Disputes in Manitoba over the right of French-speaking people in Manitoba to study French and theology (Catholic) in state schools since its inception in 1870 are often considered one of the most important controversies in the Canadian education system. It had both long-term and short-term consequences. In 1870, Manitoba became one of Canada’s provinces when the so-called Manitoba Act was passed. It can be said that the years-long struggle of Métis (mixed-race) in the Red River Settlement to ensure that their rights were respected played a large part in this body of law. Chapter 23, which deals with the use of English and French in the province’s parliament and courtrooms, is based on Chapter 133 of the body of law which contained the British North American Act, which thoroughly explains the use of languages (English and French) in public institutions.
Chapter 22 of the Manitoba Act deals with the province’s education system and provides for schools for Catholics on the one hand and Protestants on the other. Catholics were given the right to use French in their schools, while Protestants were taught in English. It became law in Manitoba on May 3, 1871. French-speaking Catholics looked to Chapter 93 of the US Code of Conduct, which clearly states that federal laws may be managed against French-speaking people in one way or another.
When Manitoba became part of the young nation-state, the English- and French-speaking populations of the province were almost the same. For Catholics, the province was divided into congregations, each with its own institutions, the most important of which were the schools. One of the most significant differences between Catholic and Protestant schools was that religious education was practiced in Protestant schools. Catholics made religious education a key issue in their schools, but parents had the right to decide in these matters.
Border and Political Change in Manitoba 1870 – 1918.
When Manitoba became a province in Canada, many French-speaking Métis decided to leave the province and move west. This created an opportunity for immigrants from the eastern provinces. English-speaking residents of Ontario (where they were in the vast majority) seized this opportunity and moved to Manitoba. Between 1880 and 1900, a new immigration law was enacted by D’Alton McCarthy, who was a staunch opponent of the French-speaking people and their rights in Canada. In his opinion, British rule in all respects should apply. These laws gradually diminished the influence of French speakers and their privileges in Manitoba. The English-speaking population became by far the most populous, but the share of the French-speaking population was larger than that of other ethnic groups, such as Icelanders, Ukrainians, Poles or Italians. English-speakers thoroughly secured their position in the last decades of the 19th century and dominated the political arena. French-speaking MPs in the provincial parliament almost disappeared.
French at the State Assembly 1875-1890
Various laws enacted in Manitoba from the 1870s strengthened the position of local governments in the French-speaking provinces, but in the mid-1990s (should this be mid-1890’s?) began to decline. In 1875, it was agreed that in constituencies where English was the predominant language, election materials should not be available in both languages. A year later, the Legislative Council of the State Assembly in the upper house was abolished, but it had faithfully safeguarded the rights of minority groups. The reason given was monetary savings.
John Norquay exited from the leather trade around 1870, turning to other forms of business as well as politics. His government failed in 1879 to abolish the use of French in printed language in official documents, but in March 1890, a law was passed making English the only official language in Manitoba. (An Act to Provide that the English Language shall be the Official Language of the Province of Manitoba).
Manitoba school system 1890-1916
The school system in Manitoba underwent significant changes in 1890, 1896, and 1916. In March 1890, the same year that the provincial government made English the only official language in Manitoba, two bills were enacted into law by Congress. The first was the establishment of the Ministry of Education in the province (An Act respecting the Department of Education) but the latter was about public schools (An Act respecting Public Schools). Many had commented on the dual school system that allowed Catholics to teach religion in their French schools. Loud voices demanded that this authority be revoked because the French schools began to receive far too much funding from the provincial government compared to the number of students. The same voices asserted in support of their case that the quality of teaching in French schools was below par.
The establishment of a distinct Ministry of Education made two of the province’s educational councils, English and French, now unnecessary. The law on elementary schools changed the teaching requirements so that theology was no longer taught in elementary schools in Manitoba, French was still taught but not Catholic theology. If Catholics, most of whom were French speaking, wanted to continue teaching religion in their schools, they would have to fund their own schools as well as pay taxes to the education system, as all the people in the province had to do.
The provincial government continued to distress Catholics because in 1894 a law was passed forbidding local governments to provide funding for private schools. Most of the Catholic parents lived in dire straits and were barely able to finance their private schooling. This led to the closure of several Catholic private schools, who complied with the new law and became public schools. But most of the schools withstood the pressure and continued to operate as Catholic private schools. French-speaking Catholics were naturally weighed down, religious education in their schools became a struggle for the identity of a particular ethnic group.
Six years of struggle ensued in courtrooms and houses of parliament, sometimes in Manitoba, but also in the capital Ottawa and finally in London, England. Catholics pointed out that language and religion were so close that they could not be separated.
In January 1896, the Government of Canada introduced a bill in the Ottawa Congress against the controversial law in Manitoba. With the bill, the prejudice somewhat reduced, but the opposition fought vigorously against this bill. The case dragged on for a long time and the government failed to pass the bill before the elections that took place in June of the same year. The opposition (Liberal Party) said in the election campaign that it did not intend to use the law to seek reconciliation, the issue could be resolved through diplomatic channels.
This chapter of the Manitoba School Dispute ended on November 16, 1896, with an agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Manitoba (Terms of Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Manitoba for the Settlement of the School Question). The agreement did not change the law in Manitoba, but the provincial government agreed to allow religious instruction in the province’s elementary schools for 30 minutes after the statutory school day. If certain conditions were met, Catholic teachers could be hired in the primary schools, and if a number of students in the class were of the same nationality, they could be taught in their language. (In addition: At one time, Icelandic immigrants founded New Iceland, outside the borders of Manitoba, where the idea was to preserve the Icelandic heritage, which of course meant the preservation of the Icelandic language for a lifetime. Manitoba’s borders changed and New Iceland was incorporated. When the law allowed the teaching of Icelandic in schools that belonged to the district’s primary school system, for example in Gimli where over 90% of students were of Icelandic origin, it is remarkable that the town’s school board opposed Icelandic use in the primary school!! Good English skills were the key to the future of Canada’s youth! JÞ)
Although the agreement was good and blessed, it did not reach the panel of English-speaking people in Manitoba, and in March 1916, the provincial government repealed the elements that allowed instruction in the state’s elementary schools in a language other than English. There were two reasons for this decision: firstly, the heavy influx of immigrants to Canada from all over the world in the last decades of the 19th century and the first of the 20th century. Secondly, it had now become clear that the aim of the 1896 law, which made English the official language in Manitoba, was not to be achieved by teaching languages other than English in primary schools.
English version by Thor group.