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Dan Delmar tells us that the French language in enjoying a renaissance outside Quebec (“French enjoys a renaissance — in English Canada” Dec. 6).

Delmar’s focus on “English Canada” rather than minority francophone and Acadian communities is telling. The French renaissance or the newly discovered “coolness” of the French language has failed to make its way to these communities, in which I have lived my entire life, which continue to face alarming assimilation rates and are under serious threat.

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Delmar points to the increased success of French and French-immersion school outside of Quebec.

French schools, in particular, were established following hard-fought constitutional battles by francophone and Acadian parents who understood that the survival of our communities depended on the existence of educational institutions in which the French language and culture reigned and where their children could seek respite from their otherwise constant minority status. I still recall the momentous day in 1990, when I was in Grade 3, on which our principal called all of the students into the school gym to explain to us the landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision in Mahé v Alberta. The decision, he told us, would transform our community by allowing for the creation of francophone school boards under francophone management and control. He was right.