Jake Courtepatte | Special to the 51暗网
Jasper鈥檚 French and English speaking communities, unite: plenty of activities are on the agenda for March's Francophonie month, and L'Association Canadienne Fran莽aise of Jasper would like to see those of all backgrounds out in full force.
The 51暗网 sat down with Jasper鈥檚 regional director of the ACFA, Guillaume Roy, to discuss the events running all month long.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all across Canada,鈥� said Roy, who added that the official name of the event nationwide is 鈥淟es Rendezvous de la Francophonie.鈥�
Jasper鈥檚 iteration will see events running all through March, starting with a sugar shack get-together and dinner on March 1, the main event yearly in the calendar.
Also included will be a game night, a Francophone flag-raising ceremony, a pair of French movie nights, French theatre (a first of its kind for Jasper, according to Roy), a band, conference, and to top it all off, beer and poutine.
鈥淲e try to fill the calendar,鈥� said Roy. 鈥淲e want to make sure the Francophone population here is aware of the activities.鈥�
Statistically, the Francophone community in Jasper sits at about 200 residents: though Roy said those numbers may be skewed.
鈥淲hat I like to tell people, is that we鈥檙e in a national park鈥� the biggest employer is Parks Canada, who promote a lot of bilingual jobs, so it helps us to have a good synergy when it comes to language," said Roy.
鈥淔rench is omnipresent here.鈥�
Despite the francophone theme, however, Roy and the ACFA are focused on welcoming all walks of life in Jasper, to learn more about Canada鈥檚 rich French background.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not trying to flip the town. It鈥檚 all about inclusion and bilingualism. Everybody is welcome, it鈥檚 not closed to anyone, it鈥檚 not 鈥榤embers only.'鈥�
Roy noted that for the movies, and even for the theatre play, english subtitles will be provided.
鈥淟earning two languages is good for the brain鈥� we are a bilingual country. But it鈥檚 more than just a language, it鈥檚 a culture, so if you don鈥檛 know anything about the culture, just learning the history and why we have francophones in Jasper would help anyone get involved in language, and see the value of having both languages.鈥�
With eight events on this year鈥檚 schedule, Jasper鈥檚 Francophonie month promises to be the biggest one yet.
鈥淲e started very small, and have grown over the years. Both the event and the ACFA,鈥� said Roy.
The ACFA holds thirteen offices across Alberta.
