According to the Demographic and Statistics Observatory of the Francophone Area (ODSEF) and the Center de la Francophonie des Amériques (CFA), the Francophonie in the Americas represents more than 20 million people. There are nearly 11 million people in Canada, five million in the Caribbean, mainly in Haiti, almost three million in South America and more than two million in the United States. Depending on the context, French is a language of citizenship. It is also a language of culture, a scientific and economic language. It is almost always in a minority situation.
The governments of Canada, Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario have a key role to play in creating the conditions that make this Francophonie possible across the Americas and that its members support each other. In June 2021, the Government of Quebec and the Federation of Francophone and Acadian Communities of Canada held a major online gathering to review the ties that united them, to give each other prospects for the future, to strengthen their collaborations and support the Government of Quebec in preparing its new policy on the Canadian Francophonie. Canada and Quebec must pursue this momentum across the Americas in collaboration with civil society actors, foremost among which are the CFA, the ODSEF, the Inter-American University Organization (OUI), the Agence universitaire of La Francophonie (AUF), CODOFIL. Broad consultation on relations between Francophones and Francophiles in the Americas is essential in order to support and multiply scientific, economic, cultural and educational cooperation and to encourage scattered or dispersed actors to join forces.
The Francophonie of the Americas has its own coherence. There is a Francophone identity in the Americas that goes far beyond the North-South divide. This identity is variegated and crossed by multiple accents. It draws on a unique history linked to colonization, to the oppression of the first peoples, but also to the struggles for national liberation. This history has given rise to many innovations and encounters, as well as to the demand for plurilingualism and pluriculturalism. Moreover, for many members of the Francophonie in Latin America, the close relationship with the Quebec and Canadian Francophonie, woven over the years, is and remains fundamental. In addition to the Spanish-speaking world, the Francophonie of the Americas also coexists with the English-speaking, indigenous and Portuguese-speaking worlds and must assert itself in all its diversity.
In the Americas, French is a lever for the future. For this, the Francophonie must continue its development within spaces favorable to collaboration and the strengthening of networks throughout the Americas. Everywhere, Francophones must be able to find each other, federate, unite and give themselves the means to fulfill their ambitions. The requirement to inhabit the distance that separates us and to develop our sense of belonging to this great zone of exchanges and encounters that the Americas represent constitutes a project to be deepened and cherished. This is all the more important at the end of the pandemic, when our humanity has never been so weakened and threatened by forms of withdrawal into oneself which can only isolate us more.
*This letter is co-signed by:
Valérie Amiraux, Vice-Rector Community and International Partnerships, University of Montreal
Valérie Caron, Director, Regional Pole in Higher Education. Capitale-Nationale (Quebec)
Clément Duhaime, Chairman of the Board of Directors (2019-2020), Center de la francophonie des Amériques
Rainer Enrique Hamel, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, UNESCO Chair Politics of Multilingualism, Mexico City, Mexico
David Julien, Executive Secretary General, Inter-American University Organization
Michelle Landry, Canada Research Chair on Canadian Francophone Minorities, Université de Moncton
Valérie Lapointe-Gagnon, Acfas-Alberta, Faculty St. Jean (Alberta)
Rémi Léger, Simon Fraser University
Jason Luckerhoff, University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières
Antoine Maillet, University of Chile
Jonathan Paquette, Dean of Research and Creation, University of Quebec in Outaouais
Martin Meunier, College of Francophone Chairs, University of Ottawa
Patrick Noël, President Acfas-Manitoba, University of Saint Boniface
Martin Normand, Director, Strategic Research and International Relations, Association of Canadian Francophonie Colleges and Universities
Martin Pâquet, CEFAN, Laval University
Michel Robitaille, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Center de la francophonie des Amériques
Stephanie Rousseau, Pontificia Catholic University of Peru