September 25th is Franco-Ontarian day.
It’s a day set aside to celebrate and honour the culture and contribution of Francophones in the province.
North Bay and Sudbury are two of the many communities that held events to mark this day.
It was at the University of Sudbury that the Franco-Ontarian Flag was first created and unveiled in 1975 and was raised again on Monday to mark the anniversary.
But what made this day special was the unveiling of an historic plaque that commemorates how the flag was created in Sudbury.
“It's a symbol of our commitment and contribution to the community, a symbol of the Francophone community in Ontario and how we see it moving forward." said Sophie Bouffard, the President of University of Sudbury.
"This particular plaque recognizes today the Franco-Ontarian flag which, as most Sudburians would know, was first unfurled at the University of Sudbury on the 25th of September in 1975." said Jean Yves Pelletier from the Ontario Heritage Trust.
In North Bay, about 2-thousand people came out to parade through downtown, proudly embracing their French language and heritage.
Among them was student Samuelle Ranger.
"I think we're definitely trying to say that we're proud of being French and I think it's really that we're trying to say thank you to people who are our ancestors for really helping us keep this beautiful language alive." said Ranger.
The raising of the green and white Franco-Ontarian flag is now celebrating its 42nd birthday, and it was met with cheers and merriment in North Bay.
"We've got a flag since 1975 which was adopted by the legislator, the legislative assembly, in 2001 and ever since then we've kept this day, September 25, as the day to celebrate Franco-Ontarian day." said Eric Foisy from the Conseil Scolaire Catholique Franco-Nord.
According to North Bay's mayor Al McDonald, about 18 per cent of the community is French-speaking.
"When I first started there might have been 5 or 6 people as we raised the flag and today there was over 2000 so it just keeps building each and every year." said McDonald.
Both French language school boards in the region joined forces to make this day a reality.
“The more we can bring together and find that what brings us together as opposed to what tears us apart and this is let's bring it all together." said Linda Lacroix of the Conseil Scolaire Public du Nord-est de L’Ontario.
It was a party atmosphere, and the celebratory tone of this parade was very evident with organizers saying they wanted to unite all cultures to embrace the rich history of Franco-Ontarians, which spans over four centuries.
