Linguistic Assimilation-In the Prairie Provinces

i

i AN AREAL ANALYSIS OF FRENCH-CANADIAN SETTLEMENT AND LINGUISTIC ASSIMILATION-IN THE PRAIRIE PROVINCES

by MARK WISE B.A., University of Leicester, 1965

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS

in the Department of Geography

We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA September, 1969 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements

for an advanced degree at the University of British ColumbiaI agree

that the Library shall make it freely avai]able for reference and

study, I further agree that permission-for extensive copying of this

thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my

Department or by his representatives„ It is understood that copying

or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission.

Department of

The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada ii

ABSTRACT a) Basic Problem

The main question posed in this research was as follows; where exactly, and in what types of locality have those of French ethnic origin living in the Prairie provinces been most (or least) successful in pre• serving a distinctive French-Canadian culture. b) Method of Investigation i) The production.of detailed population distribution maps.rshowed

where, and to what extent, French-Canadians were areally concentrated

into distinct group settlements. It is only in such group settle•

ment that such a sub-culture can hope to survive. ii) The varying degree • of ethnic homogeneity within the various group

settlements was analysed. This study oonfirmed that the more

French Canadians were intermixed with other groups the more sus•

ceptible they would be to anglicisation and assimilation. iii) 'The varying strength of the French-Canadian position was measured by

calculating the proportion of French Canadians in each group settle•

ment belonging to a French-language parish - an institution which

has played a great role in the cultural survival of the French-

speaking minorities. iv) The areally varying strength of French-language education in the

Prairie provinces was studied. v) The areally varying degree of access to a French-language news•

papers, radio and television was analysed; vi) Population increases and/or decreases among this ethnic group were

studied. The extent of these increases and decreases, in both rural r

iii

and urban areas, affects the strength of this sub-culture. vii) A cartographic description^using the most detailed census data

available, was made of those of French ethnic origin who have

retained French as their mother-tongue. The retention of French

among this group was taken as the key index of assimilation, not

least because they have always fervently regarded such linguistic

fidelity as the essential basis of their distinctive cultural

survival. b) Conclusions i) Neither the province of Quebec, nor the French-Canadian people have

ever shown great interest in settling western Canada. ii) A considerable and increasing proportion of French Canadians in

the Prairie provinces has become completely assimilated into the

English-speaking community. However, within the group settlements

the degree to which French has been retained is often high. iii) By far the strongest French-speaking community is situated in

south-eastern Manitoba where three large rural groups focus on

the unique urban group of St. Boniface. The cultural survival of

French-Canadian communities in Alberta and Saskatchewan is much more

threatened, either by their cultural isolation from other French-

speaking groups, or by the extent to which they have been inter•

mixed with non-French-speaking groups. iv) The key socio-geographic factor in the linguistic assimilation of

western French Canadians seems to be the degree to which they are

physically intermixed with other groups. This factor emerged as iv

much more' important than other considerations such as situation in an urban or rural area, or group settlement size.

The western French Canadian sub-culture is an extremely "localised" phenomenon. Immediately beyond the "core" areas of the group settlements assimilation becomes very marked, even if a considerable number of French Canadians can still be found. Evidence of assimilation can be found even within the "cores" of some groups.

The future survival of this sub-culture depends, among other things, on strengthening French Canadian institutions within the group settlements. This applies particularly to the need to develop genuinely bilingual schools. Also a new form of "group settlement" must be developed to maintain and stimulate French-Canadian institutions and culture among the increasing numbers of Franco• phones who have left their rural communities for the larger urban areas. V.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction. p. 1

Chapter 2. The Movement of French Canadians into Western Canada. p. 5 Chapter 3. The Socio-Geographic Characteristics of French-Canadian Settlement on the Prairies. p. 21

Chapter 4' General Considerations Concerning the Settlement and Assimilation of French- Canadians in the Prairie Provinces. P- 45

Chapter 5' French-Canadian Group Settlement and Assimilation in Rural Manitoba. P. 63

Chapter 6. French-Canadian Group Settlement and Assimilation in Rural Alberta. p. 98

•Chapter 7' French-Canadian Group Settlement and Assimilation in Rural Saskatchewan p. 122

Chapter 8. French-Canadian Group Organisation and Assimilation in the Major Urban Areas of the Erairie Provinces. p. 142

Chapter 9« Conclusion. p. 160

Bibliography p. 171

Appendices pp. 173-174 vi

List of Tables

Table I Residents of Prairie Provinces Born in Quebec and Ontario, 1871-1931 - p. 11

Table II Numbers of Francophones on the Prairies Classified According to Birthplace, 1931 p« 11

Table III "Mixed-Marriages" Among Western French Canadians . p. 47

Table IV Numbers of Persons of French Ethnic Origin and of French Mother-Tongue in the Prairie Provinces in 1951 and 1961. p. 56

Table V Correlation Between "Mixed Marriages", Assimilation, and Degree of Grouping Among French Canadians in Prairie Provinces, I96I p. 59

Table VI Composite Table of Certain Comparative Data For the Main French-Canadian Group Settle• ments p. 64

Table VII Population of French Origin within French- Canadian Parishes of South-east Manitoba, 1961 pp. 65-66

Table VIII Population of French Ethnic Origin in "French" Municipalities of South-east Manitoba , p. 74

Table IX Retention, of French as a Mother-Tongue in Groups of South-east Manitoba, 1961 p. 76

Table X "French-Canadian" Schools in the Ste. Rose Settlement, 1965. p. 80

Table XI "French-Canadian" Schools in the Smaller

Franco-Manitoban.Groups p. 87

Table XII "French-Canadian" Schools at St. Laurent p. 91

Table XIII Population within the "French-Canadian" Parishes of Peace River, 1965 - P* Table XIV Population of "French-Canadian" Schools in the Peace River Group, 1967 - p- 103

Table XV Population Within the French-Canadian Parishes of the St. Paul Group, I965 p. 108 vi 1:

List of Tables - continued

Table XVI Population of "French-Canadian" Schools in the St. Paul Group, 1967 . p. 109

Table XVII Population of "French-Canadian" Parishes in the St. Albert-Group, 1965 . p. 114

Table XVIII Population of "French-Canadian" Schools in the St. Albert-Group, 1967 . p. 114

Table XIX Population in French-Canadian Parishes of the Diocese of Gravelbourg, 1967 p« 125

Table XX Population of "French-Canadian" Schools in Southern Saskatchewan, 1966 „ p. 126

Table XXI Population Change in "French-Canadian" Municipalities of Southern Saskatchewan p. 130

Table XXII Population and Assimilation Indices for Southern Saskatchewan Settlements, I96I p. 132

Table XXIII Population and Assimilation Indices for Northern Saskatchewan Settlements, I96I p. 135

Table XXIV Population of "French-Canadian" Schools of Northern Saskatchewan, 1966. p. 136

Table XXV Rural and Urban Population of French Descent in Prairie Provinces, 1951 an(i 1961 p. 143

Table XXVI Population Change Among Those of French Origin in Selected Rural Municipalities and Cities of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, 1951 and 1961 p. 144

Table XVII Population of French Ethnic Origin in Prairie Cities, 1961 p. 148

Table XVIII Population of "French-Canadian" Schools in St. Boniface, 1965 . P- 150

Table XXIX Population and Assimilation Indices within Major Prairie Cities, 1961 p. 156

Table XXX Population and Assimilation Indices in Census Tracts of St. Boniface, 1961 p. 156 viii

List of Figures and Illustrations

Figs. 1, 2, 3; Graphs Showing Changing Proportions of French, British, and "Other" Ethnic Origin in Populations of the.Prairie Provinces, 1881-1961. p. 10

Fig. 4 Changing Percentages of Persons of French Ethnic Origin in the Populations of the Prairie Provinces, I88I-I96I. p. 55

Fig. 5 Changing Percentages of Persons of French Ethnic Origin Claiming French as their Mother-Tongue in the Prairie Provinces, 1921-1961. p. 58 ix List of Maps

Map 1 Distribution of. Rural Persons of French Ethnic Origin in the Prairie Provinces 1961. p. 24

Map la General Location Map of French-Canadian Group Settlements. p. 25

Maps 2-6 Distribution of Persons of French Ethnic Origin in the Major Prairie Cities, 1961. pp. 26-28

Map 7 Distribution of French-Canadian Parishes in the Prairie Provinces, 1966 p. 29

Map 8 The Varying Degree to which Those Rural Persons of French Ethnic Origin in the Prairie Provinces Retain French as Their Mother-Tongue, 1961 p. 39

Maps 9_13 The Varying Degree to which Persons of French Ethnic Origin in the Major Prairie Cities Retain French as Their Mother-Tongue, 1961 pp. 40-42

Map 14- Areas Covered by French-Language Radio and Television in the Prairie Provinces p. 53 X

I should like to acknowledge the assistance of my adviser, Dr. J. L. Robinson, in the preparation of this thesis.

My thanks are also due to Dr. Siemans and Dr. Minghi for their help and encouragement. • 1.

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The difficulty of satisfactorily accommodating French-speaking

Canadians within the Confederation remains Canada's most urgent political problem. The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism still felt in October 1967 that this problem has confronted Canada with "the greatest crisis in its history" and "a time when decisions must be taken and develop• ments must occur leading either to its break-up, or to a new set of condi• tions for its future existence"'''. Although this problem is fundamentally one to be resolved between the Federal government and the province of

Quebec, the social position and aspirations of French-Canadian minorities in other provinces are of considerable importance for several reasons.

First of all, these minorities form a cultural bond between Quebec and the rest of Canada, and therefore they tend to counteract the provincial intro• spection of "les Quebecois". These minorities are a reminder to Quebeckers that, to turn away from Confederation is also to abandon a considerable number of their French-speaking compatriots.. Secondly these minorities are significant in that their treatment in the various "anglo-saxon" provinces is noted by Quebec as clear indication of "English" Canada's acceptance or rejection of the concepts of "duality" and "equality" between French- and English-speaking Canadians. If the Federal govern• ment is seen to fail in safeguarding the interests of these minorities, then the arguments of the separatists gain substantial support. It does not matter that the legal terms of Article 133 of the British North

America Act guarantee the official use of French only in Quebec and in the Federal parliaments and courts. Most French Canadians today, 2.

whatever their political views, feel that the spirit of Confederation

has been broken during a century in which French-speaking Canadians have

usually been treated as "foreign immigrants" outside of Quebec, particularly in the field of education. This sentiment is expressed by

Father Richard Ares, a French-Canadian journalist:

"Theoretically or ideally, these minorities ought to have received in each of their respective provinces, the same treatment that the English minority in Quebec has always obtained; that is, treatment which would have permitted them to organise themselves in order to preserve their culture and to increase in number and in "rayonnement". In practice, their conditions of existence reveal themselves to be completely different".2

Thus, there is no doubt that the status of the French-Canadian minorities is one factor of considerable importance in determining

French-Canadian conceptions of their political future. If a majority of them feel that French-Canadian culture is allowed to flourish only in Quebec, that province may well be drawn more and more towards political

separatism. However, if they can see that a Federal government is going to ensure that these minorities receive the "same treatment" as the

English-speaking minority of Quebec they may well be drawn more strongly towards the concept of one Canada "a mari usque ad mare".

Yet, despite the importance of these minorities in the question of

Quebec and Confederation, one often finds that there is a fundamental lack of information upon which to base reasoned argument about them. To overcome this problem several sources of data were utilised in this study.

First of all, the most detailed census information available (published and unpublished) was used. Secondly, field-research was carried out in the summer of 1966 among the group settlements being studied."^ From the 3. viewpoint of the historical and social geographer this information was used in an attempt to answer such fundamental questions as;

i) What interest has "been shown by the province of Quebec

and French Canadians in settling western Canada?

ii) To v/hat extent have Canadians of French descent in the

Prairie provinces remained part of French-speaking Canada?

iii) Where exactly, and in what types of localities have those

of French ethnic origin been most successful in remaining

part of Canada's "French fact"?

iv) What are the principal socio-geographic factors associated

with both cultural assimilation and persistance among this

ethnic group?

v) How far is the changing distribution pattern of western

French-Canadian settlement, created by the present-day

migrations to the large urban centres, threatening the

future of a "French fact" in the Prairie provinces?

Thus, the basic aim of this study is to make a detailed analysis of the areally varying strength of the French-Canadian sub-culture in the three Prairie provinces and to draw certain conclusions from it.

However, as an essential background to this analysis, chapter 2 begins by describing the movement of French Canadians into western Canada.

Footnotes

1. Report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. (1967) Ottawa, Vol. I, p.xvii. 2. Ares, R., "La Grande Pitie" de Nos Minorite's.,. Franchises", Relations, (Mars 1963) Montreal, p.65. t 3. During fieldwork in the summer of 1966 the following places were visited; Winnipeg, St. Boniface, St. Pierre, St. Jean Baptiste, St. Malo, Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes and other towns and villages in the group settlements of south-east Manitoba} Regina and Gravelbourg in Saskatchewan; Edmonton and St. Albert in Alberta. Information was obtained from the following organisations and institutions; Association d'Education des Canadiens Francais du Manitoba, Association Culturelle Franco-Canadienne de la Saskatchewan, Association Canadienne-Francaise de 1'Alberta; College de Saint- Boniface, College Mathieu of Gravelbourg, College Saint-Jean of Edmonton; the French-language radio-stations of C.K.S.B. St. : Boniface, C.F.R.G. Gravelbourg, C.F.N.S. Saskatoon, C.H.F.A. Edmonton, and the French-language T.V. station C.B.W.F.T. • Winnipeg; the French-language newspapers of "La.Liberte et Le Patriote" of St. Boniface, and "La Survivance" of Edmonton. The following individuals were particularly helpful in giving information and opinions; in Manitoba, Messieurs Paul-Emile Leblanc, Antoine Gaboriau, Bruno Lagace'', Roland Couture, Pere Bedard, Pere Ludger Guy s.j., and Judge Alfred Monnin; in Saskatchewan, Pere R. Beauregard o.m.i.,.Pere Alain Piche o.m.i. M. Dumont Lepage of Gravelbourg, and M. Sirois of Regina; in Alberta, Pere Jean Patoine o.m.i., Dr Joseph P. Moreau M.D., M. Roger Motut, M. Maurice Olivier and M. Bernie Gagnon of Edmonton. CHAPTER 2

THE MOVEMENT OF FRENCH CANADIANS INTO WESTERN CANADA

"In short, the Manitoba Act (1870) provided for the establishment of a new Quebec in the West"!. "Manitoba is therefore our country; within its boundaries, we are in the bosom of the mother-country ("patrie"); the flag which flies on the Quebec citadel, overshadows.us as well and permits the same language (French) to be spoken everywhere; we enjoy the same rights as our compatriots on the banks of the St. Laurent and of the Richelieu; their interests, like our own - interests of all kinds - impose on us all the duty to reunite and strengthen the bonds which unite these two French-Canadian groups situated, one at the head of ocean navigation, the other at the threshold of the future granary for a large part of the old and the new conti• nent1^.

These opening quotations indicate how, at the beginning of the great settlement movement onto the Prairies, there was both the opportunity and the will to establish a strong French-speaking element in the Canadian

West. Analysis of the extent to which the will was strong enough to grasp the opportunity is the basic substance of this chapter, which is designed to give a historical perspective to the study of present-day problems of western French Canadians.

Early Movements of French Canadians into western Canada

It was the French who first forged an economic link north of the

Great Lakes to join the St. Lawrence Lowlands and what are now the

Canadian Prairies. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries men such as Radisson and La Verendrye, impelled basically by a desire to participate in the profits of the fur trade, penetrated into the Prairies and laid the basis for Canada's (if one can call the trading area of New

France by such a name) first east-west transcontinental expression.

However, the significance of these early French movements westward should not he over-emphasised. Settlement on the land was never a motive behind this early expansion of New France, and in I786 it was estimated that only 400 French Canadians lived west of Grand Portage"^.

In fact, the main demographic influence Quebec trappers had in this area was to help in the creation of a "New Nation", as the metis populations of mixed Scottish, English, French and Indian ancestry came to call themselves. Despite the efforts of French-Canadian Catholic missionaries, who had been active at Red River and beyond since I818, these French- speaking metis (like their English-speaking counterparts) were far closer to Indian ways of life than those of Quebec. Living for the most part in serai-sedentary colonies, the metis preferred to serve the fur companies as hunters, voyageurs and interpreters and were neither extensive nor successful farmers^". These basic characteristics of the metis are emphasised in order to avoid confusion regarding the character of this early French-speaking population in western Canada. The great majority of the 5>720 French-speaking persons in the Red River settlement's I87I 5 population of 11,450 were not the same culturally as French Canadians from Quebec, despite their language and the support they received from

Quebec missionaries and a handful of "Quebecois" settlers in the colony. The "bicultural" Framework of the Manitoba Act 1870 and the North-West Territories Act 1875 Despite the fact that the French metis are a different cultural entity from French Canadians of purely "European" origin, they were largely instrumental in making early Manitoba an ideal area for French-Canadian settlement, both from a political and social standpoint. Although the metis rising led by Louis Riel in 1869 at Red River was essentially the result of a primitive semi-nomadic group attempting to resist the 6 intruding forces of a more complex and powerful society , its major result was the establishment of a "bicultural" province in which French

Canadians could settle and enjoy full linguistic and religious rights in politics and education; "The metis movement resulted in victory, but it was less a victory for the metis than for their French supporters"?. The cultural heritage of the metis did not maintain a strong "French fact" in western Canada, but their fight for ethnic survival, supported strongly by the French-Canadian Catholic clergy, had laid the basis upon which a more solid "French" presence could be built in Manitoba.

The North-West Territories Act of 1875 began the establishment of a similar bicultural framework for social and political development in the lands west of Manitoba. This Act provided that the future school system in the Territories would be modelled on that of Quebec, just as the educational system in early Manitoba followed the pattern established in that province. This meant that there was to be a board of education composed of two sections, one Catholic and one Protestant. Each section could pass regulations for the conduct of its own schools, select its 8 ! own textbooks and train its own teachers . This principle of political and social "duality" between "French" Catholics and "English" Protestants in the Territories was strengthened in 1877• for in that year the Federal

Parliament extended the application of section 133 of the British North

America Act to these newly developing lands, thus giving the English and 9 French languages equal status in the legislature and in the courts . So, at the dawn of the great era of agricultural settlement in western Canada, 8.

the Canadian Prairies had become the most favourable area for French-

Canadian immigration in North America.

The attempts to attract French-Canadian settlers to the Prairies

The Catholic clergy at Red River were under no illusions about the

fragile nature of early Manitoba's bicultural constitution. Bishop Tache'

of St. Boniface was right when he wrote;

"Numbers will fail us, and, as under our constitutional system numbers mean strength, we will find ourselves at the mercy of those who do not like us"1^.

Intense efforts were therefore made to attract French-speaking settlers not only from Quebec but from New England, where factories had become a powerful magnet for Quebeckers in the latter half of the nineteenth

century. A Catholic Colonisation Society was set up with headquarters

in St. Boniface and Montreal^ and missions were sent through Quebec and

New England in an attempt to persuade Quebeckers with thoughts of migration to forsake the factory and city of the United States for a more

"virtuous" life as farmers on the Canadian Prairies, where their language 12 and faith could be protected within the rural parish social structure .

In addition French-Canadian clergy in the East, were circulated with pamphlets designed to produce a flow of French-speaking settlers into western Canada. These pamphlets were not mere inventories of the agricultural resources of the Prairies. In many a fervent concern with the fate of French-Canadian society in the Canadian Confederation was very apparent. For instance, take the following passage, written in I887, deploring the exodus of French Canadians to New England;

"The United States is a foreign land:; it means exile; it is to quote the valiant cure Labelle ' the cemetery of our race'. We repeat that Manitoba is our country; it is a land in which our race, instead of dispersing ' and diminishing, will grow vigorous, strong, healthy 9.

and valiant, imbued with the religious, social, patriotic and traditional ideas, which have created the French- Canadian nationality; it is vital that a considerable part of this land passes into our hands in the interests of our future influence in the bosom of Confederation as well as in the more general interests of Canada and all those who inhabit her".13

In addition to the cultural and political interests which made French-

Canadian migration westward desirable, the same writer thought of commercial advantages to be gained by such a movement;

"If the West is filled with peoples sympathetic to the Province of Quebec, a new market will open for its business activities. If, on the contrary, its peoples are foreign to our race, then French-Canadian business will lose, by the same token, a great part of this advantage".14

It was not only the Franco-Manitobans who made such eloquent appeals to the French Canadians in the East. For instance, Bishop Legal of St. Albert, Alberta, was quoted as follows, in 1908, by the Rev. J.A.

Ouellette, a "missionaire colonisateur";

"But above all tell the farmers (i.e. of Quebec) that this country (northern Alberta) belongs to them; that here they will meet their compatriots and that they will find themselves transplanted in a new province of Quebee"15.

In their desire to build "new Quehecs" on the Prairies, these French

Catholic clergy of the West found some support amongst certain French-

Canadian nationalists in the East. In arguing for the need to stimulate a large migration of "British" and "French" stock to the Prairies to balance the influx of foreign immigration Olivar Asselin claimed;

"You could draw hundreds of thousands of settlers from both Ontario and Quebec tomorrow without weakening these provinces-^.

It is clear from the arguments quoted above that many French-

Canadians were not lacking the will to, establish really strong Francophone 10.

Figs. 1,2,3. Graphs showing changing proportions of French, British, and "other" ethnic origin in populations of the Prairie Provinces,1881-1961

400000

fl&l MANITOBA s 2 00.00* Key. — French — British 1871 »91 ~T5tr -sir T5U !5ti

PIG 2. SASKATCHEWAN —Other

10 104000I 1— 0-—' European / / origin / v / E / / J2 J00.000L //

c o

J L I I 1671 1691 1911 19 31 1951 1961 D Q. FIG. 3. AIDER TA. O Source. |Y 6 00.000] Census of

* 00.00 ol Canada. 1941,Vol.1. 1951, 2 / 200000 1961. « 1

1 1 I I 1671 1891 1911 1931 1951 1961 TABLE I

RESIDENTS OF PRAIRIE PROVINCES BORN IU

QUEBEC AND ONTARIO, -1-871 - 1931

Residents in Manitoba

Birthplace 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931

Ontario 118 18,744 46,620 67,566 73,110 67,206 56,613

Quebec 111 3,807 7,555 8,492 10,765 11,794 9,693 Residents in Saskatchewan

Ontario - 16,014 96,206 104,961 86,538

Quebec - - . 1,521 12,969 17,735 15,247 Residents of Alberta

Ontario 12,252 57,530 68,919 59,194

Quebec - - - 2,615 10,112 14,970 14,247

Source; Census of Canada, 1931, Vol. 1, Table 23

TABLE II

NUMBERS OF FRANCOPHONES ON THE PRAIRIES CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO BIRTHPLACE 1931

Number of $ of Total Number of Birthplace Francophones 1931 Francophones on Prairies

Quebec 39,187 66$

United States 11,127 19$ France 6,819 1115$ Belgium 1,951 3.5$

Source; Census of Canada, 1931, Vol. 1, Table 23. Census of Canada, 1931, Vol. 1, Table 56. Census of Canada, 1931, Vol. 1, Table 81. 12. communities in western Canada. The dream of "the hanks of the St.

Lawrence to the French Canadians, the hanks of the Red River to their 17 children, the hanks of the Saskatchewan to their grandchildren" was common amongst those who wanted, and indeed often thought it essential, that French Canadians become a powerful social and political entity in western, as well as eastern, Canada.

The movement of French Canadians into western Canada after I87I

Despite the appeals of the Catholic clergy and the bicultural social and political character of early Manitoba and the North-West Territories, the influx of French Canadians from Quebec and New England was insignifi• cant compared to the movement of "English" Canadians from Ontario and immigrants from Europe into the newly opened territories. The French

Canadians who did migrate to the Prairies, have remained a small minority in the Prairie provinces in relation to both those of "British" and "other European" origin (Figs. 1, 2, 3). It is important to realise that it was not just immigration from overseas that swamped the French-

Canadian element. Table I showing the number of residents living in the western provinces who were born in Quebec and Ontario is striking evidence of the way "English" Canada (i.e. Ontario) far outstripped

French Canada in settling the Canadian West.

French-speaking settlers in western Canada did not come solely from

Quebec and New England, for migrants from France and Belgium were also attracted to the Prairies. As the Canadian census does not differentiate between the ethnic origin of Canadian "French" and European "French", it is rather difficult to estimate the exact contribution of France to the

French-speaking communities of _the. Prairies. However, analysis of data 13.

concerning the birthplace of French-speaking residents in the Prairie

provincesuduring the main period of settlement provides a sufficiently-

accurate assessment of the respective contributions made by Quebec, the

United States, France and Belgium to the Francophone communities in these

provinces. In the case of those settlers born in Belgium, it is

necessary to differentiate between those of French and those of Flemish

speech, particularly as the majority claimed the latter as their mother-

tongue. Table II based on census data for 1931 - at the end of the great

settlement period - shows that Quebec was by far the most important source

of French-speaking settlers on the Prairies, followed by the expatriated

Quebeckers of the United States. France and Belgium sent far smaller, but not insignificant, numbers of Francophones into this region.

It is clear from discussion of these basic facts of French-

Canadian migration westward, that the volume of this movement was never

sufficient to fulfil dreams of building a "new Quebec" in western Canada.

Judged by the volume of migration from "English" Ontario, Anglophone

elements in Canada showed far more interest in building a nation "a mari usque ad mari" (from ocean to ocean).

