Chapter 12Topic 4: From Majority to Minority:

Francophones in the West

Topic 5: Building an Economy

From Majority to Minority: Francophones in the WestFocus: How did the arrival of so many immigrants affect Francophone peoples in Western Canada?

A Storm Brewing

• Francophone communities existed all across the prairies. Francophone Metis and Canadiens had been at home for many years and they were joined by some Francophone immigrants from France and Belgium. They hoped for a bilingual country.

• Until the late 1800s, French was the most common European language in the West. With the arrival of so many immigrants, French soon became one of the many languages spoken in the West.

• The Canadian government advertised Canada as being an Anglophone nation and new immigrants were expected to learn English.

Using French in Government

• The Constitutional Act guaranteed several things. It said that politicians speaking in the federal Parliament, or in the Assembly in Quebec, could use either French or English.

• The Act also said that law should be printed in both languages and people may use either language in court.

• In other words, by law, Canada was a bilingual country and both languages were equal in the eyes of the law.

Using French in Government

• In 1870, the Manitoba Act made French and English equal in the eyes of the government. However, in 1890, the government of Manitoba made English the only official language in the province. Francophones could no longer use French in government or courts.

• Obviously, this upset many people, and this law remained in place for 90 years. In 1979, the law was overturned. Today, the Manitoba is officially bilingual.

Using French in Government

• The North – West Territories, had been officially bilingual since 1877. In 1892, the Assembly passed the Haultain Resolution. This motion made English the only language of government.

• For almost 100 years, the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan gave no official status to French language.

• In 1988, the Supreme Court ruled the motion invalid. The lieutenant-governor of the time never proclaimed it as law. That means it was never officially a law. Both provinces responded quickly and passed laws to make English their official language.

The Manitoba Schools Questions

• Francophones struggled to protect their languages rights, but also to protect their right to separate schools.

• Initially, the first migrants to Manitoba spoke French and were Roman Catholic. Therefore, they built French Catholic schools and taught their children French, in French.

• When newcomers came, they also built their own schools – Protestant schools where the instruction was in English.

The Manitoba Schools Question

• Soon there were more Protestant schools than Catholic schools. In 1890, the government stopped funding Catholic schools. This outraged a large portion of the population because separate schools were protected in the Manitoba Act and they wanted to keep their funding. It became a national debate.

• In 1896, Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier, and Manitoba Premier Thomas Greenway reached a compromise. Catholics did receive the right to have some religious teaching in schools. Also, if there were ten or more French students, they could have French language instruction.

• However, they did not get their separate school system back.

Using French in Schools in the Northwest

• It wasn’t until the Charter of Rights and Freedoms became law in 1982 that Francophones in the West had a chance to have their education rights recognized once again.

• In the meantime, they were left to try and preserve their language in many ways such as: publishing French language newspapers; building hospitals and churches; creating social clubs. Community members also worked hard to build French radio stations such as the CHFA.

Using French in Schools in the Northwest

• Opening private schools was another strategy.

• Members of Catholic religious orders founded many schools and colleges. For example, College Mathieu was founded in 1918 in Gravelbourg, SK and is still the only operating private Francophone school in Western Canada.

Franco-Albertan Citizens in Action

• The Charter of Rights and Freedoms also gave people the right to educate their children in the minority language.

• Some provinces did not take action right away, even though they signed the Constitution. But Franco-Albertans did not give up and lobbied and protested. Within two years, they convinced two school boards to open up Francophone schools.

• Edmonton opened Ecole Maurice-Lavallee and in Calgary Ecole Saint-Antoine.

Franco-Alberta Citizens in Action

• In 1988, the Alberta government saw that they needed to change the Alberta School Act to bring it in line with the Charter. The Act was changed twice.

• It now recognizes Section 23 rights, including the right of the minority to govern schools through Francophone school boards.

• This educational right stems from the promise of Confederation – Canada would be a bilingual nation and with the French and English as equal partners.

Building an EconomyFocus: How did government policy affect the growth

of Western Canada?

Ranching in Alberta

• The NWMP were the first to point out that cattle thrived on the grasslands. There was plenty for cattle to eat, streams of water, and low hills to provide shelter.

• The federal government wanted to stop American cattle companies from buying up all the land in the Canadian West. In order to boost the Canadian cattle industry, the government said ranchers could lease 100 000 acres (about 40, 000 hectares) for up to 21 years. It would only cost $0.01 per acre per year.

Ranching in Alberta

• As ranches developed, they contributed to the Canadian economy in many ways. Ranches led to businesses that processed cattle and transportation businesses that moved cattle and meat products.

• Cities such as Calgary grew up to be cattle shipping and meat packing centres.

• Profits were good, ranchers were therefore able to buy better equipment. Grain and the oil industry developed but cattle ranching is still an important industry in Canada.

An Unfair Policy?

• Western wheat farmers believed that the federal government’s economic policies benefited Eastern Canada more than the West.

• The tariffs the Canadian government had put on foreign goods meant that farmers had to pay high prices for farm equipment. Some felt that shipping their grain could end up costing more than they were getting paid for it.

• In 1901, the Territorial Grain Growers Association, at Indian Head Association. Other associations like the United Farmers of Alberta formed in 1909.