Les Zapartistes are a group of Quebecois comedians in Canada, founded
in 2001 and specialising in political humour. The group works live and
for television, generally in the context of special events such as the
annual Fête nationale du Québec as well as in various comedy
programmes.It won a Prix Gémeaux in 2004 (the francophone equivalent
of Canada's Gemini awards) for best comedy, variety or talk-show
performance.The group's name comes from the Zapatista Army of National
Liberation, a Mexican political movement that defends the Chiapas
Indians, and from l'Aparté, a small Montreal café where the group
was founded. Despite a generally careful use of language, the group's
slogan is "against corruption, cultural uniformity, soundbites and
sloganeering, the privatisation of our natural resources, military
incompetence and loads of other stuff." («[...] s'opposer à la
corruption, Ã la culture du consensus, Ã la langue de bois, Ã la
privatisation de nos ressources, à la débilité militaire pis à ben
d’autres affaires») This slogan is in their manifesto, whose style
harkens back to the roots of Quebec's Quiet Revolution.The humour of
Les Zapartistes targets what they take to be immorality and illegality
in Canadian politics. The group advertises itself as supportive of
Quebec independence with respect to the Canadian federal government,
which has been undermined by the recent Sponsorship scandal, but does
not necessarily promote Quebec sovereignty.
in 2001 and specialising in political humour. The group works live and
for television, generally in the context of special events such as the
annual Fête nationale du Québec as well as in various comedy
programmes.It won a Prix Gémeaux in 2004 (the francophone equivalent
of Canada's Gemini awards) for best comedy, variety or talk-show
performance.The group's name comes from the Zapatista Army of National
Liberation, a Mexican political movement that defends the Chiapas
Indians, and from l'Aparté, a small Montreal café where the group
was founded. Despite a generally careful use of language, the group's
slogan is "against corruption, cultural uniformity, soundbites and
sloganeering, the privatisation of our natural resources, military
incompetence and loads of other stuff." («[...] s'opposer à la
corruption, Ã la culture du consensus, Ã la langue de bois, Ã la
privatisation de nos ressources, à la débilité militaire pis à ben
d’autres affaires») This slogan is in their manifesto, whose style
harkens back to the roots of Quebec's Quiet Revolution.The humour of
Les Zapartistes targets what they take to be immorality and illegality
in Canadian politics. The group advertises itself as supportive of
Quebec independence with respect to the Canadian federal government,
which has been undermined by the recent Sponsorship scandal, but does
not necessarily promote Quebec sovereignty.
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