Factors influencing the relative weakness of French-Canadian migration to the West

Several interrelated factors help to explain why French-Canadian

emigration to the West was so slight compared with the influx from

Ontario and overseas. The nature of Quebec society, the distance of the

Prairies from Quebec, French-Canadian provincial nationalism and the attraction of industrial employment in New England, all played their part in thwarting efforts to establish a large and influential Francophone

community on the Prairies. 1.4.

The close-knit, traditional nature of Quebec's rural society during this era was probably one factor explaining this reluctance to move far westward. It seems that economic conditions had to be very hard before many French Canadians would respond to "opportunity advertising" and leave their home parish, where their traditions, values and beliefs were

secure. This reluctance to migrate was doubtless aided by the static, essentially subsistence type of agricultural economy found in Quebec at that time. It was far more absorptive of "surplus" population than a more commercial agricultural economy, such as the one existing in

Ontario during the same period. Giraud was doubtless describing the

"absorptive" nature of Quebec's traditional rural society when he wrote;

".... French Canadians only rally to the idea of migration from Quebec during periods of difficulty, when economic conditions make it a necessity. In 1909 for example, Mgr. Begin could write to the Bishop of St. Albert that he must not hope for an appreciable recruitment of colonists in the Province of Quebec, because the ease of circumstances there, was sufficient to dissipate all inclination to migrate to the far away provinces of the West".18

Sir Charles Tupper was probably referring to the retentive power of Quebec's rural society, when he spoke before the House of Commons in 1883;

"It is known that, for whatever reasons I am unable to say, the Great, North-West has never presented the attractions to our Lower Canadian friends that it has to the great Province of Ontario; the greatest reluctance has been shown by the inhabitants of .... Quebec to leave their own Province and when they do leave it they go as short a distance from it as possible . .."1'9.

Olivar Asselin, a French Canadian, also noted that unfortunately "a 20 ' strong prejudice exists in Quebec against westward migration". No such group prejudice existed in Ontario, where rural society was far less

"traditional", far more market-orientated and far more willing to lose

"surplus" population to the "Prairies. However, it would be wrong to overemphasise the role of the rural society of Quebec and the "group" sense of French Canadians in trying to explain the lack of movement of Quebeckers to the West. As Garigue points out, "an extensive pattern of migration" is also a strong French-

21 Canadian characteristic. The estimate that from 900,000 to 1,000,000 22 of French-Canadian origin presently reside in New England, and the

1961 Census of Canada showing that 647*941 of French origin resided in

Ontario, substantiate this argument. There was obviously a considerable source of migrants within Quebec at this time, but it was far more attracted by industrial wages in nearby New England, than by the idea of pioneer agriculture in distant western Canada. It was far easier to take up unskilled industrial employment in nearby New England cities than to travel far to the West where pioneer farming required capital as well as great energy and fortitude. Moreover it is very probable that many migrating Quebeckers harboured hopes of returning to their home province and therefore preferred adjacent New England and northern or eastern Ontario to the far-away western lands. For example, in 1931

Quebec had 31,780 residents of French origin who had been born in the

United States, whereas the equivalent figure for the Prairie provinces 23 was only 11,127 persons. Believing that Quebec province was the only real stronghold of his culture in North America, the average French

Canadian seems to have been very reluctant to move far from its borders.

Note the statement of a Quebec clergyman frustrated by his inability to stop migration to the United States; "Will we be more successful if we speak to them of the North-West? To leave agriculture in one area in order to take it up again in another several hundred 16..

leagues distant will scarcely appeal to them".24

Another factor weakening French-Canadian migration to the West was the desire of many Quebec clergy and politicians to settle the province's

"surplus" population within Quebec itself. Many feared that emigration, whether to the United States or to the Canadian West, only served to weaken the home province and thus the political and social strength of

French Canadians within Confederation. Even Bishop Lafleche, who had been an important missionary in the West, gave full support to. the

Quebec colonisation schemes of Cure Labelle when he wrote;

"The valleys of the Ottawa and of Lake St. Jean offer a vasti/field for our surplus population_and.it is there that it must be guided". 25

Pamphlets, similar to those exhorting French Canadians to migrate to the

Prairies, encouraged a French-Canadian settlement movement to the "North" of Quebec, which was "rich enough to provide a living for a million 26 inhabitants" and was the "real California for our young French Canadians".

Sir Charles Tupper, in 1883, strongly supported Federal aid for these Quebec colonisation schemes in the hope that they were "more likely to accomplish the great result of keeping within the boundaries of .... Quebec that portion of its population, which otherwise, if disinclined to go to our own North-West, might find attractions in the country to the south of us".^ Cure Labelle, minister of Agriculture and Colonisation in Quebec at that time, was not totally unsympathetic to his isolated brethren in the West, for he envisaged a contiguous spreading of French-Canadian settlement westward along the C.P.B. railway from Quebec to Manitoba. In 1883 he wrote to a Franco-Manitoban;

"Have no cause for alarm; .... we are slowly advancing 17-

in*the direction of the splendid and fertile lands of the Hudson Bay region. Once there, we will shake hands".28

However, despite this rather unrealistic vision, a philosophy of

strengthening the French-Canadian position within Quebec, rather than

throughout the growing Confederation was most influential in guiding

the pattern of French-Canadian colonisation during this era. The

argument of the western clergy and others that it was essential in the

interests of French Canada's future in the Confederation to build strong

French-speaking communities in the West held little sway within Quebec

itself.

This policy of strengthening Quebec within her own borders was

doubtless intensified by a period of sharply antagonistic nationalism

in Eastern Canada after the execution of Louis Riel in I885. Although the

Riel "Rebellions" in 1869 and 1885 were essentially the result of a

primitive group, the metis, resisting the advance of an alien society,

they were mistakenly identified by some in eastern Canada as a

manifestation of the old English-French conflict continuing in the 29

developing western lands. Thus, while Wilfred Laurier emphasised to his

fellow French Canadians that, "our country is not confined to the terri•

tory over-shadowed by the citadel of Quebec; our country is Canada, it

is the whole of what is covered by the British flag on the American

continent",^ others, such as Honore Mercier exploited the execution of

Riel to gain much support for their brand of provincial nationalism.

Many Quebeckers were doubtless deterred from migrating to an area where

society seemed hostile to their culture.

Later, this reluctance must have been intensified when the suspected 1&. hostility to the French language and Catholic religion in western Canada proved to be very real. Gradually the bicultural frameworks established in Manitoba and the North-West Territories (i.e. - present-day

Saskatchewan and Alberta) were eroded away. In 1890 Manitoba abolished both the official status of the French language within the province and the dual system of separate denominational schools. In 1916 this province even abolished the fragmentary rights left to French as a language of elementary instruction by the Laurier-Greenway agreement of

1896. Likewise, the Northwest Territories abolished French as an official language in I892, whilst the School Acts passed in the two new provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan reduced French to a language permitted only for elementary instruction.

Conclusion

The "pull" factors in the early days of western settlement and the

"push" factors in Quebec were not sufficient to stimulate a really large movement of French Canadians into Canada's new lands. Despite the arguments of the western Roman Catholic clergy and others that Canada's

West was "a land of which a considerable part must pass into our hands, in the interest of our future influence in the bosom of Confederation"

(see above), Quebec leaders were more concerned to stem the flow of migration from Quebec to the United States, in order to strengthen the position of the French Canadian within his native province rather than throughout the growing Confederation.

Footnotes

1. Wade, Mason, French Canadians 1760-1945> (1956) Toronto, p. 402. 19.

2. Bernier, T.A., Le Manitoba; Champ d'immigration, (1887) Ottawa, p. 16.

3. Stanley, G.F.G., "French and English in Western Canada", in Canadian Dualism, (i960) Mason Wade (ed.), Toronto-Laval, p. 313«

4. Stanley, G.F.G., The Birth of Western Canada, (1936) p. 8.

5. Census of Canada, 1871.

6. Stanley, G.F.G., The Birth of Western Canada, (1936) pp. vii-viii.

7. Stanley, G.F.G., "The French and English in Western Canada", in Canadian Dualism,-op.cit., p. 322.

8. ibid., p. 326.

9. ibid., p. 326.

10. ibid., pp. 322-323-

11. Moore, W.H., The Clash, (1918) London, pp. 161-162.

12. Morice, A.G., History of the Catholic Church in Western Canada frora Lake Superior to the Pacific, .(1921-23). St. Boniface, p. 121 and pp. 150-151.

13* Bernier, T.A., op.cit., pp. 16-17*

14. ibid., p. 22.

15. Ouellette, J.A., L'Alberta-Nord; Region de Colonisation, (1908) p. 6.

16. Asselin, 0., A Quebec View of Canadian Nationalism, (1909) Montreal, p. 41.

17. Ouellette, J.A., op.cit., p. 27•

18. Giraud, M., "Les Canadiens francaises dans les provinces de l'Ouest", Revue de L1 University Laval, (1948) Vol.Ill, N.3, p. 229.

19« House of Commons Debates, Canada, May 17th 1883.

20. Asselin, 0., op.cit., p. 43-

21. Garigue, P., "The French Canadian Family", in Canadian Dualism, op.cit., p. 195. - - .

22. Theriault, G.F., "The Franco-Americans of New England", in Canadian Dualism, op.cit.,.p. 392. . .

23. Census of Canada, 1931, Vol.1, Table 56, p. 1008. 2Q.

Footnotes - continued

24» Giraud, M., op.cit., p. 221.

25« Wade, M., op.cit., p. 433.

26. Au Nord; published under the auspices of the Colonisation Societies of the dioceses of Montreal and Ottawa, St. Jerome, Quebec, 1883, p. 3 and p. 10.

27« House of Commons Debates, Canada, May 17th I883.

28. Auclair, Abbe E., Le Cure Labelle, (1933) Montreal, p. 183.

29. Stanley, G.F.G., The Birth of Western Canada, op.cit., pp.vii-viii.

30. Wade, M., op.cit., p. 427- 21.

CHAPTER 3

THE SOCIO-GEOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF FRENCH- CANADIAN SETTLEMENT ON THE PRAIRIES' -

The preceding chapter stated that the volume of French-Canadian migration into western Canada led to them "becoming a small minority within the total Prairie population. However, in absolute terms, the efforts of the western French-Canadian clergy to attract settlers from the East did lead to a considerable settlement of French-speaking persons on the Prairies. The remaining chapters contain an analysis which attempted to achieve the following objectives concerning this settlement:

Firstly to describe how these western French Canadians organised them• selves to ensure their cultural survival; secondly to assess what proportion of this group has been affected by this organisation; thirdly to describe exactly where such organisation has taken place; and fourthly to examine the areally varying effectiveness of this group organisation in maintaining French-Canadian culture in western Canada. By following these approaches an analysis was made of where French Canadians have established a "French Fact" most strongly on the Prairies.

It is worthwhile stressing the need, for such an analysis. In the very few writings concerning western French Canadians,little idea has been given of the degree to which this ethnic group has succeeded in concentrating itself into distinct French-speaking communities. French-

Canadian group settlements have sometimes been recognised, but no estimate of the numbers of French ethnic origin residing in such geographical concentrations has been given. The statistical analyses of R. Ares, concerning French-Canadian minorities throughout Canada, are perhaps 22. the most thorough available.''' But, useful as his studies are, they are always based on figures given for provinces as a whole and therefore include those of French ethnic origin scattered, in overwhelmingly

English-speaking environments as well as those concentrated inddistinct groups. In this way vital spatial differentiations in the strength of the "French fact" within each province are ignored and an unedifying picture is produced. It is rather misleading to read in Ares' studies that 73$ of French origin in Manitoba still claim French as their maternal tongue, whereas only 51$ make such a claim in Alberta, for the fact is that large French-Canadian groups in both of these provinces are virtually 100$ French-speaking. Even Gilles Boileau, a geographer ' 2 making two local studies of French-Canadian groups , used large census divisions (conforming poorly to the actual distribution of Francophones in the area) as a basis of his statistical analyses. Similarly, Book

I of the Report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism bases its analysis of the linguistic situation among Franco-Manitobans on data for large census divisions.^ Thus, its conclusion that 76$ of

French Canadians in south-eastern Manitoba retain French as their

mother-tongue sheds little light on the fact that a far higher degree of French-language "retention" exists in the more important "Canadien" communities of this region. TheAdetailed analysis contained in this study provides a clearer statement of French-Canadian group settlement and cultural persistence on the Prairies than has hitherto been produced.

This detailed analysis of the areally varying strength of this

"French fact" was carried out by studying certain aspects of the main socio-geographic characteristics of French-Canadian settlement in the '2a.

West. These characteristics are as follows;

a) The areal concentration of western French Canadians into distinct

group settlements.

b) The degree of ethnic homogeneity within these group settlements.

c) The "French-Canadian" Catholic parish.

d) The "French-Canadian" school. e e) French-language mass-media on the Prairies.

f) Population increase amongst western French Canadians.

g) The retention of the French language amongst western French

Canadians. a) The areal concentration of western French Canadians into distinct group settlements

The most fundamental socio-geographic characteristic of French-

Canadian settlement in western Canada has been the areal concentration of

Francophones into distinct "group settlements". The great importance of this organisational characteristic is obvious, for it is in such settle• ments that an ethnic minority provides itself with the strongest chance of cultural survival. Such group settlement provides opportunity for daily social intercourse between people of similar culture and for the establishment of distinctive "ethnic" social institutions. The Catholic clergy involved with the movement of French Canadians into western

Canada fully understood the importance of group settlement in facilitating cultural persistance. Therefore they directed French-speaking migrants towards particular areas- where they hoped to establish distinctive, ethnically homogeneous agricultural communities, which were to be socially organised within the institutional framework of the French- 4 Canadian Catholic parish. MAPI. DISTRIBUTION OF RURAL PERSONS OF FRENCH ETHNIC ORIGIN IN THE PRAIRIE PROVINCES/1961. (INCLUDES PERSONS IN TOWNS WITH POPULATIONS UP TO 5,000 PEOPLE).

One dot - represents 30persons of French ethnic origin.

Scale of miles

26.

MAPS 2,3,4,5,6. DISTRIBUTION OF PERSONS OF FRENCH ETHNIC ORIGIN IN THE MAJOR PRAIRrE CITIES, 1961.

Key to maps.

One dot- represents 100 persons of French ethnic origin 27.

MAP 2. Metropolitan Winnipeg (including St.Boniface.) 28.

MAP 3. Regina. Saskatoon

30.

The analysis of this important characteristic sought to assess what proportion of the prairie inhabitants of French ethnic origin are grouped in areas where frequent social intercourse with a French-speaking community is possible. It is important to emphasize that this analysis does not indicate how many of these areally concentrated French

Canadians do in fact participate in a French-speaking society. It merely indicates how many prairie Francophones have, by virtue of their geographical location, the chance to integrate into a distinct

French-speaking community. Maps 1 to 6 show the distribution of persons of French ethnic origin both in the rural and urban areas of 5 the Prairies. These distribution maps are very precise, for they have been produced from data provided for each rural census sub-division and urban census tract, as well as a knowledge of the distribution of

"French-Canadian" parishes (Map 7)• From examination of these maps the number of French ethnic origin concentrated in each group was counted.

When there was any doubt concerning the precise location of some French

Canadians within the vicinity of a French-speaking community, they were included as members of the group. Therefore if these population counts err at all, it is towards being rather too high. b) The degree of ethnic homogeneity within these group settlements

It was essential to examine the degree to which these settlements are uniformly French-Canadian in character, for the greater the degree of intermingling with other ethnic groups, the greater the difficulty of resisting assimilation into a solely English-speaking community. This generalisation, which was verified in the course of this study, is supported by Jacques Henripin in a more general study on the assimilation 31. of French Canadians throughout Canada. He particularly stressed the role of "mixed marriages" in leading to the assimilation and accultura• tion of these minority groups;

"If it is certain that the surrounding social milieu (le milieu ambiant) plays an important role in assimilation it really seems that the phenomenon takes place above all in the event of (mixed) marriage".6"

Similarly Dawson, in his studies of ethnic group settlements.in western Canada, repeatedly emphasized the importance of broader social contacts and the decreasing homogeneity of these group settlements as a basic factor in the absorption of minority cultures into the dominant

Anglo-american social milieu;

"Through the various avenues of social and economic penetration these ethnic groups are led to speak the official language of the region and to adopt its prevailing ways of making a living, its expenditure practices and its loyalties".7

The more uniformly French-Canadian a group settlement is, the more likely it is to resist these "social and economic penetrations".

Indices of the various degrees of ethnic homogeneity within these communities were produced by two calculations; first, the percentage of

French-Canadian children within the schools serving the group settlements, and secondly the proportion of Francophones within the parishes where

French is used totally or partially in church activities. These measures are very sensitive indices of the ethnic homogeneity of French-Canadian communities, for they are based on figures which refer to very small areal units. An index based on the percentage of French Canadians within each municipality (which often contain several."French-Canadian" parishes and schools) would be far less precise, because of the larger areas and populations involved. b) The French-Canadian Catholic Parish

The strength of the French-Canadian parish in western Canada was examined, for this has been the most important institution giving social cohesion to these French-Canadian group settlements. The parish has acted as a key instrument of cultural survival because French-Canadian clergy and their parishioners were, and in some cases still are, motivated by the belief that the guardian of the Catholic faith is the 8 French language. This religious motivation has probably been far more important than any concern for French as a language of "culture" in promoting resistance towards assimilation into English-speaking 9 society.

There is no doubt that the French-language parish has fulfilled this role as the basic social institution of "la survivance" in western

Canada; contact with any of these communities soon establishes this fact.

The clergy have always been prominent in the struggle for more use of the

French language in the education of French-Canadian children, in the various attempts to establish French-language radio-stations, in the production of French-language newspapers, and in the establishment of; such characteristically French-Canadian institutions as the "caisse populaires" (credit unions). which are as common as the parish church and parish hall in French-speaking communities. Stanley accurately stated that; "The parish organisation had contributed much to French survival in eastern Canada after 1763? in western .Canada it became the custodian of French traditions and the maternal tongue".^ The strength of this parish organisation has been assessed by calculating what proportion of the population of French ethnic origin 33. in each, of the group settlements belongs to this institution. This gives an indication of how successful the Catholic clergy were in incorporating the French-Canadian population of the Prairies within their social organisation.

The areally varying strength of this institution can also be noted by the proportion of French Canadians within each of the parishes where the

French language isuutilised. This measure of ethnic uniformity and its importance have been discussed in the preceding section, but it should be made clear that the so-called "French-Canadian" parishes are rarely wholly French in ethnic composition. In areas where Francophones are very intermingled with other groups this can be far from the case, with obvious results concerning the degree to which the French language is used in the parish, d) The "French-Canadian" School

The influence of the provincial educational systems on the persistance of French-Canadian culture in these group settlements forms an important aspect of this study, for it is in the school that a child learns many of his strongest cultural traits, particularly mastery of language. Father Ares was recognising this fact when he recently urged

Franco-Manitobans to establish really genuine "French-Canadian schools";

"That in this (French-Canadian) school, you may learn English as the necessary instrument of communication in the dominant social milieu; it is a necessity and I have no objection to it; but if you want your children ... to obtain a French intellect, spirit and mind it is necessary for you to get schools where the language of instruction and of culture is French; there is no other solution".il

Father Ares made this statement because the great majority of western 34.

French-Canadian children, including those within the group settlements, are educated within a predominantly English-language environment.

Contrary to what is often thought, these children do not attend "separate"

French-language schools, or even truly "bilingual" institutions. A few slight concessions have been made to the French language in dominantly

French-Canadian schools; for example, the subject "French" can sometimes be taught in French to French-speaking pupils. However, apart from a few private colleges providing a more truly bilingual education to a very small number of students, one must not be misled by the use of the terra "French-Canadian" school. In this study the following definition of such a school has been utilised; a school which teaches a French course organised by one of the provincial French-Canadian Associations.

The areally varying strength of the educational basis of French-

Canadian cultural survival in western Canada has been analysed in the following ways; first, by study of the extent to which the French language has been, is, and is likely to be used as a medium of instruction in western Canada; secondly, by analysis of the ethnic composition of schools serving areas of French-Canadian settlement. One of the great problems in extending French-language instruction in these communities is the ethnic heterogeneity of many schools attended by

French-Canadian pupils. The presence of a mere handful of English- speaking students in a predominantly French-Canadian school can hinder the implementation of even the slightest concessions to the mother- 12 tongue of the student majority. Thus a very valid measure of the strength of these educational foundations of western French-Canadian culture is found in a close analysis of the ethnic composition of these 35- so-called "French-Canadian" schools. The more uniformly "French" a school is, the easier it has been, and will be, to provide a French- language educational environment in these group settlements.

A third measure of the strength of this French-Canadian educational base of cultural survival is shown by the relationship between the distribution of western Francophones and the areal configuration of the school divisions which contain their group settlements. If the degree of areal correlation between the configuration of a certain school division and the spatial distribution of a particular French-Canadian group is very high, then one can usually expect a high degree of ethnic homogeneity within the schools serving the settlement. If, by contrast, the degree of correlation between these two factors is low, then one can usually expect a far greater degree of ethnic diversity within these schools, with all the consequent problems of extending the usage of

French as a language of instruction, e) French-language mass-media on the Prairies

French-language mass-media in western Canada is seen by western

French Canadians as a vital means of counterbalancing the alien "social and economic penetration" of their group settlements. The written word, radio and television of the dominant Anglo-american milieu can penetrate and be effective forces for cultural change in the most ethnically homo• geneous of French-Canadian communities. Even the individual French-

Canadian home, which is the ultimate bastion of the French language in

Western Canada, has been deeply influenced by English-language mass-media.

The following appeal for French-language radio-stations on the Prairies, reflects this situation clearly; 36.

"In leaving school each evening he (the French-Canadian child) returned to a sanctuary enlightened with the glory of Catholic and French traditions. He could therefore resist the prevailing social milieu.. Today, by means of the radio, the language and the thought of anglo- protestants have invaded and violated our homes .... the home is no longer the oasis which revives and lifts one up after a day of hardship". 13

Such an impassioned statement (made in 1944) would not be typical of most present-day western French-Canadian leaders, but it does describe the ever-present and increasing problem of counterbalancing the all- pervasive dominance of the Anglo-american culture in education, work and recreation. By describing the availibility of French-language newspapers, radiouand television in the various regions of French-

Canadian settlement, an indication of the strength of these vital instruments of cultural persistance was given, f) Population increase amongst western French Canadians

Chapter 2 noted that the immigration of French-Canadians into the West was insufficient to balance the inflow of settlers with other cultural backgrounds. Thus, increasingly great hopes were placed on the traditional fecundity of French-Canadian families as the force which would supplement this meagre rate of "French" immigration. Indeed, many envisaged that a high French-Canadian birth-rate would lead not only to a survival of French culture on the Prairies, but an expansion of it throughout the West. The following statement was written in 1928;

"A powerful birth-rate making up for insufficient immigration has permitted them (i.e. the French- Canadians) to consolidate their position. . One day their small centres, isolated and dispersed in all directions, will be able, in some cases at least, to reduce to nought the distances between them. 37.

This day will have seen the creation of compact and solid groups, which nothing will he able to breach".^

Although this writer obviously depended on a high birth-rate to

strengthen the demographic position of this group, this study is not

concerned with making a detailed analysis of the particular contributions

made by either natural increase or immigration to the western French-

Canadian population after the initial era of settlement. For our

purposes it is sufficient to note various population increases and

decreases as established facts and to assess their significance in

strengthening, or weakening, the Francophone communities of the

Prairies.

This assessment has been carried out, for the most part, by

comparing the numbers andpproportion of French ethnic origin in the principal French-speaking municipalities in the years 1921 (the end

of the initial period of settlement) and 1961. If the proportion of

French-Canadians in a particular municipality has increased significantly

since 1921 then it is reasonable to conclude that, in demographic terms

at least, the French-speaking group has consolidated and extended its influence in that particular area; conversely, the opposite may be

inferred if the French-Canadian proportion has declined. Obviously an

increase in the proportion of Francophones in a particular municipality, does not necessarily indicate that there was an absolute increase in the numbers of French descent in that municipality between 1921 and I96I. In

fact, the migration of French Canadians from their rural groups to the

cities, often leads to an absolute decrease in numbers within these 38.

communities. However, in assessing whether the relative importance

of a French-Canadian community has grown in a particular municipality

or area vis-a-vis other ethnic groups, proportional increases or

decreases are the most significant figures, regardless of absolute

population changes in the areas concerned. (A discussion of French-

Canadian migration from rural groups to the cities is found in

chapter 8).

g) The retention of the French language amongst western French Canadians

In the above paragraphs the main socio-geographic characteristics of western French-Canadian settlement have been outlined, with explanations

of why and how these features were studied. The fundamental purpose behind the analysis of these characteristics was to produce an under•

standing of the areally varying strength of French-Canadian group

settlement in the Prairie provinces. Although this analysis provides insight into the nature of French-Canadian efforts to build the foundations of a French culture in western Canada, it does not indicate how strong these foundations have proved in attempting to prevent the assimilation of Francophones into the English-speaking community. In order to assess the areally varying degreeoof anglicisation in these communities, a detailed examination of the proportion of French ethnic origin who still claim French as their mother-tongue was carried out for the whole of the Prairies. The degree to which those of French descent have retained French as their maternal-tongue is a particularly valid index of French-Canadian assimilation into a different community, for this group has traditionally laid great stress on the preservation of their language as the guardian of their particular cultural and social MAP 8 THE VARYING DEGREE TO WHICH THOSE RURAL PERSONS OF FRENCH ETHNIC ORIGIN IN THE PRAIRIE PROVINCES RETAIN FRENCH AS THEIR MOTHER TONGUE,1961.

