Longtime French advocate receives honorary degree from MUN

Colleen Connors · CBC News

· Posted: May 17, 2025 4:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Robert Cormier of Cape St. George was overwhelmed with emotion erstwhile helium received his honorary doc of laws astatine MUN's Grenfell Campus convocation Thursday morning.

"I consciousness precise emotional. This is rather the honour and precise unexpected arsenic well," helium said.

The Memorial University alumnus bowed his caput portion the packed assemblage astatine the Arts and Culture and Centre successful Corner Brook stood connected their feet and cheered and cheered.

• Le français « devient une langue seconde » à Port-au-Port, craint un militant

He received the honorary grade for his passionateness and dedication to preserving and promoting the French connection astatine location and passim the province.

Cormier grew up successful a French speaking home on the Port au Port Peninsula on Newfoundland's westbound coast. When helium went to school, everyone spoke French, but the teacher.

From a young age, helium felt the request to propulsion for his assemblage to instrumentality pridefulness successful their parent tongue. 

"When I went to assemblage for the precise archetypal time, I got to talk to a teacher who spoke French. And that truly impacted … me," said Cormier. "There was a small airy successful the backmost of my caput that said you person thing that different radical bash not have, right. And erstwhile I got backmost location maine and others astir maine said we request to effort and sphere this and support it going."

This airy inspired him, and others, to commencement the archetypal French relation successful this province, Les Terre-Neuviens Francais. 

He made immense strides to nutrient French-first connection acquisition for students and make French immersion, provincewide. 

His daughter, who teaches astatine the French archetypal connection schoolhouse successful Cape St. George, could not clasp backmost her tears arsenic she watched her begetter judge his degree.

"Very emotional. I americium truthful proud, I americium beaming," said Candace Cornect.

"He is simply a leader. He has the quality to get radical progressive and get radical to enactment with him. He is simply a person successful that way, which is what we need." 

WATCH | 'This is rather the honour and precise unexpected arsenic well,' says Robert Cormier:

Cornect grew up surrounded by French. Her children besides talk it fluently; thing Cormier is precise arrogant of.

He was a teacher for galore years, a main too. 

• Meet the 8 newest recipients of the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador

His decades of promoting and preserving French and civilization successful Newfoundland and Labrador has led to galore accolades. He is simply a subordinate of the Order of Canada, a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal and an inductee of the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador. 

The enactment continues

Yet, Cormier is truthful humble erstwhile receiving these awards. He spoke to the assemblage of parents and graduating students astir his language, inheritance and household life, but spent astir of his code talking astir his passionateness and continuous combat to sphere the language.

Cormier says the colonisation successful Cape St. George and parts of the Port au Port Peninsula are dwindling. And helium worries that students are not speaking oregon proceeding French astatine home, similar they utilized to.

"On the Peninsula, the connection is not wholly unafraid conscionable yet. It is going to instrumentality immoderate time. The students are learning French arsenic a 2nd language, volition they walk that connected to their children? We are not rather definite and that is the large question," helium said. 

"Having that connection astatine home, and having that pridefulness successful it, pushes you forward."

Cornect says with her begetter arsenic a fig to look up to, the connection volition ne'er die.

"I thatch astatine the French archetypal connection school and we don't person galore students left. But I consciousness that it's inactive precise important to support it up. And my dada is simply a relation exemplary for that," she said. 

"I americium definite that we tin spell to him and helium volition springiness america pointers. I don't deliberation it is the extremity of the French connection successful our assemblage astatine all."

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