A historical exhibition highlighting the achievements of Scottish
settlers in Canada is opening to the public today at the Scottish
Parliament.
Entitled 'Scots in Quebec', the exhibition looks at the lifestyles
and pastimes of Scots who left their home towns in Scotland to create
new lives for themselves and their families overseas.
Details of their achievements in the fields of engineering,
commerce, shipping and academia are illustrated by a selection of
photographs from the Notman Photographic Archives at the McCord Museum
of Canadian History in Montreal.
The exhibition was developed by the Delegation generale du Quebec a
Londres in collaboration with the McCord Museum in Montreal and is
being hosted by the Scottish Parliament.
Presiding Officer George Reid said: "Over the last eight years the
Scottish Parliament has sought to engage on the international stage, to
build friendships across an ever more globalised world with the aim of
supporting and learning from each other's parliamentary experiences. In
that international dimension Quebec has always had a special
relationship with Scotland.”
"This relationship has not only been built out of shared experience,
but also out of the human stories of the Scots who centuries ago played
a key role in the development of Quebec and Canada."
Quebec's Agent General in London, George MacLaren, said: "Scotland
has played a very important role in Quebec's history. The Scots made an
immense contribution to the intellectual, medical, commercial and
philanthropic development of Quebec in the 19th century. Scotland and
Quebec have always enjoyed a special relationship since the days of 'la
Nouvelle-France' and this seems to me like the perfect time to
celebrate it."
This is the second public exhibition to be organised by the Scottish
Parliament and follows on from the suffragette exhibition which ended
on 9 March after 16 weeks. It is hoped that the exhibition will inform,
educate and raise awareness about the story of the Scots in Quebec.
The Parliament also previously hosted the prestigious World Press
Photo Exhibition, in August last year, and displayed the Declaration of
Arbroath in 2005, both as part of its award-winning Festival of
Politics.
The Scots in Quebec exhibition will open at the Scottish Parliament on 16 March and run until 12 April.
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