-time winner of the world Champion Snowmobile Derby.
• A former Formula race car driver (both RAM and Arrows – which were British Formula One racing teams)
• A former CART driver (American Championship car racing)
• Inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame
• Goes to show how much Québec adores its motor sports!

And that’s the end of the 25 most favorite Québécois, as voted by web-users on Rankopedia! 

You now know a heck of a lot more about Québec!!!  (and my fingers are tired after such a long series).

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

You are going to know 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)