Statement made on 16 March 2010 by Senator Fernand Robichaud
Hon. Fernand Robichaud:
Honourable senators, further to the suggestion by the Honourable Senator Segal, I can assure you that my comments will be entirely non-partisan. I want to draw the Senate's attention to the Acadian flag, a flag that brings people together, especially since 2009 marked the 125th anniversary of its adoption by the Acadian community. Last fall, I pointed out that the Acadian flag was designed and made in my community of Saint-Louis-de-Kent.
I believe that a few brief references to Acadian history will help us understand why the Acadian flag appeared and better appreciate its importance in the life and the identity of the Acadian people.
Looking back at our history, the future was anything but promising for the Acadians. In fact, our history gives every indication that we should have disappeared. The Acadian people fought against all odds to forge their own identity and culture; they survived oppression by the majority to finally break free and become full partners in Canada.
We must remember that the Acadians' participation in life in Canada is well under way and that every day brings its challenges. For the Acadian people, our history has given us our own identity. The Great Upheaval is the turning point in our shared history and, more than anything else, it is the defining moment for the identity of the Acadian people.
In the century following their expulsion, the Acadians lived in near-total isolation, and some quietly and peacefully returned to settle along the coast of the Maritime provinces. If the Acadians endured obscurity, it was certainly during this century as they returned, survived and regrouped. During that time, Acadian leadership was essentially provided by the men and women of the clergy. In the second half of the 19th century, intellectuals, journalists and politicians joined in the struggle to promote education and the French language in Acadian villages and communities.
It was by linking faith and language in their mission that the clergy men and women shaped Acadian leaders, paving the way for the resurgence of the Acadian people. Moreover, Acadians were beginning to play a very active role in political life. The Acadian people achieved emancipation through the preservation of their religion and language, through the development of education and through political involvement.
In New Brunswick, it was not until the early 1960s that the education system was modernized and an equitable taxation system was established in the province to fund that system.
In the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, Acadian parents, most of whom had moderate incomes, made tremendous sacrifices to pay for their children to be educated at schools and colleges. Courage, conviction and determination were essential for the Acadian people to create institutions such as Collège Saint-Joseph in Memramcook and Collège Saint-Louis in Saint-Louis-de-Kent. One of those leading the emancipation of his people was Msgr. Marcel-François Richard, the son of a farmer and the youngest of 10 children.
He went to the school in his hometown of Saint-Louis-de-Kent and continued his classical studies at St. Dunstan's College in Charlottetown. After completing his theological training in Montreal, he became a priest, first in his native parish, and then in the parish of Rogersville, where he died in 1915.
Charismatic and dynamic, Marcel-François Richard was without question one of the most important leaders of the Acadian renaissance. His passionate dedication to various Acadian causes, particularly the development of education for Acadians, is well known.
He vigorously opposed the Schools Act of 1871, which threatened the very existence of Catholic elementary schools. He was also an advocate of higher education. In 1874, he founded Collège Saint-Louis in Saint-Louis-de-Kent. Historian Louis Cyriaque Daigle recalls that the institution had to close its doors in 1882 on orders from the Bishop of the Diocese of Chatham, Msgr. James Rogers. It seems that Collège Saint-Louis flaunted its French character too much. Anglophone students attended it as well, placing it in direct competition with St. Michael's College in Chatham.
Moreover, in the early 1870s, Msgr. Richard wanted to provide quality instruction to young girls and succeeded in interesting the teaching sisters of Montreal's Congregation of Notre-Dame. A monument to Marguerite Bourgeoys was unveiled in Saint-Louis-de-Kent in recognition of the huge contribution of the sisters of the Congregation of Notre-Dame.
Msgr. Richard was also keenly interested in agriculture and colonization, and he helped found the towns of Rogersville and Acadieville. By clearing agricultural land, he tried to combat the exodus of Acadians to the United States.
His boundless energy led him to take on a leadership role in organizing and holding the first national Acadian conventions. These conventions broke down the isolation in which Acadians had lived since their return. In the words of Pierre-Armand Landry, the first Acadian to become a lawyer:
A national convention is a time for the people to come together to debate matters of interest to the nation, to examine its status and to decide on how to improve it by eliminating obstacles that can stand in the way of its advancement toward social, material and political progress.
The Acadians moved from awareness to action. At the first national convention in 1881, Marcel-François Richard delivered an eloquent and convincing speech on the need for Acadians to have their own national holiday separate from that of French Canadians. Supporters of Saint-Jean Baptiste argued with supporters of the Fête de l'Assomption.
