Mobilizing a Multifaceted Movement: Lessons from Canadian Parents for

French’s History of Activism

Matthew Hayday, Associate ProfessorDepartment of History, University of Guelph

mhayday@uoguelph.ca

Early Innovations• McKee Elementary

after-school program (North York)

• Toronto French School

• Kitchener-Waterloo Bilingual School

• St. Lambert French Immersion Pilot

• Calgary French SchoolChez Hélène

The Founding Conference

CPF in the late-1970s

A Federal Context• Ottawa: Secretary of State (Canadian

Heritage), Commissioner of Official Languages– Official Languages Act, Official Languages in

Education Program, Promotion of Official Languages, Moral Support

• Provincial Ministries of Education– Curriculum Guidelines, Funding Structures

• Local/Municipal School Boards– Decisions to create / fund / expand programs

Strategies, Resources and Tools

• Volunteer Energy• Effective Research• Networking and Building

Relationships• Crisis Kits: Responding to the Critics• Polling Data: Determining Parental

Priorities and Public Support

Communications and Messaging

• Polling Data to Determine Parental Priorities:– Job Opportunities, Cultural

Understanding

• Communications Campaigns– Learning English and French Opens

Doors to Tomorrow– Learning French Makes a World of

Difference

Transit Advertisement from the Learning French Matters Campaign (1989)

Working with Parental Concerns• Compulsory vs. Optional Programs• Avoiding the Zero-Sum Game Trap• Financial Supports from Ottawa &

Provinces• Immersion and Improved Core

French: Considering the Majority Needs

• Globalization: Steps towards Multilingualism

Challenges and Potential Pitfalls

• The Elitism Trap• Considering Core• Remedial Education & Special-Needs

Students• Alliances with Francophone

Organizations• Structural Constraints in Education• An Evidence-Based Response to

Challengers

Thank-you!

Matthew Hayday, University of

Guelph

mhayday@uoguelph.ca