Objective Conditions
The Manitoba Schools Question was an issue where the Catholic French people in Manitoba had their rights violated when the Provincial government approved new education and language laws in 1890. Manitoba became an official province in 1870 with the enactment of the Manitoba Act in the Canadian Constitution. Part of the Manitoba Act, Section 22, stated that the Manitoba government "could not pass educational laws that would prejudicially affect any right or privilege with respect to denominational schools" (www.manitobia.ca). As a result, Manitoba had two government funded school systems--one for Protestant English-speaking students, and another for Catholic French-speaking students. The number of Catholic and Protestant schools and students in 1871 were almost equal as shown in Table 1 below.
In 1890, the Provincial government of Manitoba led by Premier Thomas Greenway decided to create a new law: a single government funded public school system, because the two separate systems were too expensive to continue funding, and because the demographics of the Province had changed. The Manitoba provincial government passed the Public Schools Act and Manitoba stopped funding both the Protestant and Catholic schools, and replaced these with a single public system. At this same time, the Manitoba government made another new law that the official language of the Province was to be English only. The Protestant schools ended up becoming the new English Public schools (government funded), and the Roman Catholic French schools continued but they now had to fund themselves and charge a fee to students attending the Catholic schools. The enrolment statistics in 1890 had changed dramatically from 1871 as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Number of Catholic French-speaking & Protestant English-speaking students in Manitoba
(Data compiled from www.manitobia.ca)
1871 % of total 1890 % of total
No. of Catholic
French-speaking 17 51.5% 90 12.5%
Schools
Total enrolment 639 44% 4,364 18.8%
No. of Protestant
English-speaking 16 48.5% 629 87.5%
Schools
Total enrolment 816 56% 18,850 81.2%
The French Catholic citizens of Manitoba were outraged by these changes and felt the new laws were a social injustice and an attack on their religion and language rights. Greenway justified the new laws by claiming they were necessary so that Manitoba would became an English Province without any influence from the Roman Catholic Church (as Pope Leo XIII had become involved in the discussions).
The Roman Catholic French-speaking citizens of Manitoba stood up for their Constitutional rights by launching a lawsuit against the Public Schools Act in 1892 claiming it violated their rights under Section 22 of the Manitoba Act. The Court of Manitoba heard their case, but ruled against them saying the new law was valid and the Manitoba Government did not have to fund denominational schools.
The French-speaking Catholic Manitobans appealed this decision to the Federal government, because the Federal Government had a special power to make final decisions about education in Canada under the Constitution. At first the Federal Government did not want to make a decision about Manitoba`s new law and instead asked the Supreme Court for a decision on it. The Supreme Court ruled against the French Catholic Manitobans case, but this was taken to the highest court level-the Judicial Court of the Privy Council who overruled the Supreme Court and advised the Federal Government that they could intervene and change the law in Manitoba because it did violate the rights of the French-speaking Catholics.
In 1896 the Federal government (at the time under Prime Minister Mackenzie Bowell) discussed trying to force Manitoba to remove its new education law. However, half the party supported intervening while the other half was against it. The issue threw the Conservative party into a crises. Bowell tried to negotiate with Greenway to fix the new laws but Greenway refused to change. Because of this issue, Bowell resigned as Prime Minister and called an election. Charles Tupper took over the leadership of the Conservative Party when Bowell resigned, but the party was in such a crises, he lost the election that was held two months later to the Liberal party leader Wilfred Laurier. Laurier took advantage of this crisis situation by campaigning that he could negotiate a compromise agreement with Greenway, and he won the election against Tupper on this promise.
After becoming Prime Minister in 1896, Wilfred Laurier did negotiate a compromise agreement with Manitoba Premier Greenway. The agreement was called Laurier's "sunny ways" compromise but it got little for denominational schools or the French-speaking citizens. The compromise was "that there would still be no publicly funded Catholic schools, but religious instruction would be allowed for a half hour at the end of each school day. School boards would have to provide a Catholic teacher for every 25 Catholic students in rural districts and for every 40 Catholic students in the cities. When ten pupils in any school district spoke French, or any language other than English, they would get bilingual instruction in that language as well as English. By putting French in the same category as any other language, this compromise destroyed the fundamental equality of French and English which had existed before." (www.canadahistoryproject.ca). Laurier was quoted as saying "For me, the salvation of the French race is not in isolation, but in struggle. Give our children the best education possible, put them on an equal footing with those of the other race, and give them the legitimate pride which they will have in such a struggle." (Brown & Cook 14)
The Roman Catholic Church in Manitoba rejected the Laurier-Greenway compromise and the Archbishop of St. Boniface, Manitoba, Adelard Langevin stated that "Franco-Manitobans, the pioneers of the country, had no more than the last arrivals; we whose rights are guaranteed by the constitution, are placed on the same footing as those who came from Ireland or the depths of Russia, we are not better apportioned than the Chinese and the Japanese." (www.manitobia.ca). Finally, the Pope became involved in the debate advising the Catholics in Manitoba to accept the inadequate compromise but to continue to fight for their rights.
