Editing Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (section)

==Political nature of the celebration==
{{more citations needed|section|date=June 2017}}
[[File:Sjb-day-concert.jpg|right|thumb|Free public concert in [[The Battlefields Park]] on the eve of Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day]]

During and immediately after the [[Quiet Revolution]], Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day became highly politicized. The religious symbolism associated with the celebrations was replaced by political ideals of Quebec [[separatism]].

[[Governor General of Canada|Governor General]] [[Georges Vanier]], who, as [[viceroy]], had always fostered unity and biculturalism, found himself the target of [[Quebec sovereignty movement|Quebec sovereigntists]] in [[Montreal]], on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, 1964, wherein a group of sovereigntists held placards reading "''Vanier vendu''" ("Vanier the sell-out") and "''Vanier fou de la Reine''" ("Vanier, jester to the Queen").<ref>Hubbard, R.H.; Rideau Hall; McGill-Queen’s University Press; Montreal and London; 1977; p. 233</ref>

Four years later, with the new Prime Minister [[Pierre Trudeau]] in attendance on the eve of a general election, a riot broke out on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day. A group of agitators threw bottles at the Prime Minister in an effort to make him feel unwelcome at the ceremony. Trudeau was filmed refusing to take cover or leave the grandstand, saying that he was a [[Québécois people|Québécois]] and would not be intimidated by a drunken mob. The scene was broadcast on [[Télévision de Radio-Canada]]'s and [[CBC Television|CBC]]'s evening news. Many saw it as an open act of courage, and the Prime Minister's defiance impressed the electorate{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}} and contributed to his [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]] winning a significant majority the next day.{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}}

During the French-language network [[Ici Radio-Canada Télé|SRC]]'s televised coverage of the 1969 Montreal parade, filmmakers [[Bernard Gosselin]] and [[Pierre Perrault]] were asked to withdraw from the airwaves after nationalist and sarcastic comments. At one point they suggested the creation of a Ministry of [[Boast]]fulness and a High Commissioner of [[List of English words of Yiddish origin#Kvetch|kvetch]]ing.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 13, 2009 |title=Security Alert |url=http://montreal.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=montreal&cdn=citiestowns&tm=44&gps=384_29_1004_579&f=00&su=p284.9.336.ip_p554.12.336.ip_&tt=3&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http://archives.radio-canada.ca/souvenirs/date.asp?mois=06&jour=24&IDLan=0&IDClip=8152 |access-date=May 22, 2013 |publisher=Montreal.about.com}}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> There was a riot and the Saint-Jean-Baptiste icon was destroyed. This led to the interruption of the parade, which did not take place the next year.

In June 2009, Quebec bands [[Lake of Stew]] and [[Bloodshot Bill]], whose members are bilingual anglophone Quebecers, were added to the program of a local celebration in Montreal called ''L'Autre St-Jean'' ("The Other St-Jean").<ref>{{Cite web |title=L'autre St-Jean |url=http://www.lautrestjean.org/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605021543/http://www.lautrestjean.org/ |archive-date=June 5, 2013 |access-date=May 22, 2013 |publisher=Lautrestjean.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=L'autre Saint-Jean ! – BANGBANG |url=http://bangbangblog.com/lautre-saint-jean/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513094006/http://bangbangblog.com/lautre-saint-jean/ |archive-date=May 13, 2013 |access-date=May 22, 2013 |publisher=Bangbangblog.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Blogues du journal Voir – Voir – |url=http://www.voir.ca/blogs/scene_locale/archive/2009/06/10/l-autre-st-jean.aspx |access-date=May 22, 2013 |publisher=Voir.ca |archive-date=August 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110808204841/http://www.voir.ca/blogs/scene_locale/archive/2009/06/10/l-autre-st-jean.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> When it became known that they would be performing their songs in English, there were several complaints and later the musicians were barred from the celebrations. The Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste President, [[Mario Beaulieu]], defended the decision to cancel these musicians' performances, by stating that the [[official language]] of the province of Quebec is French. However, after public outrage from both the anglophone and francophone communities, these two bands were returned to the program when it was clarified that the bands were free to sing songs in English as well as French.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 24, 2011 |title=Fête nationale won't be the celebration the Parti Québécois imagined: Hébert |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/06/23/fte_nationale_not_the_celebration_the_parti_qubcois_wanted_hbert.html |access-date=June 24, 2014 |website=Toronto Star}}</ref>

