Inspire


Passionate teacher says Canada's bilingualism 'not a small value'

Paiement promotes self-realization of francophones within Ontario

By Roderick Benns
Editor

When she ordered a coffee in the nation's capital recently, Lise Paiement simply uttered: "Un café, s'il vous plaît." But she was shocked when the young woman behind the cash register immediately entrenched, saying dismissively that she could not speak French.

The woman, said Paiement, obviously could have drawn on her Grade 4-plus French skills to ascertain the meaning of "Un Café, s'il vous plaît." She could have made the attempt to render a service, based upon even a rudimentary knowledge of the language. But what became apparent to me very quickly, said Paiement, "was that she was taught the language, but not the attitude."

Paiement has fought this hurtful failure of attitude about the use of the French language in Ontario tirelessly and passionately over the years. A product of the scenic, bilingual village of Sturgeon Falls in North Eastern Ontario, Paiement's identity is firmly cast as a third generation Franco-Ontarian.

Paiement was a guest speaker in April, presented by The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat of the Ontario Ministry of Education as part of a monthly Lunch Time Lecture Series. The series was developed to encourage dialogue amongst Ministry employees on supporting equity of outcome for all students, one of the key focuses for The Secretariat. Audience members were invited to bring their lunch and to contribute to the discussion, which this month focused on Cultural Pedagogy: New Perspective on Equity Through the French Language Education Spectrum.

As an unwavering champion of the French language and Franco-Ontarian culture, Paiement was determined not to merely inform her audience; instead, she reached out and made an emotional connection, appealing to her audience's understanding of the human right for self-realization. By having the opportunity to help forge an enduring sense of cultural purpose within her students, Paiement knows that this will be paramount for the preservation and flourishing of the French language in Ontario.

"It's not a small value to me, having a bilingual nation. It's what Canada is all about. This is something we have to protect," she said.

Paiement noted that the values all parents share, French, English or otherwise, is that we "all want our kids to succeed."

"We want them to be a part of the world they live in, and having the tools to know each other better is important."

Paiement said that French, as an official language, is something to be respected, not tolerated. There is a fundamental difference between the two, she noted.

"I don't want to be tolerated. Respect is something you earn and inspire, yes, but also something you expect" as a speaker of an official language.

Part of the challenge of Franco-Ontarians, she notes, is that they are not clustered in one place. If they were, they would form an entity three times the population of Prince Edward Island. "It's hard to find us, to connect us in a traditional community. But we are there. We have an ideological reason to exist," she said fervently.