The “Relational Fields” of French Ontario
This paper seeks to identify the characteristics and evolution of the “Franco-Ontarian variant” of the French Canadian national project. Drawing on the studies of Californian sociologist Rogers Brubaker on cross-border nationalism and adapted to the French-Canadian case by Franco-Ontarian sociologist Jean-François Laniel, this paper highlights the relevance and limits of the triangular relationship between the so-called parent state, host state and parent minority when applied to Franco-Ontarian spokespersons and their political representative body. Above all, it is the relational dynamics that shed new light on the relationship of power and of influence experienced and exercised by Franco-Ontarians. The division of legislative powers between the federal state and the provinces, the recognition of fundamental rights, and the fact that French Ontario belongs to a global Francophonie also distinguishes it from European examples.