Mathew Hayday - Celebrating Canada: Holidays, National Days, and the Crafting of Identities

Throughout the nineteenth century, Montreals streets served as a stage for the expression of various national and socio-economic identities. Identity in Montreal was shaped by the citys particular circumstances and the relative power various national and religious groups held within society. The period between 1840 and 1880 was significant as it was marked by an increasing population, immigration from Europe and from the rural hinterland, rapid industrialization, and political change, notably with Confederation in 1867. This period also saw the citys ethnic balance shift from a majority anglophone population (made up mostly of those of British origins) to francophone or French Canadian.

Montreals streets, and the demonstrations in them, were indicators of the presence of many national identities. The streets acted as a stage for the various national, religious, and associational groups to act out their identity while proving their belonging to Montreal and the larger society. Montreals voluntary societies appropriated not only the actual streets where they marched but the buildings around them, which were decorated symbolically, and they constructed arches along the route, expressing and claiming their right to occupy the public space. The groups who used the streets successfully, and with little controversy, did so by using a performance language that was non-threatening and familiar and by displaying symbols that tied all of the groups together. Who was able to march and how they were received by society at large were key to understanding the identities present. The parades were both unique and similar.

The newspapers of the day referred to Montreal as a place of mixed communities, and it was this awareness of difference that led to the establishment of norms that could be used to express these different identities and allow the groups to function together. Through these public displays of identity, Montrealers created a larger identity rooted in the political and social reality of the city. They were all a part of the city as members of the empire, and invested in the symbols of the state to demonstrate their belonging to it, while maintaining other identities. These demonstrations of national identity, when performed according to tradition, were supported, and the streets were considered safe and acceptable spaces for the expression of identity. These parades were a part of institutionalized boundary maintenance between Montreals cultural communities.

The citys newspapers were the voice of the public and reflected the various views and groups represented at an event. They were responsible, to a certain degree, for informing the public of upcoming events, reporting on their outcomes, and criticizing groups when they acted contrary to perceived social conventions. There were a number of different English-language papers in Montreal during this period, and they were, where copies existed, consulted for this chapter. Some French-language papers were also consulted, but there was very little reporting on events in the English language communities, apart from the Irish, in their pages. The perspective of identity, while limited by the English-language sources, is still fairly broad, representing many of the communities who were claiming Montreals streets.

Introduction

Chart 1.1 Montreals Population by Ethnicity and Place of Birth, 1871.

As illustrated in

The period of study for this chapter begins in 1840, when the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada were united politically. Already by this time, the city of Montreal had a highly developed associational life. The people of Montreal had organized themselves into various groups that catered to the provision of charitable services, cultural enrichment, and the fostering of religious and national identities. Tied to these voluntary associations and institutions were rituals of membership, formal occasions when groups gathered to affirm their identity, and public demonstrations of their belonging to their groups and to society as a whole. In Montreal this translated into meetings, dinners, balls, and parades. A number of these groups appropriated established holidays for their particular use. For instance, the St Andrews Society used St Andrews Day to celebrate Scottish identity, while the masons chose the feast of St John the Evangelist for their annual day. The principal days under discussion in this chapter will be: St Andrews Day (30 November Scots); St Georges Day (23 April English); St Patricks Day (17 March Irish); Orangemens Day (12 July Irish); Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (24 June French Canadians); the Queens Birthday (24 May); and the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo (18 June). Many of these groups, even if they were generally more private in their day-to-day operations, would use their day to express their distinctiveness and to do so in a public manner. By occupying public space, marchers made a clear and direct claim to public attention and were situating themselves within Montreals society. In this chapter, those holidays which were celebrated outdoors, in the streets and public squares will be examined.