Droit comme un F

The Fight for Francophone Rights

Parents in minority Francophone communities outside Québec initiate legal battles against the government to have their children’s right to education in their own language recognized and respected. The series entitled The Fight for Francophone Rights tells six of their stories, highlighting the issues that motivated them to get involved in a long-fought battle that many believed to be a lost cause.

View The Fight for Francophone Rights website

Production year: 2015
Production: Productions Testa, National Film Board of Canada
Producer(s): Anne-Marie Rocher and Dominic Desjardins
Director: Anne-Marie Rocher
Writer: Anne-Marie Rocher

Épisode 1 : Gain de cause
Winning the Case

In the 1980s, Francophones in Alberta launch a legal battle for the right to have access to the same services and institutions as Anglophones. In Nova Scotia, Acadian parents who have witnessed the rapid assimilation of Francophones in their province initiate the fight for access to Francophone secondary schools.

Length: 57 min
Boradcaster(s): TFO

Épisode 2 : Nos droits, nos batailles
Our Rights, Our Fights

In Saskatchewan in the 1980s, a group of parents organize to ensure the continued survival and transmission of the French language and culture. Attorney Roger Lepage wants to establish a Francophone school board. In 2009, the desperate need for resources leads the Yukon Francophone School Board to retain the services of Roger Lepage, Esq. to file a court action.

Length: 57 min
Broadcaster(s): TFO

Épisode 3 : Revers et justice
Setbacks and Justice

With Francophone schools in dire need of resources, a parents’ association in Yellowknife decides to go to court in 2005. In Vancouver in 2010, parents pressure the government to give their children access to the same types of institutions as those of their Anglophone neighbours.

Length: 57 min
Broadcaster(s): TFO