It’s the end of Canada’s oldest francization program. Western Ontario University decided Thursday to permanently close the doors of its French immersion school in Trois-Pistoles after nearly a century of history. A glimmer of hope remains, because a second university has shown interest in taking up the torch.
In its 91-year history, more than 30,000 Canadians have learned their French in Trois-Pistoles. And not just any ones. Supreme Court judges, diplomats, civil servants and even the former premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, have all discovered the rudiments of the Tremblay language in Bas-Saint-Laurent.
This summer school once founded to bring together the two solitudes experienced the first interruption in its history during the pandemic. Then, after two years of hesitating about its future, Western University finally decided to abandon the program.
“The program is no longer aligned with Western University’s strategic priorities,” the university said in a message on social media. “As a result, we have made the difficult decision to end the French immersion program at Trois-Pistoles. »
In addition to the ongoing restructuring within the institution, several other reasons may explain this closure.
As reported Duty last year, the number of students had been in free fall for several years. Funding no longer kept pace with the cost of living. The number of teachers had gone from 12 to 6. Finally, several Pistol host families – an essential component of Frenchification – had decided not to renew their interest in hosting foreigners in their home.
“It’s a lot of memories and a great story that is coming to an end,” laments the mayor of Trois-Pistoles, Philippe Guilbert, over the phone.
A second wind?
However, all is not lost for the French Immersion School of Trois-Pistoles. Another university in English Canada has expressed interest in taking over this training. The identity of this university has not been revealed, as discussions with the City remain preliminary.
“I hope we will be able to have a program very soon. We wouldn’t start from scratch, but it’s just like that,” hopes Mayor Guilbert. “We still have help from [l’Université] Western for the transition. »
The revival of this school will probably involve better funding from the federal government for the “Explore” program, which aims to promote the learning of both official languages. “Explore” has long contributed to the financing of the Trois-Pistoles school. However, the scholarships offered which compensated host families have increased very little in recent years.
“Families don’t do this for money, but we don’t want it to cost them money,” explains the mayor. “So they had compensation for the students they hosted. We have been calling for a long time to improve funding for the Explore program. We made the request to the federal government. It is so beneficial for the Government of Canada, to promote French, bilingualism, even the integration of immigrants. They have an interest in funding Explore more. We’ve been asking for this for a long time, and it could make a difference. »
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.