In 1890, the Manitoba government abolished French as one of the province’s official languages and created a single school system, in which no religious instruction was permitted. Yet, French-speaking and Métis communities in the province had always relied on Catholic schools to transmit their language and culture.

These decisions by the Manitoba government provoked a national crisis. In November 1896, the federal government of Wilfrid Laurier and the Manitoba government of Thomas Greenway negotiated a compromise that allowed Catholicism to be taught for thirty minutes a day in schools attended by Catholics. French, however, was not re-established as an official language.

A further setback for French-speaking Manitobans occurred on March 10, 1916. Liberal Premier Tobias Crawford Norris banned all education in languages other than English.

This action left the French-speaking community in a state of turmoil. Its leaders called for unity. The struggle provoked friction between French Canadians and Métis. The latter favoured the founding of the Association d’éducation canadienne-française du Manitoba (AECFM) to fight for French as a language of instruction. However, many Métis abandoned this organization.

This schism followed the decision of St. Boniface MLA Joseph Pierre Dumas to sue the provincial government. Dumas, who was of Métis descent, believed the provincial government was required to respect the treaty negotiated by the Métis in 1870, an agreement which led to the creation of Manitoba as a bilingual province (see “We, the Métis”). The AECFM condemned Dumas’ action because it did not want to “take advantage of the treaties.”

For the Métis, the AECFM’s attitude was a betrayal since the organization refused to fight for recognition of French as an official language. Participants at the July 16, 1916, meeting reiterated their moral, political, and historical obligations as members of the Métis nation. Consequently, they supported MLA Dumas’ initiative to “restore the officiality of the French language” in Manitoba. They distanced themselves from the AECFM because of its lukewarm stance on language rights and favoured the creation of a Métis “national committee.”