How big was Montreal/Quebec's francophone bourgeois during the late 19th/early the 20th century.

by theteriaky

While my high school course insisted on how economic disparity fueled ethnic tensions in Quebec during the industrial revolution, walking through Montreal sometimes tells the story of a very existent francophone bourgeoisie. How big was that upper class when compared the Anglophone upper class of the city and the province?

sammmuel

It is difficult to say how "big" the francophone bourgeoisie was in terms of number. That being said, we can have some insight when looking at who was part of the French-speaking upper-class and also looking at the narrative surrounding English-French relations in Québec.

First and foremost, the French-speaking Élite in Québec is mostly constituted of individuals within the liberal professions and the clergy. This clashes heavily with an English-speaking elite that has significant presence in business and owns various entities such as factories or other businesses.

So while there is a French bourgeoisie, most of them are notaries, lawyers, physicians, and the like or they are priests, bishops etc. manning the various religious institutions in Québec.

Keep in mind that in 1905, about 80% of Québec was French and about 18% of it was English. Although the English held a strong hand in anything business and economics, the francophone population had its very own lawyers, intellectuals, journalists etc.

Eventually, those in the liberal professions and the clergy would contribute to the emancipation of the French from the English business class and newspapers like Le Devoir (1910) and a Catholic Worker's Union (CSN) became central in voicing worker's concerns to the English business class or giving a strong voice to the French public opinion so it could eventually get a more proeminent place in the business world.