The Battle of Saint-Léonard is a documentary of exceptional strength and quality. Run to see him. Really.
With impeccable respect for the facts, filmmaker Félix Rose dissects the true genesis of the firstly citizen fight for the establishment of French in Quebec as a national language.
Back to 1968-69. In Montreal, in the municipality of Saint-Léonard, a major social crisis is brewing. On the one hand, a prosperous Italian community firmly established since the post-war period holds fast to its bilingual schools.
The reason? Like all immigrants, having left their homeland to give their children a better life, Italians understand that in Montreal, success requires English – THE language of social mobility and bosses.
In contrast, French, reserved for French Canadians, is a language punished by the poor, workers and tenants.
Among the French speakers of Saint-Léonard, however, bilingual schools were seen as vectors of anglicization. They were right.
Among the Italians, Mario Barone, a brilliant and determined entrepreneur, led the fight to preserve “free choice” of the language of instruction.
From the new federal Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau to his very provincial counterpart, Jean-Jacques Bertrand, his allies will be numerous.
Among French speakers, Raymond Lemieux, an equally brilliant and determined architect, sacrificed everything – his health, his relationship, his career – in his fight to establish French as the only language of education for newcomers.
Colossal work
His allies will be his fellow citizens, the union movement, the School Board, the newly created Parti Québécois and a group of notorious independentists, including Pierre Bourgault.
In front of a political class of cowards, Lemieux is doing a colossal job of raising awareness. There will even be huge demonstrations and riots under police repression of incredible violence.
The Battle of Saint-Léonard is the thrilling story. Lemieux and Barone, since forgotten, finally come back to life there. (This film should be viewed in all schools, French and English.)
Having grown up in the 60s in Saint-Michel in this same Franco-Italian-English pothole, a stone’s throw from Saint-Léonard, I bear witness to the surgical veracity of Félix Rose’s film.
But be careful. Well beyond the fight of the Italian community actually waged for the success of its children, the real battle was that of the Anglo-Montreal elites, of Trudeau senior and a handful of depressingly weak Quebec politicians.
Their real struggle aimed to preserve the domination of English in the metropolis of Quebec and the corollary subordination of French.
Until law 101
By refusing to do so, Raymond Lemieux and his supporters paved the way for the adoption in 1977 of Law 101 (Charter of the French language), whose Dr Camille Laurin was the father and responsible minister.
Making French the language of administration, commerce, posting and work, Law 101 will above all put an end to the free choice of language of instruction in primary and secondary schools.
A disastrous free choice which, before 1977, had allowed 85% of immigrants to have their children educated in English.
With Bill 101, Raymond Lemieux’s vision was realized. Except for the English-speaking minority, its schools and its institutions, French then becomes the language of education for French-speaking children of all origins.
In schools, they will finally grow up together. French, released from its French-Canadian ethnic straitjacket, becomes their civic and national melting pot. This was at least the intention of Raymond Lemieux and Camille Laurin.
However, over time, the courts have greatly weakened Bill 101. With few exceptions, Quebec governments have remained idle.
However, the ban on the free choice of language of instruction was one of the rare sections of Law 101 to pass the test of the courts…
