Your Honour, honourable senators, I rise today in recognition of Franco-Ontarian Day. Senator Moreau, you chose a date of significance to Franco-Ontarians for your swearing in, and I hope you will remember it for a long time to come.

I join with my community in celebrating our love for a language that stands out for its richness of colour, diverse accents and exquisite expressions. September 25 marks the anniversary of the first time that the Franco-Ontarian flag was raised back in 1975, at the University of Sudbury. Since then, the Franco-Ontarian flag has been a rallying force that symbolizes the pride and resilience of Ontario’s francophones. Wherever it is flown, it embodies our culture, our place, and our contributions to the province’s diverse communities.

In 2001, the flag was designated by the Ontario legislature as an official emblem of the province, and, in 2010, the Ontario legislature officially designated September 25 as Franco-Ontarian Day. This was about the majority recognizing the symbol and emblem of a minority, a symbol and emblem that is essential to that minority’s development and vitality. The community comes together and shapes its future around these symbols. Politicians everywhere must therefore take care not to weaken minority communities’ symbols of belonging by adopting polarizing policies or protocols. The northern Ontario municipality of Greenstone, which has permanently flown the Franco-Ontarian flag in front of its town hall since 2015, has decided to remove it. The community of Longlac did the same on February 12. In so doing, these decision-makers have demonstrated a narrow-mindedness and a blatant lack of respect for the francophones in this great region. What a privilege it is to be a francophone living in Canada, but also what a challenge.

Although we are resilient and very adaptable, we are also well aware of how fragile our status and our language are. We are proud of our roots, our accents, our contributions, and especially our diversity.

Quebecers show their pride and celebrate their culture on June 24, Acadians on August 15, and Franco-Ontarians on September 25.

While we may be separated by provincial borders, we are united by our beautiful language, our “belle langue,” that “offers a treasure of infinite wealth.”

When one of our communities celebrates its pride and attachment to the French language, francophones across the country join in.

As Gilles Vigneault so eloquently put it, “La Francophonie is a vast country without borders.”

On this day of celebration, I encourage all of you to express, in your own way, your pride in speaking French and in belonging to an inclusive and welcoming francophonie.

Have a wonderful Franco-Ontarian Day.

Thank you for your attention.