Engaging contested minoritized commemorations: A métissage inspired inquiry into a vandalized bilingual (French-English) stop sign
Keywords:
contested commemorations, métissage, bilingual stop signs, FrancophoneAbstract
This article examines a case of what we term a contested minoritized commemoration involving the vandalization of multiple bilingual (French-English) stop signs in the Mission District of Calgary (Alberta). We argue that these bilingual stop signs are minoritized commemorations and the vandalization of the French portion of these signs reflects a form of contestation. Drawing on hermeneutic and métissage methodologies, we weave together autobiographical texts stemming from how we individually related to and made sense of this act of anti-Francophone vandalism. Through interpreting our textual braids in relation to one another, we show how such an approach offers relational possibilities for engaging the educational challenges accompanying contested minoritized commemorations.
References
Andrews, M. (2015). Poppies, Tommies and remembrance: Commemoration is always contested. Soundings: A journal of politics and culture, 58, 104-115. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/565763
Arellano, G. (2021, January 11). Column: A Black Lives Matter mural keeps getting defaced. Its artist always returns. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-11/black-lives-matter-mural-sylmar-utility-box
Aunger, E. (2005). One language and one nationality: The forcible constitution of a unilingual province in a bilingual country (1870–2005). In R. T. Connors & J. M. Law (Eds.), Forging Alberta’s constitutional framework (pp. 103–135). University of Alberta Press.
Banjeglav, T. (2012). Conflicting memories, competing narratives and contested histories in Croatia’s post-war commemorative practices. Politička misao, 49(5), 7-31. https://hrcak.srce.hr/en/clanak/146490
Bérard, F. (2017). Charte canadienne et droits linguistiques : Pour en finir avec les mythes. Les Presses de l’Université Laval.
Bergum, D. (2025, July 10). Opinion: It’s time for Calgary to remember its Métis roots. Otipemisiwak Métis Government. https://albertametis.com/news/opinion-its-time-for-calgary-to-remember-its-metis-roots/
Black, C. (2017, September 1). Conrad Black: our society is under attack — from vilifying John A. to antifa. National Post. https://nationalpost.com/opinion/conrad-black-our-society-is-under-attack-from-vilifying-john-a-to-antifa
CBC News (2020, August 29). Activists topple statue of Sir John A. Macdonald in downtown Montreal. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/defund-police-protest-black-lives-matter-1.5705101
CDÉA. (2012). Guide pédestre Rouleauville: Le quartier historique francophone de Calgary. Le Conseil de développement économique de l’Alberta (CDÉA). https://francophonie-calgary.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Guide_Rouleauville.pdf
Chambers, C., Hasebe-Ludt, E., Donald, D., Hurren, W., Leggo, C., & Oberg, A. (2008). Métissage: A research praxis. In Knowles, J. G., & Cole, A. L. (Eds.). Handbook of the arts in qualitative research: Perspectives, methodologies, examples, and issues (pp. 141-153). SAGE Publications.
Communications Nova Scotia. (2023, February 21). Province to introduce bilingual stop signs in Acadian communities. News Releases. https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20210705006
Daschuk, J. (2013). Clearing the plains: Disease, politics of starvation, and the loss of Indigenous life. University of Regina Press.
den Heyer, K. (2017). Editor’s provocation: On history, fantasia, and sacred commemoration. Canadian Social Studies, 49(1), 4-7. https://canadian-social-studiesjournal.educ.ualberta.ca/content/articles
Dixon, S. (2010). Mexico City’s Indios Verdes: Exploring cultural processes using public memorials. Journal of Geography, 109(2), 54–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221341003731263
Donald, D. (2004). Edmonton pentimento: Re-reading history in the case of the Papaschase Cree. Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, 2(1), 21-54. https://jcacs.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/jcacs/article/view/16868
Donald, D. (2009). Forts, curriculum, and Indigenous Métissage: Imagining decolonization of Aboriginal–Canadian relations in educational contexts. First Nations Perspectives: The Journal of the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre, 2(1), 1–24. http://www.mfnerc.org/resources/fnp/volume-2-2009/
Ebrahimji, A. (2020, July 1). Confederate statues are coming down following George Floyd’s death. Here’s what we know. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/us/confederate-statues-removed-george-floyd-trnd/index.html
Foran, T. P. (2004). "Toutes les nations du monde": Building a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual faith community in Southern Alberta, 1905-1916 [Unpublished master's thesis]. University of Calgary. https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/42406
Foster, M. (2020, June 8). UK protesters topple statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/07/europe/edward-colston-statue-bristol/index.html
Frenette, Y. (1998). Brève histoire des Canadiens français. Boréal.
Gadamer, H.-G. (2004). Truth and method (J. Weinsheimer & D. G. Marshall, Trans., 2nd ed.). Continuum. (Original work published 1960).
