On Thursday, the National Assembly formally passed Bill 90, An act to recognize ice hockey as a national sport in Quebec and respecting national cultural references. The topic inspired the question of the week for the Neomédia team. 

The bill responds to the first recommendation of the Comité québécois sur le développement du hockey, issued in its report "Hockey, our passion" published in 2022, to raise ice hockey to the rank of a national sport in Quebec.

The adoption of this project by the elected members of the National Assembly is a recognition of the historical importance of ice hockey and the significant place that this sport occupies in Quebec’s culture and identity, In addition to making the first Saturday of February National Ice Hockey Day.

 “I am very proud of the passage of this bill, which allows us to give our national sport formal recognition. Hockey is the sport that brings us together and makes us experience all kinds of emotions. This adoption is all the more significant since we are a few days away from celebrating 150 years of the first ice hockey game, which took place at our home in Quebec. Thanks to this legislation, we are helping Quebecers feel proud," said Mathieu Lacombe, Minister of Culture and Communications. 

The Act also allows for the introduction of the notion of “national cultural referent” within the Cultural Heritage Act, either “an element of Quebec culture forged in tradition, which characterizes and uniquely evokes an aspect of Quebec’s cultural identity, constitutes a landmark widely shared by individuals in society”, such as ice hockey.  In this way, it provides the government with more means to better promote and enhance Quebec cultural symbols.

Historically, Quebec was the scene of the emergence of modern ice hockey in the 1870s and the first official game in the history of the sport on March 3, 1875. The emergence of modern ice hockey is thus a major contribution by Quebec to the history of sports worldwide.

This week, we ask you: Do you approve of Quebec designating hockey as a national sport?

To complete the survey, click on this link.