Third Toronto Francophonie Forum
1. Marie-Lison Fougère, Marie Moliner, Dyane Adam (Moderator), François Boileau. 2. Richard Clément, Normand Labrie, Stacy Churchill, Raymond Mougeon and Irvin Studin. 3. Pierre Mamba Mulumba, Nadia Edwards, Nada Benhachim, Myriam Vigneault. 4. Guy Mignault, Léonie Tchatat, Joyce Irvine, Diane Chaperon-Lor, Lise Marie Baudry.
Is bilingualism a double-edged sword?… Well, no, it’s an asset, providing only benefits. It would be great to be trilingual or quadrilingual, according to the majority of panellists at the Third Annual Toronto Francophonie Forum, which addressed this theme on Match 23 at York University’s Glendon campus.
A few of the guest linguists and sociologists did, however, refer to studies showing that, in the case of many Canadian Francophones living outside Quebec, bilingualism has often resulted in a greater user of English and sometimes in a loss of French for their children.
In the professional jargon, this is what is known as “subtractive bilingualism” – a.k.a. “assimilation; “additive” bilingualism, on the other hand, favours Anglophones because learning French in no way diminishes their mastery of English.
Even so, from one roundtable to another, the participants extolled the virtues of official and personal bilingualism, stressing the progress made by the Francophonie in Ontario and elsewhere since the time of the conflicts between Quebec and Canadian nationalism that characterized the second half of the 20th century. Some even conjured up a multicultural future in which it would be increasingly useful to know Mandarin, Arabic and Russian.
20% of Canadians
This is the particular vision of University of Toronto Professor Irvin Studin. A Russian-speaking Ukrainian Jew who was born in Rome and grew up in Toronto, he believes that “we need a national bilingualism strategy that also advocates competency in a third language” so that we can face up to the challenges of globalization.
Studin deplores the fact that only 20% of Canadians are bilingual at the present time, calling it a “tragedy.” In his view, this means that we choose our national leaders, such as the Prime Minister – who must necessarily be bilingual – from among a mere fifth of the population, thereby depriving us of talents and skills that could accelerate our progress.
“All Canadians should be bilingual, even trilingual,” he says; “that should not even be controversial.”
Studin took part in the academic panel on the place of the Francophonie in post-secondary education; among other topics, this panel discussed the project to create a Franco-Ontarian university, which is currently being debated in the community and at Queen’s Park. Normand Labrie from the University of Toronto’s centre for research in Franco-Ontarian education (CRÉFO), together with Raymond Mougeon from Glendon, Richard Clément from the University of Ottawa and Stacy Churchill from the U. of T., argued in particular that the “academic vision” will be as important and the institutional model chosen.
Churchill, whose research has frequently been used by Franco-Ontarian activists, stated that, over the years, he had developed “a passion for the future of Franco-Ontarian youth.”
Evolution
Before these researchers spoke, French Language Services Commissioner François Boileau, along with Ontario Deputy Minister Marie-Lison Fougère and Marie Moliner from Heritage Canada, examined how bilingualism is perceived in Ontario. In their judgment, this perception has undergone a considerable evolution and yielded positive results, such as increased enrolments in the French and immersion schools, the holding of major celebrations in 2015 to mark the 400th anniversary of French presence in Ontario, the successful integration of immigrants into the province’s Francophonie, etc.
In Boileau’s view, the word official is still missing from Ontario’s French Language Services Act. And for the City of Ottawa, “that should be a no-brainer…” On the other hand, he pointed out how easy it was to introduce (optional) French-language licence plates and bilingual highway signage in Ontario – an indication of the population’s acceptance of bilingualism.
Several participants mentioned that the main drawback is still the low demographic weight of Ontario’s Francophonie, a reality that often makes people feel they are swimming against the current, and that they have to play catch-up or work harder than other people in order to preserve and transmit their language and culture to their children.
And, as Churchill pointed out, young people are practical: “Their choices are influenced by what’s available.” If there are no post-secondary programs in French being offered in their region, they choose an English-speaking college or university. This situation means that such availability (or “active offer,” in the words of Boileau) is urgent in Toronto and in Central-Southwestern Ontario.
Personal Success Stories
A number of panellists told stories of their own bilingualism or multilingualism to illustrate the points they were making.
In the case of Rimouski native Fougère, for instance, “bilingualism is a personal endeavour: I absolutely wanted to master the English language.” She sees bilingualism as “a wonderful asset, an instrument of emancipation.” Moliner was born in Montreal, with an Irish mother and Spanish father…who did not speak each other’s language when they met.
The student roundtable included Franco-Ontarian and Barrie native Myriam Vigneault, the co-chair of the Franco-Ontarian Students’ Association (RÉFO), whose parents hail from the Magdalen Islands, and Franco-Ontarian Nadia Edwards from the Niagara region. A student at Glendon for two years, she speaks French and has made a personal choice to be a massive consumer of Francophone culture and media, feeling that she would lose her French otherwise.
Another panellist was Nada Benhachim, who grew up in Morocco speaking Arabic and French; she came to Canada to learn English and is currently studying at Glendon. “Bilingualism should be a requirement from an early age,” she says. “It has opened so many doors for me!”
Economic Edge
Pierre Mamba Mulumba is an adult Congolese student enrolled at Collège Boréal; his story about an exchange he suggested to a female Canadian student in Germany produced gales of laughter. “I’ll teach you German and you teach me English… we now have five children!” Mulumba considers that bilingualism “brings only benefits,” stating that “when there are budget cuts at the companies where I’ve worked, I’m often the person who is spared because I’m multilingual.” He refuses to make a choice between the languages he speaks, colourfully saying that “the love you have for one of your children does not detract from the love you have for the others.”
Benhachim also agreed that languages are never in competition with each other, and quoted the Arabic proverb: “learn a language and you will avoid a war…”
Franco-Fish
The last panel of this Toronto Francophonie Forum focused more specifically on… Toronto’s Francophonie.
Six members were invited from the City of Toronto French Language Advisory Committee: Lise Marie Baudry from the Centre francophone, Diane Charperon-Lor from the Club canadien, Guy Mignault from the Théâtre français, Léonie Tchatat from La Passerelle I.D.É. [a non-profit organization created for the integration and economic development needs of young Francophones] and Joyce Irvine, President of Centres d’accueil Héritage [for Francophone seniors] (standing in for the Director, who officially represents CAH on the Committee).
“I can’t be assimilated!” stated Baudry, who sees “no equation between bilingualism and assimilation.” She, too, would like to be multilingual.
There seemed to be unanimous agreement among the roundtable participants that bilingualism is an asset, that Toronto’s Francophonie is made up of an increasingly mixed population, that Mayor John Tory is a Francophile and that, in spite of the Francophone population’s featherweight presence in the city (2 to 4%), the public authorities are willing to acknowledge our official status and provide services in French.
There are still, however, a large number of failures. With his customary verve, Guy Mignault deplored, for instance, that the “Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada does not give the French name of any of the fish, even though it is located in the shadow of the CN Tower / Tour CN…”
According to the director of Toronto’s Théâtre français, “a city is the people it’s made up of, and it is passion that drives the people.”
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By François Bergeron – Published in l’Express de Toronto – Week of March 29 – April 4, 2016
