The Post-War Period 251

generated during this bicentennial year. Nine years later this historical society set up the Acadian Museum in Miscouche.

Until the 1940s the Saint Thomas Aquinas Society had concen- trated its efforts on fundraising to finance post-secondary education for young Acadians. The Mutual Assumption Society and the Acadian Teachers’ Association looked after other projects related to Acadian life on the Island. Gradually, however, the Saint Thomas Aquinas Society increased the scope of its activities to include all aspects of French education. The Society also took an interest in the economic sector and had some success in the area of agricultural education and training. In addition, the Society tried to introduce the French language newspaper, L’Evangéline, into Acadian homes and to encourage a greater use of French in the convents and churches located in Acadian parishes.

It should be stressed that there was nothing unusual about the linguistic and cultural situation of Island Acadians. All French-Cana- dian groups living outside of Quebec encountered similar problems. Even at a national level, the French language and French Canadians were always alloted a very minimal part in any government institution. It was not until the 1960s that the federal government decided to address the issue. In 1963 the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (B and B Commission) was set up under the joint presidency of André Laurendeau and Davidson Dunton. The Commis- sion travelled throughout Canada in order to hear complaints and suggestions. The members of the Commission very quickly discovered not only the flagrant inequalities between English and French Cana- dians, but also the serious threat of assimilation faced by French Canadians living outside of Quebec.

When the Commissioners came to the Atlantic region the Saint Thomas Aquinas Society presented a well-documented report on be- half of the Acadian community on Prince Edward Island. The following five recommendations summarize the main concerns of the Island Acadians represented by the Society:

1) that a French normal school be established in order for Acadian teachers to complete their studies in education.

2) that the Department of Education adopt a special curriculum for the teach- ing of French in the Acadian regions of the province.