NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available. UMI Eden-Margaret Hall A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Graduate Programme in Social Anthropology York University North York. Ontario National Library Bibliothèque nationale I*m of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. nie Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 OttawaON K1A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of ths thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copynght in ths thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or othenvise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ETHNOGENESIS AND IDENTITY: TORONTO'S CHANGING FRANCOPHONE COMMUNITY by EDEN-MARGARET HALL a thesis subrnitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of York University in parrial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree 01 MASTER OF ARTS Permission has been granted Io the LIBRARY Of YORK UNIVERSITY to lend or sell copies of this thesis. Io the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA Io microfilm this thesis and io iend or seil copies of the film The authot reserves other put31ication rignts. and netther the thesis rlor extensive extracts from il may be printed or olherwise reproauced without the author's wrttten permission Due to the arrival, particularly within the last two decades, of intemationally diverse French-speaking immigrants to Toronto, Ontario, the pre-existing, primarily Canadian, francophone community has undergone significant change. Alterations in the ethnic make-up have resulted in the need for and development of new services, both governmental and within the pnvate sector, and new cdhual events that reflect an emergent Franco-Torontonian culture. This thesis reports on the changes within Toronto's hcophone community with a view to developing Merunderstanding of how and why culture cari function and thrive within a minority situation. The role of language in developing a collective identity is central to this thesis. A central theme has been how and by whom culture is developed and maintained in Toronto and by whom discourse is defmed. New arenas where French is spoken publicly are king established by a smdl segment of the francophone population in concefi with the govemment agencies that provide support and hinding for such enterprises. The aim of many of these initiatives is to increase lines of communication for dl hcophones, despite the lack of geopphicd community. The development of new cul- events represents rnovement toward the creation of (an integrative entity, akin to) an imagined community that benefits al1 French speakers by providing visibility and opportunity. 1 extend my thanks to the membea of Toronto's francophone community who shared their expenences of big city life with me. 1 would also like to sincerely thank Professoa Judith Nagata and Geraid GoId for their assistance and direction throughout this project. TitlePage .............................................................i .. Copyrightpage ........................................................... il CertificatePage ........................................................ 111 Abstract ..............................................................iv Acknowledgements ......................................................v Table of Contents ......................................................vi List of Schedules ...................................................... vii Chapter 1 .Torontois .An Emergent Culture .................................1 Chapter 2 .Research Aims And Methods ....................................19 Fieldwork ......................................................26 Chapter 3 .Francophones In Toronto And The Rise Of Franco-Ontarian Identity .....39 Brief History of the French in Toronto ................................43 Franco-Ontarian History ...........................................46 Changing Demographics ...........................................57 Chapter 4 .French Language Issues in Canada ................................64 Language = Ethnicity = Identity .....................................66 Constitutionality .................................................. 72 Diglossia .......................................................75 Chapter 5 .The Creation Of Culture .Events And Identifiability .................80 Introduction .....................................................80 Annual Festivals .................................................. 91 OtherEvents .....................................................95 Chapter 6 .ACFO. AMFO. MF0 and Others: The Significance Of Association .... 104 Introduction ................................................104 COFTM .................................................... 106 Toronto French Cornmittee ........................................ 113 ACFO-CUT .................................................... 118 Conclusion ....................................................124 Chapter 7 .Conclusion ................................................. 126 Schedules ...........................................................135 Bibliography .........................................................142 Doc d: 4641 12. I Schedule A - Pays d'origine des francophones Schedule B - Langues avant d'arriver au Canada Schedule C - Map Schedule D - List of Interviewees and Events Schedule E - Listing of 1997 Toronto French Cornmittee vii Introduction Few people know that Toronto, Ontario, tuban centre of almost 3,000,000 and Canada's largest city, has a francophone comrnunity. Fewer still realize that Toronto's francophones belong to an evolving comrnunity, unique due to the largely ethnically diversified composition of its population. ' A mirror to the city itself, Franco-Torontonians are fiom Canada, Europe and a host of Asian and Afncan countnes that speak French due to colonial histories, an experience that is also a distant part of Canada's past. As Toronto has become the "interculturai axis" (CliffordA5) for immigration into Canada, having become so as Montreai's statu as port of entry has declined, this cornrnunity could not be the sarne anywhere else, its uniqueness derived fiom the metropolitan nature of Toronto. Historicaily, "[tlhe ciîy has everywhere been a gathering point for foreign residents" (Fishman 1972a: 18). The border of Toronto's francophone community is the Greater Toronto Area, shaping its inhabitants by a "metaphor of landscape as the inscape of national I For the purposes of this thesis, the tenn "francophone" will be applied broadly to designate French speakers other than hncophiles (fluently French-speaking anglophones), including individuals fiom countries when French is the Ianguage of majoricy or of instruction, such as many African corncries where a nurnber of languages may be part of daily use and French becornes the chosen language upon arrivai in Canada due IargeIy to an inability to speak English. identity" (Bhabha: 143).' The experience of living in Toronto itself shapes and mouids a distinctive identity for its inhabitants and forces Canadians to reconsider the construction of identity and boundaries as an evolving field of enquiry. This thesis considers how the profound effect of the emergent and evolving forces of ethnicity and identity, within the present-day transformations in global politics and culture, have transformed the Franco- Torontonian community. The issue of commonality of descent is secondary to the importance of language in this interpretation of ethnicity. Stuart Hall captures the complex processes of change that affect the constmction of identity when refemng to grand-scale forces that cause "the hgmentation and erosion of collective social identity" (1 997:44) such as "the relative decline, or erosion, the instability of the nation-state, of the self-sufficiency of national economies, consequently, of national identities as points of reference" (1 997:44).' i Constitutional law expert Patrick Monahan pointed out in conversation that Toronto's success as a port of entry for fÎancophones who are aware of the Franco-Torontonian comrnunity may be due to the lack of choices in schooling options for immigrants to Quebec. One of the more serious ramifications of Bill 101 is that it has made it impossible for children of immigrants to obtain English Uistruction. The importance of schooling and the implications of Section 23 of Canada's Charter of Rights will be discussed in more depth in Chapter 3. I The February 18, 1998 Globe & Mail presented a brief analysis of the 1996 census data, released on February 17, 1998. The appearance for the fmt tirne on a census form of Question 19, lacking an official name but rcfcrred to as the "race" question, was intendrd to determine the ethnic make-up of the population to ensure equal access of visible minorities to employment. Anaiysis shows that 42% of the country's visible minorities