During this period of history, the French-speaking Catholic citizens of Manitoba never regained their rights that had been granted to them in the original Manitoba Act of 1870, and the Manitoba Schools question was seen as a major loss for the equality of French language rights and Catholic education rights in Canada.
In 1890, the Provincial government of Manitoba led by Premier Thomas Greenway decided to create a new law: a single government funded public school system, because the two separate systems were too expensive to continue funding, and because the demographics of the Province had changed. The Manitoba provincial government passed the Public Schools Act and Manitoba stopped funding both the Protestant and Catholic schools, and replaced these with a single public system. At this same time, the Manitoba government made another new law that the official language of the Province was to be English only. The Protestant schools ended up becoming the new English Public schools (government funded), and the Roman Catholic French schools continued but they now had to fund themselves and charge a fee to students attending the Catholic schools. The enrolment statistics in 1890 had changed dramatically from 1871 as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Number of Catholic French-speaking & Protestant English-speaking students in Manitoba
(Data compiled from www.manitobia.ca)
1871 % of total 1890 % of total
No. of Catholic
French-speaking 17 51.5% 90 12.5%
Schools
Total enrolment 639 44% 4,364 18.8%
No. of Protestant
English-speaking 16 48.5% 629 87.5%
Schools
Total enrolment 816 56% 18,850 81.2%
The French Catholic citizens of Manitoba were outraged by these changes and felt the new laws were a social injustice and an attack on their religion and language rights. Greenway justified the new laws by claiming they were necessary so that Manitoba would became an English Province without any influence from the Roman Catholic Church (as Pope Leo XIII had become involved in the discussions).
The Roman Catholic French-speaking citizens of Manitoba stood up for their Constitutional rights by launching a lawsuit against the Public Schools Act in 1892 claiming it violated their rights under Section 22 of the Manitoba Act. The Court of Manitoba heard their case, but ruled against them saying the new law was valid and the Manitoba Government did not have to fund denominational schools.
The French-speaking Catholic Manitobans appealed this decision to the Federal government, because the Federal Government had a special power to make final decisions about education in Canada under the Constitution. At first the Federal Government did not want to make a decision about Manitoba`s new law and instead asked the Supreme Court for a decision on it. The Supreme Court ruled against the French Catholic Manitobans case, but this was taken to the highest court level-the Judicial Court of the Privy Council who overruled the Supreme Court and advised the Federal Government that they could intervene and change the law in Manitoba because it did violate the rights of the French-speaking Catholics.
In 1896 the Federal government (at the time under Prime Minister Mackenzie Bowell) discussed trying to force Manitoba to remove its new education law. However, half the party supported intervening while the other half was against it. The issue threw the Conservative party into a crises. Bowell tried to negotiate with Greenway to fix the new laws but Greenway refused to change. Because of this issue, Bowell resigned as Prime Minister and called an election. Charles Tupper took over the leadership of the Conservative Party when Bowell resigned, but the party was in such a crises, he lost the election that was held two months later to the Liberal party leader Wilfred Laurier. Laurier took advantage of this crisis situation by campaigning that he could negotiate a compromise agreement with Greenway, and he won the election against Tupper on this promise.
