In The News

The National Post reports on efforts by a group of French-speaking Torontonians hoping to create the city's first "French Quarter". The group--the Toronto chapter of the Association of Francophone Communities Ontario (ACFO)--are hoping to transform the area around College and Sherbourne into a vibrant strip that would showcase francophone culture, film, art and cuisine.

"It's an idea that has been kicking around for at least 10 years, according to Jean-Pierre Bou�, president of the Toronto chapter of the Association of Francophone Communities Ontario (ACFO). The group has partnered with local French radio station Choq-FM and, with funding from Canadian Heritage, is asking francophones in the GTA what they think about reviving a French district that used to be on Carlton, between Yonge and Parliament streets. Their response will determine if the group pursues it."

"Mr. Bou� said the original idea was to have it cover a rather large chunk of downtown, from University Avenue to the Don Valley Parkway, from Carlton to the lake. Now, they envision anchoring it around Sacr� Coeur Church, the city's first Frenchspeaking Roman Catholic parish established in 1887, at the corner of Carlton and Sherbourne. College Fran�ais is a few blocks west, at Mutual Street, while the Centre francophone, Boreal College and TFO, the province's only French-language educational public television network, are all at Yonge and Carlton."

"Mr. Bou�, who owns Lafayette Bistro on Queen Street, says part of the challenge is francophones have not settled in a specific place in Toronto. "When an Italian family comes to Toronto they ask where are the Italians and they go where they are," he said. French people will go in the opposite direction of their own kind, he says, because they're independent. "But I can tell you that after a while you are desperate for a confit de canard [duck confit] and you would be delighted if you could find an area where there is not one, but six, seven, 10 restaurants where you can choose."

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original source National Post