95%-100% retain French as their mother tongue

85%-94 9%

75%-84 9%

1111 > i i IIIII 65%-74 9% I I Mil

557.-64-9%

Illll below 55% lllllll (Source: Census of Canada, 1961,unpublished data)

Scale of Miles 40.

MAPS 9r-13. THE VARYING DEGREE TO WHICH PERSONS OF FRENCH ETHNIC ORIGIN IN THE MAJOR PRAIRIE CITIES RETAIN FRENCH AS THEIR MOTHER TONGUE 1961.

Key to maps >

95%-100% retain French

85%-94-9%

75%-84-9% »

!!!!! 65%-74-9%

55%-64-9%

below 55%

(Source:Census of CanadaJSSI, unpublished data.) 41. 42.

MAP 10. Regina. MAP 11. Saskatoon. 43. values. As Jean-Guy Vaillancdurt points out, there are still those

"who believe that the language is the guardian of the faith" and for whom "the language (often badly spoken) becomes a simple instrument 15 for the preservation of restricted religious values".

The degree to which those of French ethnic origin retain French as their mother-tongue in the Prairie Provinces has been mapped from detailed (and unpublished) census data. In each census sub-division and urban tract of these provinces, the adherance of those of "French" descent to the French language was measured by a "retention index".

This index was calculated by establishing the proportion of people of French mother-tongue in relation to the total number of those of

French ethnic origin in each sub-division and tract. Maps 8 to 13 show the areal variations in assimilation revealed by this retention index. Footnotes

1. Ares, R., "La Grande Pitie'de Nos Minorite's Francaises", Relations, (March 1963) Montreal, pp. 65-68 and "Corapartement linguistique de minorites francaises au Canada", Relations, (May 1964) pp. 141-144*

2. Boileau, G., Les Canadiens Francais de la Riviere-la-Paix and Les Canadiens Francais de la Region de St. Paul. Etudes realisees. par les Services de Recherches de la Societe"Canadienne d'Etablissraent Rural, (1965).

3. Report of the Royal Commission Inquiry on Bilingualism and Bicultur• alism, (1967) Ottawa, Vol. I, p. 35*

4. For examples of such direction see; Bernier, T.A., Manitoba; Champ d1 Immigration, (1887) Ottawa, pp. 90T-94»

5. The definition of "rural" in this study includes all settlements below a population.of 5,000 persons. The Canadian census defines all settlements below 1,000 population.as rural, but it was felt that prairie towns below a population of 5,000 are essentially rural in character. 44.

6. Henripin, "Aspects Demographiques", in Canadian Dualism, (i960) Toronto-Laval,.p.173.

7. Dawson, CA., Group Settlement; Ethnic Communities in Western Canada, (1936) Toronto, p.xvi.

8. See for instance; Baudoux, Mgr. M., Problemes des Minorites, (1944) Montreal, pp. 18-19.

9. A point emphasised in many interviews.

10. Stanley, G.F.G., "French and English in Western Canada", in Canadian Dualism, (i960) Toronto-Laval, p. 332. ...

11. Ares, R., "Les chances d'une survivance francaise au Manitoba II", Relations,-(Dec. 1964) p. 357-

12. See, "Memoire presented by the Association des Educateurs Bilingues de 1'Alberta to the Royal Commission Inquiry on Bilingualism and Biculturalism", (1964) p. 6.

13« Baudoux, Mgr. M., op.cit., p. 14.

14. Demanche, G., Canada. Cinquante annees de peuplement, (1928) Paris, p.92.

15' Vaillancourt, J-G., "Les Franco-Manitobains: Realites mouvantes et pluralisme ideologlque", in La Liberte'et Le Patriote, St. Boniface, Manitoba, 8th April, 1965. 45.

CHAPTER 4

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING THE SETTLEMENT AND ASSIMILATION OF FRENCH-CANADIANS IN.THE,PRAIRIE PROVINCES

Before making a detailed examination of each group settlement, this chapter deals with some general observations on French-Canadian settlement and assimilation in the Prairie provinces as a whole. In proceeding from a general to a more specific analysis the importance of spatial variations in the strength of the French sub-culture in each province will be emphasised. a) The areal concentration of western French Canadians into distinct group settlements - general considerations

In 1961 there were 227,079 of French ethnic origin in the three

Prairie provinces; that is 83,936 in Manitoba, 59,824 in Saskatchewan and 83,319 in Alberta.Maps 1 to 7 show how many of these persons of

French descent were grouped into distinct French-Canadian communities.

The maps indicate that approximately 95,240 - only 42$ of the population of French ethnic origin - were grouped into recognisably French-Canadian communities, occupying distinct geographical areas and focussing on

French-language parishes. This fact reveals a gross misconception held by some Canadians; namely the belief that most persons of French origin in the Prairie provinces are found in distinct groups. For instance, in a discussion of this minority's problems, Mgr. Baudoux could state;

"The great majority of our own (i.e. western French Canadians) are grouped in little parishes, having at their head priests of our race, living in the shadow of a church-tower, which shelters a school, homes and shops where the French language is heard".2

But the fact is that no province in western Canada has the "great 46. majority" of its "French" population concentrated in these group commun• ities. Even in Manitoba, where the French-:Canadian position is relatively strong, only 42,400 - about 51$ of Franco-Manitobans - were

concentrated in the province's rural and urban French-Canadian group communities. In Saskatchewan about 26,750, or 44$ of its "French" population, were so grouped, while the equivalent number in Alberta was an estimated 27»000, or just 33$ of the Franco-Albertan population. b) The degree of ethnic homogeneity within these group settlements - general considerations

It is necessary to retain a broad perspective when the degrees of ethnic homogeneity in the various communities are discussed. Although some of these communities are very uniformly "French" in ethnic character, it must always be remembered that in the Prairies as a whole the French

Canadians form but a small, essentially dispersed minority amidst an all- pervasive Anglo-american milieu where English is the dominant language of work, education, and much recreation. The use of English penetrates deeply into the most homogeneous of French-Canadian communities, while

French is restricted by force of circumstance to part-time use in a limited "ethnic" milieu. No degree of social organisation and ethnic uniformity within these group settlements could prevent the dominant

English-language culture from inducing considerable cultural change within this small isolated ethnic milieu.

It has been pointed out that one of the major factors in the assimilation of French-Canadian minorities seems to be mixed marriages between those of French and other ethnic types. Such marriages are likely to be most numerous where French Canadians are but one ethnic group in TABLE III - "MIXED MARRIAGES" AMONG WESTERN FRENCH CANADIANS

Province Number of Number of Number of Number of $ of "Mixed and Husbands of Wives of Marriages "Mixed Marriages" in Year French Ethnic French Ethnic With Both Marriages" Relation to Origin Origin Husband and Involving Persons Total Number Wife of French of French .of Married Ethnic Origin Ethnic origin Persons of French Ethnic Origin

MANITOBA 1951 11,590 12,537 7,839 8,449 35$ 1961 14,627 15,746 9,209 11,955 39$

SASKATCHEWAN 1951 9,298 9,745 5,359 8,325 44$ 1961 10,450 11,336 5,276 11,234 52$

ALBERTA

1951 10,216 10,922 5,227 IO.684 51$ 1961 14,878 16,036 6,397 18,120 59$

Sources: Census of Canada, 1951 • Vol. Ill, Table 144 Census of Canada, I96I. Vol. II, Table 96 very heterogeneous communities. Table III reveals the number of "mixed

marriages" among western French Canadians in the ethnically diverse.

Prairie provinces. It is significant that the percentage of "mixed

marriages" in each province correlates clearly with the proportions of

French descent who are grouped in distinct French-Canadian communities within each province (see section (a) above). Manitoba, with half of its "French" population concentrated in group settlements, has far fewer

"mixed marriages" than Alberta, which has only one-third of its population of French origin in such communities. Saskatchewan, with about 44$ of its "French" population rather more loosely grouped in many small, scattered communities, has about half of its married people of

French descent married to persons of a different ethnic origin. Clearly there is an important relationship between the degree to which French

Canadians are "grouped" and the frequency of this type of "mixed marriage". It is also important to note that the number and proportion of these marriages increased considerably in the last intercensal period, c) The French-Canadian Catholic Parish - general considerations

Comparison of Map 7 (which shows the distribution of parishes using the French language totally or partially in church activities) with Map 1

(which shows the distribution of rural persons of French origin) reveals the great success of the French-Canadian clergy in establishing French- language parishes wherever French-speaking communities have grown up.

Apart from this general observation, analysis of this institutional characteristic is confined to the more detailed discussions found in the following chapters. d) The "French-Canadian" School - general considerations

The provincial school systems of the three Prairie provinces have made very few concessions to the French language in schools which are pre dominantly French-Canadian in character. French may sometimes he used to teach the subjects "French" and "religion" to French-speaking children, but throughout most of this century provincial laws have decreed that

English shall be the language of instruction everywhere regardless of ethnic heritage. Important changes are presently underway in Manitoba, but as yet the general situation remains whereby western French Canadians are educated very largely through the English language. The French-

Canadian educational associations of each province organise French courses for French-speaking children in an effort to help preserve the language, but the efficacy of these courses is obviously reduced by the overwhelming dominance of English in the schools. For instance, a recent report of L'Association Culturelle Franco-Canadienne de la

Saskatchewan identified problems familiar to all western "French-

Canadiari' schools;

"They (i.e. the French-Canadian students) follow the A.C.F.C. (Association Culturelle Franco-Canadienne) French program, but because of the very limited time allotted to the teaching of the A.C.F.C. program, and since the language of the classroom is English, since the schoolroom, the schoolyard,' television, newspapers, sports, magazines etc. all convey English and American culture only, these French students are becoming less and less fluent in the French tongue. Since the language.is the proper vehicle for its particular civilisation, we face the dim fact that to them American culture is rapidly becoming more familiar than their own French culture."3

There are exceptions to this general rule of an English-language education for western French Canadians. The College of St. Boniface,

the College Mathieu de Gravelbourg and College St. Jean in Edmonton

provide a "French" or genuinely bilingual education at both high-school

and university level. However, only a very small proportion of western

French-Canadian students are educated in these institutions, which,

significantly, lose a considerable number of their graduates to Quebec.

In I965-66 the total enrollment of high-school and university students

at College St. Boniface was just 355 students, while.: the equivalent numbers for College Mathieu and College St. Jean v/ere 238 and 350

respectively. These enrollment figures are perhaps rather misleading

indicators of v/hat proportion of western Francophones have been educated in a "French" or "bilingual" environment, for in solidly

French-speaking areas children have been instructed in their mother- tongue in defiance of the law.^ Nevertheless, this use of "outlaw"

French has been decreasing as schools have become larger and more ethnically heterogeneous. Another factor working against this illegal use of French, is the increasing necessity for young western French-

Canadians to compete for jobs outside of their rural community and in the increasingly urban-industrial English-speaking society of the West.

This necessity is forcing "French-Canadian" schools to follow the directives of the provincial education departments more rigidly and to 5 use English as the language of instruction. In some instances, this desire to compete equally in the English-language occupational world of western Canada tends to reduce the importance of the little French which is_ used; for example, in their report to the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, the Association des Educateurs

Bilingues de 1'Alberta wrote the following;

"Students, parents and teachers all attach great importance to success in the courses set by the Minister of Education, above all to success in the ninth and twelfth grades. Thus, in the homes of bilingual students, the courses which are given in English become more important than the teaching of French."6

It is obvious that French-speaking communities on the Prairies would like more use of French in the schools which serve them. Unfortunately, there are problems, common to all these provinces, which face those who wish to increase the educational employment of this language. For instance there is the problem of obtaining well qualified French- speaking teachers for truly bilingual schools. There is little point in trying to extend bilingualism in the schools of French-speaking communities if there are not enough teachers capable of teaching in French.

In the report cited immediately above, the bilingual teachers of Alberta stated;

"Many teachers made their pre-university studies at schools where they were offered but one hour of French per day and have received their professional training at teaching institutions in provinces where there is an English-speaking majority; it is therefore not surprising that about half of the teachers themselves (i.e. the bilingual teachers) admit that, because of their turns of phrase and their deficient, anglicised vocabulary, they do not feel themselves competent to teach the French language."7

This is not a problem restricted to Alberta. Yet this province has probably done more than the others towards solving it by gaining pro• vincial recognition to a College d'Education (affiliated to College St.

Jean) which, since 1963, has been preparing teachers for the French- 52.

Canadian schools of Alberta (see chapter 6).

Another problem facing the extension of French as a language of instruction on the Prairies is the ethnic diversity of many school divisions and schools serving the French-Canadian group settlements

(see chapter 3, section (d)). When the basic unit of school organisation was the small autonomous school district it was often easy to continue the illegal use of French in the schools of French-Canadian districts, because these small areal units were often solidly French-speaking.

During the 1930's however, the demand for larger, more efficient school divisions threatened the autonomy of these small, ethnically homogeneous 8 units. In 1936 Alberta began the amalgamation of local school districts into larger, more ethnically diverse school divisions, while; Saskatchewan followed suit in 1944* ln 1945 similar efforts were made by the Manitoba government to enlarge the basic unit of school administration, but the

Franco-Manitoban minority was able to prevent such legislation being 9 imposed on objecting school districts. This provincial minority realised that the creation of larger school divisions and the consequent creation of larger ethnically diverse schools would severely curtail the use of "outlaw" French. However, it needs but one solely English- speaking child in a "French-Canadian" school, to ensure that English is the only language of instruction. Thus, even Franco-Manitobans, who have been far more successful than the other provincial minorities in dealing with the associated problems of school district amalgamation, (see chapter

5), can expect opposition from English-speaking parents in their efforts to extend the use of French in the schools where they are the dominant MAP1A. AREAS COVERED BY FRENCH- -LANGUAGE RADIO AND

1 TELEVISION IN THE PRAIRIE PROVINCES. Key. "\ Areas of radio coverage NN television + French-language radio station, o " television

SC tlE OF MILES. . 0 50 54.

ethnic group.

These general considerations provide the broad perspective with which to view the more particular educational problems of each province and group settlement. They clearly underline the great overall weakness of the educational basis for French-Canadian cultural survival in the

Prairie provinces. e) French-language mass-media on the Prairies - general considerations

Within the last twenty years western French Canadians have

established a network of French-language radio-stationss which broadcast programmes to all the main areas of French-Canadian settlement on the

Prairies (Map 14)• This coverage supplements the two weekly French- language newspapers of the West, which are readily available to all western Francophones. However, this French-language mass-media, wide• spread as it may be in areal terms, is slight in quantity as a counter• balance to the multitude of daily newspapers and journals, and the numerous television and:.radio-stations utilising the English language.

Even if the dutiful French Canadian reads his "La Liberte' et Le

Patriote" or "La Survivance", he relies on English-language daily news• papers for most of his information. The introduction of regular French- language television into all western Canada (as yet only Franco-

Manitobans around Winnipeg enjoy this privilege) would certainly improve the situation, for at present there is little doubt that western French

Canadians are influenced more by English-language mass-media than by the French counterpart. f) Population Increase amongst western French Canadians - general considerations Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show that the population of French ethnic origin Fig. A. Shows changing % of persons of French ethnic origin in the populations of the Prairie Provinces, 1881-1961.

.MANITOBA

-SASKATCHEWAN •ALBERTA

J. 1»71 1891 1911 1931 1951 19S1 Source. Census of Canada.19A1, Vol.1, Table 33. II IS II 1951, •• 2, -49. 11 ii II 1961 » 1, •• 65.

VJ1 VJ1 TABLE IV

NUMBER OF PERSONS OF FRENCH ETHNIC ORIGIN AED OF FRENCH MOTHER4-TONGUE IU THE PRAIRIE PROVINCES . . IN 1951 AND 1961 ...

1951 1961 6 Persons of Persons of Persons of Persons of French. French French French Ethnic Origin Mother-Tongue Ethnic Origin Mother-Tongue

MANITOBA 66,020 54,199 83,936 60,899

SASKATCHEWAN 51,930 36,815 59,824 36,163

ALBERTA 56,185 34,196 83,319 42,276

SOURCES Census of Canada, 1951, Vol. II, Table 5. Census of Canada,' 1951, Vol. II, Table 22. Census of Canada, 1961, Vol. I, Table 82. Census of Canada, 1961, Vol. II, Table 96. in the Prairie provinces has continued to increase. Moreover, as reference to Pig. 4 reveals, the proportion of French descent in each of these provinces has gradually "become larger throughout this century.

In assessing the importance of these increases in strengthening the western French-Canadian sub-culture, two main general points emerge.

First of all, one can note that the increase in the population of

French origin has had the overall effect of leading to a continuous increase in the numbers of Prairie dwellers claiming French as their mother-tongue (Table IV). This increase in the number of "natural"

French speakers has taken place despite the increasingly large number of French descent who claim English as their maternal language (see below). Thus, in general terms, population increase among western

Francophones is still compensating for the linguistic losses inflicted by the process of assimilation into an English-speaking society.

Nevertheless, an ominous indication of the future can be found in

Saskatchewan where, between 1951 and 1961, there was an absolute decrease in the number of persons claiming French as their mother tongue, despite an absolute increase of 7»894 in the population classified as "French" in ethnic origin (see Table IV).

A second general observation emerges from an assessment of the significance of these increases in the "French" population. To assess the real significance of these increases it is necessary to discover exactly where this augmentation of the population is taking place - total figures for each province are not sufficient. The analyses contained in the following chapters show that the bulk of this population 58.

Fig.5.Shows changing0/© of persons of French ethnic origin claiming French as their mother-tongue in Prairie Provinces.

1 oo-/.

90 V.

« 0'/.

MANITOBA

7 0 V.

6 0 V. N '\SASK. \ \ \ X \

5 0*'. i AL BERTA 1921 19 31 19 41 1951 1961 Source. Census of Canada,1921,Vol.2, Table 8.1. 1931, M A, " 61. '1941, •• 2, 30. 1951 » 2, » 49. 1961' -1, 65. TABLE V CORRELATION BETWEEN "MIXED-MARRIAGES", ASSIMILATION AND DEGREE OF "GROUPING" AMONG FRENCH -CANADIANS IN PRAIRIE PROVINCES, 1961

Province $ of French Mother $ of Provincial $ of "Mixed-Marriages" Tongue in Relation Populations of in Relation to . to Number of French Ethnic Number of Married French Ethnic' Origin in French Persons of French Origin in 1961 -Canadian Group Ethnic Origin, I96I Settlements, I96I

MANITOBA 73$ 51$ 39$

SASKATCHEWAN 61$ 44$ 52$

ALBERTA 51$ 33$ 59$

Source: Census of Canada, 1961, Vol. I, Table 120. see also; Chapter 4 sects, a and b. increase is augmenting the numbers and proportion of French Canadians in overwhelmingly English-speaking environments, rather than in the rural group settlements whioh form the basis of the French-language sub-culture in western Canada. The contemporary urbanisation of the

Prairies' population is taking young French Canadians away from these rural strongholds and scattering much of the increase in French-

Canadian population into totally non-French environments where their chances of helping to maintain a "French fact" in the West are slight -

(see chapter 8, Table XXV). Obviously one must be wary of seeing too much significance in the overall increases of the western French-

Canadian population. g) The retention of the French language among western French Canadians - general' considerations

The prop©rtioa*'of French ethnio origin in the Prairie provinces who claim French as their mother-tongue has declined continually in the three provinces between 1921 and 1961 (Fig. 5)• This loss of the French language, which has been taken as the main index of assimilation, has been considerable when these provinces are viewed as a whole. In 1961, only 72.6$ of the population of French ethnic origin in Manitoba still claimed French as their mother tongue, while equivalent figures for

Saskatchewan and Alberta were 60.5$ and 50*8$ respectively. One may note the correlation between these figures of language loss, the estimates of how many western French Canadians were "grouped" in distinct communities, and the proportions of "mixed marriages" among those of French descent

(Table V).

This strong correlation between the degree of "grouping" and the .61-

degree of "assimilation" raises an important point; to gain real

insights into western French-Canadian culture, one must concentrate

study on the group settlements. The overall provincial language

loss figures quoted in Table V tell one, by themselves, little about

the strength of the western French sub-culture. It is inevitable

that many of those persons of French-Canadian descent scattered in

overshelmingly Anglo-american social environments become assimilated into a completely English-speaking community. The fact that this occurs is not in itself a reflection of the vitality of western

French-Canadian culture. To seek deeper understanding concerning the strength of the French sub-culture on the Prairies this study has progressed beyond these overall indices of assimilation for each province and measured the degree of language loss and cultural persistence within each distinctive group settlement where it is reasonable to expect that a French-Canadian culture might survive. It is far more important to realise that the "Canadien" groups along the Red River valley are almost 100$ French-speaking, than to know that 72.6$ of Manitoba's total population of French origin claim French as their mother tongue.

Conclusion

One of thexmain points to arise out of this general discussion of the factors associated with French-Canadian cultural survival on the Prairies has been that general arguments, facts and figures concerning the strength of the "French fact" in this part of Canada can be very misleading. In the detailed analyses of the various group settlements, many of the popular misconceptions based on such 62. generalities were dispelled. In order to establish, a clear picture of where the most solid foundations of French-Canadian cultural survival have been laid, the various settlements were discussed in

separate chapters each dealing with a particular province. This plan of discussion was chosen for two reasons. First, the unique complexes of factors associated with each of these communities made it difficult to group these various communities into really meaningful categories suitable for separate discussion. Secondly, it is at the provincial level that most of the larger French-Canadian institutions operate and it is with their respective governments that v/estern Francophones negotiate to improve their position.

Footnotes

1. Census of Canada, 1961, Vol. I., Bulletin 1.2-5*

2. Baudoux, Mgr. M., Problemes des Minorites, (1944) Montreal, p.4.

3. Brief submitted to the Saskatchewan Committee on Instruction in Languages other than English from L'Association Culturelle Franco-Canadienne de la Saskatchewan et L'Association des Commissaires d'Ecoles.

4. Field notes.

5. Field notes; also noted by -Creery, T.W.H., French for the French in English-speaking Canada, (1963) p. 14 (booklet containing series of newspaper articles in Southam Press).

6. Memoire presented by L'Association des Educateurs Bilingues de L1 Alberta to the Royal Commission Inquiry on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. (1964) St. Paul, Alta., p.5*

7. ibid.

8. Stanley, G.F.G., "French and English in Western Canada", in Canadian Dualism, (1958) Toronto-Laval, p. 337*

9* ibid., p. 339- 63.

CHAPTER 5

FRENCH-CANADIAN GROUP SETTLEMENT AND ASSIMILATION "IN RURAL-MANITOBA

The most successful group organisation of western French

Canadians has taken place in south-eastern Manitoba where three of the largest rural concentrations of persons of French descent focus on St. Boniface, the one strong urban community of French-;- speaking persons west of Lake Superior. In analysing the strength of this French-Canadian group settlement in south-eastern Manitoba, the plan of discussion established in chapters 3 and 4 is followed. a) The areal concentration of south-eastern Franco-Manitobans into group settlements

Reference to Map 1 and Table VI shows that the group settle• ments of south-eastern Manitoba are among the most compact and numerically strong French-Canadian communities on the Prairies - only the settlements of northern Alberta compare in size. This foundation for cultural survival, based on numerical strength, is made firmer in southern Manitoba by the fact that these three rural groups are closely adjacent to one another. Moreover, they arev situated near to the French-Canadian stronghold of St. Boniface, which is a very, important cultural centre for western Francophones

(see chapter 8). The close juxtaposition of these southern Manitoban communities facilitates considerable social interaction amongst them, particularly between the rural groups and St. Boniface.* This social interaction enables one to refer to a single community of

35,000-40,000 French Canadians focussed on the strongest centre of TABLE VI COMPOSITE TABLE OF CERTAIN COMPARATIVE DATA"FOR THE MAIN FRENCH-CANADIAN GROUP SETTLEMENTS

Group Estimated Number of Proportion Proportion Number of Proportion of Settlement Number French- of Estimated of French- French French Canadian! Name in Group Canadian Broup in Canadians Canadians -in "French- Parishes Parishes in population in "French- Canadian in parishes Canadian" Schools Schools.

Red River 7,450 12 94$ 94$ 2,450 90$ Seine River 5,700 11 100$ 91$ 1,824 87$ Assiniboine 7,970 13 85$ 83$ 1,684 76$ Ste. Rose 2,685 3 - . - - 401 70$ St. Laurent 1,246 2 384 83$ Gravelbourg 2,585 6 -73$ -60$ 623 59$ Willow Bunch 1,926 4 68$ 50$ 344 51$ Ponteix 1,625 4 70$ 78$ 252 73$ Shorthoaks 1,231 4 - - - - 367 86$ St. Louis 3,690 5 915 69$ Lake Lenore 1,170 1 - - 175 53$ Spiritwood- - - • Canwood 2,480 6 - - 607 60$ Battleford 1,800 4 - 380 75$ Meadow Lake 1,500 2 - - 57 32$ Zenon Park 1,660 2 300 91$- Peace River 6,600 11 -93$ -86$ 1,769 77$ St. Paul 8,290 11 83$ 61$ 2,325 63$ Lac-la-Biche 2,000 3 57$ 34$ 425 56$ St. Albert 7,515 6 46$ 43$ 1,533 38$

Source: see tables VII, X, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XCIV ON 4*. 65.

