74 Sitcoms on the Edge

Although by 1960 there were three schools - the Convent school, the Dalton school, which contained the grades up to and including Grade Eight, and the new Regional High School, they were largely controlled by the nuns. Only in the sixties, for example, was the first lay principal appointed to the High School. So much control by a religious order must have helped to keep the community both stable as well as slow to change.

Religious life was still at the centre of the community; outwardly and inwardly this had changed little since the nineteenth century. Only the Second Vatican Council towards the end of the period and the changes begun under its auspices were to alter any aspect of local religious life.

The Acadians of Tignish were finally gaining some support in their struggle for French classes and opportunities for higher education. Most of this, however, would only come at the very end of the period, thanks to the federal government’s new policy on bilingualism and biculturalism.

The thirties saw new educational opportunities for those Acadians who wanted to enter a profession. The government of Quebec began to offer scholarships, while several wealthy businessmen from that province also provided funding. The aim of this program was to help build up a business and professional class among the Acadians. The first in the Tignish area to obtain a scholarship was Joe LeClair, who was thus able to study for the priesthood, and provide Island Acadians with another much—needed francophone priest. The SSTA was now in a position as well to offer small scholarships to help young men and women of Acadian descent to go to university.