Second Congress on the French Language in Canada
Encyclopedia
The Second Congress on the French Language in Canada (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

: Deuxième Congrès de la langue française au Canada) was held at Université Laval
Université Laval
Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...

 in Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 from June 27 to July 1st, 1937. The 8,000 congress members conclude the event with the formulation of 46 vows.

Organization

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Congress of 1912
First Congress on the French Language in Canada
The First Congress on the French Language in Canada was held in Quebec City from June 24 to June 30, 1912...

, the Société du parler français
Société du parler français au Canada
The Société du parler français au Canada was a learned society that endeavoured to study the French language spoken in Canada in the course of the 20th century...

 organized a second congress in Quebec City between June 27 and July 1st, 1937.

This second congress used the same formula as that of the first congress, with the exception that it was not planned to coincide with the festivities of the French-Canadian National Day, but rather shortly after. The theme of the second congress was: "The French spirit in Canada, in our language, our laws, our habits" (L'esprit français au Canada, dans notre langue, dans nos lois, dans nos mœurs).

The organizing committee of the Congress, set up by the Société du parler français on May 8, 1936, was presided by Mgr Camille Roy
Camille Roy
Camille Roy was a Canadian politician and a three-term Member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec.-Background:He was born on July 13, 1911 in Nicolet, Centre-du-Québec. He became a farmer.-Political career:...

, president of the Society and rector of Université Laval
Université Laval
Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...

. It is also Camille Roy who presided the executive office of the organizing committee. The executive office set up committees on finance, propaganda, reception, and religious ceremony as well as various sub-committees.

An honorary committee was instituted to add to the prestige of the event. The members of this committee were the most visible State and Church officials of Quebec: the archbishop of Quebec Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve
Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve
Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve, OMI was a Canadian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Quebec from 1931 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1933....

 as patron of the Congress; the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
The Lieutenant Governor of Quebec : Lieutenant-gouverneur du Québec, or : Lieutenant-gouverneure du Québec) is the viceregal representative in Quebec of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions...

 Ésioff-Léon Patenaude
Esioff-Léon Patenaude
Esioff-Léon Patenaude, PC, KC, often called E.L. Patenaude was a Canadian politician and statesman who served as the 17th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. Born in Saint-Isidore, Quebec, in 1875, he studied law at Université Laval and was called to the Quebec bar in 1899...

 as honorary president; the premier of Quebec
Premier of Quebec
The Premier of Quebec is the first minister of the Canadian province of Quebec. The Premier is the province's head of government and his title is Premier and President of the Executive Council....

 Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis served as the 16th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from 1936 to 1939 and 1944 to 1959. A founder and leader of the highly conservative Union Nationale party, he rose to power after exposing the misconduct and patronage of Liberal Premier Louis-Alexandre...

, the federal minister of justice Ernest Lapointe
Ernest Lapointe
Ernest Lapointe, PC was a Canadian lawyer and politician.-Education, early career:Lapointe earned his law degree from Laval University...

 and the mayor of Quebec Joseph-Ernest Grégoire
Joseph-Ernest Grégoire
Joseph-Ernest Grégoire was a French Canadian politician.-Background:He was born in Disraeli, Quebec on July 31, 1886. He was an attorney and a professor. He also was the father of Gilles Grégoire, a co-founder of the Parti Québécois....

 as honorary vice-presidents.

The Académie française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...

 delegated the novelist and essayist Louis Bertrand to the event.

In virtue of article III of the rules of the Congress, were invited to participate all "French Canadians, Acadians and Franco-Americans" and their various institutions, admitted as either protective members, beneficiary members, donating members, or fellow members. "Foreign persons or corporations" could also adhere to the Congress with the title of observer. Delegates from Haïti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

 were in fact present to the event.

Upon registering, congress members received a membership card granting room access, a copy of the programme and the ribbon of the Congress. It was also possible to buy a button of the Congress for 10 cents and a badge medal (the work of Marius Plamondon) for 75 cents.

The sessions of the Congress were held at the Colisée de Québec, in several buildings of Université Laval, at the Palais de Justice de Québec and the Palais Montcalm.

