25-06-2025
Sudbury marks Saint-Jean Baptiste Day
Ceremonies were held Tuesday in Greater Sudbury as many French speaking Canadians celebrated Saint Jean Baptiste Day.
French-speaking Canadians were celebrating their culture Tuesday on Saint-Jean Baptiste Day.
In Greater Sudbury, officials hoisted the Franco-Ontarian flag at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex.
Sudbury is the birthplace of the green and white flag that represents the Franco-Ontarian community.
Saint Jean Baptiste
French-speaking Canadians were celebrating their culture Tuesday on Saint-Jean Baptiste Day. In Greater Sudbury, officials hoisted the Franco-Ontarian flag at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex.
(Angela Gemmill/CTV News)
'It's an opportunity to get together, to showcase … the importance of the culture in our community, but also open up a conversation to realize the (evolution), as well as the contributions, of the Francophone community in our great city,' said Mayor Paul Lefebvre.
Saint Jean Baptiste Day is a holiday in Quebec, but Francophones across the country also celebrate the patron saint, including in northern Ontario.
The day is about celebrating culture, heritage, traditions and the French language.
'We're proud of who we are, we're proud of where we come from, of our language, of our culture,' said Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas.
Deep cultural pride
'Most Franco-Ontarians in Sudbury are bilingual and we'll switch to English whenever it's appropriate. But at the same time, we keep this deep-down cultural pride that we belong to this culture.'
St. Jean 3
French-speaking Canadians were celebrating their culture Tuesday on Saint-Jean Baptiste Day. In Greater Sudbury, officials hoisted the Franco-Ontarian flag at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex.
(Angela Gemmill/CTV News)
Saint Jean Baptiste
French-speaking Canadians were celebrating their culture Tuesday on Saint-Jean Baptiste Day. In Greater Sudbury, officials hoisted the Franco-Ontarian flag at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex.
(Angela Gemmill/CTV News)
'We made our community better because of our culture and we want it to continue,' Gélinas added.
Roughly one-third of the population in Greater Sudbury identifies as Francophone.
'Thirty-five per cent of the population says that they can keep a conversation in French,' said Joanne Gervais, executive director of L'Association canadienne-française de l'Ontario du grand Sudbury.
'That means 35 per cent of the population speaks French. Those that identify as Franco-Ontarian, as first language, etc. we're down around 25 per cent … The Francophone community is growing -- the problem is we're not growing as quickly as the English population.'
In Sudbury, many schools, institutions and groups are committed to keeping the language thriving and Franco-Ontarian issues represented.
The green and white flag was first flown in Sudbury on Sept. 25, 1975, and was recognized as the official emblem of the Franco-Ontarian community in 2001.
Plans are in the works to mark the 50-year anniversary of the flag this fall.
