Why Canada’s next Prime Minister must speak French

When Manitoba’s New Democratic Party took power in 2023, one of the first actions Premier Wab Kinew took was to honor Louis Riel, returning the father of Manitoba and Métis leader to his rightful place as founder of the province.

“It’s because of him that I speak French, that I am premier and that we are all Manitobans,” Kinew wrote on X, linking his rise to power as the first Anishinaabe premier to the political legacy by Louis Riel, anchored in justice, equality and the protection of minority rights.

Taking the story back to its beginnings, the trilingual Kinew – who speaks Anishinaabemowin, English and French – also laid out a vision^⁠1 aimed at recognizing Manitoba’s French-speaking roots, protecting the rights of linguistic minorities and expanding access to education and services in French.

As the Liberal Party of Canada considers the choice of its next leader, Prime Minister of facto of Canada, Kinew’s leadership is an example for political parties of all stripes.

Indeed, a leader who does not speak French and who cannot communicate with the 10.7 million French speakers in Canada^⁠2or nearly 30% of our total population, cannot defend the rights that French-speaking communities have acquired over generations of struggles.

However, not everyone agrees.

A candidate who will not learn French

Chandra Arya, a member of the Liberal Party of Canada – the party of official bilingualism – was the first to propose his candidacy for the leadership of the party. Mr. Arya, who “does not speak French and has no intention of learning,” told a QUB podcast that his first language “is neither English nor French, but Canada” .

Mr. Arya sparked controversy^⁠3 during an interview on the show Power & Politics from the CBC News network, where host David Cochrane asked him about his mastery of French. “ Nope “, replied Mr. Arya. “Whether it’s Quebecers or English Canadians, it’s not the language that matters, it’s what we bring to them,” he continued.

Arya met his wife in a French class decades ago, he told QUB. And “maybe that’s why I don’t want to go back to class to learn French again, because I still love my wife and I don’t want to meet anyone else.”

Pardon my Frenchbut to quote Arya: nope.

French is not an option: it is a fundamental right, underlines Linda Larocque, president of Impératif français^⁠4. “We have fought for centuries to preserve our language and our culture and it is not true that so-called economic issues will diminish our efforts and our love of the French language. »

Oui.

As heir to ancestors whose language has forged, challenged and defined the ideas and ideals of this emerging country over the centuries, French is inseparable from my culture – it is at the heart of my identity, of my feeling of belonging.

It colored family history and traditions, resistance and revolt, and defined my political experience as a member of the “minority that English Canada has forgotten^⁠5 ».

Language has always defined Canadian history. It revealed where power and control was centered, determining who was included – and who was ostracized. It has unified and divided, strengthened and eroded, shaping not only the identity of the nation, but also our experience of the nation.

This is why all roads leading to Ottawa pass through French Canada – through Quebec and French-speaking minority communities across the country. The leaders who did not recognize or respect the French fact paid the price. Let’s take the example of Conservative Blaine Higgs, who garnered the lowest francophone vote in his party’s 116 years of existence, or Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who never regained his political credibility with the Franco-Ontarians after Black Thursday in 2018^⁠6.

To lead this country, the next prime minister must defend the rights of linguistic minorities and recognize that Canada’s strength lies in the voices of all its people – voices who may not always speak English but who tell the story of what we are.

1. Read “Making Manitoba a “truly bilingual” province, what does that mean? »

2. Read “Official languages ​​in Canada: a new chapter beginning”

3. Lisez « Liberal MP vying to be next prime minister dismisses importance of French language » (en anglais)

4. Read “Liberal leadership: French, not the most important for Quebec, says a candidate”

5. Lisez « How francophones outside Quebec became the minority English Canada forgot about » (en anglais)

6. Read “Five years after “Black Thursday”, Franco-Ontarians are “still on the lookout””

What do you think? Participate in the dialogue