TABLE VII

POPULATION OP FRENCH ORIGIN WITHIN FRENCH-CANADIAN PARISHES - OF SOUTH-EAST MANITOBA 1961

Group and Total Population of $ of Population Parish. Population of French Ethnic of French Origin Parish in 1961 . Origin in the Parish

RED RIVER 1) St. Joseph 470 417 88 2) Letellier 366 349 95 3) St. Jean Baptiste 1,020 1,020 100 4) Morris 214 149 69 5) Auhigny 439 413 94 6) Ste. Elizabeth 225 214 95 7) St. Malo 1,165 1,143 98 8) St. Pierre 1,475 1,423 96 9l St. Agathe 626 616 98 10) St. Adolphe 622 583 93 11) La Salle 457 318 69 12) Otterhurne 386 363 91 TOTAL 7,465 7,008 94$

SEINE RIVER 1) 11e-de s-Chene s 636 569 89 2) Lorette 1,146 1,006 87 3) St. Genevieve 332 293 88 4) Ste. Anne 1,366 1,324 96 5) Richer 665 654 98 6) La Broquerie 1,050 962 91 7) Marchand 181 142 78 8) Woodridge 293 227 77 9) St. Labre 170 168 - 99 10) Vassar 226 182 80 11) Sth Junction 191 . 163 85 12) Rita 109 86 78 TOTAL 6,365 5,776 91 66.

Table VII - contd.

Group and Total Population of $ of Population Parish Population of French Ethnic of French Origin Parish in 1961 . Origin in the Parish

ASSINIBOINE 1) Fannystelle 369 301 81 2) Haywood 630 589 94 3) St. Claude 1,318 1,255 95 4) Treherne 182 97 54 5) Notre-Dame-de- Lourdes. 1,079 1,045 97 6) Bruxelles 460 193 42 7) Mariapolis 502 318 63 8) Somerset 719 592 82 9) Rathwell 197 91 46 10) St. Lupicin 232 166 72 11) St. Francois ) Xavier ) 1,880' 12) St. Eustache ) estimated* 13) Elie ) 14) Dunrea 200 estimated* TOTAL (excluding 5,688 83$ estimates) 4,647

(W.B. *Some degree of estimation was involved in determining the number of French ethnic origin in these parishes, for the necessary data was not available. These estimates were based largely on census date for municipalities; it is likely that they tend towards being rather conservative).

Sources Archdiocese of St. Boniface. French-language institutions in western Canada. Nowhere else on the

Prairies can one find individual group settlements "belonging to such a large, hut distinct community. b) The degree of ethnic homogeneity in the group settlements of south-eastern Manitoba.

The degree of ethnic homogeneity in the communities of south• eastern Manitoba is very high, especially in relation to French-

Canadian groups elsewhere on the Prairies (Table VT). This high degree of uniformity varies between the different groups, as the varying degree of ethnic diversity in Franco-Manitoban parishes 2 reveals"'.. (Table VII). The Red River group appears as the most ethnically uniform of these Franco-Manitoban communities, while the

Assiniboine group is more diverse in character. However, even this latter settlement has some very large and homogeneous French-Canadian parishes and remains one of the most solidly French-Canadian areas of the West.

Data concerning the ethnic composition of schools serving these areas correlates very closely with the parish data contained in Table

VII, and confirms the conclusion that, from the point of view of ethnic homogeneity, the Franco-Manitoban communities around St. Boni• face are the strongest in the Prairie provinces. In the "French-

Canadian" schools of the Red River group 90$ of the pupils were of

French descent in 1965* although in the more uniformly French-

Canadian parishes, such as St. Jean Baptiste and St. Malo, the pro• portions were almost 100$.^ In the Seine River group 87$ of the 68. area's school children came from French-Canadian homes, with some of the more important school centres like La Broquerie (93$ French-

Canadian) even more solidly Francophone in character. In the more heterogeneous Assiniboine group, the average proportion of French

Canadians in the "French" schools was 76$, hut this figure, while still relatively high, conceals the important fact that schools in the more important French-speaking communities were less diverse in ethnic composition. For example, in each of the three important schools of Haywood, Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes and St. Claude the pro• portion of French-Canadian students was about 90$. c) The French-Canadian Catholic Parish in south-eastern Manitoba

The high degree of ethnic homogeneity within the French-language parishes of south-eastern Manitoba is only one indication of their strength in relation to similar parishes elsewhere on the Prairies.

The parish institution has cast a more all-encompassing organisational net over the group settlements of this area than it has over French-

Canadian communities in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. In the

Red River group in 1961, 94$ of the 7J450 of French descent estimated to be "grouped" in the area belonged to a French-language parish; reference to Table VI shows that -this is a very high proportion indeed compared to other areas of French-Canadian settlement. In the Seine

River group the ubiquity of the French-Canadian parish is obvious, for it appears that the whole population of French origin belongs to one of these institutions. Even in the more heterogeneous Assiniboine group approximately 85$ of the population of French descent belong to 69.

one of these important instruments of "la survivance" (Table VI).

d) The French-Canadian school in south-eastern Manitoba

The three social institutions which western French Canadians have

traditionally emphasized as the main foundations of cultural survival

are "the home, the church and the school". The general discussion of

French-Canadian efforts to establish an educational system conducive to the persi'stance of their culture clearly showed that it is the latter foundation which.is the weakest. However, although suffering from many of the same educational problems faced by French Canadians in Saskatchewan and Alberta, the Franc or-Manitobans in the south-east of their province have built the strongest educational base upon which to fight for the continuance of a French sub-culture on the

Prairies. It is possible to draw this conclusion despite the fact that from 1916 until recent years the French language was completely banned as a language of instruction in Manitoban public schools, which the vast majority of Franco-Manitoban school children attend.

The relative strength of the educational framework for cultural survival is greatest in southern Manitoba primarily because of the size, compactness and ethnic homogeneity of these groups and the success they have achieved in combatting the problems of school division consolidation. It has already been noted in chapter 4 that in 1915 the Franco-Manitobans were successful in preventing school district consolidation being imposed on objecting school districts.

Nevertheless, following the report of the Manitoba Royal Commission on Education published in 1959, it was decided to implement a plan TO.

to coalesce 2,000 school districts into fewer and larger administrative units."'' In recognition of the problems this plan would pose for the

French-Canadian schools, a Franco-Manitoban was chosen to head a six- 5 man commission given the task of carrying out this consolidation. As a result, a largely successful effort was made to establish school division boundaries which showed a very strong degree of areal correlation with the areas occupied by the French-Canadian group settlements of southern Manitoba. Thus, these Franco-rManitobans did not become arbitrarily divided into several large school divisions, in which they would have become small uninfluential minorities, but remained in majority control of fairly homogeneous administrative units.

The very irregularly shaped school divisions of Red River, Seine River,

Mountain and White Horse Plain correlate very closely indeed with the

Red River, Seine River and Assiniboine groups as defined in this study.

In no other part of the Prairies has there been such a vital accommod• ation of the educational wishes of the French-Canadian minority, for elsewhere school division consolidation has usually broken down the ethnic uniformity of the schools attended by French-Canadian students.

(Table VI provides comparative data concerning the ethnic composition of western French-Canadian schools).

The inherent advantages of this high degree of ethnic homogeneity within these schools of south-eastern Manitoba (see section (b) above) may become most apparent in the future. A programme is now being initiated in Manitoba to extend the use of the French language as a medium of instruction in schools where it is thought to be both 71. desirable and feasible. In 1967 "the Manitoba legislature, after many years of pressure from the Franco-Manitoban minority, passed a bill which included the following proposals;

subsection 3; "Subject as herein provided, the French language being one .of the two languages to which, reference is made in the 'British North America Act, 1867', may be used in the-public schools as a language of instruction". subsection 4; "A board~of a district, area or division may request the minister to approve a proposal to use, subject as herein provided, the French language in.the instruction of social studies and such other subjects as the minister may, by regulation, stipulate, in a school in the district area or division, as the case may be". subsection 75 "The total time in which a language other than English may be used shall not exceed one-half of the instructional time in any day".6

This amendment of the Public Schools Act in Manitoba is obviously a great advance for Franco-Manitobans interested in preserving their culture. Nevertheless, there are qualifications and reservations in this amendment, which emphasize the importance of maintaining school divisions as ethnically uniform as possible. For instance, the same

Bill states;

subsection 8; "No pupil shall be required to receive instruction in the French language under a proposal made under subsection 4, if his parent or guardian makes written objection thereto".

Because of the possibility of such objections - which would allow one

English-speaking family to thwart the desires of a dominantly French-

Canadian community - the Minister of Education is given absolute control over the application of the Act; subsection 9 reads; 72.

"The minister in his absolute discretion, and having regard to the pedagogical and administrative factors, may approve, reject or suspend all or any part of a proposal made under subsection 4;.... (see subsection 4 above).

Obviously, the more uniformly French-speaking a school is, the easier it will be to overcome such problems and establish genuinely bilingual schools in Manitoba. If an amendment of this type cannot be applied successfully in south-eastern Manitoba, where conditions for the increased usage of French are more favourable than elsewhere in the West, then there seems to be little hope that the educational foundations of French-Canadian cultural survival can be fortified anywhere on the Prairies.

The practical results of this amendment may depend as much on the attitudes of Franco-Manitobans as on the administrative problems raised by the objections of English-speaking parents and the shortage of French-speaking teachers. Chapter 4 described a general situation whereby French-Canadian school students and their teachers were tending to attach greater and greater importance to

English and less to their native French. This was largely a response to the increasing necessity of competing for employment outside of the rural group community and within the increasingly urban-industrial society of the Prairie provinces. Even where "outlaw" French was once used, the increasing tendency is to teach courses in English, so that

French-Canadian students can compete equally with others in obtaining 7 provincial education requirements. Whether increasing recognition of the French language (in both teaching and examinations) will counterbalance this trend remains to be seen. It will depend to a large extent on the will of these French Canadian communities as a whole to ensure that their children receive a truly bilingual and

bicultural education. Thus, for many reasons, the practical results of this amendment in Manitoba - and they are unknown as yet - will be of great significance to those interested in the persistence of a

French Canadian cultural presence in western Canada. e) French-language mass-media in south-eastern Manitoba

With respect to French-language mass-media, the southern Manitoban communities are again the most favoured of the western French-

Canadian groups. As well as possessing a French-language weekly newspaper and radio-station (things available to all western French

Canadians) C.B.W.F.T. provides a full French-language television

service for these Franco-Manitobans (Map 14)• This television station provides a modern counterbalance to one of the most recent and effective assimilative agencies affecting French-Canadian com• munities - namely, English-language television. As the appeal to preserve French as a guardian of the Catholic faith loses its force, young French Canadians must see beneifts than can be derived from maintaining their linguistic heritage. By linking them more closely with the large French-speaking culture of Canada and the world, this television service is a vital medium in the effort to make young

Franco-Manitobans realise the advantages of remaining bilingual. f) Population increase among south-eastern Franco-Manitobans

In chapter 4 it was shown that the numbers and proportion of TABLE VIII

POPULATION OP FRENCH ETHNIC ORIGIN IN "FRENCH" MMICIPALITIES OF S.E. MANITOBA

Municipality Number of fo of French Number of . fo of French and Group French Origin -Origin in French Origin Origin in 1921 1921 1961 1961

RED RIVER 1) Montcalm - 2,127- 73 1,824 73 De Salaberry 1,936 72 2) 3,057 75 3) Ritchot 1,121 62 1,419 57 SEINE RIVER 1) Tache . 1,097 50 1,693 49 2) Ste. Anne 1,500 68 1,916 60 3) La Broquerie 856 67 879 61 ASSINIBOINE 1) St. Francois 445 - 65 258 37 Xavier 2) Cartier 1,136 46 1,272 40 3) Grey 1,544 44 1,887 51 4) Lome 2.023 41 1,823 46 5) Sth. Norfolk 629 19 855 31

Sources: Census of Canada, 1921, Vol. I, Table 27 Census of Canada, 1961, Bulletin SP-2. 75*

French origin have risen steadily in the Prairie provinces over the last 40 years (see Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4)• In Manitoba the population ' ft of French descent rose from 40,638 in 1921 to 83,936 in 196I. In the same period the proportion of French ethnic origin in Manitoba1 s total population rose from 6.6$ of the total to 9«1$« However, it seems that much of this growth has increased the numbers and propor• tion of French Canadians in overwhelmingly English-speaking areas

(mainly the urban areas) rather than in the rural communities of south-eastern Manitoba, which form the basis of the Franco-Manitoban sub-culture. Table VIII illustrates this point (see also chapter 8 and Table XXV). Although the Manitoban population of French ethnic origin more than doubled between 1921 and 1961, none of the important French-speaking municipalities have increased at anything like a comparable rate. As Table VIII shows, some of these munici• palities actually registered an absolute loss in "French" population over this period. Although some numerical consolidation has taken place in most of these groups, it is never to any great extent.

Moreover, the proportion of persons of French descent in these municipalities has not changed to any significant degree between 1921 and 1961. The proportion of French Canadians in the Red River municipalities has remained remarkably static, while in the Seine

River districts the proportion has actually declined, even in the important communities of Ste. Anne and La Broquerie. In the Assini- boine.group the proportion of French Canadians has declined in some municipalities and increased in others, but nowhere has there been an augmentation indicating a really significant expansion or increase TABLE IX

RETENTION OF FRENCH AS A MOTHER-TONGUE IN GROUPS OF SOUTH-EASTERN MANITOBA 1961

Group Municipality $ of French Mother-Tongue in Relation to Number of French Ethnic Origin

RED RIVER Montcalm 98$ De Salaberry 98.5$ Ritchot 99-5$

SEINE RIVER , Tache 96$ Ste. Anne " 99•5$ La Broquerie 99$ -

ASSINIBOINE St. Francois Xavier 92$ Cartier 103.5$ Grey 97$ - Lome 106.5$ Sth. Norfolk 100.5$

N.B. These percentages are increased because a number of persons of BeJgLan origin claim French as their mother tongue in these municipalities? .see Appendix I.

Sources: Census of Canada, 1961, Bulletin Sp-Z Census of Canada, unpublished data. 77- in the numerical dominance of the Francophone population. Clearly, the large provincial increase of "French" descendants, in Manitoba has not led to an increase in French-Canadian dominance in the areas of their group settlements in south-eastern Manitoba. g) The retention of the French language as a mother-tongue in the group settlements of south-east Manitoba

In the preceding examination of factors associated with western

French-Canadian settlement it has been underlined that the south• eastern Franco-Manitoban communities have established, from all points of view, the firmest foundations for the survival of a French sub-culture in western Canada. The relative strength of these foundations is reflected in the very high degree of French-language retention among those of French descent. Reference to Maps 8 -

13 shows that nowhere else on the Praines, with the exception of the isolated Peace River group, does one find guchllarge French-

Canadian communities retaining such a complete allegiance to their linguistic heritage. Table IX reflects this situation more precisely than the maps. The slight degree of assimilation indicated in Table IX is so small as to be insignificant. In some cases it is probably the result of a "mixed marriage" between a French-Canadian father and anEnglish-speaking mother, where their bilingual child follows the directives of census classifications and claims the ethnic origin of its father and the maternal tongue of its mother.

Thus, the loss of the French language in these south-eastern Manitoban communities is virtually non-existent. However, despite this indication of the French sub-culture's vitality in this area, it is significant that there is very little evidence of any absorption of 78.

other ethnic groups into these French-speaking communities. The larger number of persons of French mother-tongue than of French descent in Lome and South Norfolk results from the presence of French- 9

speaking persons of Belgian origin in these [municipalities , rather than from the incorporation of non-French ethnic elements into the French-

speaking community. Obviously the French-Canadian sub-culture of south• eastern Manitoba is not strong enough to absorb persons of different, ethnic origin, despite its considerable vitality in relation to other

French-speaking groups in the West. Moreover, it is not sufficiently strong to prevent high rates of assimilation among French Canadians living just outside the main group settlements. Maps 1 and 8 note that in districts closely adjacent to the main French-speaking municipalities of this area the rate of assimilation increases very rapidly, even if the number of persons of French descent is still quite large. For instance, in St. Francois Xavier, a municipality which is

37$ "French" in ethnic character and directly adjacent to French-speaking

Cartier municipality, the rate of assimilation increases rapidly (Table

IX) presumably as the result of increased social contacts with other ethnic groups. The importance of these wider social contacts is clearly illustrated intthe predominantly English-speaking town of Morris, which is situated among the most solidly French-Canadian community in western

Canada - that is, the Red River group. Although the 85 persons of

French origin living in this small town are situated among a large

French-speaking group and can attend a French-language parish church in

Morris, only 70$ of them claim French as their mother-tongue. Many 79-

other examples could be cited to illustrate the great frailty of this

sub-culture immediately beyond the restricted confines of the most

solid and close-knit French-Canadian communities.

The above conclusions, based on census data, are confirmed by information obtained concerning the ability to speak French among

Franco-Manitoban school children. For example, in the Red River group

only 1.8$ of these school children cannot speak French, while:.,

similar figures for the Assiniboine and Seine River groups are just

4$ and 6$ respectively.**^ Of course these figures are averages and conceal slight differences between individual schools; for example in the very ethnically homogeneous schools of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes and

St. Jean Baptiste, the number of French-Canadian students unable to speak French is significantly small (less than 1$) while in the more ethnically diverse school of St. Francois Xavier the degree of linguistic assimilation is considerably greater (20$).** Nevertheless these average figures are an accurate representation of a situation in which the French-Canadian students of south-eastern Manitoha have, generally speaking, proved far more successful in preserving their linguistic heritage than their counterparts elsewhere in the West (see following chapters and Table VI).

THE SMALLER FRANCO-MANITOBAN GROUP SETTLEMENTS

Apart from the large French-speaking communities focussed on St.

Boniface, there are several smaller, more isolated Franco-Manitoban group settlements. In isolation, these groups would have little signi• ficance, but allied with the strength of the south-eastern communities they still form noteworthy parts of the French-Canadian sub-culture on TABLE X

"FRMCH-CANADIAN1' SCHOOLS IN THE STE. ROSE-DU-LAC - SETTLEMENT, 1965. .

School Total No. $ of French- of French-Canadian of Students - Canadian Students able to 1965 Students Speak French

Ste. Rose 267 57$ 61$ Laurier 138 86$ 94$

Ste. Amelie 85 100$ 93$

Source. L'Association d'Education des Canadiens Francais du Manitoba. the Prairies. l) The group settlement of Ste. Rose-du-Lac

The largest of these smaller settlements is focussed on the village of Ste. Rose-du-Lac (Maps 1 and la). Study of this settlement reveals several characteristics common to all the smaller communities that are isolated from large numbers of Francophones. Most important of these characteristics istthe greater degree of cultural assimilation found in these "secondary" groups. a) The areal concentration of French Canadians at Ste. Rose-du-Lac

In 1961, an estimated 2,700 of French ethnic origin were grouped in close proximity to one another in the Ste. Rose area. This group is far weaker in numbers than those of south-eastern Manitoba, and it also suffers from being far away from the large Francophone community centred on St. Boniface. Social and cultural intercourse with this important centre of Franco-Manitoban culture is severely curtailed by this distance factor. b) The degree of ethnic homogeneity within the Ste. Rose-du-Lac settlement

In comparison to all the French-Canadian group settlements of western. Canada, Ste. Rose appears to be a relatively homogeneous

French-Canadian community (Table VI). But, in comparison to the groups of south-eastern Manitoba, the position of this community in respect to ethnic uniformity does not seem so strong. This is indicated by Table X, showing the ethnic composition of Ste. Rose's

"French-Canadian" schools in 1965* 82.

Table X points to a significant contrast in the degree of ethnic

homogeneity within this settlement. The village of Ste. Rose-du-Lac

itself is considerably more diverse in ethnic composition than the

surrounding, more rural parts of the group. This conclusion is borne

out by census data which shows that in 1961 the 1061 of French descent

outside of the central village formed 70$ of the population of Ste.

Rose municipality, whereas the 485 of French origin within Ste. Rose

itself made up only 61$ of the village's population. It is in the

central village of the. settlement that opportunities for social

intercourse with non-French groups are greatest,

c) The French-Canadian Parish in the Ste. Rose-du-Lac settlement

Unfortunately, information on the ethnic composition of the

French-Canadian parishes in this settlement was not available, but

there is no reason to think that it would differ substantially from the school and census data presented above (elsewhere in the West a

strong correlation always exists between parish and school data in

respect to the question of ethnic homogeneity). However, there is

evidence to show that the three French-language parishes of this

settlement do not incorporate the French Canadians of this area so

completely as the Franco-Manitoban parishes in the south-east of the province. For instance, whereas the three parishes of the Ste. Rose

area serve a group of 2,700 of French descent, the twelve parishes

serving the Red River group are scattered among a "French" community

of about 7,500 (see above). Thus in the Ste. Rose group there is

one French-language parish for every 900 of French origin, while in •83.

the Red River community a ratio of one parish to every 620 of French

extraction exists. In the Seine River group the ratio is even lower,

for on average there is a parish using French for every 530 claiming

French ancestry. These ratios provide strong indication that the

French-Canadian parishes of Ste. Rose, have not been able to cast

their institutional net over the French-Canadian group so successfully

as in the south-eastern settlements.

d) The "French-Canadian" school in Ste. Rose-du-Lac

The so-called "French-Canadian" schools of this settlement are not

so conducive to cultural survival as those in the larger groups of

south-eastern Manitoba, for they are, on average, rather more ethnically diverse in character (Table X above). There has been no adjustment of school division boundaries to conform with the areal

configuration of the Ste. Rose group settlement, as there has been in

south-eastern Manitoba. Thus, although the two smaller schools of the area are very French-Canadian in ethnic composition, the ;student body of the group* s largest and most important school is far more diverse in character, with those of French descent making up little more than half of the total. It will obviously be difficult to extend the use of French as a language of instruction in this main school of the settlement. e) French-Language mass-media in the Ste. Rose-du-Lac group settlement

The provision of French-language mass-media to this area reflects the inherent weaknesses of Ste. Rose's isolated position. Although this community can receive French—language radio programmes and the weekly "La Liberte et Le Patriote" from St Boniface, it lies beyond 84.

the range of French television broadcasts (Map 14)• It is very

doubtful indeed that a single weekly newspaper and a radio-station

are adequate counterbalances to the fully established range of English-

language mass-media found in this area.

f) Eopulation increase in the group settlement of Ste. Rose-du-Lac

In the last forty years the French Canadians of this area have

slightly increased their proportional dominance within Ste. Rose

municipality. Between 1921 and 1961 the proportion of French descent

in this municipality rose from 61$ to 67$, although in the municipali•

ties surrounding this "core" district the story has been one of

declining French-Canadian proportions in the various municipal

populations. As in the south-eastern Manitoban settlements, it does

not seem that the French-Canadian birth-rate or immigration has

allowed the Francophone community to strengthen its position in the.

manner many earlier settlers had envisaged (see chapter 3).

g) The retention of the French language in the Ste. Rose-du-Lac settlement

In the examination of the degree of ethnic homogeneity within the

Ste. Rose group it was noted that the village of Ste. Rose itself was

considerably less uniform in ethnic character than the surrounding,

-more rural parts of the group. A similar situation exists with regard

to the areal pattern of linguistic assimilation in this community.

The census data of I96I indicated that, whereas 99$ of French descent

outside of the central village in Ste. Rose municipality retain

French as ;"their mother-tongue, only 88$ of French origin make ; such a 85.

claim within Ste. Rose-du-Lac itself. The opportunity for broader

social contacts within theumain village of the group is obviously having a marked assimilative effect.

The anglicisation of French Canadians within the Ste. Rose group has probably advanced further than these census figures indicate, for the numbers claiming French as their mother-tongue are increased by a

significant population of Belgian origin. Unfortunately, in recent

censuses it is difficult to assess the size of this "Belgian" 12 population. Nevertheless careful comparison of census data for

1941 (when Belgians were classified as a distinct ethnic group) and

1961 (when they were included in the "other European" category) suggests that approximately 60 persons of Belgian origin can be presently found in Ste. Rose-du-Lac village in addition to another 175 in "the remainder of the municipality. How many of these "Belgian-Canadians" claim French, rather than Flemish or English, as their mother-tongue cannot be established from the census. Thus, to gain further support for the contention that French-speaking "Belgian-Canadians" probably increase the language retention indices of this group, it is necessary to look again at Table X. This Table shows that only 61$ of the French-

Canadian students in the ethnically diverse milieu of Ste. Rose school can still speak French. Obviously, the forces of assimilation have made even greater inroads into this community than the census data suggests. One can note that the pattern of greatest assimilation within the central village, rather than in the morerrur&l parts of the community, is revealed again in this school data. It is difficult to see how this process of assimilation can he arrested in Ste. Rose- du-Lac village, for, with.scarcely more than half the student body claiming French-Canadian origin (and many of these cannot speak French) and English likely to remain the dominant language of instruction and social intercourse, it is more realistic to regard the main school of this community as a centre of assimilation, rather than as an institution supporting Brench-Canadian cultural persistance.

