Parents and Counsellors : Overview : Celebrating 190 years
Celebrating 190 years
The Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface - Promoting and Protecting French Language and Culture in Manitoba
When soon-to-be-Bishop Joseph-Norbert Provencher opened a school for boys along the banks of the Red River in the Fall of 1818, he established a tradition of educational excellence that has lasted for 190 years. The school he founded was not only the Red River Colony’s first, but it was also the first school of any kind in Western Canada. In the years to follow, the school would educate many notable Manitobans who would go on to both national and international fame, including the man who would lead Manitoba into confederation, Louis Riel. Today, the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface (CUSB) remains Western Canada’s leading French Language university and technical college – something all Manitobans can take pride in.
Although it has played an important leadership role in the development of education in Western Canada, the CUSB’s greatest contribution has been to Manitoba’s francophone community, for whom it has served as a protector and promoter and as a cornerstone of French language and culture since its inception. This, however, was not the primary purpose behind the creation of Provencher’s school. Rather, he had been sent to Red River by Quebec’s Bishop Plessis, and at the request of Lord Selkirk, to establish a church that might attract the area’s largely Catholic Métis, French Canadian, Scottish and Irish settlers. The objective was to get them to settle in the area, and more firmly establish Lord Selkirk’s fledgling colony.
Humble Beginnings
In addition, Provencher was given another important assignment by Plessis – to convert the aboriginal nations of Canada’s West to the Catholic faith. This, of course, required missionaries that Provencher planned to train himself in a school he would also establish. Thus, when Provencher finished construction of a small 20-by-30-foot log house just before the arrival of winter in November 1818, the building was meant to serve three purposes: as his residence, as a church and as the colony’s first school – the school that would develop into CUSB.
Little is remembered of this first, much needed, school in the colony. We do know that initial enrolment was very small, perhaps seven or eight young men. We also know that Provencher was equally concerned about the education of girls in the colony, and even built a small house in 1823 for this purpose, although it burned down shortly after completion. It wasn’t until 1829 that a permanent girls’ school was established. (This school was never affiliated with CUSB.) We can also imagine that Provencher approached education with the same enthusiasm and seriousness that he applied to his religious responsibilities and, if so, this would help to explain the high educational standards that CUSB has been known for since its earliest days.
As the colony grew the boys’ school was periodically moved to ever larger buildings until it would acquire its first “permanent” home, in 1855, at the corner of Taché Avenue and Masson Street – a home it would occupy for the next 25 years. It was in this building that the school took a significant step forward in raising the standards of instruction under the leadership of Georges Dugas, the Collège’s principal from 1866 to 1870 (he was also spiritual counsellor to Louis Riel, one of CUSB’s most celebrated students). Under Dugas’s guidance, the school adopted more of a classical college model, one that emphasized the teaching of Latin, Greek and philosophy. This model would serve CUSB until the end of the 1960s. The CUSB’s evolution continued in 1871 when it was officially incorporated by the newly established province of Manitoba, and became Canada’s first university west of Ontario. CUSB’s leadership role was reinforced in 1877 when it joined with St. John’s College and Manitoba College to found the University of Manitoba. Although it now held university status, CUSB still carried out its traditional responsibilities of providing a high school education to the young men of St. Boniface.
The Glorious Days of Collège
Over the next five decades, the presence of a French language university in the province would prove to be an important asset to Manitoba. This was the time when the railroad opened up the west to new settlement, and Manitoba saw its population grow significantly with new arrivals from Eastern Canada and Europe. Many of these settlers were French-speaking, coming from places such as Québec, France, Switzerland and Belgium, and they would create many of the francophone communities still found in Manitoba today. Here, one must not underestimate the role CUSB played in promoting French language and culture by helping those communities to live and thrive in their first language. By having a French language university in Manitoba, these communities could call on CUSB to train their teachers, and know that their children – who would go on to be business and professional leaders – could receive a university education in French. In this way, CUSB ensured that French remained both the language of the home and the language of the workplace in these communities.
The late 19th century was a period of growth, and yet one of great challenges for the Collège. As registration increased, the principal, Monsignor Taché, had a new, more imposing building erected in 1880 on site of what is now Provencher Park. Annual enrolment during this period was over 300 students, of which approximately 150 were boarders, and not all were French speaking. This is because the Collège was the only institution in Manitoba at the time that provided a superior catholic education; thus it served francophones and Catholic students from the English and other ethnic communities. The classical education the students received prepared them for careers in business, or to pursue further studies in medicine, law or theology.
CUSB, along with the francophone community, faced a serious challenge in 1916 when the government adopted an English-only policy for Manitoba’s school system – banning the use of French, or any other language, in the province’s public schools. This was a stinging blow to Manitoba’s francophone communities, for if their children could not be educated in French, what hope would there be for them to preserve their language and culture in the years ahead? CUSB came to the rescue in this crisis. It remained the only school in the province capable of teaching in French because it was not part of the public school system. As a result, CUSB served as an essential resource for many francophone parents who chose to send their children there so that they could continue their education in French. CUSB later helped found the Association d’éducation des Canadiens français du Manitoba (AECFM) – a new organization dedicated to promoting and defending the rights, language and culture of Manitoba’s francophones.
A Supportive Community for a Strong Collège
Following this setback, CUSB suffered a major crisis of its own in 1922 when the school was destroyed in a devastating fire that claimed 10 lives. In addition to the tragic loss of life, the school’s registries and the library containing 40,000 volumes were also destroyed. But as bleak as this moment was, CUSB was rescued through a generous gift from the Archdiocese of St. Boniface. Knowing that CUSB did not have the funds to construct a new building, the Archdiocese gave them its new seminary Collège on De la Cathédrale Avenue. It is this building that remains CUSB’s home today.
Towards a Modern Era
The next period of significant transformation and growth for CUSB occurred during the 1960s when it underwent four major changes. The first would be the acceptance of women in the classroom. Even though women had been receiving diplomas from the University of Manitoba since 1938 as students at St. Joseph’s Institute, women did not take their place in the Collège’s classrooms until 1959. This brought an end to 140 years of a male dominated environment. The second change during this period was the introduction of adult courses for the general public (now known as Continuing Education) such as painting, art and oral French. This brought many more people through CUSB’s doors and served to strengthen its ties to the community. The next change was a formal separation of high school courses from university courses taught at the Collège (CUSB’s high school continued until 1983 when it was transferred to Collège Louis-Riel). This was done in response to educational changes occurring in the province, which allowed teaching to be conducted in French at the secondary level. The final change came in 1969, when CUSB ceased to be administered by Catholic clergy and became a secular institution. All together, these changes allowed CUSB to focus more fully on providing students with the highest quality of post-secondary education possible, and to become the respected institution that it is today.
Promoting and Protecting French Language and Culture in Manitoba
Now, as our school celebrates its 190th year, we are proud to see that CUSB carries on its historic role as a promoter of French life and culture within Manitoba and across Canada. CUSB is a distinct asset to all of Manitoba, as it provides students in the province an opportunity to receive quality post-secondary education in French without leaving. One only needs to look at our student body, which includes members from more than 20 countries, to appreciate the reputation CUSB has earned internationally for academic excellence. And it is not just our students who benefit, but all of Manitoba, as CUSB graduates help our province to grow and prosper in the new global community.
Thanks: Carole Pelchat, CUSB Archivist, and Michel Verrette, historian and professor at CUSB.