The Fight for Francophone Rights - Part One - Winning the Case

In 1982, when section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was adopted, the Canadian Constitution gave linguistic minorities the right to be educated in their own language. Yet, as francophone minorities outside Quebec soon came to realize, infrastructures needed for an education in French were lacking or totally nonexistent.

Groups of parents decided to launch legal battles to force provincial governments to recognize and respect their rights. The three-part documentary series The Fight For Francophone Rights looks at six of these battles. Through interviews with the players involved, director Anne-Marie Rocher spotlights the issues that have pushed francophones to commit to a long fight that many considered a lost cause. If the infrastructures needed to transmit culture, language and history are lacking, inadequate or nonexistent, what does the future hold for francophone minorities?