The Remaining Franco-Manitoban Communities

It has been shown that a greater degree of assimilation has,taken place in the Ste. Rose community than in the Franco-Manitoban groups in the south-east of the^province. This anglicisation-of Ste. Rose seems to be clearly related to its comparative lack of numbers and its isolation from large communities of Francophones. In the other small Franco-Manitoban group settlements, both numerical weakness and isolation from fellow French-speakers are again strongly associated with a considerable loss of cultural identity. These communities are discussed together for they are generally quite similar in character and are not important parts of Manitoba's French sub-culture, a) The areal concentration of Franco-Manitobans in the smaller groups

The most clearly definable.; small group is found in Ellice municipality (St. Lazare) in western Manitoba (see Map 1 and la), where about 85O persons of French descent are concentrated. A rather less distinct grouping of 1,300 French Canadians is found around the settlements of Powerview and St. Georges, situated at the southern end of Lake Winnipeg. Apart from these numerically weak groupings TABLE XI

"FRENCH-CANADIAN" SCHOOLS IN THE SMALLER FRANCO-MANITOBAN GROUPS

School Total No. $ of French- $ of French Canadians of Students - Canadian - Students Able to 1965 Students Speak French

ST. LAZARE 1) St. Lazare 25Q 93$ -90$ 2) Secondaire 56 56$ 100$

POWERVIEW 1) Leonard 238 54$ 60$ 2) Secondaire 194 49$ 87$

ST. GEORGES 186 96$ 96$

Source: L'Association D1 Education des Canadiens-Francais du Manitoba. 88. there are even smaller clusters of French descendants around the parishes of Fisher Branch (in the Interlake country) and Grande

Clairiere (see Map 1 and la). However these clusters are of minimal significance. b) The degree of ethnic homogeneity in these group settlements

Table XI gives an accurate indication of the degree to which

French Canadians are intermingled with other ethnic groups in these settlements. Obviously the St. Lazare group is far more homogeneous than the grouping in and around Powerview, although the separate St.

Georges community is more solidly French-Canadian in character. It is doubtful whether the comparative uniformity of St. Lazare and St.

Georges can compensate to any great extent for the fact that they are very small groups engulfed in a very dominant Anglo-american milieu. c) The French-Canadian Catholic parish in the smaller groups

French-language parishes are established in both these groups. In

1961 about 78$ of the 1300 French Canadians in the Powerview grouping belonged to either the parish of Powerview itself or to its counterpart at St. Georges. Unfortunately, data on the ethnic composition of St.

Lazare parish was not available. As there is but one "French" parish among a grouping of 830 French Canadians, it seems that the parish institution, both here and around Powerview, is not so all-inclusive of the French-Canadian population as it is in south-eastern Manitoba. d) The "French-Canadian" school in the smaller groups

Although there has been no adjustment of school boundaries to suit French-rCanadian interests in these smaller communities, both St.

Lazare and St. Georges have very uniformly "French" schools (Table XI). 89.

However, the problems of great ethnic diversity within the so-called

"French-Canadian" schools are very apparent at Powerview, which serves far more French-Canadian families than the other two villages. e) Population increase in the smaller groups

The Franco-Manitoban group settlement of St. Lazare is one of the few French-Canadian communities which have been able to increase their proportional dominance within their local municipality. Between 1921 and 1961 the population of "French" extraction in Ellice municipality rose from 44$ to 66$ of the total population. Nevertheless, even a proportional increase such as this cannot erase the essential weaknesses of St. Lazare's position as a small group, isolated from the more vital centres of the sub-culture.

Unfortunately, radical changes in the boundaries of census divisions makes it difficult to trace past changes in the French-

Canadian population of the Powerview district. f) French-language mass-media in the smaller groups

The remoteness of these small Franco-Manitoban communities from the main centres of the western French-Canadian subculture is again reflected in their limited contact with French-language mass-media.

The Powerview grouping can receive the radio programmes of C.K.S.B.

St. Boniface, but its reception of French-language television from

St. Boniface is officially rated as merely "passable" (in contrast to the "excellent" reception enjoyed in south-east Manitoba). Yet

Powerview and St. Georges are far more adequately served in this respect than the St. Lazare group. Map 14 shows that St. Lazare is just within the range of C.F.H.G. Gravelbourg, and completely beyond 90.

French radio and television programmes emanating from the Winnipeg-

St. Boniface area. At present, St. Lazare must rely on the rather meagre support of the single French-language weekly, g) The retention of the French language in the smaller groups

The weaknesses of these outlying "islands" of the western French-

Canadian sub-culture are reflected in a generally greater degree of assimilation than in the group settlements focussed on St. Boniface.

Map 8 reveals a.;situation wherein about 14$ of the persons of French descent in Ellice municipality can no longer speak French. According to the same census data the "assimilated" proportion in the village of

St. Lazare itself is slightly less (ll$), but still indicative of a weakening position. Table XI, showing the proportion of French-

Canadian students in St. Lazare still able to speak French, correlates very closely with this census data.

A similar situation exists in the Powerview-St. Georges grouping, although in the very ethnically uniform parish of St. Georges (92$

French-Canadian in 196l) the degree of assimilation is considerably less marked. This can be seen byflirther reference to Table XI. The degree of assimilation noted among the French-Canadian students of Powerview reflects the increasing tendency of the younger generation to sever all links with their cultural heritage. While only 72$ of Powerview's

Franco-Manitoban school students can still speak French, 84$ of the town's total population of French origin still claim French as their mother-tongue. Nevertheless, even this latter proportion reflects the greater tendency towards assimilation or anglicisation in these more isolated groups. TABLE XII

FRENCH-CANADIAN SCHOOLS AT ST. LAURENT

School Total No. b of French- of French-Canadian of Students • Canadian Students Able to 1965 Students Speak French

St. Laurent 217 86/0 98.5$

Simonet 136 94$

Institute 112 62$ College

Sources L'Association D'Education des Canadiens Francais du Manitoba. THE GROUP SETTLEMENT OF ST. LAURENT

The Franco-Manitoban group settlement of St. Laurent is studied separately because it is a very distinctive community composed very largely of "French" metis. The cultural differences between the more typical French-Canadian and the Frenchrspeaking metis were discussed

in chapter 2. Althought. the French-speaking metis have, in many cases, become completely assimilated into the larger French-Canadian sub• culture of Manitoba, the St. Laurent community is still recognised by

Franco-Manitobans as a separate group, characterised by such things as a distinctive French dialect and a low standard of living.*^ Yet, despite its distinctive.character, St. Laurent is regarded as part of the Franco-Manitoban community and it possesses some characteristics similar to the other French-Canadian group settlements. a) The areal concentration of Franco-Manitobans in the St. Laurent settlement

Map 1 shows that approximately 1,250 of French descent are very compactly grouped within the municipality of St. Laurent. It is impossible to determine from recent censuses the proportion of metis within this "French" population. However, some indication can be gained from the returns of the 1941 census which recorded 822 "French" metis and 331 non-metis of French origin in St. Laurent municipality. b) The degree of ethnic homogeneity within the St. Laurent settlement

Our usual index of ethnic homogeneity within a group settlement

(that is, the proportion of French-Canadian students in the "French" schools) shows that St. Laurent is a comparatively uniform community

(Table XII). . . c) The French-Canadian Catholic parish in the St. Laurent settlement

The existence of two French-language parishes, at St. Laurent and

Ste. Amelie, suggests that this institution is strong enough to extend its influence over most of the community of about 1,250. The ratio of parishes to those of French descent is about the same as in the south-eastern Franco-Manitoban communities. d) The "French-Canadian" school in the St. Laurent settlement

The group settlement of St. Laurent is included as an outlying part of the very irregularly shaped school-division of White Horse Plain which, as explained above, was deliberately constructed to conform to the distribution pattern of Franco-Manitoban communities west of

Winnipeg. This areal correlation of group settlements and school divisions is obviously an important factor in the high degree of ethnic homogeneity in the schools of St. Laurent noted in Table XII.

The problems of extending the use of French (if desired) in these schools should be no more difficult than in the south-eastern groups, although the more diverse Institute College is an exception and probably draws students from further afield than the other two schools. e) French-language mass-media in the St. Laurent settlement

Within range of all Franco-Manitoban mass-media, the St. Laurent community can enjoy the same supports of cultural survival found in south-eastern Manitoba. However, it is very doubtful that this metis community is affected by this masd-media so much as the south-eastern

Franco-Manitoban groups. For example, the municipality of La

Broquerie in the Seine River group possessed 100 subscribers to "La 94-

Liberte et Le Patriote" in 1966, while the equivalent figure for St.

Laurent municipality was only 57Yet La Broquerie had 871 Franco•

phones- in 1961, whereas St. Laurent possessed 1230. Thus, La Broquerie,

which typifies all the "south-eastern" municipalities in this respect,

has a far higher rate of subscription to the French-language weekly,

despite having far fewer persons of French speech than St. Laurent.

f) Population increase in the St. Laurent settlement

Probably as the result of a high metis birth-rate, the population

of French descent increased its proportional dominance in St. Laurent municipality from 60$ in 1921 to 70$ in 196I. Yet, such isolated

examples of considerable increase will not strengthen significantly the "French fact" in western Canada. g) The retention of the French language in the St. Laurent settlement

It has been shown that the St. Laurent settlement is a very compact, homogeneous settlement, which is by nor,imeans as isolated from the "core" areas of the Franco-Manitoban culture as St. Lazare and Powerview. The strength of this unique metis community is reflected by a very high linguistic retention index of 98.5$ among the persons of French origin.

This very low rate of assimilation, which finds confirmation in the school data of Table XII, is very similar to the rate found in the group settlements around St. Boniface. However, it is doubtful that a strong attachment to their French heritage motivates resistance to assimilation among this metis group - the newspaper subscription rates noted above support this contention. It is more likely that this socially distinct metis community has very little social contact with other groups, with 95.

the result that pressures to assimilate into an English-speaking

culture are not so compelling as in many other, less unique, French-

Canadian settlements. Thus, despite the high "retention-index", one

must not think of St. Laurent as a firm root of the French sub•

culture, similar to the Red River community.

THE FRANCO-MANITOBAN RURAL GROUP SETTLEMENTS - .SUMMARY ......

The south-eastern Franco-Manitoban rural groups focussed on the

unique urban centre of St. Boniface form the strongest expression of

a French-Canadian presence west of Lake Superior. They are the

largest, most compact and ethnically uniform French-Canadian group

settlements on the Prairies. They enjoy the additional advantage

of being closely adjacent to one another, so that together with St.

Boniface, which forms a real centre for them, they form by far the

largest Francophone community in western Canada. Within this

community the French-language parish is more uniformly French-

Canadian than in most other western groups. Furthermore, this

important institution of cultural persistance is more all-encompassing

of the geographical group than elsewhere. The areal administrative

framework of education in this area has accommodated the desires of

the French-speaking community to a far greater extent than in

Saskatchewan and Alberta. The benefits of this fact should become more apparent in the future as Franco-Manitobans try to take

advantage of an amendment to the provincial Public Schools Act which

grants the French-language far more status than in the other provinces

further west. Finally, with a full French^language television service 96. at their disposal, south-eastern Franco-Manitobans have a much more contemporary and vital network of French mass-media than other western

French Canadians. The relative strength of this Francophone community is reflected in the insignificant degree of linguistic assimilation associated with it. The outlying Franco-Manitoban groups show more signs of assimilation into the dominant Anglo-american milieu than the communities centred on St. Boniface. The more advanced ahglici- sation of these smaller groups is clearly associated with their smaller numbers and with problems arising out of their isolation from the more active centres of the western French-Canadian sub-culture.

Footnotes

1. Field notes; also noted by Piddington R., in "A Study in French- Canadian Kinship", International Journal of Comparative Sociology, (March 196l) Vol. II, No. I, p.17.

2. All data concerning Franco-Manitoban parishes was obtained from the Archdiocese of St. Boniface.

3. All data concerning Manitoban schools from L'Association d1 Education des Canadiens-Francais du Manitoba..

4. Report of the Manitoba Royal Commission on Education, 1959•

5. Interview with Judge Alfred Monnin, Winnipeg, August 1966.

6. From "Bill 59. An Act to amend the Public Schools Act (2)". First Session, 28th Legislature, 15-16 Elizabeth ii, 1966-67, Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.

7. Field Notes.

8. Census of Canada, 1921, Vol. I Table 27. Census of Canada, I96I. Bulletin SP-2.

9. see Appendix I concerning Belgians.

10. All data concerning student body of "Franco-Manitoban" schools obtained from L'Association d'Education des Canadiens-Francais du Manitoba. - 97.

Footnotes - continued

11. Information from L1 Association d'Education des .Canadiens-Francais du Manitoba.

12. see Appendix I.

13. Field Notes 1966

14« Information from office of "La Liberte'et Le Patriote", Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1966. . _ 98.

CHAPTER 6

FRENCH-CANADIAN GROUP SETTLEMENT AND ASSIMILATION IN RURAL ALBERTA

In northern Alberta there are French-Canadian group settlements as large as those in south-eastern Manitoba. Therefore the commun• ities of Alberta are discussed before the smaller settlements found in Saskatchewan. These large Franco-Albertan groups are referred to in this study as the Peace River group, the St. Paul group and the

St. Albert group (Maps 1 and la). These communities are not as closely juxtaposed to one another as those of south-eastern Manitoba and they possess no strong cultural centre like St. Boniface. Thus these groups do not form part of a larger urban and rural community as do those in south-eastern Manitoba. Furthermore, these Franco-

Albertan groups are far more diverse in ethnic character than those focussed on St. Boniface. Therefore it is more logical to discuss these groups separately rather than together.

Some important characteristics common to all Franco-Albertan communities should be noted first. All of these groups are governed by the same Albertan public school system which has never completely banned the use of French as a language of instruction. Thus school trustees can take advantage of the following concessions, if they so desire: French-speaking children in grades I and II can be taught almost wholly in their mother-tongue; their counterparts in grade III can have two hours of French per day; from the 4"tb to the 9xh grades the bilingual student can receive one hour of French per day; in the senior grades forty minutes each day is allowed.'*' These regulati 99.

allow the subject "French" to be taught to French-speaking children

in their mother-tongue. Bilingual teaohers in Alberta are convinced that such a limited use of French is insufficient to maintain this language in Alberta; they have stated this clearly as follows;

"The members of L*Association des Educateurs Bilingues de 1'Alberta believe that one hour of classwork in Erench each day from the 4"th to the 12th grades is plainly insufficient to give a French education and mentality to the bilingual pupil. They ask that French be used as.a language of instruction during half the schoolday."

The meagre use of French as a language of instruction is not the only general educational problem facing Franco-Albertans. To take advantage of these linguistic rights which do exist it is necessary to have schools and classes in which large numbers of French-

Canadian pupils;_ar.e congregated. One of the difficulties preventing such concentrations arises because the school divisions of Alberta have never been moulded to correlate with the areal pattern of French-

Canadian settlement as they have been in Manitoba. Hence the school divisions affecting the Franco-Albertan groups are usually far more ethnically diverse than their counterparts in south-eastern Manitoba.

Thus, French-speaking school trustees in Franco-Albertan settlements are often outnumbered, or strongly counterbalanced, by English- speaking trustees whose educational interests are often very different.

In divisions where Catholics form a minority this situation can sometimes be alleviated a little by the Albertan system of publically supported religious separate schools - an educational characteristic not found in Manitoba. This system, described under Section 42 of 100.

The School Act of Alberta, makes it possible for a divisional school district to request exclusion from the large school division and establish a "separate" school. This can be done on the grounds of dissatisfaction with the facilities for religious instruction in the divisional public schools. These provisions, which apply equally to dissatisfied Protestants, have often enabled FrenchTTspeaking

Catholics to control, or strongly influence, Catholic separate schools in areas where they are in a minority, and Catholic public schools where they are in a majority. It must be emphasised that these are Catholic, not "French-Canadian",, separate schools. Thus non-French-speaking Catholics use these schools as well as French

Canadians. Nevertheless, this system of publically supported separate schools has allowed Franco-Albertans in some areas - for example, at McClennan, Grande Centre and Legal^ - to group their children in Catholic schools where, as a significant pnportion of the student-body,, they can more easily take advantage of the few linguistic rights that are afforded to them.

Another general consideration which affects all Franco-Albertan communities similarly relates to French-language mass-media in this province. All the major French-Canadian groups of Alberta have access to both the French-language weekly - "La Survivance" - and the French-language radio-station of C.H.F.A. Edmonton. In this respect they are in a similar position to south-eastern Franco-

Manitobans. However, as yet, they do not enjoy the benefits of a solely French-language television service, as do their counterparts 101. in the vicinity of St. Boniface. At present two hours of "French" television from Edmonton on Saturday and Sunday morning must suffice.

FRENCH-CANADIAN GROUP SETTLEMENT IN THE PEACE RIVER REGION

One of the strongest manifestations of the French-Canadian sub• culture in western Canada is found in the relatively recently settled Peace River region of Alberta. In many respects this community seems to be as strongly established as the groups of south-eastern Manitoba, although it suffers from a far greater degree of isolation from other Francophone groups. a) The areal concentration of French-Canadians in the Peace River

Map 1 indicates that this community is very compact and contains an estimated 6,600 of French ethnic origin. The French-Canadian population is concentrated in an area which corresponds quite closely to the Smoky River census sub-division or municipality. This large group of French Canadians receives added numerical strength from two smaller communities nearby. To the east, about 830 of French descent are clustered around Lesser Slave Lake (according to the 1941 census well over 50$ of this group was metis), while to the west, a smaller community of approximately 200 is found around the village of Spirit

River. These two smaller groups have significance only in that they are close to the larger Peace River community. b) The degree of ethnic homogeneity within the Peace River group

The considerable numerical strength of the Peace River group is supplemented by a high degree of ethnic homogeneity within the settle• ment area. Both "homogeneity" indices, based as elsewhere on school 102.

TABLE XIII

POPULATION WITHIN THE "FRENCH-CANADIAN" PARISHES OF PEACE RIVER, 1965

Parish Population of French-Canadian $ of French-Canadians Parish in 1965 Popn. in Parish - in Parish

Guy 700 490 70$ Girouxville 1,050 1,030 98$ Falher 1,504 1,396 92$ Donnelly 810 780 96$ McClennan 1,078 768 V$ Jean Cote 697 697 100$ Marie Reine 330 329 100$ Nampa 343 115 34$ Tangente 620 545 88$ St. Isidore 161 161 100$

TOTAL 7,132 6,142 86$

Sources Almanach Franco-Albertain - 1966 103.

TABLE XIV

POPULATION OF FBEMCH-CAMADIAIT SCHOOLS IN THE PEACE RIVER GROUP 1967

School Total Population f> of French- fa of French- of School 1967 Canadian Pupils Canadian pupils able to speak French

Guy 2J5 73 100 Girouxville 261 92 100 Falher 424 94 100 Donnelly 212 95 100 McClennan 379 45 83 Jean Cote 149 100 100 Marie Reine 70 100 100 Nampa 77 50 50 Tangente 74 88 100 St. Isidore 45 100 100

Source: Association des Educateurs Bilingues de 1'Alberta 104. and parish data, reveal that generally speaking, this group is as uniformly French-Canadian in character as those in south-eastern

Manitoba (Tables XIII and XIV).

These "parish" and "school" indices of ethnic homoggneity clearly indicate that the Franco-Albertans of Peace River live in a more uniformly "French" social milieu than all the other western French

Canadians living outside of the Francophone community in south-eastern

Manitoba. Furthermore, despite its large areal extent, the Smoky River municipality had a higher proportion (76$) of French Canadians in its population than any other local government rural district in the West in 1961. c) The "French-Canadian" Catholic Parish in the Peace River group

The areal compactness and ethnic uniformity of this large group facilitates social cohesiveness within it. For example, the "French-

Canadian" parish in this group settlement has encompassed the French-

Canadian group to a degree only matched in soxith-eastern Manitoba; 93$ of the persons of French descent grouped in this area belong to a French- speaking parish (Table VT). It has already been noted that these parishes are also very uniform in ethnic character (Table XIII). Thus, it is certain that the assimilative process associated with mixing and marrying into non-French-speaking groups are less likely to manifest themselves here than in many of the more heterogeneous communities. This would not be as true of parishes such as Nampa and McClennan which are situated on the fringes of the group and are far less "French" in character (Table XIII).

Also, the outlying parishes of Spirit River (only 33$ French-Canadian) and

Joussard (only 46$ French-Canadian) are certainly more prone to the forces of assimilation. 105.

d) The "French-Canadian" school in the Peace River group

Although the process of school division consolidation in Alberta

did not accommodate the interests of French-Canadian communities as it

did in south-east Manitoba, High Prairie school division No. 8 coincides

quite closely with the areal extent of the Peace River group. As Table

XIV shows, this has contributed to a high degree of ethnic homogeneity

within the "French" schools of this group. Obviously it would be

easier to extend the use of French as a medium of instruction in this

community than in most other western Francophone groups. However,

until suoh an increased use of French is sanctioned in this province

(and this does not seem likely at present) this advantage of the Peace

River group is of a potential, rather than an actual nature.

e) Population increase, in the Peace River Group

Because Alberta radically altered its census divisions after

1951, comparable population data for census sub-divisions and divisions

in 1921 and 1961 is difficult to obtain. However, comparison between

the years 1921 and 1951 reveals that the proportional dominance of

French Canadians within the area of the Peace River group increased

considerably in the last few decades. In the sub-division which

represented the "core" of this group settlement from 1921 to 1951 > "the

proportion of French Canadians rose from 79$ in 1921 to 86$ in 1951*

In other sub-divisions which represented this group settlement the

French-Canadian proportion rose even more sharply over the same period;

from 46$ to 71$, 9$ to 41$ and from 3$ to 35$. These unusual increases

are not the result of a prodigious birth-rate, but reflect the recently

settled nature of the Peace River area and a great influx of French- 106.

Canadian migrants. This can be confirmed by noting that the proportional

increases cited immediately above represent absolute increases of from

4 to 457, 20 to 597 and from 36 to 579 French Canadians. However it is

significant that the French Canadians who have grouped in this area have

succeeded in increasing their proportional dominance over their immediate neighbours (see chapter 3 above). Elsewhere in Alberta an exactly opposite trend was discerned - an assimilative trend towards increasing ethnic heterogeneity within the group, f) The retention of the French language in the Peace River group

There has been little loss of French as a mother-tongue among the French Canadians in the Peace River group. Census data (Map 8) correlates with information concerning the French language in the community's schools (Table XIV) and identifies this French-Canadian group as one of the most resistant to assimilation on the Prairies.

The census data for this area gives a very accurate indication of the degree of assimilation in this group, for there are no significant numbers of Belgian origin to increase the number claiming French as their mother-tongue.

Reference to Map 8 and Table XIV indicates a feature already noted in Manitoba. The rate of assimilation increases very rapidly away fK»a the main "cores" of French-Canadian settlement. In the very "French-

Canadian" sohools in the heart of the group settlement all the French-

Canadian pupils can speak French. However, in the more ethnically diverse schools of communities such as Nampa and McClennan, which are found on the fringe of the group settlement, the degree of linguistic assimilation among the French-Canadian pupils is quite marked. A 107.

similar trend of increased assimilation in less solidly French- .

Canadian areas can he observed in the outlying parishes of Spirit

River and Joussard, where 47$ and 42$ respectively of the French-

Canadian pupils can no longer speak French. This tendency to assimi•

lation immediately beyond the "core" areas of group settlement emphasizes

again the fragility of this western Canadian sub-culture in the face

of contact with non-French-speaking groups. As soon as western French

Canadians become "intermixed" with persons of a different origin the

degree of linguistic assimilation amongst them increases sharply, even

if they remain directly adjacent to solidly French-speaking areas. Thus,

when the relative vitality of the Peace River group is described, one

must remember that even here the sub-culture is very much on the

defensive and concerned above all with "survival".

THE FRENCH-CANADIAN GROUP SETTLEMENT OF THE ST. PAUL REGION

A large concentration of French Canadians is centred on the muni•

cipalities of St. Paul and Bonnyville, north-east of Edmonton. Despite

the numerical strength of this group, the sub-culture in this area is weakened by factors which are not as influential as in south-eastern

Manitoba and the Peace River area.

a) 'The areal concentration of French Canadians in the St. Paul region

An estimated 8,300 persons of French origin are grouped in the St.

Paul region (see Map 1 and la). This large• community is not quite as

compact as similar ones in the Red River and Peace River regions.

However, it remains a distinct and clearly ids&Mfiable group settlement,

strong in numbers, but rather isolated- from other Francophone communities. 108.

TABLE XV

POPULATION WITHIN THE "FRMCH-CANADIAN" PARISHES OF THE ST. PAUL GROUP, 1965 - ......

