The Significance of the Francophone Community in Greater Saint John
Dr. Paul-Emile Chiasson, Education Co-ordinator, UNB Saint John
The Francophone community of Saint John is a very vibrant and active community. It has a rich past and a promising future. Recently, the social and cultural past of the community has been examined (allain, G. & Basque, M.: De la survivance a l’effervescence de Saint-Jean, Nouveau-Brunswick, Association régionale de la communauté francophone de Saint-Jean, 2001). However, with the ever-increasing demand for bilingual workforce and with new provincial legislation requiring bilingual services for the cities of New Brunswick, the Francophone community of Saint John has entered a new era of growth and importance. New growth involves new challenges and it is in this light that we propose to up-date the information on the present status of this community, provide valuable information about its development and examine the new challenges and directions in the years to come.
We also propose to examine the change in attitude regarding the rights and privileges of francophones in Saint John and the greater acceptance of this community. We will in particular examine the initiatives of Advantage-Saint-John-Avangtage, which has been promoting the francophone community and bilingualism in the city. The local written media will also be examined to illustrate these new initiatives and the new sense of direction regarding the importance of the francophone community in Saint John and bilingualism now and in the future.
Our plan of research will cover a two year period in which these additional areas will be examined. The challenges and future of the Francophone community of Saint John as it relates to:
- Its cultural and artistic development
- Its educational challenges and direction
- Its political and social future
All interview strategies/techniques will be developed and conducted in the first year of the project. Analysis and synthesis of the data will take place in the second year and will conclude with the presentation/publishing of research findings. Interviews will take place in the greater Saint John area.