Section 5 Subjective sense of vitality

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In this portrait of Saskatchewan Francophones, we have drawn a general profile of their different demolinguistic and socioeconomic characteristics. But what do we know about key aspects of their subjective sense of vitality, their perceptions and the value they give to the French fact in their living environment?

Results from the Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities (SVOLM) bring out at least two key elements shared by most Francophones: a strong sense of double identification with the Francophone and Anglophone groups, and a high value given to the French language.

As regards the phenomenon of identity, the SVOLM results suggest that Francophones have a double ethnolinguistic identity: 51% of them report that they identify with both the Francophone and Anglophone groups, compared to 15% who report identifying mainly or only with the Francophone group.

Identity and the sense of belonging are highly complex concepts. Depending on the circumstances, people may identify with their country, their language, their culture, etc. The sense of double identification with the Francophone and Anglophone groups observed among Saskatchewan Francophones suggests that in many cases, immersion in the primarily Anglophone culture may have contributed to an emerging phenomenon: the Francophone cultural and linguistic heritage is valued and respected, while linguistic practices are influenced by the fact that one lives within the dominant and pervasive Anglophone culture. However, to verify and analyse this hypothesis would go beyond the scope of this analytical report and the limitations of the SVOLM in this regard.

Nevertheless, a number of factors indicate that Saskatchewan Francophones assign a definite value to the French language. A majority of them report that it is important or very important (56%) for them to be able to use French in their daily life. Also, they consider it important or very important for individuals or organizations to work at developing the French-speaking community (60%), for government services to be provided in French (71%) and for linguistic rights to be respected in their province (79%).

In examining the extent to which French is used in various domains about which the SVOLM asks questions, notably regarding interactions with health care and justice system professionals as well as access to the main mechanisms for transmitting culture, we observe a phenomenon that may, on the face of it, seem contradictory: valuing a language does not necessarily translate into using it a great deal. For example, among Saskatchewan Francophones who report that it is either important or very important to be able to use French in their daily life, 74% watch television only or mainly in English, while 8 Francophones in 10 read newspapers only or mainly in English. Even though French is valued and assigned great importance, the demolinguistic reality and the dynamics of the environment in which Francophones live may work against their use of the language.

The SVOLM collected data on subjective perceptions with regard to the past and future evolution of the minority language presence in the municipality of residence, as well as the perceived vitality of the official-language community. On this score, half of Francophones feel that the vitality of the French-speaking community in their municipality is weak or very weak while 20% feel that it is neither strong nor weak. Also, when asked how the presence of French in their municipality would evolve in the next ten years, 84% of Franco-Saskatchewanians said that this presence would remain the same or increase. This result was quite similar to that obtained regarding the perception of how the presence of French had evolved in the past ten years. It appears that Saskatchewan Francophones are confident regarding the presence of their language in their municipality and indeed their province.