Manitoba’s premier wants the schools in the province to teach students about the bitter fight against the expansion of francophone rights in the 1980s.
Premier Wab Kinew is calling for the addition to the education curriculum, after his decision to speak almost exclusively in French during four days of question period at the legislature was celebrated by some and questioned by others.
He also said he’d like to see a live French-to-English translation of question period offered for people watching online — which the legislative assembly is working on.
“I hope that after this week, we can use this experience as motivation to renew our education system to share our own history as Manitoba, including those struggles and challenges for the Francophonie to protect your language and your culture,” Kinew told host Jérémy Laniel in a Friday French-language interview with Le 6 à 9, Radio-Canada’s morning radio show in Manitoba.
Kinew was referring to the French-language crisis of the 1980s, when a government bill calling for provincial services to be offered in French sparked an outcry and protests from some English-speakers.
The offices of the Société de la francophonie manitobaine were targeted by an arson, and the opposition Progressive Conservatives spent nearly two weeks blocking a vote on the government bill.
The NDP government succumbed to the public pressure, withdrawing the bill in 1984.
By the next year, however, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Manitoba’s unilingual laws were unconstitutional. The laws needed to be translated into French to be re-enacted, the court ruled.
Kinew said many Manitobans aren’t aware of this history.
“The reality in Manitoba is that the French language is the language of your mothers, your fathers, your grandparents. And then they had to hide their books, they had to hide their signs with French text,” he said in French.
Kinew said the government would consult with the Franco-Manitoban School Division, Société de la francophonie manitobaine and other experts who understand that history before incorporating it into the curriculum.
Bernard Lesage, board chair of the French-language school division, said he’s pleased that if the changes are approved, all students will get to learn more about Franco-Manitoban history.
Criticized for French answers
Since La Vérendrye MLA Konrad Narth was appointed interim leader of the Opposition Progressive Conservatives two weeks ago, Kinew has answered every English-language question put to him in the legislature in French.
In late May, Narth — who doesn’t speak French — got into hot water when he was overheard saying Kinew showed a “basic lack of respect” for responding to his question in French.
Narth later said he asked the question in English, not French, prompting heckling from NDP MLAs who accused him of disrespecting the language, according to an audio recording of the exchange.
He later apologized for how his comments came across. Narth also said he appreciates that he can ask questions in the language he’s most comfortable in, and Kinew can respond in French with translation available to all MLAs.
The premier has denied that he’s speaking French in the chamber because of Narth’s actions from May. He told reporters this week Narth was “disrespecting the bilingual tradition.”
Interim Progressive Conservative Leader Konrad Narth said this week he has no issues with the premier speaking in French in the chamber. Narth doesn’t speak French, but can listen to a live translation in the chamber. (Kevin Nepitabo/CBC)
By Friday, Kinew suggested he feels “a bit like Forrest Gump” — the movie character famed for going on an epic cross-country run “for no particular reason.”
Kinew said he started speaking French, “and then I thought it was important to keep going. But I don’t really know the exact reason.”
Kinew has previously spoken French in the legislature but usually only regarding francophone matters.
Boosting national profile: political scientist
He disagreed Friday that he is politicizing the use of French, as Raymond Hébert, a professor emeritus of political studies who wrote a book on Manitoba’s French-language crisis, has suggested.
Hébert also said the premier’s conduct might undermine his government’s efforts to advance bilingualism by antagonizing anglophones.
Kinew said he respects Hébert, but “Manitoba has changed a lot,” pointing to growth in French-immersion schools and the many people who speak and respect the language and its history.
His NDP government has vowed to make the province a “truly bilingual” province. The province consulted with people last year, and a provincial strategy is scheduled for release in March 2027.
While Manitoba’s courts and legislature operate in English and French, other government services are offered in both languages only in designated areas where there is a “concentrated” francophone population. The province is not officially bilingual by law.
A political scientist in Quebec suggested Kinew’s use of French in the legislature may be about more than scoring political points or appealing to Franco-Manitobans.
“I think that is someone who might have national ambitions, and certainly someone who has a national profile” as a popular premier, said Daniel Béland, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada.
“Showing to the rest of the country, and including to people in Quebec, that he speaks French … increases his profile across the country.”
Kinew also told Radio-Canada he doesn’t think it “would be a huge deal” to offer live translation of question period. MLAs already receive a translation through an earpiece on their desks.
He said those decisions are up to the legislature’s Speaker, who, earlier this year, made picture-in-picture American Sign Language interpretation available during all question period broadcasts.
Rick Yarish, clerk of the legislative assembly, said the legislature doesn’t currently have the technological capacities to provide the translation but is working to implement the service. No timeline is available.
He said the goal is to have a second video feed of question period airing exclusively on the assembly’s broadcast page, which would include a live French-to-English translation. The primary video feed, featuring whichever language is being spoken, would remain as is and broadcast simultaneously on YouTube.
