If you’ve
been following recent news from Ontario, you might be aware that there’s a spat
going on right now between Trump of the North Premier Doug Ford and the
French-speaking citizens of his province. If not, you should be. This is a big
deal. Keeping in mind that Franco-Ontarians are usually pretty much only talked
about nationally during referendum season in Québec, and to boot, that this time
they’re making international news in
France and the U.S., this is a really, really big deal.
Wait…
what’s the deal?
On November
15th, now dubbed Jeudi noir or
“Dark Thursday” by Franco-Ontarians, the oxymoronic Progressive
Conservative Party of Ontario abolished both the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner and funding for the new
Franco-Ontarian University that was set to open in 2020.
Wait… I
thought all French-Canadians lived in Québec?
No. In
fact, Ontario has the largest
French-Speaking population outside of Québec in North America (and by the way, just a reminder
that yes, even in the U.S. there are native French-Speakers). We represent
between 600 000 to a million individuals, depending on how you prefer to
fudge the numbers (and yes, I'm aware the census puts that number a little lower to what other studies have estimated. I'll let the statisticians duel it out.). Point is, there are as many as seven regions in Ontario than
can be classified as Francophone. So technically, even if Ontario is not
officially a bilingual province like New Brunswick, there exists the French Language Service Act which, in a nutshell, “confers upon members of the public the right to
receive services in French from the provincial government, notably in the
designated areas.” To this end, the French Language Services Commissioner would
receive and investigate complaints from Franco-Ontarians struggling to have
access to French services. The Ford government’s actions then are at best a
condescending dismissal of our needs as a community, and at worse a racist jab
punching downwards.
(By the
way, if you think you don’t know any Franco-Ontarians, ask around. Chances are
you just never noticed: turns out a strong side-effect of living in Ontario is
losing any trace of an accent in English. We walk among you. We look like you.
Look in the mirror… you might be one of us! Muahaha… But seriously though, ask
around. And when you finally meet a Franco-Ontarian, have him or her explain to
you why grated cheese on poutine is a sin.)
Wait… But aren’t Franco-Ontarians immigrants? What about Italian/Etc. rights?
Here’s a
bit of personal backstory. In Ontario, as I would be walking on the sidewalk,
minding my own business speaking French to a friend, I’ve often had people yell
at me “Go back to France!” or “Go back to Kway-Bec!” (By the way, it’s KAY-bec,
not KWAY-Bec). One of the most asinine comments I’ve ever heard was “If the
French [yep, in Ontario, we’re simply known as “The French”. Hon hon hon, baguette…] hate it so much
here, why did they move here to begin with?” Glad you asked, Skippy, I’m about
to illuminate you in a bit.
 |
| Louis XV checking out all his Franco-Ontarians |
Now, if I’m
bringing up these personal anecdotes, it’s to illustrate a broader point:
Ontario does a very bad job at reminding people about pre-Confederation
History. Or any history having to do with French Ontario, for that matter.
Prepare to have you mind blown… Franco-Ontarians have been in Ontario for the
past four hundred years. You know how
old that is? Older than Canada. Older than the U.S. Older than the invention of
the pendulum clock—you know, to tell time.
Point is, Franco-Ontarians had been interacting with Indigenous peoples for a
century and a half before New France became a British colony in 1763. And we’re
not talking here of some stranded Voyageurs. We’re talking actual settlements,
the most important at that date being in the Detroit/Windsor area. Meaning that even though
the fur trade, agriculture, mines and lumber attracted countless Francophones
from Québec to Ontario throughout the following centuries, the point to retain
here is that French presence within the province is older than the province
itself as it stands with its current borders. Franco-Ontarians are a founding
population with rights that were granted to them from the get-go.
And finally, let's not forget that the Franco-Ontarian community is not exclusive: our French culture welcomes with open arms Francophone immigrants and Francophiles alike into the folds of the pure laine population ("Pure wool" is our cutesy name for Francophones descendant of the original French colonists). More autonomy on the political and educational scene helps us build up and manage our social networks and tools to maintain the fabric of our community and promote this inclusiveness.
All in all, our goal as a distinct society is exactly that: to remain distinct and not fade into the melting-pot, culturally enriching both ourselves and contributing to Ontario's multicultural landscape.
Wait…
why bother with a French university? Doesn’t Ontario already have great
universities, nay, bilingual
universities?
Yes,
Ontario has terrific universities. But to understand the importance of French
postsecondary education, you must first remember the history of French
education in general in Ontario.
Let’s be
honest: it’s hard living in French in Ontario. With a community that barely
represents 4.4% of Ontario’s population, it’s quite a feat really that
Franco-Ontarians manage to not drown in a sea of Anglophones. The key to
maintaining that social cohesion? Education.
Schools are
one the main social environment where young Francophones get to use and apply
their mother tongue. And before the thought even crosses your mind, no, French
education is not inferior to an English one. In fact, many of the best public
schools in Ontario are French. And not to brag, but by the time students
following French classes in English schools are learning to read the equivalent
of See Spot Run, Franco-Ontarians on
the other hand are reading and analysing Shakespeare in their own English classes. As
we say, Le français ça s’enseigne,
l’anglais ça s’attrape (more or less : You learn French, but you catch
English like a cold). So don't think French schools prevent kids from learning Her Majesty's proper English. (Fun fact: the Queen speaks French too.)
Back in
1912 French education was banned in Ontario through Regulation 17. (If you want
to see a Franco-Ontarian hiss like a vampire at the sight of garlic, just
mention that name…. Règlement 17—HISSSSSSSS!).
