Section 5 Subjective sense of vitality

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

Results of the Survey on the Vitality of the Official-Language Minorities (SVOLM) highlight at least two key elements shared by most Francophones: a strong sense of dual 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: 54% of them report that they identify with both the Francophone and Anglophone groups, compared with 14% 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 that is observed among Alberta 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 Alberta Francophones assign a definite value to the French language. The majority of Franco-Albertans (57%) reported that it is important or very important to 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 to develop the French-speaking community (62%), for government services to be provided in French (75%) and for linguistic rights to be respected in their province (83%).

In examining the extent to which French is used in various domains, 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 Alberta Francophones who report that it is important or very important to be able to use French in their daily life, approximately 9 in 10 report reading newspapers in English and more than 8 in 10 report watching television, listening to the radio or using the Internet in that language. 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 the use of that language.

The SVOLM collected data on subjective perceptions with regard to the past and future evolution of the presence of the minority language in the municipality of residence, as well as the perceived vitality of the official-language community. On this score, 45% of Francophones feel that the vitality of the French-speaking community in their municipality is weak or very weak, while 23% feel that it is neither strong nor weak. Also, when asked how the presence of French in their municipality would evolve in the next 10 years, 19% of Franco-Albertans said that this presence would increase while 45% said that it would remain the same. This is quite similar to the result obtained regarding the perception of how the presence of French had evolved in the past 10 years. It appears that Francophones in Alberta feel some concern about the presence of French in their municipality and indeed in their province.