Franco-Columbian
Encyclopedia
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(Francophones) living in the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
province of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.
British Columbia is, geographically, the farthest-removed province from Canada's historic francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
population, thus it is not surprising to find that francophone British Columbians are few in number. The 2001 census placed the number of British Columbians with French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
as a mother tongue at 54,400, a figure well below English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
(2,825,780), 'other Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
' (130,330), Cantonese (127,120), Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
(121,740) and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
(84,605). A good number of these listed francophones would be European and African immigrants or migrants from eastern Canada making the Franco-Columbian community a diverse one encompassing many places of origin and differing roots in the province. The popularity of French immersion education programmes have also meant that the population of second-language French speakers outnumbers the francophone population.
Maillardville
However, francophones have a significant history in the province particularly in the area of Maillardville, a neighbourhood of Coquitlam in suburban VancouverVancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
. In 1909 mill workers were brought from Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
to Maillardville and their descendants constitute a small and proud community. Today Maillardville describes itself as "a community with a francophone heart" and is home to a number of francophone community organisations, schools, churches, a retirement home, the annual Festival du Bois, and an organization of francophone scouts and guides. Community organizations place the francophone population of the Coquitlam area at 13,000.
Francophone service and community centres elsewhere in the province
Francophone community centres and resources also exist in Vancouver, Prince George
Prince George, British Columbia
Prince George, with a population of 71,030 , is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, and is known as "BC's Northern Capital"...
, Kelowna
Kelowna
Kelowna is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley, in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. Its name derives from a Okanagan language term for "grizzly bear"...
, Penticton, Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, Nanaimo and Kamloops.
Education
The province is served by a francophone school board (Le Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique) which operates 40 schools offering education from kindergarten through grade 12 in the Lower MainlandLower Mainland
The Lower Mainland is a name commonly applied to the region surrounding and including Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As of 2007, 2,524,113 people live in the region; sixteen of the province's thirty most populous municipalities are located there.While the term Lower Mainland has been...
, Sunshine Coast
Sunshine Coast, British Columbia
The Sunshine Coast is a region of the southern mainland coast of British Columbia, on the eastern shore of the Strait of Georgia, and just northwest of Greater Vancouver...
, Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
, Okanagan, Kootenays
Kootenays
The Kootenay Region comprises the southeastern portion of British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Ktunaxa First Nation first encountered by explorer David Thompson.-Boundaries:The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootenay Land...
, Prince George, Fraser Valley
Fraser Valley
The Fraser Valley is the section of the Fraser River basin in southwestern British Columbia downstream of the Fraser Canyon. The term is sometimes used to refer to the Fraser Canyon and stretches upstream from there, but in general British Columbian usage of the term refers to the stretch of the...
, and other parts of the province. A large and vibrant French immersion programme, although intended for anglophones, also includes some francophone students. The province hosts an active chapter of Canadian Parents for French (BC-Yukon Branch).
Although French courses, and training for French immersion teaching are offered at the province's universities, there is no bilingual or French-language university in the province. Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
, however, offers five degree programmes that can be completed entirely in French. Educacentre College
Educacentre College
Educacentre College is the only francophone college in British Columbia. The general aim is to provide people with bilingual language skills—that speakers of French receive education in their native language and at the same time receive English skills...
is the province's only French-language college with campuses in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
and Prince George
Prince George
-British princes:* Prince George Augustus, later George II of Great Britain * Prince George William of Great Britain , son of George II* Prince George William Frederick, later George III of the United Kingdom...
as well as distance education options.
Media
Vancouver-based television station CBUFT-DT broadcasts throughout the province via relay transmitters, as do French-language radio stations CBUF-FMCBUF-FM
The transmitter in Whitehorse is not owned by the CBC, but is licensed to the Association Franco-Yukonnaise.-External links:** at Canadian Communications Foundation...
