Perspectives from Coast to Coast : The Second Official Language

Meet the speakers!

Perspectives from Coast to Coast: Second Official Language is coming soon. Listen to a variety of Francophone alumni, policymakers, educators, and service organizations discussing the important topic of language security.

Date and Time: July 5, 2022

4 pm (Pacific time)/ 7 pm (Eastern time)

Register here.

We are pleased to announce our speakers below!

Annie Maheux (YT)

Annie is a multidisciplinary artist in the Yukon who works with food in performance. She is also part of a writers’ collective, the Yukon Conversation Society, which produces zines and open mic events to showcase the literary and artistic talents of her community. Annie works in Whitehorse, the territory’s capital, and lives in a log cabin in the surrounding mountains.

Ivan Touko (AB)

Ivan Touko is one of Alberta’s top 30 under 30, the CEO of La Connexional, a serial ArtPreneur, bilingual speaker, and community builder passionate about how the intersections of culture, technology, and social innovation can benefit underserved communities to increase representation, social impact, and equity.

Sue Duguay (NB)

Sue is a 23-year-old student at the Université of Moncton in Law, Sue Duguay holds a Major in Political Science and two minors in Economics and Management Science. A former president of the Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française (FJCF) and a former member of the board of directors of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes du Canada (FCFA), Sue now sits on the board of directors of the Club Richelieu international as treasurer and on the Société de l’Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick as a representative for Miramichi. She co-chaired the Youth Advisory Council for the review of youth mental health and suicide prevention services (in New Brunswick, 2021) and her provincial involvement began in 2013, on the board of directors of the Fédération des jeunes francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick (FJFNB), the organization she chaired from 2016 to 2018 while also being involved in multiple related causes over time. Recipient of the Canadian Immersive Leader Award (Atlantic Region) and a Pascal Certificate of Excellence from the Université de Moncton, her passions for public speaking, society, politics and law regularly serve as a propulsion towards new accomplishments.

Frédéric Boily (AB)

Frédéric Boily is a professor at Campus Saint-Jean (University of Alberta) since 2003. A specialist in Canadian politics, his research focuses on rights, conservatism and populism. He is the author of the book “Le conservatisme au Québec”. “Retour sur une tradition oubliée” (PUL, 2010), which won the Donald Smiley Prize (2011), awarded by the Canadian Political Science Association, and “Droitisation et populisme”. Canada, Québec et États-Unis (PUL, 2020). He also edited the collective, “Les droites provinciales en évolution” (2015–2020). “Conservatisme, populisme et radicalisme” (PUL, 2021) Finally, he is attached to the Center of Expertise and Training on Religious Fundamentalism, Political Ideologies and Radicalization (CEFIR).

Gabe Calderón(NS)

Gabe Calderón (they/them) is a two-spirit, non-binary transgender, queer and Mi’kmaq, Anishinabe, Scottish and Quebecker. They currently live in Amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton), Treaty 6 territory, and work as an author, poet, multimedia artist, activist and educator. Gabe has over 12 years of experience in public education and as a diversity and inclusion consultant. Her organisation, Mokinan Consulting, aims to educate and empower through a process of decolonisation.

Danèle Déquier (MB)

Danèle Déquier was born and raised in Sainte-Anne, MB where she attended elementary and high school. A proud Franco-Manitoban with a passion for language identity and language rights, Danèle is involved at the national level as a member of the executive board of the Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française and at the provincial level as a member of the board of the Conseil jeunesse provincial. As such, she has made her voice heard at various forums and consultations concerning language security, linguistic duality and the modernization of official languages. As well, Danèle participated in the Accent Campaign project: Do you know that expression? — Le Téléphone, by the FJCF in partnership with the ACELF. With a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in French, Danèle further developed her interest in sociolinguistics during her post-secondary studies. She is currently pursuing her studies in education at the University of Saint-Boniface and is particularly interested in the links between identity building, language security, and the education system. She wants to see a future where everyone takes ownership of their language in their own way and is proud of the way they express themselves.