Ontario’s OIF bid raises thorny old bilingual issue

What does it mean to be a francophone presence in this country and in the global arena, and who gets to decide?

Last week, the federal government announced support for Ontario’s bid to seek observer status at the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF). Canada is, of course, already a full member. Quebec has held participant member status since 1971, while New Brunswick obtained it in 1977. Last year, Canada’s former Governor General, Michaëlle Jean, succeeded former Senegalese president Abdou Diouf as secretary general of the OIF.

Canada already has a significant presence in this world body.

And yet, it’s not a huge surprise Ontario would want to join on its own terms. Ontario has the largest francophone population of all Canadian provinces outside of Quebec, more than 600,000 people. It has been pursuing membership within the OIF for more than 10 years, but without success. One roadblock was inability to secure the required support from the previous federal Conservative government under Stephen Harper.

With arrival of the Liberals in Ottawa, the process appears to have turned a corner. The minister of International Development and La Francophonie, Marie-Claude Bibeau, has stated her government consulted with the premiers of Quebec and New Brunswick before deciding to back Ontario’s membership ambitions. Quebec offered support for Ontario’s bid last year. The final decision will be taken at the OIF summit in Madagascar in November of this year.

The OIF is composed of 80 states or governments — 54 full members, 23 observers and three associates.

Ontario is seeking observer status rather than that of full participant. In this capacity, it would have the right to attend the OIF summits and the conference, but without intervening in the debates. It would not have the right to vote, speak or make decisions.

Given that Canada is already a full member, Franco- Ontarians are technically already represented. But holding observer status would allow Ontario to establish a distinct presence in an international French network. True, it’s a symbolic membership, but one that could have diplomatic and economic advantages.

The move would also send a certain signal within Canada and particularly Quebec, which has worked hard over the years to establish itself as “the” francophone presence in Canada and where the large francophone presence in Ontario is not always well known and sometimes misunderstood. Keep in mind prior to the Quiet Revolution and rise of francophone nationalism in Quebec during the 1960s and 70s, the francophone community wasn’t defined according to Quebec’s borders.

Recall that in 2012, Julie Snyder received blowback from some francophones in Québec when she expressed surprise at how well a Star Académie contestant hailing from Ontario spoke French.

Recall also that in 2008, Jean was criticized by some in Quebec when, during an official visit to France in her capacity as Governor General, she encouraged the French to remember there were more than one million francophones living outside Quebec who, like the franco-Québécois, struggle to maintain their language and culture.

It also remains to be seen whether, at the OIF itself, there will be some pushback to the prospect of Canada obtaining a fourth seat: Canada, Canada- Québec; Canada-NouveauBrunswick and eventually CanadaOntario. No other individual state has so many multiple seats at the table.

No matter which way it goes, Ontario’s bid to join the OIF is a reminder of the complex history and realities of francophone Canada that continue to this day.