Advocating for a Franco-Ontarian university

The Regroupement étudiant franco-ontarien (RÉFO) is created in Sudbury in 2009. It seeks to give a political voice to the thousands of Francophone students attending the province’s 11 bilingual or French-language post-secondary institutions, including La Cité collégiale, the University of Ottawa and Saint Paul University in Ottawa. While the need is less glaring here than elsewhere in the province, the linguistic imbalance at the University of Ottawa, for example, results in its share of frustration among Francophone students.

RÉFO quickly becomes established on the Franco-Ontarian political scene. It advocates in matters of academic governance, tuition, mental health and inclusion of young people in the labour market. RÉFO also takes an active part in the debate on the designation of the federal capital as an officially bilingual city. But the cause it champions most fiercely since its founding is the creation of a French-language university in Ontario, a case on which it becomes an undisputed leader, alongside the Fédération de la jeunesse franco-ontarienne and the Assemblée de la francophonie de l’Ontario. In the wake of the États généraux sur le postsecondaire en Ontario français (Estates general on postsecondary education in French Ontario), which it organizes in 2013-2014, RÉFO officially asks the provincial government to create a French-language university. The organization’s tenacity bears fruit in 2017, when Queen’s Park votes for the creation of a new French-language university in the Greater Toronto Area.

Franco-Ontarian university

Video excerpt from an interview with Geneviève Latour, representative of the Regroupement étudiant franco-ontarien, “Université francophone en Ontario” (“Francophone university in Ontario”), October 13, 2013, episode 360tfo, broadcast by TFO.

Groupe Média TFO,TFO - Université Franco-ontarienne.

Transcription

A Franco-Ontarian university

[Opening with a black screen.]

[Close-up of a reporter: a blond-haired, middle-aged woman wearing glasses, a purple blouse, and a gray sweater. She is standing on the sidewalk in front of a building. Between the journalist and the building many pedestrians pass. The ambient noise of a busy city street is heard.]

Reporter: You mentioned earlier that there will be consultations all over French Ontario, I'm thinking of Timmins, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, even Ottawa. What do you think you will hear in those areas?

[Close-up of a dark-haired young woman wearing a gray sweater and turquoise jewelry. She is standing on the sidewalk in front of buildings with stone and glass walls. The camera shows the reporter from the back. Numerous pedestrians pass between the young woman and the buildings. The ambient noise of a busy city street is heard, as well as the sounds of the interviewee’s bracelets as she gesticulates.]

Young woman: I had really good discussions with people coming from Hearst, for example, where there is the Université de Hearst. It will be interesting to hear about best practices, successes, accomplishments. We have La Cité collégiale, the Collège Boréal. What will the students, the community members be able to tell us? What can we replicate from their experiences? These are things that will come out in those communities, certainly. At the same time, as I said earlier, we’re not there yet ...

[The camera turns toward the reporter, showing the back of the young woman.]

Young woman: ... there are still needs on our bilingual campuses ...

[The camera turns toward the young woman, showing the back of the reporter.]

Young woman: ... for example, relating to connections between the community and the institutions. These are the sorts of things that will come out. We will also talk about access to programs, then retention and recruitment. So, I think it's going to be really interesting. We have a community that is involved, which has signed up in large numbers.

[Fading to black, and sound fading out.]

(Translated from the original)