Parish Population of French-Canadian $ of French- Parish 1965 P.opn. in Parish Canadians in Parish

Brosseau I85 119 65 Lafond 384 336 87

St. Edouard 403 260 64 St. Paul 4,520 2,250 50

St. Vincent 350 280 80

Mallaig 415 382 92 Fort Kent 556 390 71 Therien - 361 - St. Lina 467 320 68 Cold Lake - 300 - Grande Centre 656 224 35 Bonnyville 2,046 1,511 73 La Corey 285 136 47

Source: Almanach Franco-Albertain - 1966 109-

TABLE XVI

POPULATION OF "FREMCH-CAJigDIAN""" SCHOOLS IN THE ST. PAUL GROUP 1967

School Total Popn. $ of French- $ of French- of School I967 Canadian pupils Canadian pupils able to speak French

St. Paul (Elementary & Secondary 1,402 69 85

Bonnyville 852 66 95 Fort Kent 276 49 100 Mallaig 327 82 97 Lafond 180 75 100 Therien 70 70 80 Brosseau 59 50 66 St. Lina 97 46 55 Grande Centre 156 40 35 Cold Lake 250 30 60

Sources Association des Educateurs Bilingues de 1'Alberta. 110.

b) The degree of ethnic homogeneity within the St. Paul group

The indices of ethnic homogeneity show that the French-Canadians in this group are far more intermingled with non-French groups than in the communities of south-eastern Manitoba and Peace River. Table

XV reveals that there is a considerable range in'the degrees of ethnic diversity within the St. Paul parishes, but rarely do French Canadians dominate in these institutions to the extent noted above in communities of similar size. A similar situation can clearly be seen in the "French-

Canadian" schools of the group (Table XVI). Even the two principal foci of French-Canadian life in this group, St. Paul and Bonnyville, are heavily populated with non-French-speaking elements. The 1961 census showed that only 56$ of St. Paul's population of 2823 persons were of

French descent; an identical proportion of Bonnyville's 1736 citizens claimed French ethnic origin. The French Canadians in this area are grouped within an "ethnic mosaic", rather than within a solid culturally homogeneous community. Obviously the opportunities for mixing and assimilating into non-French groups are far greater for these

Franco-Albertans around St. Paul than for their counterparts in south• eastern Manitoba or Peace River. c) The "French-Canadian" Parish in the St. Paul group

Although well established within this French-Canadian community, the "French" parishes of the St. Paul region do not incorporate the group so completely as in south-eastern Manitoba and Peace River. About

83$ of the 8,300 French Canadians grouped in this area belong to a parish in which-the French- language is used; see Table VI for comparison 111.

with other groups.

d) The "French-Canadian" school in the St. Paul group

As already mentioned the school division boundaries of Alberta

have not been established to conform to the areal configuration of

French-Canadian settlements. It is difficult to imagine how such an

accommodation of French-Canadian interests could be carried out in this

area for, as the ethnic composition of the group's parishes reveals,

the French-speaking population is very intermingled with other cultural

elements. It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to

"cordon off" a...uniformly French-speaking school division within such

a complex ethnic mosaic. The present educational problems presented by ethnic diversity in the schools-of this group are likely to remain.

e) Population increase in the St. Paul group

In the groups previously discussed it has been noted that, although the French-Canadian population has rarely increased its proportional dominance in the main French-speaking municipalities, it has usually maintained its position. However in the St. Paul group there has been a continuing tendency towards increasing ethnic diversity. In all the municipalities containing this group (as they existed up until 1951) the proportion of French ethnic origin decreased considerably between

1921 and 1951« ln "the seven main census sub-divisions (i.e. - municipalities) which represented this group until 1951, "the proportion of French descent declined from 56$ in 1921 to 41$ in 1951« This tendency was even seen in the census sub-divisions where the absolute numbers of French Canadians had increased considerably. For example, 112. the Bonnyville sub-division was 87$ "French" in 1921 and only 64$ in

1951« Yet during this period the absolute numbers of French descent in this sub-division had increased from 769 ^° 1680 persons. Despite absolute increases in their "French" population, one can also note the continuing trend towards greater ethnic diversity within the towns of St. Paul and Bonnyville between 1941 and 1961 (comparable data for towns exists in the 1961 census). In 1941 the proportion of French

Canadians in the former1 centre was 61$, while in the latter it was

82$. However by I96I only 56$ of the population in each of these towns was classified as of French extraction. The hope, described above, that an increase in the French-Canadian population would lead to "the creation of compact and solid groups which nothing will be able to breach" has certainly not materialised in this St. Paul group.

Instead, there is increasing opportunity for French Canadians to mix and assimilate into non-French-speaking groups, f) The retention of the French language in the St. Paul group

The intermixing of French Canadians with non-Francophone groups in the St. Paul region is associated with a greater degree of linguistic assimilation than observed in south-east Manitoba and the Peace River group. Map 8 is a particularly accurate reflection of the linguistic situation among these French Canadians, for there is no Belgian group of any significance to confuse the calculations. In the rural municipalities of St. Paul and Bonnyville the,>proportions of French descent still claiming French as their mother-tongue in I96I were 90$ and 81$ respectively. In the towns of St. Paul and Bonnyville the situation is reversed, for the French Canadians of the latter seem 113.

somewhat less anglicised than those of St. Paujj in Bonnyville 88$ of

its inhabitants of French descent retain French as their mother tongue

whilst the equivalent proportion in St. Paul is 82$. These local

differences, revealed by census data, correlate with the information

in Table XVI which shows the varying proportions of French-Canadian

pupils able to speak French in the schools of the St. Paul group.

Table XVI also reveals a situation of far greater linguistic

assimilation in the group's'peripheral communities where French

Canadians are in a minority. For example, there are far fewer French-

Canadian students able to speak French in the peripheral communities

of Grande Centre and Cold Lake than in Bonnyville or St. Paul. Census data confirms this conclusion, for in 1961 only 57$ of Coid Lake's

"French" citizens could speak French, and a mere 47$ of similar

citizens in Grande Centre could claim French as their maternal tongue. Again, the local nature of the. western French-Canadian sub•

culture is emphasised. Even if a western French Canadian remains

closely adjacent to a main group settlement, there is a greater chance that he, and especially his children, will become assimilated far more rapidly than his counterpart living well within the area of the main

Francophone community.

THE FRENCH CANADIAN GROUP SETTLEMENT OF ST. ALBERT

The St. Albert group demonstrates even more clearly than the St.

Paul community how the "invasion" of non-French elements into these

Francophone communities leads to a marked erosion of the French- language sub-culture. 114.

TABLE XVII

POPULATION OF "FRMCH-CMADIAN" PARISHES IN THESST. ALBERT GROUP 1965

Parish Popn. in 1965 French-Canadian fo of French Popn. in Parish Canadians in Parish

St. Albert 4,000 515 13 Lamoureux 297 200 67 Morinville 1,522 883 58 Legal 1,325 1,100 83 Picardville 421 331 79 Vimy . 471 430 91

Sources Almanach Franco-Albertain 1966.

TABLE XVIII POPULATION OF "FRENCH-CANADIAN" SCHOOLS IN THE ST. ALBERT GROUP 1967

School Total Popn. f> of French- f> of French- of School 1967 Canadian Pupils Canadian Pupils Able to Speak French

St. Albert Public 1,960 18 " 66 St. Albert Mission Park 240 35 59 Lamoureux 68 81 10 Rivi ere-Qui-Barre 232 48 26 Morinville 440 77 85 Legal 417 57 83 Picardville 84 82 100 Vimy 201 75 100 Westlock 370 34 52

Source: Association des Educateurs Bilingues de 1'Alberta. 115- a) The areal concentration of French Canadians within the St. Albert group

An estimated 7*5CO of French ethnic origin form this community which occupies an area similar in extent to that of the Peace River group. Comparable in size to the other large settlements discussed, the St. Albert group suffers, like all Franco-Albertan communities, by its isolation from other French-speaking areas. b) The degree of ethnic homogeneity within the St. Albert group

There is a marked spatial variation in the degree of ethnic homogeneity within the St. Albert group. The southern parts have been increasingly affected by the urban sprawl of Edmonton and con• sequently have become far less French-Canadian in ethnic character.

This can be seen in the populations of the "French" parishes and schools. Tables XVII and XVIII range these parishes and schools in order, starting with the most southerly (i.e. - nearest Edmonton) and ending with the most northerly. These "parish" and "school" indices show that the French-Canadian character of the town of St.

Albert has been severely diluted by the influx of non-French-speaking persons, whereas the more northerly parts of the group settlement, which are further from the influence of Edmonton's physical growth, are more comparable with the St. Paul and Peace River groups. '

Despite the greater ethnic uniformity of the more northerly parts, the French Canadians of this community form but small minorities in all the local government districts serving the area. In Sturgeon

County, which contains the southern part of the group, those of French

i 116.

descent make up a mere 17$ of the population in lQ6l, while the equi• valent proportion in Westlock County to the north was just"12$. c) The "French-Canadian" parish in the St. Albert group settlement

Despite the numerical and areal size of this group it contains only six parishes using French, compared with about twice this number in groups of similar size (Table VI). This weak representation of the "French-Canadian" parish means that less than half (46$) of the persons of French descent are incorporated within this institution.

This is a far lower proportion than observed in the other large settle• ments of Manitoba and Alberta (Table VI). d) The French-Canadian school in the St. Albert group

Table XVIII shows that none of the schools in this group are as uniformly French-Canadian in character as the majority in southern

Manitoba and the Peace River. It would be very difficult to make these schools more genuinely "French" or, more correctly, "bilingual" institutions. Moreover, it is difficult to imagine practical ways in which an adjustment of school division boundaries could lead to the establishment of more truly "French-Canadian" schools. When the

French-Canadian group is so intermixed with other communities in an ethnic mosaic, no amount of boundary revision can disentangle them into a distinct, homogeneous areal unit. The real strength of the south-eastern Franco-Manitoban educational foundation of cultural survival, vis-a-vis groups such as St. Albert, lies in,the compact and homogeneous nature of the Manitoban settlements which makes such boundary adjustments possible. 117.

One school district has taken advantage of the loophole in Alberta's

School Act, which allows a divisional school district to withdraw from the larger school division if a majority of its citizens are dissatisfied with the divisional facilities for religious instruction (see above).

The Legal School District was excluded from the larger Sturgeon School

Division in 1Q66 on these religious grounds, although it is quite possible that some linguistic considerations influenced the vote of many French-Canadian Catholics.^ Yet, even in Legal the problem of ethnic heterogeneity within the school still persists (Table XVIII). e) Population increase in the St. Albert group

Between the years 1921 and 1951 ^ne proportion of persons of French origin in the sub-divisions containing this group declined considerably in both the southern and northern parts. In the four main census sub• divisions representing the group until 1951 ^he proportion of persons of

French descent, declined from 31$ in 1921 to 23$ in 1951. This decline has been most pronounced in the town of St. Albert itself which was 75$

"French" in 1941 and only 28$ in 1961. Morinville, the second largest town in the group has suffered a less dramatic, but still significant decline in its proportion of "French" persons - 79$ in 1941 and 64$ in

1961. In demographic terms the position of French Canadians in this group is becoming weaker and weaker. f) The retention of the French language in the St. Albert group

The weakness of the foundations of French-Canadian cultural survival in the St. Albert group has led to a considerable toll in linguistic assimilation, particularly in the southern parts which are more ethnically 118. diverse than the northern parts. In the rural parts of Sturgeon

County, which corresponds quite closely to the areal extent of the southern portion of the group, only 63$ of those with French descent claimed French as their mother-tongue in 1961. In rural Westlock County, which contains the northern part of the community, the same census showed that 69$ of French origin retain their ancestral tongue. In St. Albert town itself the rate of assimilation has not been so high, for 75$ °f Its

"French" population claim French as their mother-tongue. Nevertheless, this proportion still reflects a very high degree of absorption into the

English-speaking community, especially when it is compared to the situation in groups of similar size.

Farther away from the spread of Edmonton's suburban population the degree of assimilation is less. Census data reveals that in the more northerly settlement of Morinville in 1961, 95$ °f the population of

French descent still spoke French as their mother-tongue. Table XVIII, showing the proportion of French-Canadian pupils able to speak French, confirms this pattern of greater assimilation in the more heterogeneous southern parts. It also indicates that the forces of cultural assimila-- tion have made greater inroads among the younger generation than among their elders; compare the census data and the school data concerning assimilation in the towns of Morinville and St. Albert. It seems certain that the proportion of "anglicised" French Canadians within this group will continue to increase.

THE SMALLER FRANCO-ALBERTAN GROUP SETTLEMENTS

The smaller Albertan groups illustrate the same general observations made of the larger groups. The larger and more homogeneous the French- 119.

Canadian community, the more likely it is to resist assimilation. For instance, Beaumont is a large (700 persons) and almost completely French-

Canadian parish south of Edmonton. The French-Canadian pupils of this parish attend a school which is 90$ French-Canadian. Not surprisingly, all of these pupils retain the ability to speak French. Similarly, the parish of Plamondon near Lac-la-Biche contains 620 French Canadians who make up 88$ of its population. The student-body at Plamondon school is

85$ "French", and all of these French-Canadian pupils can speak French.

However, in nearby Lac-la-Biche, French Canadians make up a mere 17$ of the parish population and 31$ of the school population. Thus it is not surprising that only 36$ of the French-Canadian students in this settle• ment can speak French. In small, very isolated parishes of southern

Alberta the process of assimilation has been even more complete. In the school serving the community of Chauvin 80$ of the French-Canadian students cannot speak French, whereas at Trochu and Pincher Creek (both originally French-speaking settlements) thepproportion is 100$ and 97$ respectively. It would be surprising if the situation in these small isolated communities were otherwise.

FRENCH-CANADIAN GROUP SETTLEMENT IN ALBERTA - CONCLUSION

It is difficult to generalise about the three larger group settlements of Alberta because they differ considerably in many aspects.

According to most measures the Peace River group compares in strength and vitality with the rural groups focussed on St. Boniface. Its compact and ethnically homogeneous character is reflected in the strength of its parishes and schools and in a very low rate of assimilation. Yet the 120.

future of the French-Canadian sub-culture in this community is threatened by problems arising from its isolatedmral position.

Although physical isolation from alien cultural elements seems to be a buttress of cultural survival, there is little doubt that isolation

from compatriots of the same French culture will prove an increasing

source of weakness. This group cannot belong to a larger, close-knit

community of groups such as exists in southern Manitoba. Like all rural

areas, this group has lost, and will continue to lose, many of its younger members to the urban areas (see chapter 8). In southern

Manitoba a considerable proportion of these migrants can go to St.

Boniface and even Winnipeg, and still remain integral parts of the

larger south-east Franco-Manitoban communities. In the Peace River

area no such opportunity exists for a "rural-to-urban" migration

within the Francophone community. Thus, despite their present

similarities, the future of a French-Canadian culture in western

Canada seems much brighter on the banks of the Red River, than on

those of the Peace.

If the future of the Peace River settlement seems doubtful when

compared to that of the Franco-Manitoban groups, then the position of

the St. Paul and St. Albert communities is very weak indeed. Although

as numerically strong as the other large group settlements, these two

communities have not only had to --cope with the intangible penetration

of Anglo-american ideas, attitudes and general culture, but also with

a very tangible, physical "invasion" of persons with a very different

cultural heritage. In the last 40 years the ethnic diversity within 121. these two settlements has increased considerably, diluting the French-

Canadian character of both schools and, parishes and offering more and more chances of mixing and marrying into non-French groups. The progressive reduction of French-Canadian dominance in these two settle• ments is clearly associated with a much higher rate of assimilation than observed in south-eastern Manitoba and Peace River. These processes of ethnic diversification and linguistic assimilation are most marked in the southern part of the St. Albert group, where the'.urban growth of Edmonton has inextricably intermixed the French-Canadian element with many persons of very different cultural backgrounds.

Footnotes

• 1. Memoire presented by L'Association des Educateurs Bilingues de 1' Albertfa to the Royal-Commission Inquiry on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, (1964) p.6.

2. ibid.

3. Creery, T.W.H., "French for the French in English-speaking Canada" (1963) p«15- (booklet containing series of newspaper articles in . Southam Newspapers).

4« Information from Alberta Catholic Schools Trustees Association.

5. All information on population and language within Franco-Albertan schools obtained from L'Association des Educateurs Bilingues de l1Alberta. 1967.

6. Field-.notes. 122.

CHAPTER 7

FRENCH-CANADIAN GROUP SETTLEMENT AND ASSIMILATION IN RURAL SASKATCHEWAN

The pattern of French-Canadian group settlement in Saskatchewan is different from that in the other two provinces. The French Canadians of Saskatchewan tend to he settled in small groups focussed on widely dispersed parishes, rather than in large compact settlements (Maps 1 and la). Two very broad regional groupings of these small communities can be recognised; one in the southern and one in the northern part of the province. The following analysis is organised within this regional frameworkjto study each small community individually would entail much repetition. However, as Map 1 shows, there are some main groups or

"nodes" of settlement within this broad pattern of dispersal; for example, there is one around the town of Gravelbourg in the southern part of the province. When it is relevant, reference will be made to these major nodes of settlement.

Some important characteristics common to all Franco-Saskatchewan settlements will be noted first. The French Canadians of Saskatchewan are all governed by the same Public Schools Act. This Act provides for a system of separate schools similar to that found in Alberta. Thus,

French Canadians in some parts of Saskatchewan can, to some extent, concentrate their children in Catholic separate schools. This compensates somewhat for the fact that the school .division boundaries of Saskatchewan have been established with no regard for the distribution of French-Canadian settlement.

The same Public Schools Act controls the use of French in these

"French-Canadian" schools. In the past concessions towards the use of 123.

French have been very small indeed; the School Act used to read;

section 209; "(l) English shall be the sole language of instruction.in all schools, and no language other than English shall be taught during school hours. (2) When the board of a district passes a resolution to that effect, the French language may be taught as a subject for a period not exceeding one hour each day as part of the school curriculum, and such teaching shall consist of French reading, French grammar and French composition"

In 1967 the Saskatchewan legislature amended these two sections of the

School Act as follows;

section 209; "(l) Except as may be otherwise provided in this Act English shall be the language of instruction in all schools. (2) Subject to the regulations of the department, where the board of a district passes a resolution to that effect French may be taught or used as the language of instruction for a period aggregating not more than onel-hour in a day as part of the school curriculum".2

In other words, subject to the decisions of the Department of Education and the boards of school districts in which French Canadians usually form but one of several ethnic groups, French may now be used as a language of instruction instead of being taught only as a subject.

The reaction to this amendment in "French-Canadian" schools has been

"to feel that the entire hour is necessary for the teaching of French as a subject and that more time would be required if they were to consider teaching other subjects in French."^ Thus French-Canadian pupils can now legally be taught "French" in the French-language, rather than in English. This is hardly a step towards the type of genuinely bilingual education which could develop in Manitoba after the recent amendments to the School Act in that province. 124-

Just as the French language enjoys an approximately similar status

in the public school systems of both Saskatchewan and Alberta, so a

similar degree of French-language mass-media is established in both provinces. French-language radio-stations at Gravelbourg and Saskatoon include all the main French-Canadian communities within their range (Map

14), but there is no French-language television in Saskatchewan. The weekly "La Liberte et Le Patriote" is easily available to all French-

speaking people, so that in respect to French language newspapers,

French-Canadians of Saskatchewan are no more isolated than their counter• parts in the other Prairie provinces.

FRENCH-CANADIAN RURAL GROUP SETTLEMENT AND ASSIMILATION IN SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN . a) The areal concentration of French Canadians in southern Saskatchewan

According to an estimate based on Map 1 approximately 11,000 of

French ethnic.origin are grouped in twenty-six French Canadian parishes scattered widely across the southern part of the province. There are no group settlements of the magnitude found in the other Prairie provinces, and social interaction between these dispersed, relatively small, communities is curtailed by the distances between them.

Within this general pattern of dispersal some definite centres or

"nodes" of French-Canadian settlement can be recognised, where the chances of cultural persistance would appear to be greater than in the more isolated communities. The towns of Gravelbourg, Willow Bunch,

Ponteix and Storthoaks are the foci of these main nodes (Table VI).

Despite the existence of these nodes, the areal pattern of French-

Canadian settlement has prevented the emergence of a really strong centre for the French-speaking sub-culture. Admittedly Gravelbourg TABLE XIX

POPULATION IN "FRENCH-CANADIAN" PARISHES OF THE DIOCESE OF ... • - -.GRAVELBOURG 1967 .

Parish and Total Popn. fo of French Canadians in Group .in 1967 Total Population

Gravelbourg 1,495 68 Courval 140 84 Coderre' 278 66 La Fieche 736 35 Mey;ronne 197 38 Ferland 264 84 Willow Bunch 831 72 St. Victor 245 80 Lisieux 208 79 Assiniboia. 1,361 27 Ponteix 1,052 83 Cadillac 196 75 Lac Pelletier 199 55 Dollard 219 62 Vai Marie 475 74

Source: Diocese of Gravelbourg, Sask. 126.

TABLE XX POPULATION OF FRENCH-CANADIAN SCHOOLS IN SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN 1966

School Total Popnv of

Gravelhourg 652 71 Coderre 147 36 Courval 20 90 La Fleche 166 15 Ferland 74 80 Willow Bunch 314 72 Lisieux' 56 93 Assiniboia-. 299 23 Ponteix 316 69 Dollard 29 76 Vai Marie 239 ' 31 Montmartre 229 . 41 Storthoaks 138 71 Alida-Cantal 65 100 Bellegarde 223 91

Source: L'Association Culturelle Franco-Canadienne de la Saskatchewan. 127. claims to be a cultural focus for both southern and northern

Saskatchewan and it certainly does contain the College Mathieu which, as a private institution, provides a bilingual education at high- school and university level for about 240 French-Canadian students.

Furthermore, this town is the centre of the diocese of Gravelbourg - a largely French-Canadian ecclesiastical institution - and the site of an important French-language radio-station. However, despite this

"cultural equipment", Gravelbourg is not like St. Boniface. It is a small, very rural town with a small French-Canadian population of

1045 persons who made up only 70$ of the town's population in 1961.

Clustered around Gravelbourg approximately 1500 others of French descent can be found, but they are scattered across an area almost as large as that occupied by the far more numerous group of St. Paul in

Alberta. The weakness of Gravelbourg as a cultural centre is reflected in the favourable response of College Mathieu to the suggestion that it move to Regina to become a French-language institution within the

University of Saskatchewan.^ Obviously, from considerations of the degree to which French Canadians are areally grouped, the French- language sub-culture in southern Saskatchewan has not established a very firm basis for cultural survival. b) The degree of ethnic homogeneity in the French-Canadian groups of Southern Saskatchewan

There is great variety in the degree of ethnic homogeneity in the

Francophone communities of southern Saskatchewan (Tables XIX and XX). But despite this great diversity, an important generalisation can be made; there are no communities in southern Saskatchewan which are as 128.

uniformly French-Canadian in character as those in south-eastern

Manitoba and the Peace River region. These communities are hetero•

geneous in ethnic character, similar to their counterparts in the St.

Paul and St. Albert settlements.

c) The French-Canadian Parish in southern Saskatchewan'

In the important diocese of Gravelbourg this institution has been less successful in incorporating the French-Canadian group settlements than in the south-eastern Manitoban, Peace River and St.

Paul settlements (Table VI). For example, even in the main Gravelbourg community only 73$ of the estimated group belong to a French-language parish, while in the Red River community the equivalent proportion is

93$.^ This situation reflects, to a large extent, the more dispersed nature of French-Canadian settlement in southern Saskatchewan than in the other Prairie provinces. Unfortunately, parish population data for the small communities outside of the main diocese of Gravelbourg was not available. However, there is little doubt that the parishes of this diocese, which incorporates the larger areas of French-

Canadian settlement, are generally representative of all southern

Saskatchewan "French" parishes. d) The "French-Canadian" school in southern Saskatchewan

As there has been no adjustment of the larger school division boundaries to suit French-Canadian interests, the French Canadians of this area tend to form small minorities in many divisions, rather than majorities in a few divisions. For example, in the important region of

French-Canadian settlement in and around Gravelbourg this situation 129.

exists; the town of Gravelbourg itself lies in Woodriver school division, whereas nearby Coderre and Courval are in the Moose Jaw division. Similarly one finds the Willow Bunch community in

Borderland division, Ponteix in Shannavan division, Lac Pelletier 6 in Swift Current division and Dollard in the Eastland division.

This pattern is common throughout southern Saskatchewan and again reflects the inherent weaknesses of an essentially dispersed pattern of settlement. With respect to influence in the school divisions, these French Canadians are in a very weak position.

However, as noted above, this weakness is countered in part by a system of separate religious schools which allows French

Canadians in some areas to concentrate their children in Catholic schools. The effect of this on ethnic diversity within "French- 7

Canadian" schools can be judged by further reference to Table XX.

It can be seen that with the exception of Bellegarde school (in the

Storthoaks group),the schools which are most uniformly French-

Canadian in character.are the small elementary schools. The larger secondary schools are more heterogeneous in ethnic character. For the most part, the French-Canadian schools of southern Saskatchewan are similar to those of the St. Paul and St. Albert areas, which offer French-Canadian pupils much social contact with non-French- speaking groups. It would be very difficult to extend the use of the French language in these heterogeneous schools. e) Population increase amongst French Canadians in southern Saskatchewan French Canadians have increased their proportional dominance in TABLE XXI

POPULATION CHANGE IN '•FRENCH-CANADIAN" MUNICIPALITIES OF SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN

Municipality Popn. of French $ of French Popn. of French fo of French Ethnic Origin Ethnic Origin Ethnic Origin Ethnic Origin 1921 1921 1961 1961

Gravelbourg 1,870 56 1,561 60 Willow Bunch 1,303 54 1,221 - 60 Auvergne (Ponteix) 813 35 1,012 53 Storthoaks 377 36 444 41 Montmartre 663 26 568 27 Laurier (Radville) 534 23 771 39

Sources: Census of Canada, 1921, Vol. I, Table 27. Census of Canada, 1961, Bulletin SP-2. 131.

all tfee principal French-speaking municipalities of southern Saskatchewan

(Table XXI). This is one of the few areas of western French-Canadian settlement where such increases have taken place. However, Table XXI indicates that their significance should not be overstressed. It can be noted that a proportional increase of persons of French descent is often associated with a considerable absolute decrease in the numbers of French ethnic origin; for example, observe the urban and rural municipalities of

Gravelbourg (regarded as one unit in Table XXI). The growth in the pro• portional dominance of French Canadians in the six areas represented in this Tablet has resulted not so much from a rapid increase in the "French" population, but from the fact that French Canadians seem to have migrated from the area less readily than other groups. Despite the proportional increases noted, the absolute number of persons of French origin in these six districts together has remained remarkably static - 5>560 persons in the census for 1921, 5,577 in the 1961 census. The absolute increases of

"French" population in districts such as Auvergne and Laurier can be explained in that they contain growing urban centres, such as Ponteix and

Radville, which receive considerable numbers of migrants from French-

Canadian farms. Once again it is difficult to find any real evidence that a high French-Canadian birth-rate, or immigration from Quebec, have done anything substantial to strengthen these prairie group settlements in recent decades. f) The retention of the French language in southern Saskatchewan

A dispersed pattern of settlement is a basic factor in producing a relatively weak foundation upon which to preserve a French-Canadian cultural TABLE XXII

POPULATION AND ASSIMILATION INDICES FOR SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN , SETTLEMENTS - 1961" ~ ' ......

