Quebec marks 400th birthday
Founding of Quebec City celebrated under steady downpour
QUEBEC - Belfries across Canada shook in unison yesterday as hundreds of churches helped ring in the 400th birthday of historic Quebec City.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper praised the provincial capital as the country's most beautiful city as he and a slew of other dignitaries celebrated the anniversary.
Harper, Premier Jean Charest, Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean and French Prime Minister Francois Fillon were just some of the politicians to give brief speeches at a ceremony marking the day 400 years ago that Samuel de Champlain dropped anchor below the bluffs of what was to become Old Quebec.
"1608 is a historical date for you, for the province of Quebec and for all of Canada because July 3, 1608 -- exactly 400 years ago today -- really marks the beginning of what we have become today," Harper told those assembled at the foot of an imposing statue of the famed French explorer.
"Fellow Canadians, I may have grown up in Toronto, I may have decided to live in Calgary with my family, and I may work in Ottawa, but they say all Canadians must have two cities in his or her heart: their own and Quebec City.
"Because it is the most beautiful city in Canada, the most charming -- a city that radiates 'joie de vivre'."
Hundreds of Canadian cities also joined the party, including the nation's capital.
From the Peace Tower to churches -- even at some fire halls across Ottawa -- bells rang out at Noon Atlantic time to mark Quebec City's birthday.
In Regina, church bells across the city rang 11 times and were followed by 400 seconds of wishing Quebec City a happy anniversary.
Organizers hoped up to 4,000 churches and other places across the country would take part in the synchronized musical commemoration.
The speakers at the ceremony in Quebec City steered clear of touchy political declarations, but Harper took the opportunity to make reference to the "Quebecois nation" in his speech.
"The seeds planted here 400 years ago today have blossomed into a magnificent city, a strong and proud Quebecois nation, and a great Canadian country, strong and free," he said. "What an amazing legacy."
There have been some complaints by separatists in Quebec about the federal government's intense involvement in the 400th anniversary celebrations.
But the Conservative government -- and organizers of celebratory events in Quebec City -- have maintained the anniversary is not just for Quebec City, or the province, but for the whole country.
The French prime minister, meanwhile, said the arrival of Champlain's vessels ensured France's presence in North America over the last 400 years.
"Like the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria of Christopher Columbus, they opened our world," Fillon told audience members who clutched transparent umbrellas to fend off the steady rain.
"For the men and women who accompanied him (Champlain) during the first days of Quebec, France grew larger without division; it stretched without bursting."
The speeches were followed by a parade of soldiers and police officers dressed in military garb from different historical eras.
The procession was met by dozens of raucous antiwar protesters who descended on the city to voice their opposition to Canada's military mission in Afghanistan.
The demonstrators, many who travelled from Montreal, booed parade participants, including troops, grey-haired veterans and children, as they marched through the gates of the fortified city.
Provincial and city police in full riot gear kept close watch by flanking much of the route. No arrests were reported.
Other parade-watchers tried to drown out the demonstration by cheering even louder in support of the soldiers.
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