Un ami du New Hampshire a visité la Vallée il n’y a pas longtemps. Il a été profondément impressionné par le nombre de drapeau acadien a Madawaska et les environs. Cependant, il a entendu très peut de français parlé.
En suite il est allé a Edmundston ou tous étais en français et ou il n’a pas entendu un mot en anglais.
Il dit, “La rivière est pas large. Pourquoi les gens du Maine ne parle pas plusse de français? C’est un mystère vu qu’il y a une tonne de francophones a quelque pieds de Madawaska.”
Je n’avais pas de bonne réponse. Le fleuve Saint-Jean n’est pas large mais il pourrais être aussi bien être un mur de 100 pieds de hauteur, des fois.
Oui, il a eu 9-11 en 2001 qui a changé des choses comme le besoin d’avoir un passeport pour entrer au Canada et les Canadiens on besoin d’un passeport pour venir ici. Ca a compliqué les choses et cela a fait grandir Le Mur Saint-Jean qui nous unis/sépare.
Et le covid a fermé presque complètement la frontière. Le Mur Saint-Jean a encore grandi.
So, given all that, it is hardly surprising that the very intricate and intimate relationship between neighbors was fractured. What had once been one community sharing a beautiful river was rendered asunder.
Many Canadians said that they didn’t need to come to the U.S. for anything if they had to get a passport. Many Americans said the same thing about going into Canada.
The Saint John Wall between us kept growing.
Then tensions relaxed a little bit and, for a little while things seemed to want to return to a semblance of normal. But a new American administration greatly offended Canada by suggesting they should become the 51st state. It was largely viewed as arrogant and ignorant and also a little scary. It united Canada as never before. Canadians proudly announced loud and clear that Canada was not for sale and they refused to buy many American products.
The Saint John Wall started growing again.
Lately, things seem to have calmed down. But the number of Canadians traveling to the U.S. for anything has greatly diminished and may not return to normal in the near future. Traffic between New Brunswick and Maine was down 40 percent in April.
All this to say, that we are missing a great opportunity to learn or improve our French. It is almost guaranteed that Canadians will not laugh at you for attempting to speak French to them. It is seen as a mark of respect for their culture … which is also our culture although ours is on a very slippery slope to oblivion.
There are 300,000 people who speak French in New Brunswick and 8 million in Québec who speak French. They are within reach of everyone in the Valley. A very important source of education is at our fingertips if we are smart enough to access it.
Faut pas s’laisser abattre. Faut pas laisser notre langue mourir. Faut prendre notre destiné en main. Il faut être maître chez nous.
On a le droit d’être fier de notre langue. On a le droit d’être fier de notre culture. On a le droit d’être fier de qui on est et de qui on veut devenir.
Mon ami du New Hampshire m’a ouvert les yeux. Sa question ma gêné. Il faut faire mieux.
Don Levesque is a Grand Isle native who worked in community journalism for almost 35 years. He was the publisher and editor of the St. John Valley Times for 15 years prior to retiring in 2010. He wrote a weekly newspaper column, called Mon 5¢, in the Valley Times for more than 20 years. He has been inducted into the Maine Journalism Hall of Fame and the Maine Franco-American Hall of Fame.
