U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order over the weekend establishing English as the official language of the United States.
Here in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., our city council did something similar 35 years ago.
The Sault's resolution, declaring our city to be unilingual English, outraged French-speaking Canadians everywhere and didn't end well.
"The Sault’s English-only fiasco was a complete and abysmal policy failure," Mayor Matthew Shoemaker told SooToday as first reports of the Trumpian order were published.
"It was used as a diversion from real problems we were facing at the time but, unfortunately, only served to take attention from those problems instead of focusing on fixing them," the mayor said.
More than 30 U.S. states have laws designating English as their official language, but this is the first federal declaration.
Government agencies and entities that get federal funding will be allowed to choose whether to continue to offer non-English services and documents.
"By the authority vested in me as president by the constitution and the laws of the United States of America . . . . this order designates English as the official language of the United States," Trump declared on Saturday.
"Our nation's historic governing documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the constitution, have all been written in English," Trump said in his executive order.
"It is therefore long past time that English is declared as the official language of the United States. A nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society, and the United States is strengthened by a citizenry that can freely exchange ideas in one shared language.
"In welcoming new Americans, a policy of encouraging the learning and adoption of our national language will make the United States a shared home and empower new citizens to achieve the American dream.
"Speaking English not only opens doors economically, but it helps newcomers engage in their communities, participate in national traditions, and give back to our society.
"This order recognizes and celebrates the long tradition of multilingual American citizens who have learned English and passed it to their children for generations to come.
"To promote unity, cultivate a shared American culture for all citizens, ensure consistency in government operations, and create a pathway to civic engagement, it is in America’s best interest for the federal government to designate one – and only one – official language.
"Establishing English as the official language will not only streamline communication but also reinforce shared national values, and create a more cohesive and efficient society," Trump said.
The Sault's controversial 1990 language resolution occurred in the context of national constitutional debates.
"The resolution was passed in response to claims by anti-bilingualism lobby group The Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada, that the French Language Services Act was forcing Ontario municipalities to provide services in French," says an article on the website of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.
"In the political context of the time, the issue received national attention and was seen as an affront to all French-speaking Canadians. Other Ontario municipalities also declared themselves unilingual, and anti-Francophone demonstrations took place in Sault Ste. Marie and elsewhere in the country.
"These events were denounced by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who reaffirmed his commitment to bilingualism."
The city council resolution was struck down by the courts four years later.
In 2010, then-Mayor John Rowswell apologized for the English-only resolution 20 years earlier, in which he had no involvement.
But Rowswell's apology was issued exclusively to French-language media and received minimal notice at the time among Sault Ste. Marie's English-speaking community.
Last year, Mayor Matthew Shoemaker formally apologized at a city council meeting.
The following is the full text of Mayor Shoemaker's remarks, delivered in January, 2024 in both French and English:
Il y a 34 ans, le 29 janvier est devenu un jour de deuil pour la communauté francophone at Sault Sainte Marie.
L’histoire de notre ville ne peut pas être rencontré sans reconnaître l’impact des francophones.
Come le dit la résolution, c’est une histoire qui se trace a une temp, il y a plus que 400 ans.
Le nom de la ville est un nom français, les premiers explorateur français était des explorateur français, la ville est le centre commercial du district d’Algoma, qui a plusieurs communautés majoritaires francophone.
Mais l’histoire plus récent nous donne pas cause a célébré.
Le conseille de ville a commis une grave erreur en 1990.
Nous avons oublié notre histoire. Nous avons créé un conflit entre les Français et la communauté majoritaire.
C'était une erreur qui a eu des implications dommageables pour notre ville relatif au service fédéral et provinciale, qui ont été établi à Sudbury ou autre part au lieu de Sault Sainte Marie.
Je sais que la communauté francophone ont apprécier quand le Maire Rowswell a offer les excuse de la ville a tout les francophone au pays, et quand le Maire Provenzano a élevé le drapeau franco-ontarien à l’hôtel de ville en 2015, mais il restait du travaille incomplet pour la ville a réparée la relation pour les francophone locale.
On espère que cette résolution est le commencement d’un nouveau chapitre dans l'histoire positive des francophones dans notre communauté.
French-language services resolution
Thirty-four years ago, January 29th became a day of mourning for francophones in Sault Ste. Marie.
The history of our city cannot be told without being inextricably intertwined with the French culture and language.
As the resolution says, French impact in our region can be traced back more than 400 years.
The name of the city of a French name, the first European explorers of the region were French, the city is the commercial centre of the Algoma District, which has multiple majority-francophone communities.
But the more recent history is checkered.
City council made a mistake in 1990.
We forgot our history. We created conflict between our francophone residents and the community at-large.
It was a mistake that had lasting impacts on our city as it relates to federal and provincial services, which moved down the highway to Sudbury or other communities further afield.
It is without doubt that the francophone community appreciated the apology given by Mayor Rowswell in 2010 and the raising of the Franco-Ontarian flag for the first time at city hall in 2015 under Mayor Provenzano, but there remains unfinished work to repair the relationship between the city and its French residents.
It is my hope, and I believe it to be the hope of all of council, that the resolution before us today will be the start of a new chapter in the positive impact that francophones have and continue to play in our community.