Gani, R. (Host) (2022a, February 25). Addressing socialized resistances to teaching Francophone perspectives in the social studies classroom with Raphael Gani [Audio podcast episode]. In Ed Students in Conversation. https://www.spreaker.com/episode/addressing-socialized-resistances-to-teaching-francophone-perspectives-in-the-social-studies-classroom-with-raphael-gani--48868669
Gani, R. (2022b). Whose Francophone perspectives? The history, meanings, legitimacy and implementation of an Alberta social studies curriculum mandate [Doctoral dissertation, University of Ottawa].
Gani, R., & Scott, D. (2017). Social studies teachers’ resistance to teaching Francophone perspectives in Alberta. International Journal of Historical Learning, Teaching and Research, 15(1), 34-48. https://www.history.org.uk/publications/categories/304/resource/9280/the-international-journal-volume-15-number-1
Gaudry, A. & Leroux, D. (2017). White settler revisionism and making Métis everywhere: The evocation of Métissage in Québec and Nova Scotia. Critical Ethnic Studies, 3(1), 116–142. https://doi.org/10.5749/jcritethnstud.3.1.0116
Gaudry, A. (2017). Is elevating Sir John A. Macdonald really worth it? Hitting the reset button on Canada’s founding narrative in the classroom. Canadian Social Studies, 49(1), 7-10. https://canadian-social-studies-journal.educ.ualberta.ca/content/articles
Gaye, G. (2021, 25 Mars). Sept panneaux de signalisation bilingues vandalisés à Calgary. Le Franco. https://lefranco.ab.ca/francophonie-pr/2021/03/25/sept-panneaux-signalisation-bilingues-vandalises-calgary-mission/
Gibson, L. (2021). View of the case for commemoration controversies in Canadian history education. Canadian Journal of Education, 44(2), 434-464. https://journals.sfu.ca/cje/index.php/cje-rce/article/view/4451/2997
Gobran, J. (2019a). Contested commemorations with Jessica Gobran — A dialogue 1 [Audio podcast]. VoicEd Radio. https://voiced.ca/podcast_episode_post/contested-commemorations-with-jessica-gobran-a-dialogue-1/
Gobran, J. (2019b). Contested commemorations with Jessica Gobran — A dialogue 1 [Audio podcast]. VoicEd Radio. https://voiced.ca/podcast_episode_post/contested-commemorations-with-jessica-gobran-a-dialogue-2/
Government of Alberta. (2022). Francophone heritage in Alberta. Alberta.ca. https://www.alberta.ca/francophone-heritage.aspx#jumplinks-2
Hanson, A. (2018). Relational encounters with Indigenous literature. McGill Journal of Education. 53(2), 312-330. https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/9516/7356
Hasebe-Ludt, E., Chambers, C. M., & Leggo, C. (2009). Life writing and literary métissage as an ethos of our times. Peter Lang.
Hilterman, M. (2020, November 16). The Métis of Rouleauville. RETROactive: Exploring Alberta's Past. https://albertashistoricplaces.com/2020/11/16/the-metis-of-rouleauville/
Holmes, C. E., & Loehwing, M. (2016). Icons of the old regime: Challenging South African public memory strategies in #RhodesMustFall. Journal of Southern African Studies, 42(6), 1207-1223. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2016.1253927
Jović, D. (2004). ‘Official memories’ in post-authoritarianism: An analytical frame-
work. Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans 6(2), 97-108. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461319042000242001
La Croisée. (2019, June 12). Des panneaux de signalisation bilingues à Calgary. Radio-Canada Alberta.https://ici.radio-canada.ca/ohdio/premiere/emissions/la-croisee/segments/entrevue/121717/rouleauville-franophonie-panneaux-bilingue-calgary-mission
Lifsey, J. (2022, August 19). Man believed to have vandalized Rainbow Crosswalk arrested after barricade. 46 News. https://www.cbs46.com/2022/08/19/vandal-strike-again-atlantas-rainbow-crosswalks-federal-reserve-overnight/
Lowrie, M. (2020, August 29). Protesters in Montreal topple John A. Macdonald statue, demand police defunding. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/7305972/protesters-in-montreal-topple-john-a-macdonald-statue-demand-police-defunding/
Lucs, I. (2021, October 8). Stratford's new rainbow pride crosswalk vandalized by 'hate-motivated' graffiti: police. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/stratford-pride-rainbow-crosswalk-vandalized-1.6205195
Milloy, J. S. (1999). “A national crime”: The Canadian government and the residential system, 1879 to 1986. Winnipeg: The University of Manitoba Press.