Town or Total Popn. f> of French fo of French Descent Village 1961 Descent 196l claiming French as their Mother-Tongue 1961

Gravelbourg 1,499 70 89 Willow Bunch 698 76 90 Ponteix" 887 78 101 Storthoaks 227 60 90 Montmartre 482 51. 86 Assiniboia- 2,491 13 63 La Fleche 749 29 70 Radville 1,067 36 80 Dollard 165 72 96 Vai Marie 443 59 95

Sources: Census of Canada, 1961, Bulletin SP-2 Census of Canada, 1961, Unpublished data. 133.

presence in southern Saskatchewan. Assimilative tendencies are making considerable inroads even in the strongest French-Canadian centres (Map

8 and Table XXII). In Table XXII the language retention index for

Ponteix may be a little misleading in that the number claiming French as 8 their mother-tongue is probably augmented by persons of Belgian origin.

Using the 1941 census as a guide it would seem that about 35 persons of

Belgian descent lived in Ponteix in 196l. Assuming that only half of this population claimed French as their maternal tongue, Ponteix would still have a very high retention index of around 98$. Apart from

Ponteix, considerable cultural erosion can be noted in all the main groups, particularly in towns like Assiniboia and Lafleche which, although possessing large French-Canadian populations and French-language parishes, have non-French-speaking majorities. More disquieting, from the French-Canadian viewpoint, is the degree of linguistic assimilation in the cultural centre of Gravelbourg; this fact does not auger well for the French-Canadian future.

Unfortunately, there was no data concerning the loss of the French language among Franco-Saskatchewan students, but probably, as shown in

Manitoba and Alberta, the degree of assimilation in the schools is closely related to the degree of ethnic homogeneity within them. Fieldwork in the Gravelbourg district suggested that this is the case in southern

Saskatchewan. One frequently heard of the increasing tendency for French-

Canadian school-children to speak English among themselves, especially 9 where they are very intermixed with non-French-speaking groups at school.

This trend must be particularly acute in isolated parishes such as Dumas, 134.

Forget, St. Hubert and Lebret, which have no. schools offering the

"Francais" course organised by L'Association Culturelle Franco-Canadienne de la Saskatchewan.

FRENCH-CANADIAN RURAL GROUP SETTLEMENT IN NORTHERN SASKATCHEWAN

The state of the French-Canadian sub-culture in northern Saskatchewan is very similar to that found in the south of the province, a) The areal concentration of French Canadians in northern Saskatchewan

An estimated 16,000 of French descent are grouped around 29 parishes dispersed widely across northern agricultural Saskatchewan. As in the southern areas there are no group settlements of the magnitude found in southern Manitoba and northern Alberta. The predominant pattern of

French-Camadian settlement is one of small communities scattered widely across the province's parkland belt (Maps 1 and la).

There are some prominent nodes of French-Canadian settlement, particularly in the municipalities of St. Louis, Spiritwood and Canwood, and around the town of North Battleford. None of these nodes have led to the formation of a cultural centre which can compare with that of the small town of Gravelbourg. This statement is substantiated by study of the largest French-Canadian settlement in northern Saskatchewan which is focussed on the municipalities of St. Louis and Duck Lake and contains approximately 3,700 of French ethnic origin. However, numbers alone do not produce a strong cultural centre. Many of those claiming French ethnic origin in this group are metis who, as noted in chapter 2, do not have such a strong attachment to their "French" heritage as French Canadians of purely "European" origin. Using the 1941 census as a guide, it can be 135.

TABLE XXIII

POPULATION AND ASSIMILATION "INDICES FOR NORTHERN SASKATCHEWAN SETTLEMENTS • • .. .. - - . 1961 _. . .

Town or Total Popn. % of Popn. of fo of French Descent Village . 1961.. French Descent Claiming French as 1961 Their Mother-Tongue, I96I

St. Louis 344 70 90 Duck Lake 688 53 87 Domremy 234 72 92 Prud'homme 264 34 96 Vonda 238 31 100 Vawn 102 83 83 Marcelin 280 71 78 Debden 332 61 91 Spiritwood. 548 24 86 Leoville 416 69 91 St. Brieux 364 .66 88 Meadow Lake 2,803 23 35 Zenon Park 384 90 100

Sources: Census of Canada, 1961, Bulletin SP-2 Census of Canada, 1961, Unpublished data. 136.

TABLE XXIV

POPULATION OF "FRENCH-CANADIAN" SCHOOLS OF NORTHERN SASKATCHEWAN 1966

School Total Popn.- • $ of French-Canadian Pupils of School 1966 in School

St. Louis 359 77 Duck Lake 536 53 Domremy 230 67 St. Isidore 211 96 Prud'homme 240 37 Vonda 79 98 St. Denis 117 57 Delmas 124 67 Jackfish Lake 55 98 Vawn 231 67 Marcelin 295 34 Dehden 407 63 Spiritwood 234 59 Makwa 180 32 Leoville 255 57 , Victoire 113 65 Butte St. Pierre 56 63 St. Brieux 332 52 St. Front 104 100 Perigord 50 82 Alhertville 146 63 Zenon Park 333 91

Source: L1 Association Culturelle Franco-Canadienne de la Saskatchewan. 137.

estimated that about 1000 claiming French descent belong to the metis

community."^ Another factor counterbalancing the relative strength of numbers in the St. Louis-Duck Lake group is the lack of a French-Canadian town, even on the scale of Gravelbourg or Ponteix. The village of St.

Louis itself contained only 243 of French origin in 1961, while the

other main French-Canadian centres in the group, Duck Lake and Domremy, had "French" populations of 283 and 153 respectively. This pattern of very small French-Canadian village centres is common throughout northern

Saskatchewan and prevents the establishment of any significant French-

Canadian cultural focus. As Gravelbourg, with its French-Canadian population of more than 1000 persons, is experiencing linguistic assimil• ation, the future of these small rural villages as foci of French-

Canadian cultural life seems very uncertain indeed. b) The degree of ethnic homogeneity in the groups of northern Saskatchewan

Both school and census data reveal that the French Canadians are considerably intermixed with other groups, even in the strongest con• centrations (Tables XXIII and XXIV). There is no particular areal pattern in the varying degrees of ethnic heterogeneity amongst these Franco-

Saskatchewan communities. Certainly, the chances of maintaining a vital

French-Canadian sub-culture in such small, scattered and ethnically diverse communities as these seem very poor. c) The French-Canadian parish in northern Saskatchewan

As elsewhere, a French-Canadian parish has established itself wherever a significant group of French Canadians is settled (Map 7)• Data on the ethnic composition of parishes in northern Saskatchewan was not available, 138.

but an accurate idea of their ethnic homogeneity can be obtained by studying the information on French-Canadian schools (Table XXIV). In the other areas studied a strong correlation between the ethnic uniformity of French-Canadian schools and parishes has been noted. d) The French-Canadian school in northern Saskatchewan

The considerable degree of ethnic diversity in these schools (Table

XXIV) reflects both the dispersed pattern of French-Canadian communities and the lack of correlation between the areal pattern of school division units and the distribution of French-Canadian settlement. Obviously, the familiar problem of ethnic heterogeneity in the "French-Canadian" schools poses problems of cultural survival to these Franco-Saskatchewan settle• ments. With the exception of Zenon Park and St. Isidore (in the St. Louis municipality) the only schools with really large French-Canadian majorities are the small elementary institutions, such as the one at

Jackfish Lake. As in southern Saskatchewan, it is doubtful whether the recent and rather slight concessions to the French language in Franco-

Saskatchewan schools can do much to strengthen the educational basis of the French sub-culture in this area. e) Population increase among French Canadians in northern Saskatchewan

The "French" ethnic group has increased its proportional dominance significantly in only two municipalities. Between 1921 and 1961, the proportion of persons of French descent in St. Louis municipality increased from 55$ 68$, whereas in Battle River municipality (in the group around

North Battleford) there was a similar increase from 21$ to 43$. However, despite these two examples, in northern Saskatchewan groups as a whole the 139.

French-Canadian populations have not been able to increase their dominance. When the overall population in all the municipalities with a French-speaking group was considered, those of French descent made up only 18$ of the population in both 1921 and 1961. f) The retention of the French language in northern Saskatchewan

The pattern of linguistic assimilation is very similar to the one found in southern Saskatchewan. Although the majority of persons of

French descent in the group settlements still speak French, there are indications in nearly every French-Canadian community that the forces of anglicisation are beginning to take their toll (Table XXIII and Map 8).

It is noteworthy that the lack of assimilation in both Zenon Park and

Vonda is associated with unusually uniform "French-Canadian" schools in these two communities (Tables XXIII and XXIV). Similar associations have been noted in all the group settlements and they point to the need of a very "French" milieu to resist absorption into the dominant Anglo- american social environment. The dispersed pattern of French-Canadian settlement in northern Saskatchewan provides little opportunity for producing such a dominantly "French" environment.

FRENCH-CANADIAN GHOUP SETTLEMENT IN SASKATCHEWAN - CONCLUSION

The French Canadian sub-culture in Saskatchewan is fundamentally weakened by a pattern of settlement in which those of French descent are widely dispersed and intermixed with other ethnic groups in small group communities. This situation has not been alleviated to any significant extent by the small increases in the proportional dominance of French

Canadians in some Saskatchewan municipalities. This pattern of widely 140. dispersed small groups has prevented the emergence of a really strong cultural centre like St. Boniface. Even Gravelbourg, with its claims to be "the French-Canadian capital of Saskatchewan", remains a very small, rural, ethnically diverse community in which some assimilation of the

French-Canadian group is already taking place. This essentially dis• persed pattern of settlement has made it impossible to organise within uniformly French-Canadian institutions; thus, for example, "French" schools and parishes tend to be very heterogeneous in ethnic character. Obviously it would be very difficult to improve the educational foundations of cultural survival, especially as it is difficult to imagine how any adjustment of school division boundaries in the ethnic mosaics of both north and south Saskatchewan could produce very homogeneous Erench-

Canadian educational units, similar to those of south-eastern Manitoba.

However, while describing the frailty of the French-Canadian position in Saskatchewan, one cannot state that there has been a greater degree of linguistic assimilation than in the large group settlements of St. Paul and St. Albert in Alberta. Up to the present it seems that the degree to which a group is intermixed with non-French populations is the key factor determining the rate of assimilation, rather than the numerical size of the French-Canadian groupings. Thus, in describing the areally varying strength of the French-Canadian sub-culture on the Prairies, it seems rational to rank the major Saskatchewan groupings with group settlements such as St. Paul and St. Albert. These are communities in which the future of this sub-culture seems far more precarious than in the more uniformly

French-Canadian communities of Peace River and, more especially, of south- 141.

eastern Manitoba. Ultimately the greater numerical strength of the St.

Paul and St. Albert groups may prove more resistant to assimilation than

the smaller, dispersed Saskatchewan groups, but as yet this is not the case.

Footnotes

1. .Information concerning Saskatchewan School Act from the Department

of Education, Province of Saskatchewan 1Q67«

2. ibid.

3. ibid. 4» Interview with Rev. Beauregard o.m.i., Recteur, College Mathieu, Gravelbourg, 1966.

5. All information concerning population of southern Saskatchewan parishes from Diocese of Gravelbourg, Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan, 1966.'

6. All information concerning Saskatchewan' school divisions from Department of Education, Province of Saskatchewan, 1966.

7. Information on population of "French-Canadian" schools from L' Association Culturelle Franco-Canadienne de la Saskatchewan,. 1966.

8. see Appendix I.

9. Fieldnotes.

10. see Appendix II. 142.

CHAPTER 8

FRENCH-CANADIAN GROUP ORGANISATION AND ASSIMILATION IN THE MAJOR URBAN

AREAS OF THE PRAIRIE PROVINCES ......

In chapter 4 it was stated that the population of French ethnic origin

in the Prairie provinces has increased continually throughout this century.

It was also noted that the proportion of French descent within the total population of these provinces was continuing to grow (Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4)•

However, these increases are augmenting the numbers of French Canadians living in the largely English-speaking cities of the Prairies, rather than the numbers within the French-speaking rural group settlements (Table XXV).

This increasing urbanisation is viewed with concern by leaders of the western Francophone communities who fear that migration from the rural

strongholds of their culture to the overwhelmingly English-speaking environment of most prairie cities poses a severe threat to the continuance

of a "French fact" in western Canada. Before studying the validity of this concern and the efforts to establish some type of French-Canadian group organisation in the major urban areas, this particular urbanisation process should be analysed more closely.

Table XXV states that although the urban population of French descent

increased greatly during the last intercensal period, the number of rural dwellers among this ethnic group decreased in Saskatchewan alone. This process of urbanisation between 1951 and 1961 was not a simple pattern of absolute rural loss balanced by corresponding urban gain, but rather one of

a generally static rural population and a fast increasing urban population.

This trend can be clearly observed in Tables XXV and XXVI (the latter Table focusses particularly on the principal areas of French-Canadian settlement in 143.

TABLE XXV

RURAL AM) URBAN POPULATION OF FRENCH DESCENT IN PRAIRIE PROVINCES 1951 AMD 1961 .

Province Popn. of % of popn. of Popn. of % of Popn. of French Origin French Origin French Origin French Origin 1951 1951 1961 1961

MANITOBA 1) Rural 34,996 53 38,710 46 2) Urban 31,024 47 45,226 54

SASKATCHEWAN 1) Rural 39,314 76 37,137 62 2) Urban 12,611 24 22,687 38

ALBERTA ll Rural 33,807 60 36,151 43 2) Urban 22,378 40 47,168 57

Source: Census of Canada, 1951 an(i 1961. TABLE XXVI

POPULATION CHANGE AMONG THOSE OF FRENCH ORIGIN IN SELECTED RURAL MUNICIPALITIES AND CITIES OF MANITOBA AND SASKATCHEWAN.1951 & 1961

Municipalities and Cities Popn. of Popn. of French French Ethnic Ethnic Origin Origin, 1951 196I

(Rural "French-Canadian" (Municipalities of South-ea em 18,645 19,425 '.(Manitoba Winnipeg City 9,898 13,945 St. Boniface City 10,217 14,404 (Rural "French-Canadian" (Municipalities of Southern 10,415 10,718 (Saskatchewan

Regina City 2,565 4,714 (Rural "French-Canadian" (Municipalities of Northern 11,734 11,041 (Saskatchewan

Saskatoon City 2,076 4,053 Prince Albert 2,036 3,560

Sources: Census of Canada, 1951, Unpublished data. Census of Canada, 1961, Bulletin SP-2. 145.

Manitoba and Saskatchewan). It is not possible to compare detailed census data for Alberta between the years 1951 and 1961 owing to census division changes, but Boileau has studied migration from the St. Paul and Peace

River groups in some detail and reaches the same conclusions; he states;

"The successive studies of the birth-rate and death-rate reveals a positive balance sheet. The population numbers of the French-Canadian parishes of the St. Paul region could not only renew themselves easily but also increase themselves regularly, if it were not for a strong migration out of the region which has had the effect of almost totally nullifying the benefits of an important and strong rate of natural increase. The fact is that the annual gains in these parishes are far inferior to those that one might hope for from the rate of natural increase. In spite of a very rapid birth-rate several French- Canadian parishes in the region have diminishing, or very slowly increasing populations."! 2

Boileau noted a similar situation in the Peace River group and emphasised another trend which accentuates the gravity of this problem of rural migration. He pointed out that it is "the young people who each year leave the region in order to look elsewhere for work which the region cannot offer them.""^ In south-eastern Manitoba and Saskatchewan one finds this same problem of the young being forced by economic circustance from the rural group strongholds of the French-Canadian sub-culture.^" Hopes of attracting small industries to these rural settlements are often voiced, but there has been little success as yet in efforts to provide occupations for their "surplus" population. For example, a light textile plant was established at the small French-Canadian town'-of St. Pierre in the Red

River group of Manitoba. However, this industry, which employed a largely female labour force, proved uneconomic and was relocated in a more populous 5 centre away from the Francophone community. Unless these 'rural groups can 146. diversify their economic structure and provide more occupations, the problem of retaining the younger elements of the population will become more and more acute. The consequences of failing to stem this youthful migration from the rural groups are obvious; stagnation and decline of the numbers within these communities, a lowering of the birth-rate, an increasing proportion of old people and a general reduction of social and economic vitality within these groups.

Whatever the success or failure of efforts to retain more young people within these communities, a large, movement of young French-Canadians to the larger urban centres of western Canada is certain to continue.

Therefore, in this assessment of the strength of the French-Canadian sub• culture, it is essential to study the settlement and social "group" organisation of Francophones within the prairie cities. a) The areal concentration of French Canadians within the prairie cities

The city of St. Boniface contains the one urban group of western French

Canadians which can compare with the rural groups in respect to areal con• centration. The majority of the 14,404 (l96l census) persons of French origin in this city are concentrated in its northern parts, around the

Cathedral of St. Boniface (Map 2). Nowhere else in western Canada can one find a similar concentration of French-Canadians in an urban area.

Apart from this unique situation in St. Boniface, the urbanisation of western French Canadians has resulted in a wide dispersion of this ethnic group within the prairie cities (Maps 2 - 6).

It may be thought that "dispersion" within the relatively narrow confines of the prairie cities is of far less consequence than "dispersion" 147-

in rural areas of low population density. The actual physical distances separating "dispersed" French Canadians in a city area are often far less than the distances separating persons who would he considered as "grouped" together in a rural environment. However, there is no doubt that the

"social distance" (i.e. - the degree of social segregation) between French

Canadians scattered in the urban areas is just as great as the "social distance" between rural French Canadians who are dispersed very much more widely in physical terms. For example, in the relatively small urban area of Regina, 4714 persons of French descent (1961 census) are scattered widely across the city, although in terms of physical distance...no French

Canadian is far from another. Yet the degree of social intercourse between the Francophones of this city is not very great because of this sense of dispersion and individual isolation in a dominantly English-speaking city. 7

Similar observations were made in both Winnipeg and Edmonton.

The disintegrative effect of dispersion on French-Canadian society within the major cities is confirmed in analysis of the areal pattern of assimilation (section g below). As soon as the French group becomes a little dispersed (even in parts of St. Boniface) absorption into the

English-speaking community becomes far more pronounced. The Francophone community recognises this fact, and some attempts have been made to encourage French-speaking persons in the city to group together areally into distinct communities. For example, efforts were made to congregate

French-Canadian migrants moving into the vast new Windsor Park housing development in southern St. Boniface. However, these attempts proved unsuccessful and Franco-Manitobans are now dispersed throughout Windsor TABLE XXVII

POPULATION OF FRENCH ETHNIC ORIGIN IN PRAIRIE CITIES 1961

City Total Popn. Popn. of French. fo of French Ethnic Origin Ethnic Origin in Total Popn.

(Metropolitan (Winnipeg 475,989 39,777 8.3 Winnipeg City 265,429 13,945 5-2 St. Boniface . 37,600 14,404 38.3 Regina 112,141 4,7U 4.2 Saskatoon 95,526 4,053 4-2 Edmonton 281,027 17,246 6.1 Calgary 249,641 9,528 3.8

Source: Census of Canada, 1961, Bulletin SP-2. 149-

Park. This situation has led to the usual problems concerning French-

Canadian education and assimilation (see below). Similar efforts to group French Canadians in St. Norbert (an old French-speaking community in the south of metropolitan Winnipeg) have failed, largely through lack Q of interest. Obviously, according to the measure of "areal grouping", the foundation.- of the French-Canadian sub-culture in the major urban centres is very weak, although some parts of St. Boniface provide an important exception. b) The degree of ethnic homogeneity in French-Canadian settlement in the major prairie cities One of the inherent weaknesses in the dispersed urban pattern of

French-Canadian settlement is that it obviously leads to a great degree of social intermingling between Francophones and more predominant elements in the urban populations. For most of these western French Canadians, contacts with persons and cultures non-French in character are likely to ber.far more numerous than connections with a distinctive French-Canadian society. This is inevitable, for French Canadians make up such small proportions of the prairie cities' populations (Table XXVII).

St. Boniface does not fit the generalisations about these cities; between the years 1921 and 196I the census recorded, that French Canadians consistently made up about 38$ of this city's population;.. This may not seem a particularly high proportion, but in the north of the city, where most Francophones are congregated (Map 2), they are far more dominant. .

In the two most northerly tracts this group made up 73$ and 65$ of the tract populations. Progressing southwards through the city, persons of

French descent gradually constitute smaller and smaller proportions of the TABLE XXVIII

POPULATION OF FBENCH-CANADIAN SCHOOLS IN ST. BONIFACE I965

School Total Popn. $ of French ' $ of French-Canadian of School Canadian Pupils Pupils able to Speak in School French

Beliveau 91 100 100 General Vanier 140 100 100 Jardin Langevin 157 90 91 Marion 685 80 87 Precieux Sang 617 100 100 Provencher 440 94 99 St. Joseph 549 93 95 Tache 233 100 100

Sources L1 Association D'Education des Canadiens-Francais du Manitoba. 151.

tract populations, until in the new housing development of Windsor Park they make up a mere 19$ of the population. Thus, there are parts of the city where the French-Canadian group is as homogeneously congregated as in the rural settlements of south-eastern Manitoba (Table XXVIII).

However in other parts of St Boniface, particularly its newly developing portions, Francophones are much more intermingled with non-French elements, c) The French-Canadian parish in the major prairie cities

One social institution which could provide a "group" focus for urban

French Canadians is the French-language Catholic parish. However, the influence of this institution in the urban areas is very limited at present, except in St. Boniface.

There are six French-language parishes in St. Boniface, including the very large "Cathedrale" parish which contains over 7,000 French Canadians.

It is obvious that any Francophone living in this city can easily partici• pate in French-language church activities if he so desires. The situation of a French-speaking Canadian in the municipality of St. Vital (^ust south of St. Boniface) is similar; three French-language parishes serve the

3683 (l96l census) persons of French descent in this old French-speaking community which has been engulfed by the gcowth of metropolitan Winnipeg.

Elsewhere the "French" parish is far less prominent in urban areas.

In Winnipeg city for example, which has a population of French origin almost as numerous as that of St. Boniface, there- is only one French- language parish. Regina, with its growing population of French origin

(4,714 in 196l) has only one such parish to provide some sort of "group" focus. A similar situation,.exists in'Saskatoon, where some of the 4053

(1961 census) of French descent can attempt to maintain their cultural 152. I identity with the help of the parish of Les Saintes-Martyrs-Canadiens.

In Calgary approximately 940 of the 9>528 (l96l census) of French origin, belong to the "French" parish of Ste. Famille, but this is but a small proportion of the Francophones within the city.- These examples illustrate how this institution has been far less successful in encompassing urban

French Canadians than those in rural groups. In Edmonton the spread of the parishes institutional net is somewhat wider, but the 4>700 French

Canadians in the city's four "French" parishes are only a quarter of the

17,246 (l96l census) persons of French descent in Edmonton.

With the exception of St. Boniface, the traditional group organisation provided by the French-language Catholic parish has not been able to keep pace with the migration of French Canadians to the large prairie cities.

Certainly a French-language parish plays a part in 'the'..life of a minority of these urban Francophones, but it would be fallacious to think that these isolated institutions form a strong urban foundation of the French-

Canadian sub-culture. These parishes are supported, for the most part, by people whose French culture was derived from roots outside the cities.

It is doubtful .whether a weekly church service in French will help much in implanting this cultural heritage so deeply in their city-born children, d) The French-Canadian school in the major prairie cities

With the exception of St. Boniface, the French-Canadian school is even less entrenched in urban areas than the parish. The vast majority of French

Canadians in prairie cities must have their children educated in purely

English-speaking schools.

In St. Boniface the situation regarding French-Canadian education is 153.

similar to that of the group settlements in south-eastern Manitoba.

Within this unique city the school division boundaries have been adjusted so that the dominantly English-speaking district of Norwood

(to the south-east of the main French-Canadian grouping) has been excluded from the predominantly French-speaking school district of

St. Boniface. Thus, the eight French-Canadian schools within this city are very uniform in ethnic character (Table XXVIII).

"Such ethnic uniformity within the schools is a great advantage, for the problems of extending French-language instruction in such schools will not include strong opposition from a large body of

English-speaking parents. Opposition of this kind has already been experienced in the nev/ Windsor Park district of St. Boniface where, as noted above, efforts to congregate Francophones into an areally compact group came to nought. French Canadians hoped that one of the public schools in this new housing development could be designated as a "French" school in which advantage could be taken of the nev/ Manitoba legislation allowing French to be used as a language of instruction for up to half of the school day (see chapter 5)«

However, although French-Canadian parents may be willing to send their children to this school rather than to the nearest one, many English- speaking parents insist on sending their children to the nearest public school, even if it is the one designated as "French-Canadian".*^

In this school they would obviously object to French being used as a language of instruction. It would seem that although French Canadians did not co-operate with the plan to form a French "enclave" or district 154. in Windsor Park, they may well have been advised to do so from an educational point of view.