Though fully repealed in 1944, the damage was done to generations to come. In
fact, though French elementary schools were reinstated, French high schools
were only permitted to exist as of 1968. And even then… we had to wait until 1998 for the Ontario government to
guarantee construction of these schools where the population of
Franco-Ontarians justified it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how I, your
humble servant, became the first of my family born in Ontario to officially
have a 100% French education. And it’s no exaggeration to state that my little
French high school in my little hometown is probably what saved my first language.
But that’s a story for another day… Instead, let’s go back to postsecondary
education.
As I’ve
illustrated above, French education is important in maintaining the social
cohesion of the Franco-Ontarian community. A French-language university in
Ontario would help the community come full circle with its social aspirations. And
this isn’t a spur of the moment wish from the Franco-Ontarian community: we’ve
been actively working at convincing the government to let us have our own
university for the past four decades at
least!
Bilingual
universities are important, yes. However the problem is the fact that French
programs are not controlled by the French community. French programs always end
up taking the back seat to English ones. From my own meandering experience, these
universities tend to aim for a minimum quota of French courses instead of full
programs. For example, many technical fields will offer French classes for the
first and sometimes second year of the program, but students are expected to
simply roll over and switch to English courses the remainder of their studies.
Even when excellent fully-French programs do exist, they are nonetheless
fragile. For example, since I graduated from Laurentian University in 2008, all
but one of the history professors retired. Since then, I know of only three new
professors that have been hired to replace them. That's a full decade of history students not having the benefit of having as many professors as I had when I was doing my undergrad!
The tug of
war between Francophone students and the administration over the extent and
form of French programs is a constant struggle. And sadly, most often, these
programs do not reflect the realities of Francophone academic needs. Yet again
using a personal example, after I had completed my undergrad at Laurentian
University, I chose to follow my postgraduate studies in Quebec partly for the
reputation of Université Laval but mostly because there were no specialists of
my period of study available in either bilingual university back home… This is
a reality that plagues many Francophones: sooner or later they have to face the
choice of either switching to an anglophone university or to expatriate
themselves to Quebec to maintain a French education. That also means Ontario is
losing $$$ that students could have spent back home instead. And here's to hoping these students chose to return to begin with!
Mind you
the debate still rages whether a whole French University is really necessary or
should the government simply legally impose bilingual universities to offer
more French content and professors all the while augmenting their funding to
this purpose. But no matter where you stand on these issues, the reality is
that the Doug Ford government just took a stand against the postsecondary
education of Francophones
And just to
illustrate a bit further the need for a French University, let’s check out
the 2016 census of some provinces with both a French-speaking
population and French universities:
- New
Brunswick has 231 110 native French speakers and has the Université de Moncton.
- Nova Scotia
has 29 465 native French speakers and has Université Sainte-Anne.
- Manitoba has
40 525 native French speakers and has Université de Saint-Boniface.
- Québec has
an equivalent inverse ratio of French to English speakers as Ontario, and yet their
Anglophone community gets… three English universities!
And yet, in
Ontario, with 490 720 native French speakers, we get… two bilingual universities that, as we've seen above, offer a halfhearted service to our community. What. The. Heck. If we want to be childish and
petty about it, we could oversimplify and say that according to the Nova Scotia ratio, Ontario should have sixteen
and a half Université de Sainte-Anne by now. Seriously, why does New Brunswick get
a shiny toy but the second largest French-speaking community in North America
gets the consolation prize of being kicked in the nuts by Doug Ford?
Wait…
why should I care?
Probably
for the same reasons 999 675 non-native-French-speakers in
Ontario chose to
learn the language. (And by the way, holy crap, this is the first time I’ve
paid attention to that statistic… it’s amazing to know there are basically
twice as many people who willfully chose to learn French in Ontario than people
actually born and raised into the language. To whoever you all are, I salute
you with a patriotic tear to my eye: Merci!).
But then
again, maybe you, yes you reading this, don’t speak French. Again, why should
you care? Well, first off, a society is judged by how it treats its minorities.
Number two, caring for Francophones (and Francophiles!) in Ontario actually
helps the economy. French is one of the major international languages. There
are nearly 30 French-speaking countries in the world. French is needed to
maintain and strengthen Canadian relations to these societies.
And
culturally speaking, let’s not forget that any Franco-Ontarian achievement is
by extension an Ontarian achievement. Bet you didn’t know that we supply
world-class entertainers, actors, singers, writers, political commentators,
among others? Franco-Ontarians aren’t all just sitting at home yacking in
French and scarfing poutine you know, we also
have aspirations and dreams and want to share them with the world. (And
seriously, how can you not love Damien Robitaille?)
Wait… so what
can I do?
If you want
to be a little more proactive, contacting your local MPP and MP and telling them
that you’re against Doug Ford’s cuts against our community, that would be great
help, and we thank you for it. Also, keep an eye out in your community if there
are any protests coming up (as I’m writing this, there should be a bunch on December
1st).
And from
there, don’t worry, I’m not asking you to enroll yourself in a course to learn
French (then again, if you do, good on you! Rock on.) But I do hope if everything
you’ve read above is news to you, I invite you to help us by simply being more
aware of us. Sure the language barrier makes it hard, but simply knowing we
exist and politely correcting a friend next time you hear them wonder what the
fuss is about will go a long way.
Oh, and
please listen to more Damien Robitaille. Your ears will thank you.
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