On the one side, Father Camille Lefebvre of Collège Saint-Joseph, originally from the south shore of Montreal, and his supporters stated that a common celebration would unite all French-speaking people across Canada in the pursuit of common goals, with the objective of equality relative to rights and services in Canada.
On the other side, Msgr. Richard and his supporters felt that the Fête de l'Assomption should be the Acadians' national holiday. They stated very clearly that the Acadians had a different history and nationality. Perhaps today we would say that the Acadians have a distinct history and nationality.
The convention adopted the Fête de l'Assomption as the national holiday of the Acadian people. Monsignor Richard's convincing argument tipped the scales.
Three years later, the Acadians met once again to choose a national anthem and flag. On August 15, 1884, at their second national convention in Miscouche, Prince Edward Island, the Acadians chose the Acadian flag, a distinctive symbol that brings people together.
At this second national convention, Msgr. Richard's statements on the Acadian flag and national anthem proved once again to be a decisive factor. Delegates to the 1884 Miscouche Convention heard him come to the defence of the tricolour and star as a standard and rallying point for Acadians.
He made a strong and forceful argument for adopting the blue, white and red flag, because it would remind Acadians that they were the descendants of the first French settlers. He emphasized the importance of preserving the French language and culture.
Msgr. Marcel-François Richard proposed that a yellow star, the papal colour, be added to the blue of the flag to show Acadians' dedication to their religion and to recall the "Stella Maris," which guides fishers through the storms and reefs. Msgr. Richard felt this star would symbolize the distinctiveness of the Acadian nationality, and he wanted Acadians to have a flag that would remind them not only that their children are French, but also that they are Acadians. Marcel-François Richard was not only able to convince his own people of the importance of having their own flag, a distinctive rallying symbol, but he also had a sense of timing.
Before leaving for the national convention of 1884, Msgr. Marcel-François Richard had the first flag made by Marie Babineau, a teacher, seamstress and resident of Saint-Louis-de-Kent. This is how the presentation of the flag was described:
After a speech by Reverend Richard, the motion was then put to the vote, receiving the unanimous and enthusiastic support of the crowd. That evening, when the delegates were gathered in the great hall of the convent to conclude the convention, Reverend Richard unfurled the new Acadian flag that he had had made by one of his parishioners, to the great surprise of those in attendance. It was with great emotion that the delegates saluted their national flag for the first time . . .
Since then, the tricolour flag with the star has rallied the entire Acadian community together in asserting itself and pursuing its development. This is why the Acadian flag is so important
The flag is a beacon, not only rallying people of the same nationality, but also bringing a community together around shared hopes and objectives. Over the years, the Acadian flag has become a powerful symbol that brings people together, and the Acadian people hold it in the highest regard.
Our Acadian flag has come to symbolize the Acadian people and all their aspirations. It represents a people who share the same dreams, customs and traditions and a common language and history.
The flag has become the incarnation of Acadians' collective consciousness, symbolizing the survival of a people and of a culture, representing the heart and soul of the Acadian community and its desire to assert itself and participate in building society today.
The Acadian flag represents the Acadians' reality: their past, their present and their future. This is why the tricolour with the star is part of lively Acadian celebrations and official ceremonies alike.
Those who followed the Acadian World Congress held last summer on the Acadian peninsula will have seen the variety of blue, white and red displays and decorations adorning homes in Acadian cities and towns. And of course the yellow star was everywhere.
Building on the progress made by the Acadian community in New Brunswick with Premier Louis J. Robichaud's Program of Equal Opportunity and the Official Languages Act, New Brunswick granted official status to this symbol of Acadian identity on the 100th anniversary of the flag. On April 11, 1984, the government of Premier Richard Hatfield passed legislation whereby the Acadian flag would fly on the Legislative Assembly building in the provincial capital from then on.
In summary, honourable senators, thanks to the dedication and tireless work of Msgr. Marcel-François Richard, from Saint-Louis-de-Kent, Acadians can salute with pride and respect a flag that brings people together and that reflects their history and their aspirations.
The Acadian flag, the tricolour with the star, represents the identity of our people, the solidarity that unites us, the pride we feel in who we are, the courage and perseverance that have helped us overcome challenges in the past, and our unshakable confidence in a better future for our children and for our country, Canada.
Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.