From: gordon@madmax.uwaterloo.ca (Gordon R. Strachan)
Subject: Re: Denied access to English schools?
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 13:44:56 GMT

In article <CLAMEN.92Aug26223608@BYRON.SP.CS.CMU.EDU> clamen+@CS.CMU.EDU writes:
>In article <BtLDK3.48t@ireq.hydro.qc.ca> beaurega@ireq.hydro.qc.ca (Denis Beauregard) writes:
>
>   In article <BtK0wC.Kt8@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca> gordon@madmax.uwaterloo.ca (Gordon R. Strachan) writes:
>   >In article <BtJvLD.I18@ireq.hydro.qc.ca> beaurega@ireq.hydro.qc.ca (Denis Beauregard) writes:
>   >>In article <1992Aug25.085646.12416@spxtech.qc.ca> steven@spxtech.qc.ca (Steve Potter) writes:
>   >>>From article <1992Aug25.063838.25321@cc.umontreal.ca>, by dignard@ERE.UMontreal.CA  Michel Dignard waxes:-
>   >>
>   >>7 millions of francos where assimilated and humiliated because of
>   >>illegal laws in Western Canada.  We just don't care about your silly
>   >>problem.
>   >>
>   >
>   >Just out of curiosity could you please tell me when there were ever 7 million
>   >French speaking people in western Canada?  Even for you this statement is
>   >pretty outrageous.
>   >
>
>   If the western provinces had been bilingual in 1870-1900, the migration
>   to USA would have been directed to west and we would have get more French
>   in West and less in USA.  There are some 14 millions descendants of French
>   in North America.  6 millions in Quebec, let's presume 1 or 2 millions out
>   of Quebec still speaking French, and we get 6 or 7 more millions who could
>   have kept the French language without the anti-French laws (that were
>   found illegal 100 years after).
>
>Actuellement Denis, les lois ont eu de controverse a ce temps la.
>
>As I have in the past made comments similar to Denis's, I have chosen
>to add some qualification.
>
>DATELINE: Manitoba
>
>1870 - Manitoba created as a bilingual province
>1890 - With (French) Catholics reduced by Protestant immigration to
>       only 10% of the population, provincial legislature passes law
>       disbanding separate (French-language) Catholic schools in
>       favour of a single, English-language non-denominational system,
>       and abolishes official status for French.
>1896 - The Federal Conservatives inability to resolve the Manitoba
>       Schools Question, coupled with loss of confidence in French
>       Quebec following the Riel execution brings Liberal Wilfred
>       Laurier to power.  (The Federal Parliament had the
>       constitutional power to override the Manitoba legislation,
>       but could/would not.
>1897 - Following the mandate he received in the federal election, PM
>       Laurier 'convinces' the Manitoba Government to reintroduce
>       minority language and religious education.  
>1916 - English is restored as the sole language of instruction in
>       Manitoba. 
>
>
>DATELINE: Alberta/Saskatchewan:
>
>1869 - Northwest Territories organized.  English and French officially
>       recognized.  French-language/religious education develops on
>       its own. 
>1890 - Federal Parliament moves to grant the Territorial Legislative
>       Assembly power to abolish official status of French in the
>       Assembly if it sees fit.  Opposition Leader, Wilfrid Laurier,
>       in seconding the motion, notes the absense of any Francophone
>       legislator in the NWT, and expects that the Legislature would
>       refrain from acting thus if Francophone representation
>       occurred. 
>1892 - Territorial Assembly abolishes use of French in Assembly, over
>       the objections of the two Francophone legislators present.
>1901 - Francophone population in region:  4%
>     - Anglophone population in region:  47%
>1905 - Creation of provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan out of the
>       NWT.  
>
>
>(No, I don't have these facts memorized; I looked them up.)
>
>I don't have access to any numbers, so I can only hypothesize in a
>manner similar to Denis on the relationship between the anti-French
>legislation of the Prairie Provinces and the migration numbers from
>French Quebec.  (If anyone DOES have access to them, I would GREATLY
>appreciate seeing them.)

Please do not misunderstand the argument I am making here.  I am in no way
supporting or excusing in any way these laws that were past.  I think they
were wrong and unfortunate.  They didn't even acheive what they were supposed
to do.  What I am arguing though is that you can't claim these laws prevented
7 million French speaking people from immigrating to the west.  Clearly these
laws did have some affect on reducing the French population in the west but
to what extent is unprovable.

I would say however, that it is interesting how fast the French populations
in the west were swamped by English settlers.  From the dates you give above
Manitoba went from an essentially French province is one prodominantly English
in a space of 20 years.  Now granted the population at that time was pretty
small but still the conclusion I would draw is even when Manitoba was a
bilingual province, English migration was much larger than French.  There
is no reason to suspect this trend wouldn't have continued (particularly
considering the massive immigrant from eastern Europe that was about to
take place).  So I personnally think that this laws did not greatly affect the
population distribution in the west, it would still be predominantly English

>
>--
>Stewart M. Clamen			Internet:    clamen@cs.cmu.edu
>School of Computer Science		UUCP: 	     uunet!"clamen@cs.cmu.edu"
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>Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3891, USA

Gordon