Established in 1975, the Fédération des francophones hors Québec (FFHQ) brought together nine provincial associations promoting the rights of French-speaking minority communities. Its founding marked a turning point. For the first time, francophone minority groups had an organization that was exclusive to them and did not include any representatives from Quebec. In creating the FFHQ, French-speaking minority groups asserted themselves. They recognized that they had to have their own political voice, and wanted to ensure that Quebec did not remain the sole spokesperson for the Francophonie of Canada.

The publication of Les Héritiers de Lord Durham (The Heirs of Lord Durham: Manifesto of a Vanishing People) bore witness to this desire to speak out. The FFHQ pointed out that the election of the Parti Québécois in Quebec in November 1976 meant that “Quebec did not vote for independence.” “Quebec has calmly decided, by democratic vote, to put in power a party which now represents all the regions of Quebec and whose platform included plans for a public referendum to take place after an extensive information program which would permit all interested parties to defend their points of views.” In this new political context, FFHQ members had the “firm intention to enter the debate with all the strength of our one million people, and to make our fundamental aspirations clearly known to the entire country” (The Heirs of Lord Durham, p. 17).

The portrait painted by French-speaking minority groups in this document was extremely disturbing. Rates of linguistic assimilation were too high. When French-speaking immigrants came to Canada, the majority settled in Quebec. New Brunswick’s Official Languages Act had no equivalent in other predominantly English-speaking provinces. The educational level of French-speaking minorities was below the Canadian average, partly because French was still not the language of instruction in the majority of schools attended by francophones.

Given this picture, it was hardly surprising that the manifesto concluded: “The general situation of Francophones outside Quebec is precarious. Not only is the survival of their culture in jeopardy, but their socioeconomic situation is dangerously deficient” (The Heirs of Lord Durham, p. 37).

Nevertheless, the FFHQ opted for action: to assert the rights of francophones. In the looming battle between Quebec and Canada over the future of the country, the FFHQ wanted to achieve gains in school governance, recognition of language rights, and equality between French and English speakers.