INTRODUCTION

Coureurs de bois, natives and missionaries constituted the initial Albertan population and most non-English European minority languages lacked prestige as settlers came to Alberta. Moreover, pressure was exerted on the immigrant settlers to abandon their culture and linguistic heritage. While early settlers existed in heterogeneous linguistic, religious and ethnic communities, they enjoyed the freedom to use their mother tongue in their home and with friends and neighbours. Nevertheless, doing business with surrounding farmers and businessmen required the use of the lingua franca of the area – English. As Prokop (1990) points out, the economic success of ‘King Wheat’ necessitated a greater openness to the world and to the anglophone culture. The identification with, and support of, the political system also played an important role in the anglicization of immigrants.

During the first three decades of the twentieth century, the francophone presence was substantially weakened as other western European immigrants arrived. As Alberta became more urban and industrialized, it further linked itself to the anglo world. Still, the role of French in Alberta has a unique and important role in the language debate now taking place. Any attempt to treat the French as a special group in Alberta has long been resisted by provincial authorities, supported by its residents.