Moules, N. J., Field, J. C., McCaffery, G. P., & Laing, C. M. (2014). Conducting hermeneutic research: The address of the topic. Journal of Applied Hermeneutics 7, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.11575/jah.v0i0.53242
Naylor, D. (2020, May 23). Bigots deface French signs in historic Calgary neighbourhood. Western Standard. https://www.westernstandard.news/news/bigots-deface-french-signs-in-historic-calgary-neighbourhood/article_fabde5ee-3408-519c-8560-26ddea416434.html
O’Malley, V., & Kidman, J. (2018). Settler colonial history, commemoration and white backlash: Remembering the New Zealand Wars. Settler Colonial Studies, 8(3), 298-313. https://doi.org/10.1080/2201473X.2017.1279831
Online Etymology Dictionary. (2022). Commemoration. https://www.etymonline.com/word/commemoration
Pearson, H. (2019, June 17). This Calgary neighbourhood will soon have bilingual stop signs. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/5400557/calgary-neighbourhood-bilingual-stop-signs/
Resnick, P. (2000). The politics of resentment: British Columbia regionalism and Canadian unity. IRPP.
Richardson, G. (2002). The death of the good Canadian. Peter Lang.
Ross, S. (2003). Bishop JT McNally and the Anglicization of the Diocese of Calgary: 1913-1915. Historical Studies, 69, 85-104.
Rothberg, M. (2009). Multidirectional memory: Remembering the Holocaust in the Age of Decolinization. Standford University Press.
Rouleau Woolrich, D. (2019, June 12). Support for the HRBSS — Historic Rouleauville bilingual stop signs initiative [letter to councillor Jeremy Farkas]. https://pub-calgary.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=97637
Scott, D., Tupper, J., & Gobran, J. (2022). Framing citizenship and citizenship formation for pre-service teachers: A critical review of prominent trends in the research literature. Democracy & Education, 30(2), 1-12. https://democracyeducationjournal.org/home/vol30/iss2/2
Scott, D. & Van Kessel, C. (2017). Introduction to special issue. Canadian Social Studies, 49(1), 1-3. Retrieved from https://canadian-social-studies-journal.educ.ualberta.ca/content/articles#chapter1
Smith, A. (2020, May 23). Bilingual sign vandalism in historic Mission district comes with ‘silver lining’. Calgary Herald. https://calgaryherald.com/news/bilingual-sign-vandalism-in-historic-mission-district-comes-with-silver-lining
Smith, B. (2017). Reconsidering the summer residence: The city-text, historical commemoration and banal settler geography. Canadian Social Studies, 49(1), 24-30. https://canadian-social-studies-journal.educ.ualberta.ca/content/articles
Stanley, T. (2020). Commemorating John A. Macdonald: Collective remembering and the structure of settler colonialism in British Columbia. The British Columbian Quarterly (204), 89-113. https://doi.org/10.14288/bcs.v0i204.191488
Statistics Canada. (2016). Census in Brief: Languages used in the workplace in Canada. Statistics Canada. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/fogs-spg/Facts-pr-eng.cfm?LANG=Eng&GK=PR&GC=48&TOPIC=5
Suchet, M., & Mekdjian, S. (2016). Artivism as a form of urban translation: An indisciplinary hypothesis. McGill-Queen’s University Press. https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01437039/file/Artivism%20as%20a%20Form%20of%20Urban%20Translation.pdf
Thorp, R., & Persson, A. (2020). On historical thinking and the history educational challenge. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 52(8), 891-901. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2020.1712550
The Confluence Historical Site and Parkland. (2024). Unravelling complex stories. https://www.theconfluence.ca/about-the-confluence
Toombs, A. (2022, April 24). Sir John A. Macdonald: Historians weigh in on renaming Calgary junior high school. Livewire Calgary. https://livewirecalgary.com/2022/04/24/sir-john-a-macdonald-renaming-calgary-junior-high-school/
Toy, A. (2020, May 23). French portion of bilingual stop sign vandalized in Calgary. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/6979423/french-bilingual-stop-signs-vandalized-calgary/
van Dyk, S. (2021, August 20). Artist and organizers shocked as Black Lives Matter mural in Quebec City defaced in just 3 days. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/blm-mural-quebec-city-vandalism-1.6148213
van Kessel, C. (2019, August 1). In the classroom. The Grim Educator. https://openeducationalberta.ca/grimeducator/chapter/in-the-classroom/
van Kessel, C., Jacobs, N., Catena, F., & Edmonson, K. (2022). Responding to worldview threats in the classroom: An exploratory study of preservice teachers. Journal of Teacher Education, 73(1), 97-109. https://doi.org/10.1177/002248712110519
Vincent, N. (2017). Arrêt ou stop? Retour sur près d’un siècle de débat dans la presse écrite au Québec. Francophonies d'Amérique, (42-23), 23-45. https://doi.org/10.7202/1054034ar
Wineburg, S. (2001). Historical thinking and other unnatural acts: Charting the future of teaching the past. Temple University Press.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 McGill Journal of Education / Revue des sciences de l'éducation de McGill

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
