Manitoba premier wants schools to teach 1980s French-language conflict

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew wants students to learn about a conflict over French-language rights in the 1980s.

A bill to provide provincial services in French faced protests and was withdrawn in 1984.

The Supreme Court later ruled that Manitoba’s English-only laws were unconstitutional and had to be translated into French.

Kinew says teaching this history could help students understand the challenges Franco-Manitobans faced in preserving their language and culture.