‘City council made a mistake,’ Shoemaker declares

Sault Ste. Marie's controversial English-only resolution in 1990 was a 'mistake,' Mayor Matthew Shoemaker said tonight.

"We forgot our history. We created conflict between our francophone residents and the community at large," Shoemaker said as councillors unanimously passed a resolution committing to "ensure... that there is the ability for francophone residents to navigate municipal services in French on a go-forward basis."

The mayor's comments at tonight's city council meeting were 34 years to the day since council passed its controversial 1990 resolution, which made national headlines by declaring English as the only working language of city government.

In 2010, then-Mayor John Rowswell apologized for the English-only resolution 20 years earlier, in which he had no involvement.

But Rowswell's apology was issued exclusively to French-language media and received minimal notice at the time among Sault Ste. Marie's English-speaking community.

In an equally historic statement made tonight to the entire community, Mayor Shoemaker declared the 1990 resolution "was a mistake that had lasting impacts on our city as it relates to federal and provincial services, which moved down the highway to Sudbury or other communities further afield."

Shoemaker said additional work is needed repair the relationship between the city and its French-speaking population.

He expressed hope that this day will be remembered as the beginning of a new chapter in local French-English relations.

The following is the full text of Mayor Shoemaker's remarks, delivered tonight in both French and English:

Il y a 34 ans, le 29 janvier est devenu un jour de deuil pour la communauté francophone at Sault Sainte Marie.

L’histoire de notre ville ne peut pas être rencontré sans reconnaître l’impact des francophones. 

Come le dit la résolution, c’est une histoire qui se trace a une temp, il y a plus que 400 ans.

Le nom de la ville est un nom français, les premiers explorateur français était des explorateur français, la ville est le centre commercial du district d’Algoma, qui a plusieurs communautés majoritaires francophone.

Mais l’histoire plus récent nous donne pas cause a célébré.

Le conseille de ville a commis une grave erreur en 1990.

Nous avons oublié notre histoire. Nous avons créé un conflit entre les Français et la communauté majoritaire. 

C'était une erreur qui a eu des implications dommageables pour notre ville relatif au service fédéral et provinciale, qui ont été établi à Sudbury ou autre part au lieu de Sault Sainte Marie.

Je sais que la communauté francophone ont apprécier quand le Maire Rowswell a offer les excuse de la ville a tout les francophone au pays, et quand le Maire Provenzano a élevé le drapeau franco-ontarien à l’hôtel de ville en 2015, mais il restait du travaille incomplet pour la ville a réparée la relation pour les francophone locale.

On espère que cette résolution est le commencement d’un nouveau chapitre dans l'histoire positive des francophones dans notre communauté.

French-language services resolution

Thirty-four years ago, January 29th became a day of mourning for francophones in Sault Ste. Marie.

The history of our city cannot be told without being inextricably intertwined with the French culture and language.

As the resolution says, French impact in our region can be traced back more than 400 years.

The name of the city of a French name, the first European explorers of the region were French, the city is the commercial centre of the Algoma District, which has multiple majority-francophone communities. 

But the more recent history is checkered.

City council made a mistake in 1990.

We forgot our history. We created conflict between our francophone residents and the community at-large.

It was a mistake that had lasting impacts on our city as it relates to federal and provincial services, which moved down the highway to Sudbury or other communities further afield.

It is without doubt that the francophone community appreciated the apology given by Mayor Rowswell in 2010 and the raising of the Franco-Ontarian flag for the first time at city hall in 2015 under Mayor Provenzano, but there remains unfinished work to repair the relationship between the city and its French residents.

It is my hope, and I believe it to be the hope of all of council, that the resolution before us today will be the start of a new chapter in the positive impact that francophones have and continue to play in our community.