Open letter: Acadian identity should not be diluted

The proposal articulated by former cabinet minister Dominic Cardy to the Standing Committee on Official Languages of the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly merits a response.

By suggesting that reference to a “New Brunswick” identity should be inserted into the Official Languages Act, he raises an issue that goes beyond a mere choice of words. We believe that his proposal is both useless and contrary to the spirit of the Act.

Acadians already have an identity, one deeply rooted in their history, culture and language. Forged over a period of more than four centuries, this identity has survived the Deportation, assimilationist policies, and many other challenges over the course of its existence.

L’Acadie is not simply a cultural component of New Brunswick. It is a historical people, endowed with its own collective memory, institutions, traditions, symbols and language. The Acadian identity precedes the founding of the province itself, and has affirmed itself over time, overcoming many hardships. Today, it is recognized in Canada as well as abroad.

This identity does not need to be redefined nor integrated into some broader provincial identity. It deserves to be preserved and recognized for what it is. History teaches us that minority communities rarely disappear due to any frontal attack. They are erased, more often, through their slow dilution in the dominant culture, in which their particularities gradually lose importance. For Acadians, preserving their identity is not a question of nostalgia, but an essential condition of their continuity and development.

In this context, the idea of amending the Official Languages Act to make reference to a “New Brunswick” identity is worrisome.  Not only would such a measure be outside the purpose of the Act, but it would risk sending the message that the Acadian identity is merely one component of a shared provincial identity. Acadians do not wish for their identity to be absorbed into a broader one; rather, they demand that their identity be fully recognized and respected in its uniqueness.

The mission of the Official Languages Act has never been to define the political or cultural identity of New Brunswick. Its purpose is clear: To ensure the real equality of the two official linguistic communities and to guarantee that the institutions of the state uphold this equality. To assign it the mission of conferring an identity would be to distort its fundamental objective.

Identity cannot be decreed by legislation. It is constructed through history, collective memory, institutions and a feeling of belonging that develop over generations.

New Brunswick is not a homogeneous society. It is composed of various historical communities – Acadians, Anglophones and First Nations – each bearing its own identity. The richness of New Brunswick lies precisely in this diversity, and not in its reduction to one uniform definition.

For Acadians, true equality does not come from integration into a single provincial identity, but through the full recognition of their historical, cultural and linguistic identity. Preserving this identity will not fragment New Brunswick; on the contrary, it will allow the province to live up to the principle of linguistic duality, which is a fundamental part of its constitutional architecture.

Therefore, we respectfully invite the members of the Committee to refocus their work in accordance with the true mission of the Official Languages Act; that of strengthening the real equality between Anglophone and Francophone communities, and ensuring that their rights are fully upheld.

Acadians have no need of a new identity. They only need to protect the one they have.

Michel Doucet (Dieppe)

Mathieu Gérald Caissie (Cocagne)

Phil Comeau (Moncton)

Edith Butler (Montréal)

Lucie LeBouthillier (Bas-Caraquet)

Dr. Réjean Thomas (Montréal)

Lise Ouellette (Edmundston)

Gilles Beaulieu (Moncton)

Rosella Melanson (Fredericton)

Cécile Mallais-Losier (Cap-Pelé)

Denis Losier (Cap-Pelé)

Martin LeBlanc-Roux (Memramcook)

Kevin Arseneau (Pleasant Ridge)

Michel J.C. Cyr (Moncton)

Lucienne Godbout (Moncton)

Jacques Boucher (Pokemouche)

Roger Doiron (Richibouctou)

Jean-Marie Nadeau (Moncton)

Antoine David (Baie-Sainte-Anne)

Fleurette Landry (Dieppe)

Nathalie Brideau (Tracadie)

Anne Godin (Moncton)

Luc J. Doucet (Dieppe)

Dr Hubert Dupuis  ( Dieppe NB )

Fernand de Varennes ( Saint Thomas NB )

This letter was published in French on July 1, 2026, in the Moniteur Acadien.