The Second World War put an end to the economic crisis which
had dominated most industrialized countries of the Western
World. In Alberta, the large urban centres gained importance
while the farmers who could still afford to poured their money
back into industrializing their farms. Those who had not been
able to find buyers for their farms for nearly 30 years, were
finally able to do so. As a result, farms got larger, and those
who left the rural areas were quickly able to find work in the
booming cities.
The young people who were entering the job market had many
opportunities in Alberta. As everywhere else, during the war,
women found employment in factories and learned non-traditional
skills in the rapidly expanding workforce. With the discovery of
crude oil in Leduc in 1949, it seemed there was work and money
for everyone. Albertan companies continued to expand and went
abroad with their expertise. Franco-Albertans took part in these
ventures and were particularly sought out for work in the
Maghreb countries such as Algeria.
The Franco-Albertan communities were not spared from the
great world events. During the Cold War, the Space Race brought
on the improvement of the school system across Canada. For rural
communities, this meant centralization and had a devastating
effect. Agricultural centralization also affected small
communities. The centres which were better situated, near
railways or highways continued to expand as their merchants
could offer more competitive prices, while those of small towns
could not. What were formerly general stores become local
convenience stores. Some little towns began to disappear;
sometimes the clean-up was done by a fire which destroyed
streetscapes in mere hours. Rail transport, once so sought
after, was replaced by large trucks and many spur lines were
taken up across the Prairies. In the meantime, agriculture had
become a mega-business, and the well-situated towns became
prosperous little cities.
The migrants from the countryside joined the ranks of the
large centres such as Edmonton and Calgary and, since the
English language was no longer an obstacle for the descendants
of the settlers at the beginning of the 20th century, the
creation of ghettos is avoided. For the oldest French cultural
organization in the province, l’Association canadienne-française
de l’Alberta, the greatest challenge is to encourage people to
continue using the French language.
The ranks of the Franco-Albertans came to expand again along
with the renewed prosperity in the province based on the rising
oil prices. If some of these migrants left, many stayed and
settled permanently across the province working at all sorts of
trades and professions.
The Official Languages Act also affected Franco-Albertans,
and attracted many civil servants and school teachers who
settled in Edmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray, Lethbridge,
Medecine Hat, Red Deer, Jasper, Banff, Canmore, St. Albert, St.
Paul, Bonnyville, Cold Lake, and many other communities across
the province. As well, since the 1960s, cuts in health care in
other provinces drew health care professionals to Alberta. Each
of these factors has enriched Alberta’s cultural diversity
following the Second World War. |