AgentM
07-17-2008, 09:54 PM
QUEBEC — “Quebeckians” should smoke “the pipes of peace,” Sir Paul McCartney proclaimed Thursday, after nationalists criticized the decision to invite the former Beatle to celebrate Quebec City's 400th anniversary.
Sir Paul said he was coming to Canada to party, have fun and not get embroiled in a row over language sensitivities. As many as 200,000 people are expected to attend the free concert on Sunday on the Plains of Abraham.
“I hate to go off half-baked. I don't like to just launch into an issue and not really know what I'm talking about,” he said, in response to criticism from Quebec nationalists who decried the “dangerous” presence of music with English lyrics.
The Quebec painter Luc Archambault launched a protest petition, but on Thursday, Sir Paul responded: “Come on Quebeckians [Quebeckers], love me, baby.”
And by the end of Thursday, Mr. Archambault's campaign appeared to lose momentum.
“I greatly admire McCartney … and I am counting on him as a socially engaged artist to be receptive to my proposal. My proposal is to inform about the situation in which we [francophones] live in Quebec,” he said, adding he is not opposed to Sir Paul's concert itself, but believes Quebec artists should be given the same amount of attention.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080717.wmccartney0717/BNStory/National/home
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And you thought Canada as a whole had an insecurity complex re: the US. :p
Sir Paul said he was coming to Canada to party, have fun and not get embroiled in a row over language sensitivities. As many as 200,000 people are expected to attend the free concert on Sunday on the Plains of Abraham.
“I hate to go off half-baked. I don't like to just launch into an issue and not really know what I'm talking about,” he said, in response to criticism from Quebec nationalists who decried the “dangerous” presence of music with English lyrics.
The Quebec painter Luc Archambault launched a protest petition, but on Thursday, Sir Paul responded: “Come on Quebeckians [Quebeckers], love me, baby.”
And by the end of Thursday, Mr. Archambault's campaign appeared to lose momentum.
“I greatly admire McCartney … and I am counting on him as a socially engaged artist to be receptive to my proposal. My proposal is to inform about the situation in which we [francophones] live in Quebec,” he said, adding he is not opposed to Sir Paul's concert itself, but believes Quebec artists should be given the same amount of attention.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080717.wmccartney0717/BNStory/National/home
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And you thought Canada as a whole had an insecurity complex re: the US. :p