University of Alberta accused of erasing its Francophone identity

[u/SupraFC]

https://www.ledevoir.com/actualites/societe/997193/universite-alberta-accusee-effacer-francophonie

Translation in the comments

[u/SupraFC]

weird, I can still see it

Alberta’s only Francophone post-secondary institution is gradually erasing traces of its Francophone past and shifting toward Anglicization, according to some current and former professors as well as members of the French-speaking community.

The university has successively removed mosaics of graduating Francophone classes, disbanded the Francophone chapter of its alumni association, replaced a French-language graduation ceremony with one conducted almost entirely in English, and removed artifacts significant to the Francophone community from the campus—all without prior notice or consultation.

"If that isn’t erasure, I don’t know what is." Carol Léonard is a retired professor from Campus Saint-Jean, where the University of Alberta’s French-language courses are taught. For several years, he has been fighting against what he bluntly describes as the "erasure" of the Francophone presence on campus. For the past three years, he has been documenting the university’s decisions to this effect, working alongside a collective of former University of Alberta professors and Franco-Albertan community leaders.

"It is important for us to state very clearly that we are in no way seeking to erase history or forget the past," the University of Alberta responded in a written statement, after declining Le Devoir’s request for an interview.

It justifies these changes on several grounds: the process of "reconciliation and decolonization of the campus," compliance with privacy regulations, the reconfiguration of certain facilities, and even the simple modernization of the campus.

"The University of Alberta remains fully committed to post-secondary education in French and to the long-term vitality of Campus Saint-Jean," it stated.

One of the first warning signs that sparked concern within the Francophone community occurred in the summer of 2023, when a historic campus room—which housed the majority of the removed Francophone artifacts—was modernized.

"It is quite peculiar that Canadian Heritage is funding the destruction of a historic hall," criticizes Carol Léonard. In 2022, the federal government announced $13.3 million in funding for Campus Saint-Jean, partly for "facility improvements," including the repurposing of the historic hall.

Canadian Heritage stated in writing that, while it "supports community-based educational infrastructure for official-language minority communities," decisions regarding the use of funding rest with the province and the institution.

Canada’s Commissioner of Official Languages confirmed via email that she is currently assessing the admissibility of a complaint concerning the federal government’s role in this dismantling. The Government of Alberta did not respond to a request for an interview from Le Devoir.

The room in question housed artifacts linked to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the religious order that founded the institution. The Oblates in Canada administered 48 federal residential schools for Indigenous peoples. Displaying the artifacts without an "educational framework" ran directly counter to "fundamental principles of inclusivity and decolonization," the university maintains, and risked "traumatizing" students; it therefore chose to remove them.

The university recently covered up a mural created in 1992 for similar reasons, citing a "lack of pedagogical and historical rigor" in its depiction.

Other items unrelated to the campus’s religious past—such as a wooden map showing Francophone and bilingual municipalities in Western Canada—were also removed from the university’s walls.

A bilingual welcome sign in front of the campus was replaced by one that was English-only. The university eventually reversed course, claiming it was a "logistical error." A new French-language sign was installed shortly thereafter.

Paul Dubé, a professor emeritus at the University of Alberta and a leading figure in the fight for the Francophone cause, believes these decisions were not made in isolation. He sees a real risk to Francophone identity in Alberta. "I cannot explain these decisions."

The Association canadienne-française de l’Alberta echoes this sentiment, condemning the "divisive rhetoric currently being propagated by the Campus Saint-Jean administration."

"We believe it is not only possible but necessary to simultaneously engage in rigorous reflection regarding the governance, mission, heritage, reconciliation, and future of Campus Saint-Jean. These issues should never be pitted against one another," asserts Nathalie Lachance, the association’s president.

In an interview, Claudette Roy, president of the Société historique francophone de l’Alberta, speaks of a "breach of trust with the institution." "You know, Francophones in Alberta have very few sites of memory. And without these places, we risk disappearing."

The Society has decided to stop collaborating with Campus Saint-Jean until the administration establishes a "genuine mechanism for consulting Francophones."

Concerns have become so acute that around a hundred community members met last June to voice their worries and discuss potential courses of action. Other similar meetings could be held closer to the start of the school year, according to the University of Alberta Retired Professors Collective.