The Manitoba Schools Question was a political crisis in Manitoba and more generally in Canada in the late 19th century involving publicly funded separate schools for French and English and the deeper question of whether French would survive as a language or a culture in Western Canada. Manitoba (English ˌmænɨˈtoʊbə French /manitoba/ is a province of Canada, spanning 647797 square kilometres (250116 sq mi of North America Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page A separate school is a publicly funded School which includes religious Education in its curriculum as opposed to a Private school or Public
The end result of the question was that by the end of the 19th century, French was no longer supported as an official language in most western Canadian provinces which in turn led to a strengthening of French Canadian nationalism in Quebec. Quebec nationalism is a contemporary nationalist movement in Canada similar to what is found in other multi-ethnic and multi-lingual regions of the world Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk
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History
Manitoba became the fifth province to join Confederation in 1870, after negotiations between Canada and the provisional Red River government of Louis Riel. Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed beginning 1 July 1867 from the Year 1870 ( MDCCCLXX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Louis Riel (22 October 1844 &ndash 16 November 1885 in English was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and leader of the Métis The act of parliament which created the province, the Manitoba Act, created a system of denominational schools similar to the one used in the province of Quebec. The Manitoba Act was given Royal Assent in the 33rd year of Queen Victoria's reign May 12, 1870. In Secular usage religious education is the Teaching of a particular Religion (although in England the term religious instruction would refer
Soon before the Manitoba Act was passed to create the province, settlers from English Canada, mainly Ontario, began to arrive in greater numbers than they had come prior to the Red River Rebellion (which was, in part, a reaction against them). Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec The Red River Rebellion or Red River Resistance are names given to the events surrounding the actions of a Provisional government established by Métis
The Manitoba Act had given equal rights to English language, Protestant schools, and French language, Roman Catholic schools, but by the 1880s this no longer reflected the linguistic makeup of the province. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Many Métis had left, and settlers from Quebec were not as numerous as those from Ontario. The Métis are descendants of marriages of Cree, Ojibway Algonquin, Saulteaux, and Menominee aboriginals to Europeans, Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk As the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed in the 1870s and 1880s, many more English speaking settlers had begun to arrive. The Canadian Pacific Railway (
One of the most vocal opponents of separate French and English schools was D'Alton McCarthy, who formed the Equal Rights Association in 1889. Dalton McCarthy ( October 10 1836 &ndash May 11 1898) or D'Alton McCarthy, was a Canadian lawyer and parliamentarian Year 1889 ( MDCCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common By "equal rights", McCarthy meant fairer representation in the province, instead of privileges for the diminishing French population. McCarthy was supported by Joseph Martin, attorney general of Manitoba. Joseph Martin ( September 24, 1852 &ndash March 2, 1923) was a lawyer and politician in Manitoba, Canada,
In 1890, Manitoba passed the Manitoba Schools Act, abolishing French as an official language of the province, and removing funding for Catholic schools. Year 1890 ( MDCCCXC) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common This was a contradiction of the Manitoba Act of 1870. Catholics in Manitoba, encouraged by Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, appealed to the province's Supreme Court, but the Schools Act was upheld. Sir John Alexander Macdonald GCB, KCMG, PC ( January 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first Prime Minister They then brought the case to the Supreme Court of Canada, which decided in favour of the original Manitoba Act. The Supreme Court of Canada ( French: Cour suprême du Canada) is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeal in the Canadian However, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Britain overruled them, favouring the Schools Act. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom, established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Meanwhile, in 1892, the Northwest Territories also abolished French as an official language. Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year The Northwest Territories (ˌnɔrθˌwɛstˈtɛrɨtɔriz ( NWT or NT; French, les Territoires du Nord-Ouest) is a territory
Under the British North America Act, which created Canada in 1867, the federal government could still intervene despite the decision of the Privy Council (see Disallowance and reservation). The British North America Acts 1867&ndash1975 are the original names of a series of Acts at the core of the Constitution of Canada. Year 1867 ( MDCCCLXVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting In Canadian constitutional law, disallowance and reservation are constitutional powers to reject any bill passed by Parliament or any legislature in Canada on the The "Schools Question", as it was known, had divided the Conservative government since 1890, and especially after Macdonald's death in 1891 when no strong leader replaced him. The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Year 1891 ( MDCCCXCI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common In 1896, the government created a new school board for the Catholics; this was very unpopular with Protestant Tory Members of Parliament, and Prime Minister Mackenzie Bowell was forced to resign in April of that year. Year 1896 ( MDCCCXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year WikipediaManual of Style (biographies#Honorific prefixes --> Sir Mackenzie Bowell, PC, KCMG
The election of 1896 was centred on the Schools Question. The Canadian federal election of 1896 was held on June 23, 1896 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 8th Parliament It especially divided Conservatives in Quebec and Ontario; Quebec was offended that French was being eliminated in western Canada, just as the French-speaking Métis population had been forced off their land, while Ontario saw opposition to Catholic support by the strong Orange Order. The Orange Institution, more commonly known as the Orange Order or the Orange Lodge, is a Protestant fraternal organisation based predominantly The Liberals, under Wilfrid Laurier (a French Catholic), took advantage of the division in the Conservative party, and Laurier became Prime Minister in 1896. The Liberal Party of Canada ( Parti libéral du Canada) colloquially known as the Grits (originally " Clear Grits " is a major Canadian political
Laurier developed a compromise with Thomas Greenway, Premier of Manitoba. Thomas Greenway ( March 25, 1838 – October 30, 1908) was a politician merchant and farmer They agreed that Catholic education would be permitted in public schools, and French would be used in teaching, but only on a school-by-school basis requiring there to be a minimum of 10 French speaking pupils. They also re-established a Catholic school board, but without government funding. Many Catholics were still opposed to this compromise, and even appealed to Pope Leo XIII. Pope Leo XIII ( March 2, 1810 – July 20, 1903) born Count Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci, was the 256th Pope The Pope sent an observer, who concluded, like Laurier, that the compromise was the fairest one possible with so few Catholics left in the province.
As French was no longer an official language, its use declined greatly. By 1916, the guarantee of French instruction was removed from the compromise, leaving English as the only language in use in the province. Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year
The Schools Question, along with the execution of Louis Riel in 1885, was one of the incidents that led to strengthening of French Canadian nationalism in Quebec in the late 19th century. Louis Riel (22 October 1844 &ndash 16 November 1885 in English was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and leader of the Métis Year 1885 ( MDCCCLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Quebec nationalism is a contemporary nationalist movement in Canada similar to what is found in other multi-ethnic and multi-lingual regions of the world
See also
References
- Clark, Lovell. The Manitoba Act was given Royal Assent in the 33rd year of Queen Victoria's reign May 12, 1870. Reference re Manitoba Language Rights 1 SCR 721 was a Reference question posed to the Supreme Court of Canada regarding provisions in the Manitoba ed The Manitoba School Question: majority rule or minority rights? (1968) historians debate the issue
- Morton, William Lewis. Manitoba: A History (1970) (ISBN 0-8020-6070-6), a standard scholarly history
- Marianopolis College: Quebec History and the Manitoba Schools Question. Chronology.
External links
- Manitoba Schools Question - The Manitobia Project
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