Progression

The programme of the Congress of 1937 closely resembled that of 1912, but was more sophisticated. Contained within a general programme of six days, from Sunday June 27 to Friday July 2nd, which included masses, breakfasts, receptions, banquets and concerts, tours, there was a programme of six public sessions, two general assemblies, 23 sessions by the four study sections, and diverse special programmes (children day, ladies day, youth day).
The study sessions of the Congress of 1937
Section on spoken language
President: Cyrille-F. Delâge 
Secretary: Lucien Talbot 
Reporter: Étienne Blanchard
Étienne Blanchard
Étienne Blanchard was a Canadian politician.Born in Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Canada East, Blanchard was mayor of Saint-Marc in 1890 and 1891. He was the member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for Verchères from 1897 to 1908.-References:...

Section on written language
President: Aegidius Fauteux 
Secretary: Henri Lallier 
Reporter: Maurice Hébert
Section on the arts
President: J.-B. Soucy
Secretary: Sylvia Daoust
Sylvia Daoust
Sylvia Daoust, CM, CQ , born in Montreal, was one of the first female sculptors in Quebec. She graduated from the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal , but also studied in Europe...

 
Reporter: Jean-Marie Gauvreau
Section on laws
President: Fabre-Surveyer, Henri Lacerte, Antonio Perreault
Secretary: Jacques Dumoulin
Jacques Dumoulin
Jacques Dumoulin was a Canadian provincial politician.Born in Quebec City, Quebec, the son of Philippe-Benjamin Dumoulin and Marie-Louise Taschereau, Dumoulin was the member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for Montmorency from 1939 to 1948.-References:...

 
Reporter: L.-Philippe Pigeon
Section on habits
Division A: Division B:
President: P. Henri Martin
Secretary : P.-Eugène Gosselin 
Reporter: Henri-G. Renaud
President: J.-M. Laframboise
Secretary: Josaphat Benoit 
Reporter: Pie-M. Gaudreau
Ladies study sessions
President: Mme Charles Frémont
Secretary: Mme J. Dugal 
Reporter: Mlle Élise Rocheleau
Youth study sessions
President: Cyrille Gagnon
Secretary: Mlle Jeanne Lapointe 
Reporter: M. Paul-Henri Guimont

Vows

The Second Congress of the French Language in Canada concluded with the adoption of 46 vows.

The seven vows of the language section expressed the desire of congress members to see that the phonetic and elocution
Elocution
Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone.-History:In Western classical rhetoric, elocution was one of the five core disciplines of pronunciation, which was the art of delivering speeches. Orators were trained not only on proper diction, but on the proper...

 of the students' speech improve by their methodical teaching and by the particular care which teachers must give to their own diction
Diction
Diction , in its original, primary meaning, refers to the writer's or the speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression in a poem or story...

; that a program of studies on the spoken language of Franco-Americans be set up; that a greater number of local and regional history societies be founded; that libraries be more numerous and more furnished; that the language of advertising improve and be in proper French; that scientific reviews be better supported and encouraged; that a Board on the French language in Canada (Office de la langue française au Canada) be set up, with the mandate to examine and correct commercial signs, posters, and brochures.

The three vows of the arts section pertained to the promotion of art appreciation among workers by conferences, projections, etc.; that the culture of letters be developed, especially by encouraging "our own writers"; that the teaching of drawing be developed in schools.

The five wishes of the section on laws dealt with the conservation of the French spirit of laws and interpretation methods; that a commission be set up to revise all laws of Quebec to conform to the French spirit, in a concise, logical and methodical redaction; that the translation of federal laws (which were all in English) improve and that translations "no longer be restrained to literal translation"; that the rights of the French language be recognized in all of Canada and that the rights of francophone minorities to preserve their language by learning it in school be recognized in all of North America;

The other vows (from the 16th to 46th) were formulated by the section on habits and pertained to the promotion of professional associations, parish schools in the United States, the quality of French in the press and radio, solidarity among francophone groups, the organization of a Congress on Economics, the creation of a linguistic information office (terminology, translation), that Canada and Haïti establish press relations to better know each other, as well as items dear to the catholic clergy: fighting communism and discouraging marriage between Catholics and Protestants.

The participants to the ladies session wished that taste for poetry be cultivated among the young people, that French-language feminine associations be created in Canada and the United States, that the education of women be modernized, that children literature be developed, etc. The participants to the youth session wished that libraries contain books appropriate to young age and also that youth movements develop.

On the first of July, the Permanent Committee of the Congresses on the French Language in Canada (Comité permanent des Congrès de la langue française en Amérique), which was inactive since 1920, was reactivated. It was composed of 20 members responsible to publish the account of the Congress's sittings and to see that the vows it has formulated become reality. In 1939, the Committee took the name of Comité de la survivance française en Amérique and it is under this name that it was incorporated in 1940.
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