It’s almost March 20th, the International Day of the Francophonie. This day celebrates the power of the French language(s) to bring peoples and cultures together as a tool for mutual understanding and peace.
On March 20th, 1970, 21 state governments (including Canada) came together in Niamey, the capital city of Niger, to sign the Agence de coopération culturelle et technique (ACCT). This international convention was intended to promote cultural and technological exchanges among French-speaking countries.
Twenty-eight years later, the ACCT became the Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie. In 2005, it adopted the Charter of the Francophonie and changed its name to the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, which it is today.
The OIF brings together 88 world states and regional governments, including Quebec and New Brunswick. It facilitates cooperation between its members on cultural, political, and economic issues. It promotes the French language and linguistic diversity as well as democracy, peace, intercultural dialogue, education, and sustainable development.
According to the OIF’s 2022 La langue française dans le monde report, the Francophonie is “multiple in its words, in its accents, (and) in its ways of saying things”. Globally, the Francophonie brings together 321 million speakers with many different origins, cultures, and beliefs.
In Canada, about 22% of Canadians hold French as their first official language spoken, but according to Canada’s 2021 census, the demographic weight of Francophones outside of Quebec has declined to 3.5%. However, this varies widely from community to community and province to province — in New Brunswick, which is officially bilingual, Francophones make up almost a third of the province’s population. Canada’s Action Plan for Official Languages 2023–2028 lays out 32 measures to lay the groundwork for substantive equality between English and French in Canada, including measures to increase the demographic weight of French outside of Quebec.
The Canada School of Public Service and Canadian Heritage are hosting an event on March 20th to highlight the importance of French and Francophone culture in Canada and celebrate our differences and similarities. You can register on the RVF’s website here.
As an Anglophone who is not fluent in French (but learning!), it’s a privilege to be part of that dialogue, and to celebrate this day with the RVF and Francophones everywhere.
Bonne journée à tous!
Catherine Fisher, blogger
