In 1969, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau passed the Official Languages Act, making English and French the official languages of Canada. But not until 1982 did the Canadian Constitution (through section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms) guarantee linguistic minorities the right to be educated in their own language. Yet, as Francophone minorities outside Quebec soon came to realize, infrastructures needed for an education in French were lacking or totally nonexistent.

In the 1980s, groups of parents launched legal battles to force provincial governments to recognize and respect their rights. The three-part documentary series The Fight For Francophone Rights looks at six of these battles. Some cases have proven successful, while others are still making headlines pending a court decision. Through interviews with parents, children, lawyers, sociologists, teachers and former ministers, director Anne-Marie Rocher spotlights the issues that have pushed Francophones to commit to a long fight that many considered to be a lost cause.

In 1969, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau passed the Official Languages Act, making English and French the official languages of Canada. But not until 1982 did the Canadian Constitution (through section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms) guarantee linguistic minorities the right to be educated in their own language. Yet, as Francophone minorities outside Quebec soon came to realize, infrastructures needed for an education in French were lacking or totally nonexistent.

In the 1980s, groups of parents launched legal battles to force provincial governments to recognize and respect their rights. The three-part documentary series The Fight For Francophone Rights looks at six of these battles. Some cases have proven successful, while others are still making headlines pending a court decision. Through interviews with parents, children, lawyers, sociologists, teachers and former ministers, director Anne-Marie Rocher spotlights the issues that have pushed Francophones to commit to a long fight that many considered to be a lost cause.

Part One: Winning the Case
Parents speak emotionally about taking legal action to ensure a future in French for their children. Their fight proved gruelling, but for the sake of their children and future grandchildren they remained committed.

In 1981, a small group of parents took steps to set up homogenous French schools in Alberta. A year later, Paul Dubé, Angéline Martel and Jean-Claude Mahé embarked on a legal battle to give Francophones the right to the same services and institutions as Anglophones (the Mahé case). They also wanted to be able to manage their schools independently from the English school board. In 1990, the Supreme Court of Canada finally sided with the parents. The ruling was a major victory for all Francophones outside Quebec. Indeed, since then, 31 school boards have been formed and 627 schools created (with an enrolment of about 150,000 students per year).

In Nova Scotia, Acadian parents who witnessed the rapid assimilation of Francophones in their area lobbied for access to French high schools. The Doucet-Boudreau case elicited strong reactions and divided the province. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled in the parents’ favour.

Part Two: Our Rights, Our Fights
Francophone communities in Saskatchewan and Yukon wanted to take advantage of their right to be educated in French and obtain the resources needed for a decent, accessible education.

In Saskatchewan, Francophone parents came together in the 1980s to ensure the survival and transmission of their language and culture. Lawyer Roger Lepage wanted to see a Francophone school board set up. In 1986, a court remedy was sought. After a decade-long battle, the Conseil des écoles fransaskoises was finally formed in 1995.

In Yukon, the only French school is in Whitehorse. In 2009, a serious shortage of resources prompted the Yukon Francophone School Board to call on Lepage to apply for a court remedy. According to the board, the lack of school places and French schools plays a clear role in the assimilation of Francophone minorities. The matter has yet to be settled.

Part Three: Setbacks and Justice
French schools in the Northwest Territories and British Columbia are also in desperate need of resources. People here speak of the principle of equivalence and fairness and ask why French schools don’t have the same resources and services as English schools. In 2005, the Association des parents ayants droit de Yellowknife decided to bring the matter to court. The group wanted a gymnasium built and the high-school wing expanded at the Yellowknife school. Roger Lepage was also involved in this case.

The eligibility of students has also become an issue. In 2008, the government of the Northwest Territories revoked the right of French schools to oversee admissions. The school board wants to admit children with Francophone or Métis ancestors, as well as francophile Anglophones, but for now the government is refusing.

In 2010, parents of students at the École Rose-des-Vents in Vancouver put pressure on the government to give their children access to the same infrastructures that their Anglophone neighbours have. In 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada sided with the parents, offering fresh hope to Francophones across the country. Also in 2010, the Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique and the province’s Fédération des parents francophones took legal action against the province to challenge the system in place for financing French schools in British Columbia. This megacase is still before the courts.

The issue of identity
Access to quality education in French is still a major issue today for Francophones outside Quebec. The many players involved in the battles outlined above are all worried about the assimilation of Francophone communities in their areas. If the infrastructures needed to transmit culture, language and history are lacking, inadequate or nonexistent, what does the future hold for these people? Can the survival of their identity be ensured?

Anne-Marie Rocher heads up Productions Testa, which creates websites and documentary series, including The Fight For Francophone Rights (a three-hour series for TFO co-produced with the NFB), Le correspondant du Grand Nord (a single documentary for UNIS) and Qu’est-ce qu’on sauve? (a six-hour series for UNIS). She has also produced and directed five other documentaries. The first of these, Gugging (1996), focuses on a group of patients in a mental hospital in Austria who develop into famous artists. The film picked up awards at the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois, the Columbus International Film and Video Festival in Ohio, the Festival ciné-vidéo-psy on mental health in Lorquin, France, and the Festival international du film sur l’art et pédagogique in France. André Markowicz, la voix d’un traducteur (1999) is the portrait of a Russian-born French translator who attempts to retranslate all of Dostoyevsky’s work over 10 years (Jury Prize at the International Festival of Films on Art in Montréal and Education Award at the Festival du film sur l’art in France). Guy Rocher, un sociologue militant (2002) spotlights sociologist Guy Rocher, a world-renowned academic, dedicated researcher, respected teacher and prolific writer. The film won a prize at the Columbus International Film and Video Festival. Les Acadiens de l’Île, chronique d’une renaissance (2004) looks at assimilated Acadian families whose children are at long last entitled to an education in French after two mothers win a courageous legal battle in the Supreme Court of Canada. Finally, her documentary Le théâtre de mes dix ans (2006), shot in Prince Edward Island, was broadcast on TFO.

From 2007 to 2012, Rocher was a producer at the NFB’s Ontario and West French Production Centre. There she produced the documentaries Entre les lignes and Le 22e Régiment en Afghanistan by Claude Guilmain, Les épouses de l’armée and Enfants de soldats by Claire Corriveau, Le secret d’un moine by Yves Étienne Massicotte, Courageby Geoff Bowie, as well as a dozen works within the Tremplin competition for emerging Francophone filmmakers outside Quebec. She also produced three websites for young people aged 13 to 20: Tondoc.com, Ta parole est en jeu and Roxy et Max s’animent (winner of a Gold W3 Award in the Education category, Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts; and a Gemini Awards nominee in 2012).

From 1989 to 2007, Rocher directed and produced series for TFO-TVOntario. She directed educational series for adults (Porte ouverte and Pédagogie 2000) and drama series for children, including 50 episodes of Mission Action (1993) and 13 episodes of À la claire fontaine (1994). She was also the executive producer of the children’s series Méga TFO from 1997 to 2007. The program Mégallô, which aired live twice a week, was nominated for the UNICEF Award at the International Emmy Awards in 1997, 1998 and 1999.

View photo gallery on onf-nfb.gc.ca