After becoming Prime Minister in 1896, Wilfred Laurier did negotiate a compromise agreement with Manitoba Premier Greenway. The agreement was called Laurier's "sunny ways" compromise but it got little for denominational schools or the French-speaking citizens. The compromise was "that there would still be no publicly funded Catholic schools, but religious instruction would be allowed for a half hour at the end of each school day. School boards would have to provide a Catholic teacher for every 25 Catholic students in rural districts and for every 40 Catholic students in the cities. When ten pupils in any school district spoke French, or any language other than English, they would get bilingual instruction in that language as well as English. By putting French in the same category as any other language, this compromise destroyed the fundamental equality of French and English which had existed before." (www.canadahistoryproject.ca). Laurier was quoted as saying "For me, the salvation of the French race is not in isolation, but in struggle. Give our children the best education possible, put them on an equal footing with those of the other race, and give them the legitimate pride which they will have in such a struggle." (Brown & Cook 14)
The Roman Catholic Church in Manitoba rejected the Laurier-Greenway compromise and the Archbishop of St. Boniface, Manitoba, Adelard Langevin stated that "Franco-Manitobans, the pioneers of the country, had no more than the last arrivals; we whose rights are guaranteed by the constitution, are placed on the same footing as those who came from Ireland or the depths of Russia, we are not better apportioned than the Chinese and the Japanese." (www.manitobia.ca). Finally, the Pope became involved in the debate advising the Catholics in Manitoba to accept the inadequate compromise but to continue to fight for their rights.
During this period of history, the French-speaking Catholic citizens of Manitoba never regained their rights that had been granted to them in the original Manitoba Act of 1870, and the Manitoba Schools question was seen as a major loss for the equality of French language rights and Catholic education rights in Canada.
This picture was taken in St. Boniface, a city ward of Winnipeg, Manitoba. This is a classroom in St. Joseph's Academy showing students, a globe, and a few maps around the room. At the back of the classroom on the wall is a cross, signifying this school is Christian. St. Joseph`s Academy is a Catholic school as St. Joseph is a Catholic saint, so we can assume the students were French speaking. This was an all girls school, and these girls look like they are in high school, around 14 or 15 years old. All of their clothes are very clean and new looking, so they must have been well-off. This photo seems to be a class photo, where it is staged by a professional photographer for each student to get a copy for their year. This photo clearly shows the impact of the 1890 legislation in segregating Catholic French-speaking students from the government funded public school system of Manitoba.
This photograph was taken in 1905, after the compromise between Manitoba Premier Thomas Greenway and Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier was reached in 1896 about whether to keep two separate school boards (Catholic French-speaking and Protestant English-Speaking). The decision was made for Manitoba to continue to have only one public school system (Protestant), but in these schools there would be provision for French education, but it was not any more important than any other language. Many Roman Catholic schools continued as private schools where they charged their students with fees to attend; this school seems like an example of this.
Throughout the period of time between when Greenway was elected into Provincial office and when he created the single public school system in 1890 onwards, the Franco-Manitobans had to fight for their rights to use their own language and religion in schools. This event was a violation of justice that involved the Provincial and Federal Governments and the Judicial system at every level. It was a situation where the Provincial government abolished the language rights and denominational education rights of all Franco-Manitobans despite the fact that this government action was unconstitutional. It was also a case of the Federal government trying to exerts its authority over the Provincial Government through remedial legislation under the Canadian Constitution to 'right the wrong' that the Provincial Government in Manitoba had done. Instead, the Provincial Government ignored each Federal order. Ultimately, this situation was a break down of Federal-Provincial Government relations, of the judicial system to protect minority language rights, and of the Canadian Constitution to uphold French language rights for every Francophone living in Manitoba. Unfortunately, this social problem persisted, despite the continued and determined efforts of the Franco-Manitobans, for close to 100 years.
This photograph was taken in 1905, after the compromise between Manitoba Premier Thomas Greenway and Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier was reached in 1896 about whether to keep two separate school boards (Catholic French-speaking and Protestant English-Speaking). The decision was made for Manitoba to continue to have only one public school system (Protestant), but in these schools there would be provision for French education, but it was not any more important than any other language. Many Roman Catholic schools continued as private schools where they charged their students with fees to attend; this school seems like an example of this.
Throughout the period of time between when Greenway was elected into Provincial office and when he created the single public school system in 1890 onwards, the Franco-Manitobans had to fight for their rights to use their own language and religion in schools. This event was a violation of justice that involved the Provincial and Federal Governments and the Judicial system at every level. It was a situation where the Provincial government abolished the language rights and denominational education rights of all Franco-Manitobans despite the fact that this government action was unconstitutional. It was also a case of the Federal government trying to exerts its authority over the Provincial Government through remedial legislation under the Canadian Constitution to 'right the wrong' that the Provincial Government in Manitoba had done. Instead, the Provincial Government ignored each Federal order. Ultimately, this situation was a break down of Federal-Provincial Government relations, of the judicial system to protect minority language rights, and of the Canadian Constitution to uphold French language rights for every Francophone living in Manitoba. Unfortunately, this social problem persisted, despite the continued and determined efforts of the Franco-Manitobans, for close to 100 years.