Outside of St. Boniface, the problems of French-Canadian dispersal and "English-Canadian" opposition noted in Windsor Park became even more acute, so that the organisation of urban Francophones into "group" schools is a very rare phenomenon. . In Winnipeg city the Catholic school of Sacre-Coeur

had a student body of 236 pupils in 1965, 90$ of whom were French

Canadian.^ Nevertheless, the bulk of Winnipeg's French-Canadian school• children are educated in completely English-speaking schools. A similar situation exists in Saskatoon where efforts are being made to establish a bilingual "Ecole Canadienne" which, as a private school, will provide a thorough grounding in both French and English. However, this is not a 12 public school and in 1966 only 27 students were enrolled. This is only slightly better than the situation in Regina and Calgary which, despite having considerable populations of French descent (Table XXVII), have no

"French" schools of any kind as yet. Edmonton possesses the private bi-r lingual institutions of College St. Jean and Academie Assomption (for girls), but these two schools educate a very small proportion of Franco-Edmontonians

in the Catholic and French tradition."^

In trying to overcome these problems of physical dispersion and education in a non-French environment, French Canadians in western cities sometimes cite the treatment of English-speaking minorities in Quebec, where the children of Anglophones are transported at public cost to English- language public schools. It is suggested that bilingual public schools be

established in the major prairie cities, open to any interested student of .155-

French or other ethnic extraction who could he transported each day to

this school. Unless such an accomodation of French-Canadian educational

interests is carried out soon (and it seems unlikely), the future of a

vital French culture in western Canadian cities seems very doubtful.

e) French—language mass-media in the majj.or prairie cities

The inhabitants of St. Boniface and metropolitan Winnipeg receive

a far wider and more effective range of French mass-media than any other

urban areas. In addition to a weekly French newspaper and a French radio-

station, which are present in all main prairie cities (except Calgary, which

lacks the latter), a French-language television station provides a full

service to the Winnipeg area. Apart from tv/o hours of French programmes per week in Edmonton, the other urban areas of the Prairies possess no television for Francophones. f) Population increase among the French Canadian population of major prairie cities

Measuring the increasing or decreasing demographic proportion of

French Canadians is of little significance in this analysis of the strength of the French sub-culture in the urban centres of the Prairies. The

essential demographic fact of French-Canadian existence in most western

cities is their position as small, dispersed minorities, growing as the cities grow. If the proportion of French Canadians in one of these cities increases or decreases somewhat, it is not likely to lead to a concomitant increase or decrease of French-Canadian influence in that urban area. Only

in the urban group of St. Boniface is proportional population change likely to be important in assessing the increasing or decreasing influence of the

Francophone community within local social and political institutions. One 156.

TABLE XXIX. POPULATION AMD ASSIMILATION INDICES WITHIN MAJOR PRAIRIE CITIES 1961

City Popn. of $ of French Origin French 'Origin Claiming French as 1961 Mother-Tongue 1961

St. Boniface 14,404 93

Winnipeg City 13,945 54

Regina 4,714 40

Saskatoon 4,053 44

Calgary 9,528 33

Edmonton 17,246 50 '

Source: Census of Canada, 1961, Bulletin SP-2. Census of Canada, 1961, Vol. I, Table 67

TABLE XXX POPULATION AND ASSIMILATION INDICES IN CENSUS TRACTS OF ST. BONIFACE I96I

Tract No. Total Popn. $ of French $ of French origin 1961 Origin claiming French as Mother-Tongue I96I

49 4,415 73 99-6

50 7,812 65 98.0

53 4,860 31 83.0

52 5,272 35 92

51 4,524 14 81

Windsor Park 19 80

Source: Census of Canada, 1961, Unpublished data. 157.

can note in this respect that, although the city of St. Boniface increased from a total population of 12,821 in 1921 to 37,600 in 1961, the "French" proportion of these totals stayed remarkably constant at 38$. This stability of the French-Canadian proportion in St. Boniface is very

similar to that noted in the rural group settlements of south-eastern

Manitoba. g) The retention of the French language amongst French Canadians in the major prairie cities

The weak, dispersed position of French Canadians in the prairie cities has taken its toll with regards to linguistic assimilation (Maps 9 to 13 and Table XXIX).

The total figures hide some significant spatial variations in the degree of assimilation within these cities, particularly in the St.

Boniface area. Map 9 and Table XXX (which lists the census tracts of St.

Boniface in order from the most northerly to the most southerly) reveal these variations. There is almost no assimilation in the two most northerly tracts of the city. This correlates with the fact that these tracts contain the most numerous, compact and ethnically homogeneous French-Canadian group in St. Boniface. Towards the'south of the city the French-Canadian community becomes less numerous and more intermingled with other ethnic

groups. Corresponding with this trend, the degree of assimilation increases sharply towards the south, even though these French Canadians are still within the narrow confines of a city of distinctly "French" character.

Thus, even within St. Boniface the extremely vulnerable position of the

French-Canadian sub-culture in western Canada can be observed. As in the

rural areas, considerable evidence of assimilation can be found closely 158.

adjacent to the "cores" of French-Canadian group settlement. This

extremely local and "defensive" nature of the sub-culture is surprising

within St. Boniface, for nowhere in this city are French Canadians more

than two miles from the centre of the largest, most concentrated French-

speaking group in western Canada..

FRENCH-CANADIAN GROUP ORGANISATION AND ASSIMILATION IH THE URBAN AREAS OF THE PRAIRIE PROVINCES -. CONCLUSION

The fear that the migration of French Canadians from their rural group strongholds to the largely English-speaking milieu of the western

Canadian city threatens the persistance of French-Canadian culture on the Prairies seems well-founded. Physical dispersion of Francophones in the large urban areas has led to degrees of assimilation similar to those in rural areas where persons of French descent are widely scattered.

Although in purely physical terms the distances between "dispersed" French

Canadians in confined urban areas are small, the "social distance" (or social segregation) between these Francophones appears to be as great as between isolated French Canadians dispersed widely in non-French rural areas.

It seems to be the dispersed pattern of most urban French-Canadian settlement which is strongly associated with assimilation, rather than urban settlement as such. In the parts of St. Boniface where the French-

Canadian population is grouped and socially organised as strongly as a rural group settlement like Red River, the degree of assimilation is almost non-existant. The same degrees of areal grouping, ethnic homogeneity, and

"institutional strength" lead to the same degrees of assimilation, regardless 159.

of whether the French-Canadian community exists in a rural or urban

environment. Most western Canadian cities are centres of assimilation in

that they disperse the Francophones into a largely English-speaking society.

Unless urban French Canadians can develop urban institutions to "group"

socially these dispersed French-speaking persons, then it seems that St.

Boniface will remain the only prominent urban manifestation of the "French

fact" on the Prairies.

Footnotes

1. Boileau, G., "Les Canadiens Frangais de la Region de St. Paul", Study produced by the Services de Recherches of "La Societe Canadienne d'LEtablissement Rural", (1965) p.44.

2. Boil eau, G., "Les Canadiens Frangais de Riviere—la—Paix", Study produced by the Service de Recherches of "La Societe'Canadienne d'Etablissement Rural", (1965) p.71.

3. Boileau, G., "Les Canadiens Francais de la Region de St. Paul", op.cit., p.45* - :.

4. Field notes, (1966).

5. Information from Caisse Populaire, St. Pierre, Manitoba, 1966.

6. Interview with M. Sirois, Regina, Sask., 1966.

7. Interviews with M.A. Gabourieu, St. Boniface; and M.J-M Olivier, Edmonton, 1966.

8. Field notes, St., Boniface, 1966.

9. Information on urban French-language parishes from; Diocese of St. Boniface, Diocese of Gravelbourg and Almanach Franco-Albertain, (1966).

10. Field notes, August, 1966.

11. L'Association d'Education des Canadiens Francais du Manitoba.

12. L'Association Culturelle Franco-Canadienne de la Saskatchewan.

13- L1 Association des Educateurs Bilingues de 1'Alberta.

14. Census of Canada, 1921, Vol. I, Table 27, Census of Canada, I96I, Bulletin SP-Z. 160.

CHAPTER 9

CONCLUSION

To judge from the number of Quehecois who left the East to settle on the Prairies, French Canadian interest in western Canada was never very great, It is %£ue that some French Canadians wanted their kinsfolk to play a greater part in the development of this region of Canada, hut in

general, the Quehecois have always preferred to stay in, or very near to, their native province. Thus, those who did make the long migration to the West have become part of a small ethnic minority in an overwhelmingly

Anglo-american social milieu.

The basic aim of this study was to produce an areal analysis of the varying degrees to which western Canadians of French descent have remained part of Canada's French-speaking population. Previous discussions of these western minorities has usually been based on general figures relating to large statistical units such as census divisions and, more

often, whole provinces. Figures based on such large units can be mis• leading. In this analysis, based on the most detailed census sub-division data available, a picture emerged of where exactly western French Canadians have been most successful in retaining their culture.

It was obvious that the persons of French descent in the group settlements have proved far more resistant to linguistic assimilation than those dispersed widely in dominantly English-speaking environments. There is a very sharp contrast between the high degree of French-language retention within these groups and the considerable extent of assimilation outside of

them. In addition to this expected difference between "grouped" and "dis- 161.

persed" westerners of French origin, linguistic assimilation varied con•

siderably from group settlement to group settlement. By far the strongest

Francophone community on the Prairies is situated in south-east Manitoba

where three of the largest rural groups are centred on the one urban

French-speaking group of any consequence in western Canada - St. Boniface.

These groups form the most vigorous and well-established French-Canadian

community west of Lake Superior according to all the indices used in the

study. First, they are among the largest group settlements on the Prairies;

St. Boniface is by far the largest individual group. Secondly, these

groups enjoy the additional "numerical" advantage of being closely adjacent

to one another, so that, with St. Boniface forming a unique social centre

for them, together they form by far the largest Francophone community in

western Canada. The individual groups within this large community are also

the most compact and ethnically uniform settlements on the Prairies.

Largely as a result of this compact homogeneity, the French-language parish

in this region incorporates more of the group settlement's population than

elsewhere. In addition, the areal administrative framework of education in

south-eastern Manitoba has accommodated the desires of the French-speaking

community to a far greater extent than in Saskatchewan and Alberta. The

advantages of this deliberate conformation of school division., boundaries to

the areal configuration of the group settlements should become more apparent

in the future as Franco-Manitobans try to take advantage of new provincial

legislation which grants the French language far more educational status in

Manitoba than in the other Prairie provinces. The comparative strength of the

French-Canadian position in south-eastern Manitoba is also indicated by the 162. unique presence there of a full French-language television service which provides a far more contemporary and vital network of French mass-media than found elsewhere in the area studied. Finally, the presence of an urban Francophone group will make the urbanisation of French Canadians in this area less of a dispersive and socially disintegrative agency than in other areas of group settlement. At least some French Canadians, forced by economic change from the rural settlements, can settle in or near St.

Boniface and remain at the heart of this Franco-Manitoban community.

Elsewhere, the contemporary fate of the western Francophone migrating to a big city is to be dispersed and engulfed in an English-speaking milieu.

The unique strength of the French-Canadian position in south-eastern

Manitoba is reflected in a very high degree of French-language retention

among those of French origin. This degree of linguistic retention is, overall, considerably greater than elsewhere in the West. However, as was shown, the forces of anglicisation are evident even in these groups.

Nowhere else in the West can one find a Francophone community so firmly entrenched as the one focussed on St. Boniface. From the point of view of ethnic homogeneity and language retention the Peace River group ranks close

to these Manitoban settlements, but it lacks the "cultural equipment" or

"infrastructure" of the larger Franco-Manitoban community. Problems of cultural isolation and loss of younger elements are particularly acute in this group settlement. The St. Paul group is similar to the one in Peace

River in respect to cultural infrastructure, but it reveals more signs of linguistic assimilation, although a large majority still claim French as

their mother-tongue. This fact seems to be clearly associated with the

greater degree of ethnic homogeneity within the area of the settlement. 163.

This particular "weakness" of the St. Paul group, vis-a-vis the Peace River

and the larger Manitohan groups, is becoming more and more pronounced as this area of French-Canadian settlement becomes more and more ethnically diverse. In the St. Albert group the process of ethnic diversification has gone even further, especially in the southern parts which are being engulfed

by the growth of Edmonton. That diversification of this type does indeed weaken the sub-culture is confirmed by the very heavy toll of linguistic assimilation in the southern parts of this group. Generally speaking the communities of Saskatchewan are similar to that of St. Paul with respect to ethnic diversity, education, parishes, mass-media and assimilation. However, they suffer even more from lack of numbers, isolation from other French- speaking communities, and the absence of cultural centres like St. Boniface.

In the face of increasing migration to the larger cities these characteristics

are likely to become more pronounced and it is difficult to see how many of these communities can avoid the fate of several other small settlements which have already virtually disappeared as cultural entities. Indeed,, unless very radical changes in western Canadian education and general attitudes take

place even the most established western Francophone communities will find it difficult to avoid cultural extinction in the long run.

GENERALISATIONS CONCERNING LINGUISTIC ASSIMILATION DERIVED FROM THIS AREAL ANALYSIS OF THE WESTERN FRENCH-CANADIAN SUB-CULTURE .. a) The relationship between the degree of linguistic assimilation and the degree of "grouping"

This study has revealed a strong measure of correlation between the extent of linguistic assimilation and the degree of "grouping" among those of French descent. First, this analysis clearly substantiated an expected correlation 164.

between relatively high degrees of French-language retention and situation in a distinct French-Canadian group settlement. It was shown how this very marked relationship illustrates the futility of referring to the 227,079

(l96l census) Prairie citizens of French descent as a single block of

"French Canadians". In discussing French-Canadianesociety and culture in the Praihe provinces it is meaningful to refer only to the approximately

42$ of this "French" population who reside within, or closely adjacent to a French-speaking settlement. It is only within such communities, where

daily contact between Francophones is possible, that one can reasonably

expect any form of French culture to persist. Studies of western French

Canadians which ignore this fact and base arguments on data relating to census divisions 0:r whole provinces can be misleading. For example, the

Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism states that 76$ of those claiming French origin in the three main "French" census divisions of south-eastern Manitoba are French-speaking (see chapter 3)• However

the more detailed areal analysis of this study, which recognised the importance of group settlement, revealed that the French-Canadian group settlements in this part of Manitoba are almost 100$ French-speaking.

This close relationship between the degree of linguistic assimilation

and degree of "grouping" persists even within the group settlements them• selves. This is particularly so when one, measures the degree of "grouping" within a settlement by the extent to which those of French origin are

intermixed with those of different ethnic backgrounds. In all the settle• ments a strong correlation existed between the extent of linguistic assimilation and the degree of ethnic homogeneity within the group. Indeed, 165.

the results of this study strongly indicate that the key factor in the

assimilation of western French Canadians both within and without the group settlements is the degree of contact with non-French-speaking people. A considerable degree of intermixing and contact with non-

Francophone groups inevitably leads to the dominance of the English language - the official language for all ethnic groups - in most forms of social and economic activity, even within a group settlement. The most significant example of this tendency for English to dominate as soon as intermixture takes place occurs in the so-called bilingual schools. It was constantly shown that the more ethnically diverse a

"French-Canadian" school is, the fewer the numbers of French-Canadian children able to speak French. Obviously the more English-speaking pupils there are in a school, the more their language, common to all, is used in all activities. Furthermore, the more diverse a school is, the more difficult it becomes to use French as a legal language of instruction, ev/en during the small amount of time it is legally permissable (see

Chapter 3)• Intermixture and increased social contact with non-Franco• phones even leads to anglicisation of French Canadians in the home - the ultimate sanctuary of the culture. For instance, it was demonstrated that the more French Canadians were intermingled with other groups the greater the likelihood of "mixed-marriage" between French-speaking and non-French-speaking persons. In such mixed-marriages English - the common language - usually becomes the language of the home and the linguistic heritage passed on to the children. Certainly the greater the number of 166.

mixed-marriages of this type, the greater is the degree of linguistic assimilation among those of French descent (see Chapter 4 and Table V). b) The relationship between linguistic assimilation and the numerical size of the group

This study has shown that the degree of assimilation within a group settlement is far more closely associated with the degree of "grouping" than with the numerical size of the various communities. Certainly, the. extent of assimilation in the smallest isolated communities, such as

Trochu and Pincher Creek in Alberta, is extremely high. However, beyond a certain level of group population (approximately 1,000 French Canadians) it does not seem that the numerical size of a settlement has been a crucial factor in assimilation up to the present. For example, the major

Saskatchewan groups are far smaller numerically than the St. Paul and St.

Albert settlements, but, in general, the degree of linguistic assimilation is similar in all these communities. c) The relationship between linguistic assimilation and rural or urban situation

The degree of linguistic assimilation in the groups does not appear to be related in any significant way to rural or urban situation. It was shown that the degrees of French-Canadian grouping in St. Boniface are similar to those in the rural groups and produce correspondingly similar degrees of linguistic assimilation. An urban milieu in itself, as^opposed to a rural environment, does not seem to be a-dominant factor in assimilation as yet.

Urban areas in western Canada - with the exception of St. Boniface - are centres of assimilation primarily because they disperse the French-

Canadian population in a dominantly English-speaking milieu. Similar 167«

dispersal of this ethnic group in rural areas produces similar degrees of anglicisation. d) The "localised" nature of the French-Canadian sub-culture in western Canada

Finally, it can be stated that throughout western Canada the French- speaking sub-culture is an extremely "localised" phenomenon. Immediately beyond the "core" areas of all French-Canadian settlements the rate of assimilation increases rapidly, even if an appreciable number of French

Canadians is still present. In fact even within the "core" areas of most groups it is possible to find considerable evidence of anglicisation.

Obviously this sub-culture in western Canada is very much "on the defensive" in face of the increasing influences of the English-speaking world, which surrounds and threatens to engulf it.

THE FUTURE

This study has revealed two characteristics of contemporary French-

Canadian society in western Canada which pose very difficult questions for those concerned with the continuance of a French fact on the Prairies.

First, the importance of areal grouping in the preservation of French culture was constantly emphasised.. Secondly, a continuing process of

"convergence" with the dominant -Anglo-american culture of western Canada is taking place. This convergence with English-speaking Canada can be observed on many levels; for example, in the realms of education, mass- media and employment. The most striking contemporary evidence of this convergence is seen in the migration of many young Francophones fromv.their rural group communities to the dominantly English-speaking cities. Up to 168.

the present, this convergence with English-speaking Canada has produced different degrees of cultural change. In its most drastic form it has led to the complete linguistic and cultural assimilation of many with

French descent. However, these increasing contacts with the dominant social milieu have not necessarily involved such a complete cultural change. In the group settlements particularly, convergence has led to a bilingual,rather than a purely English-speaking situation.

However, the present largely bilingual situation in the group settlements does not mean that the problems of contact with English- speaking Canada have been solved. This study has revealed a dilemma that will continue to face all western French Canadians concerned with remaining parts of both the English- and French-speaking 'worlds. On one hand, they realise increasingly that a large degree of convergence with

"English" Canada is hoth inevitable and essential in western Canada if they are to play any significant part in the increasingly urban-industrial society of the Prairies; the urbanisation of the Francophone population reveals that the rural groups are less and'.less capable of absorbing all their young men and women. On the other hand, and somewhat in opposition to this necessary convergence, is the fact that assimilation becomes very marked as soon as French Canadians become intermixed with non-French- speaking people; in other words, the more socially isolated French

Canadians are from other communities, the more "French" they seem to be.

The future of a bilingual "French fact" in western Canada seems to depend on resolving this dilemma between these needs both to "converge" and to

"group". 169-

It is true that some French Canadians deny this need to converge and cling to the belief that "survival" still depends on rejecting the English- speaking world as far as possible and accentuating solely "inward-looking" group attitudes. However, it appears that a considerable majority thinks, more realistically, that such attitudes are not only impossible, but even undesirable in contemporary Canada. They reject attempts to perpetuate a purely "ghetto" mentality, with its rather negative concern with mere

"survival". They are more concerned with developing the positive possibil• ities of being bilingual in Canada as a whole, and would probably prefer to assimilate rather than segregate into a small, restricted, rural

French-Canadian community. Their "outward looking" bicultural approach to';the whole question is reflected in their desire to see the establishment of truly bilingual schools open to all (regardless of ethnic origin) who desire to use them.

It is these outward-looking attitudes that seem the most positive and realistic. Yet the need for a strong sense of ethnic grouping cannot be ignored. This study has indicated that group settlement will continue to form the essential basis upon which the French aspect of this desired

"Canadian biculturalism" can develop. It is only possible to use French as an everyday language and develop French-Canadian institutions where a significant physical concentration of.'Francophones exists. Thus, if

French-Canadian society in western Canada is to have any chance of developing, it must, among other things, overcome two major problems. First it must preserve as far as possible the areal concentrations of Franco• phones in the existing group settlements, while encouraging the deTOlopment 170.

of an outward-looking bilingual way of life, relating fully to Canadian life. Secondly it must try to produce a new type of "group" sense among the increasing thousands of French Canadians dispersed in the western cities. Although most of these urban Francophones are scattered within city limits, the physical distances separating them are very small. It is therefore both possible and essential to develop institutions (e.g. bilingual schools) which overcome the "social distances" that often exist between those in the urban populations. However even if the French

Canadian community has the will to meet these challenges and make a positive contribution to western Canadian life, they will need far more co-operation from the provincial governments than they have received in the past. It is to be hoped that the recent educational developments in

Manitoba suggest that such co-operation may not be so remote as it usually seems. 171.

Bibliography

A) General Historical Background Literature

Asselin, 0., A Quebec View of Canadian Nationalism, (1909) Montreal.

Auclair, Abbe E., Le Cure Labelle, (1933) Montreal.

Bernier, T.A., Le Manitoba; Champ d'Immigration, (1887) Ottawa.

Demanche, G., Canada. Cinquante Annees de peuplement, (1928) Paris.

Morice, A.G., History of Catholic Church in Western Canada from Lake Superior to the Pacific, (1921-23) St. Boniface.

Wade, M., (ed.), Canadian Dualism, (i960) Toronto-Laval.

Wade, M., French Canadians 1760-1945, (1956) Toronto.

B) Literature concerning French-Canadian minorities in Western Canada

Ares, R., "Compartement linguistique de minorites Frangaises au Canada", Relations, (May 1964) Montreal, p. 141.

Ares, R., "La Grande Pitie'de Nos Minorite's Frangaises", Relations, (March 1963) Montreal, p. 65.

Ares, R., "Les chances d'une survivance Frangaise au Manitoba, II", Relations,' (Dec. 1964) Montreal, p.357«

Boileau, G., "Les Canadiens Francais de la Region de St. Paul; and "Les Canadiens Frangais de Riviere-la-Paix." Studies produced by the. Services de Recherches of La Societe' Canadienne d'Etablissement Rural, 1965.

Baudoux, Mgr. M., 'Problemes des Minorite's," (1944) Montreal.-

Creery, T.W.H., "French for the French in English-speaking Canada" (1963); Booklet containing series of newspaper articles in Southam News- * papers.

Dawson, CA., "Group Settlement; Ethnic Communities in Western Canada", (1963) Toronto.

Giraud, M., "Les Canadiens Frangaises dareles provinces de 1'Ouest", Revue de l1University Laval, (1948) Vol. Ill, no. 3, p.229• -

Joubert, L., "Des groupements canadiens-frangais au Canada", Etudes E*conomiques, (1935) Montreal, No. 5-6. 172. Bibliography - continued

Piddington, R., "A Study of French-Canadian Kinship", International Journal of.Comparative Sociology, (larch l°6l) Vol. II, no. I.

Memoire presented by L'Association des Educateurs Bilingues de L'Alberta to the Royal Commission Inquiry on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (1964) St. Paul, Alberta.

Report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism; Book I (1967). 173.

APPENDIX I

It proved impossible to distinguish the French-speaking "Belgian" groups for two reasons. First, those of Belgian origin have not been classified as a distinct ethnic group at the census sub-division.1.level

since the census of 1941- Secondly, there is no way of determining, even in the 1941 census, how many of Belgian descent were French- speaking and how many were Flemish-speaking. In 1931 about 40$ of

Belgian-born settlers on the Prairies claimed French as their mother- tongue (Census of Canada, 1931, Vol. I, Table 81, p.1270). However, it is likely that the proportion of French-speaking "Belgians" in, or close to French Canadian groups, is somewhat higher, for Belgians of

French speech would feel attracted, no doubt, towards communities with a similar linguistic affiliation. Nevertheless a study of this type can do little more than indicate the presence of a "Belgian" population adjacent to a French-Canadian group, using the information contained in the 1941 census. Such an indication has always been made in the text, and nowhere is the number of Belgians sufficient to throw any doubt on any of the study's conclusions. 174.

APPENDIX II

It was virtually impossible to assess the numbers and ethnic character of the metis population. The recent Canadian censuses have not distinguished them as a separate ethnic group, but have included those metis of French descent in the "French" classification, and those of British descent in the corresponding category. It is possible-from the 1941 census to estimate the metis population in the census sub• divisions, although even in this census there was no distinction made between "French" and "British" metis. Therefore, as was the case with the "Belgian" population, one can only point to the presence of a metis population in a certain area and rely on field-work to corroborate the little census data available. The general conclusions of tfiis study are in no way invalidated by this minor problem of ethnic identification.