By government regulation, however, the St-Jean program must be conducted in French (even by such internationally and nationally famous anglophone artists such as [[Martha Wainwright]] and [[Patrick Watson (musician)|Patrick Watson]]).<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 16, 2009 |title=Mouvement national des Québécoises et Québécois &#124; Langue des célébrations de la Fête nationale – Lake of Stew et Bloodshot Bill chanteront aussi en français |url=http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/413993/langue-des-celebrations-de-la-fete-nationale-lake-of-stew-et-bloodshot-bill-chanteront-aussi-en-francais |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808042233/http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/413993/langue-des-celebrations-de-la-fete-nationale-lake-of-stew-et-bloodshot-bill-chanteront-aussi-en-francais |archive-date=August 8, 2014 |access-date=June 24, 2014 |publisher=Newswire.ca}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Macpherson |first=Don |date=June 24, 2013 |title=Competing national holidays |url=https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/Macpherson+Competing+national+holidays/9970184/story.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140628040850/http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/Macpherson+Competing+national+holidays/9970184/story.html |archive-date=June 28, 2014 |access-date=June 25, 2014 |website=Montreal Gazette}}</ref>

The festival has attempted to be more inclusive, as groups have sung in Creole and for the 2008 celebrations, [[Samian (rapper)|Samian]], "the world's first aboriginal [[Algonquin language]] rapper", sang at Montreal's celebration.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 15, 2010 |title=World news &#124; The Guardian |url=http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial&id=641&catID=10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118165406/http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial |archive-date=November 18, 2007 |access-date=May 22, 2013 |website=Guardian Weekly}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Anglo musicians ousted from St. Jean celebration |url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/Life/Anglo%2Bband%2Bousted%2Bfrom%2BJean%2Bf%C3%AAte/1695386/story.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100712132331/http://www.montrealgazette.com/Life/Anglo%2Bband%2Bousted%2Bfrom%2BJean%2Bf%C3%AAte/1695386/story.html |archive-date=July 12, 2010 |access-date=July 27, 2017}}  ''Montreal Gazette'', June 15, 2009, by Jason Magder</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=English bands back Montreal Jean Baptiste festivities |url=https://theprovince.com/Life/English+bands+back+Montreal+Jean+Baptiste+festivities/1698990/story.html |access-date=June 23, 2009 |website=The Province}}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

The [[Montreal Metro]] attempts to symbolize the inclusive nature of the celebration through the motto it displays on information screens on stations and on-board trains on Saint-Jean-Baptiste day: ''Bonne Saint-Jean-Baptiste à tous et à toutes avec surtout ce sentiment de se sentir membre à part entière de cette communauté québécoise diverse et fière!'' (English: "Happy Saint-Jean-Baptiste to one and all and especially the feeling of being an integral part of this diverse and proud Quebec community!").{{Citation needed|date=November 2015}}

In 2017, there was a controversy at the Fête nationale parade when a float featuring white performers was performing a popular Québécois anthem, and pushed by several black youths dressed in beige. Spectators interpreted the sight as racist, and symbolic of slavery.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Video of Quebec history float goes viral amid allegations of racism |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/fete-nationale-parade-float-1.4176914 |access-date=March 20, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=June 24, 2017 |title=Controverse au défilé de la Fête nationale: un hasard qui choque - Audrey Ruel-Manseau - Montréal |newspaper=La Presse |url=http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/grand-montreal/201706/24/01-5110447-controverse-au-defile-de-la-fete-nationale-un-hasard-qui-choque.php |access-date=March 20, 2018|last1=Ruel-Manseau |first1=Audrey }}</ref>