Province celebrates French culture, language
Francophone population growing in Sask.
The provincial government is celebrating French culture.
On Wednesday, it was announced that March 6-22 has been proclaimed as Rendezvous de la Francophonie 2015 in Saskatchewan.
“Francophones have been present in Saskatchewan prior to the province being a province, so there’s a long-standing contribution and that’s worth recognizing,” said Charles-Henri Warren, executive director of francophone affairs branch for Saskatchewan.
The celebration is held across the country and promotes French language and francophone culture. In Saskatchewan, it’s being organized by the Assemblee communautaire fransaskoise.
There are almost 50,000 francophones living in Saskatchewan. The province’s francophones are known as Fransaskois. Several towns — Bellevue, Debden, Gravelbourg, Willow Bunch, Zenon Park and more — have significant French-speaking populations.
“People recognize even though the francophone population has been increasing, it’s still a fairly small percentage in the province,” said Warren. “In order to maintain the culture, there’s an effort that’s got to be made.”
Warren said the population of francophones has increased in Saskatchewan recently, but still makes up a small percentage of the province’s population.
“It’s small, but very vibrant,” said Francoise Sigur-Cloutier, president of the Assemblee communautaire fransaskoise. “We’re a community that’s very much involved in the life of Saskatchewan.”
The announcement was made at the Legislative Building in Regina, with several leaders in the Frenchspeaking community attending. A group of French immersion students were also on hand.
For 10 years, the fransaskois flag has been recognized as an official provincial emblem — though French is still rarely heard in the halls of the capital building.
“We could live with some improvements. Everybody can improve every day,” laughed Sigur-Cloutier. “I invite everyone to learn something new every day — maybe in French.”
In 1990, a francophone affairs branch was created at the provincial level. It provides policy and translation services to all provincial ministries, Crown corporations and agencies while also maintaining Saskatchewan’s French-language Services Centre.
Sigur-Cloutier said everyone is invited to celebrate Rendezvous de la Francophonie 2015.
“Come and celebrate with us, come and talk with us, come enjoy with us (over) these three weeks in Saskatchewan,” she said.