THUNDER BAY -- Genevieve Beauvais is proud of her French heritage.
On Thursday she joined hundreds of students from Franco-Superieur and La Verendrye, waving flags, tooting horns and toting signs on a march between the two French-language schools in celebration of Franco-Ontarian Day.
The annual festivities are important to her culture, the 11-year-old said. Thursday also marked the beginning of a year- long celebration marking the 400th anniversary of the French arriving in Ontario.
“It’s a day we can all remember and celebrate French and the flag and the lifting of it,” Genevieve said.
“It’s the day we came here.”
Watching her classmates decked out in Franco-Ontarian colours was pretty special, she added.
“For me it’s seeing everybody dressed in green and white and being happy about it and being proud,” she said.
Diane Quintas, the executive director of the Réseau du mieux-être francophone du Nord de l'Ontario, said francophones are proud of who they are and the parade and subsequent ceremony, which included raising the Franco-Ontarian flag at both La Verendrye and City Hall, are a reminder of the contributions French-speaking people have made to the country.
“It’s a day to celebrate all those accomplishments, to celebrate that pride and to just have fun, be together,” Quintas said.
The message she wanted the students to depart with is the same one she delivers to her own two children, aged four and six, each and every day.
“Wear that Francophone pride and be proud of it. Do not be worried or scared to speak French to each other; to say hello, to say bonjour, to say merci and to be out there and that it’s important. It’s cool to speak French. And you know what, it is,” she said.
Thunder Bay was one of 16 communities across the region where the occasion was marked. Flag-raising, city hall ceremonies also took place in Atikokan, Dryden, Ignace, Longlac, Nakina, Beardmore, Geraldton, Kenora, Marathon and Terrace Bay. Flags are also being raised in Nipigon, Fort Frances and Schreiber.
Elodie Bedouet, the executive director of the Association des francophones due Nord-Ouest de l’Ontario says that shows how widespread the culture is across the region.
Not to mention, it’s a lot of fun.
“Everyone can come and join the celebrations,” she said. “It’s also recognition of the identity and the contributions of Francophones, so to be proud of whom we are.”
