Kathleen Wynne apologizes formally for 1912 ban on French in schools

Premier Kathleen Wynne issued a formal apology Mondayto the Franco-Ontarian community for a rule that virtually banned the use of French in the province's elementary schools early last century.

Regulation 17 passed by the Conservative government of James Whitney in 1912severely restricted the use of French by teachers in both Catholic and public schools across Ontario.

"Regulation 17 showed a disregard for Franco-Ontarian identityand equality, and on behalf of the government of Ontario I offer anapology," Wynne told the legislature Monday afternoon.

• Regulation 17 remains 'thorn in the side'of Franco-Ontarians

Teachers were only allowed to use French if absolutely necessary to communicate with a child who spoke no English, and could only do so in the child's first year of school. Itforced many Francophone teachers to resort to stealth, hiding French textbooks when school inspectors would visit the classroom. The policy remained on the books until 1927.

"The government enforced regulation 17 for more than a decadebefore finally conceding that the policy was a failure, but itstayed on the books much longer," said Wynne. "The francophonecommunity feared that Franco-Ontarian children were losing theirlanguage."

The government of the day stated it wanted to raise the qualityof English-language education in primary schools, so it prohibitedteachers from communicating with students in French beyond Grade 2.

Many schools and teachers refused to obey the regulation, so thegovernment brought in another to take away school funding andteachers' certifications if they continued to allow French to bespoken.

"The tremendous courage and tenacity of Franco-Ontarians has notgone unnoticed," said Wynne."In just a few generations, Ontario has gone from a place thatwas at times resistant to diversity to a place that fully embraces
different cultures and languages."

'Concrete gestures'

The premier dismissed the idea of compensation or reparations,and said the province was already making "concrete gestures" byproviding French services and schools, and noted there is a debateabout creating a French university.

"What's important right now is to acknowledge that there was aregulation in place that was not fair, that did not recognize theimportance of the francophone community in Ontario," said Wynne.

"I think the changes that have been made over the last decadesare very, very important in terms of recognizing the Francophonie inOntario."

Sudbury Liberal backbencher Glenn Thibeault, who asked for theofficial apology, said it demonstrated that the governmentrecognizes its past error.

"It's more than the apology itself," he said. "It's theopportunity to turn that page and say that the francophone communityis now one that's rooted in our province."

'A black mark in Ontario's history'

Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown called Regulation17 "a black mark in Ontario's history" and said he supportedWynne's decision to apologize.

"It was wrong when it happened, and even though the apology iscoming late, I'm glad that we're making it," he said.

New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath welcomed the apology toOntario's French-speaking community and urged the government to keepincreasing the services it provides in French.

"The lasting impacts of this assimilation policy createdbarriers to education for francophone Ontarians for many decades,"said Horwath.

"Francophone children do not always have access toFrench schools, and we still don't have a French university governedby and for francophone Ontarians."

Ontario is home to about 612,000 francophones, the largestFrench-speaking population in Canada outside of Quebec.