(Première Chaîne) and, to a lesser extent, CBUX-FM
CBUX-FM
CBUX-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts SRC's Espace musique network at 90.9 FM in Vancouver, British Columbia.The station broadcasts from the CBC Regional Broadcast Centre on Hamilton Street in Downtown Vancouver.-Programming:...
(Espace musique
Espace musique
Espace musique is the French-language music radio service of Canada's national public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation...
). Other French language media such as CBC's Réseau de l'information
Réseau de l'information
Réseau de l'information is a Canadian French language Category C news channel operated by CBC/Radio-Canada. RDI began broadcasting on January 1, 1995, and is considered the French-language equivalent of the CBC News Network, also owned by the CBC....
, TV5 and MusiquePlus
MusiquePlus
MusiquePlus is a Canadian French language Category A specialty channel owned by Astral Media operating from Montreal, Quebec.MusiquePlus is devoted to music and music related programming from various genres including pop, rock, RnB and focuses on a younger demographic than its sister station, MusiMax...
are also available but not locally-based. TVA's
TVA (TV network)
TVA is a privately owned French language television network in Canada. The network is currently owned by Groupe TVA Inc. , a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media...
owned-and-operated station
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
(CFTM-DT) is also available on basic cable. The province previously had a newspaper called Le Soleil de la Colombie-Britannique but it ceased publication in 1998. There is now a newspaper published out of Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
called L'Express du Pacifique.
Culture
In addition to Coquitlam's annual Festival du BoisFestival du Bois
Festival du Bois is the largest and most attended Francophone festival on the west coast of Canada, held in the Maillardville neighbourhood of Coquitlam, British Columbia...
, Canadian Parents for French host an annual French Celebration Week, Francapalooza, a French film festival and French-language youth camps targeting both Francophone and French immersion students. L'Association des Ecrivains de la Colombie Britannique publishes a monthly youth magazine called La Moustique. A French-language theatre group called Théâtre la Seizième is also active in the province as well as the dance troupe Danseurs du Pacifique, and the annual BC Francophone Games. The Conseil Culturel et Artistique de la Colombie Britannique serves as a community organization in the area of arts and culture.
See also
- Franco-AlbertanFranco-AlbertanThe Franco-Albertans are an extended community of French Canadians or French-speaking people living in Alberta. They are centred in the Bonnie Doon area of Edmonton, and there are tens of thousands of Franco-Albertans living in communities such as Legal north of Edmonton, Bonnyville, Plamondon, and...
- Franco-ManitobanFranco-ManitobanFranco-Manitobans are a community of French Canadians and other French-speaking people living in Manitoba. Most Franco-Manitobans have roots in Quebec. However, many are of Métis and Belgian ancestry while others have ancestors that came directly from France, its former colonies and other...
- Franco-OntarianFranco-OntarianFranco-Ontarians are French Canadian or francophone residents of the Canadian province of Ontario. They are sometimes known as "Ontarois"....
- FransaskoisFransaskoisFransaskois are francophones or French Canadians living in the Prairie province of Saskatchewan. The term franco-saskatchewanian may also be used on occasion, although in practice it is rare due to its length and unwieldiness.-Population:...
- Franco-TénoisFranco-TenoisFranco-Ténois, originating from the acronym TNO of the French term for the Northwest Territories of Canada refers to the widespread community of francophones that reside in the Northwest Territories....
External links
- Collège Éducacentre College, Vancouver
- Le Centre culturel francophone, Vancouver
- Conseil culturel et artistique francophone de la Colombie-Britannique
- L'Express du Pacifique
- Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique
- Société Maillardville-Uni
- Le Canard réincarné : un forum et un point de vue activiste de la francophonie Hors Québec
- Radio-Canada Colombie-Britannique
- Théatre La Seizième, Vancouver
- Alliance Française, Vancouver
- La liste Franco-CB Liste des franco* du Grand Vancouver, depuis 2001
- Canadian Parents for French - British Columbia and Yukon Branch