'We are not just the Sugar Shack'
Francophone community aims for better relationship with anglophones after court battle for French rights at schools
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Monday, March 28, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Francophone Yellowknifers earned a reputation for being the "squeaky wheels" when the French school district took the territorial government to court for expansions and control of school admissions, says the cultural project manager for L'association franco-cuturelle de Yellowknife (AFCY).
Etienne Croteau, who is also a trustee for the Commission scolaire francophone, said the Francophone parents who spearheaded the court case were fighting for the rights of their children, which is something any parent would do, regardless of their background.
Now, the association wants to dispel any misconceptions born from the case and is brainstorming ways to improve relations between French and English-speaking Yellowknifers.
"I hope in the future the image of the Francophone fighter will just disappear," said Croteau. "We want the same for our children. Any parents will fight for that, whether they're anglophone, francophone, or Dene."
The case ended last fall when the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear the French school board's appeal.
The board was successful in getting some of the expansions sought but not in gaining control of admissions. The education minister has since committed to reviewing the current admissions policy.
Croteau said he worries anglophones in the city may have the impression that francophones just like to complain.
French-speaking city councillor Linda Bussey says she agrees some anglophones got the impression francophones were complainers during the commission's court battle and she thinks more should have been done at the time to publicize where French parents were coming from.
"I think maybe there should have been work done there, maybe the French community should have created more awareness and said why we were doing that. Sometimes we're seen as complainers. I don't think we are. I think it's any group in town that just have their own ways of doing things."
March 20 was International Francophonie Day and Croteau said celebrations in Yellowknife were set to take place this past weekend, when AFCY holds its biggest annual fundraiser - the Sugar Shack pancake brunch - which was set for the snow castle on Sunday.
The group was also set to provide the popular maple toffee on a stick at the Long John Jamboree.
AFCY director Pascaline Greau said one of the misconceptions held about the city's French-speakers is that they're all from Quebec.
"Just in Yellowknife, we have many flags here, from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec," she said.
Croteau said there are even more international francophones in town.
"There is a lot of francophones from outside of the country, from Europe or from Africa," he said.
"In the NWT, it's really spread with many different cultures, more than 120 different communities, not just French."
"I think being French in Yellowknife is something we are proud of and at the same time it's a fight ... to say we do exist and know who we are," said Greau. "We are not just the Sugar Shack and maple toffee."
Greau said English speakers should not avoid their francophone neighbours.
"Feel free to talk to us. You don't have to speak French." she said, adding the group takes part in nearly every major event held in the city.
"We promote movies, festivals, concerts, the Yellowknife Film Festival, (and) Folk on the Rock," she said.
"We are everywhere and we are open to anyone who is interested to know the culture, or just to have fun."
