Regulation 17 (1912)

In 1912 Ontario’s Conservative premier, Sir James Pliny Whitney, introduced the “Circular of Instructions 17” – known as Regulation 17. It limited French instruction in bilingual schools to the first two years of instruction. The regulation generated an exceedingly divisive battle between, on the one side, the government and the bulk of Ontario’s English-speaking residents, including Catholics, and, on the other, many members of the province’s French-speaking minority plus the francophones and press of Quebec. A large number of French-instruction schools had openly resisted Regulation 17, which would be shelved by the province in 1927. But the damage had been done, and French Canadians would cite Regulation 17 as an instance of English Canadian oppression for years to come.