On June 25, 1912, the Conservative government of Ontario adopted Regulation 17, prohibiting French as a language of instruction and communication in all schools across the province, except for the first two years of primary school. It was amended the following year to allow instruction in French for one hour per day, by parent request.
In the 19th century, the French speaking population grew considerably in Ontario, especially in eastern and northeastern regions, with many attracted by the promise of jobs in agriculture, forestry, mining and the railway industry. In 1881, there were 100,000 Franco-Ontarians and, in 1921, 249,000. With their arrival, the number of bilingual public or Catholic schools where one or more subjects were taught in French increased.
This growing presence contributed to anti-Francophone sentiment and discourse. A number of groups, such as the Irish Catholic clergy and the British Protestant fraternal Orange Order, lobbied hard for Ontario to become a unilingual Anglophone province. This was expressed, for example, in the decision of the provincial government in 1890 to make English the only language of instruction in schools. Franco-Ontarians organized to defend their language rights by founding the Association canadienne-française d’éducation d’Ontario (ACFÉO) in 1910. It advocated for higher educational standards, the establishment of a newspaper, the opening of a normal school, and the creation of a network of Franco-Ontarian schools.
A commission led by Frances Walter Merchant found, in 1908 and 1912, that English instruction in bilingual schools was inadequate. The government used this pretext to implement Regulation 17. Many Franco-Ontarians strongly opposed the move, arguing that Regulation 17 disregarded and denied their identity and historical presence in Canada. The ACFÉO, teachers, parents, students, and journalists—most notably Le Droit, founded in 1913 to fight Regulation 17—organized marches, published petitions, and resisted by continuing to teach in French in the classroom. One of the most significant acts of resistance involved Diane and Béatrice Desloges, two teachers at Guigues School in Ottawa. In January 1916, brandishing their hatpins and with the mothers of their students at their side, they pushed back police officers and inspectors in order to re occupy their school. The government responded to such acts of resistance by revoking their teaching licenses and withdrawing funding for the dissenting school boards, forcing the closures of many schools and resulting in the losses of salaries and jobs.
After the First World War, there were efforts towards reconciliation. The United Farmers government, for example, permitted the opening of the University of Ottawa Normal School in 1923 for the training of French-language teachers. However, it was not until 1927, in response to the report by the Merchant-Scott-Côté Commission, that the government amended Regulation 17 to once again allow bilingual instruction in Ontario schools. The Regulation fell into abeyance in 1944, when it was not renewed.
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