Paper short abstract:

In Calgary, a major city in Western Canada, the settlement of migrants from French Africa led the development of a new governance model of the Francophone community: a Circle of Collaboration, which is described then analysed in terms of Foucault’s concepts of governmentality and the conduct of conduct, as well as implications for other host communities.

Paper long abstract:

In Calgary, a major city in Western Canada, major community pressures emerged with the arrival of considerable numbers of French-speaking migrants mostly from African countries. This mobility led to the provision of settlement and integration services in French, an official language in Canada, as well as a new model of community governance, the Circle of Collaboration, which is subjected to descriptive, ideological and comparative analysis. The first analysis presents a portrait of the nature of this French-language community that constitutes nearly 10% of city population. The second level analysis portrays the new model of governance, that is, the structure and functioning of the Circle of Collaboration: its networks, its issues, its mechanics, its localization, its organisations as well as the emergence of the formal creation of the Circle and the transmission of ideas into action. The basic principles of the Circle of collaboration, such as inclusivity, good will, recognition of efforts and their provenances, the sharing of responsibilities and degrees of engagement, are subjected to an ideological analysis in terms of Foucault's key concepts of 'governmentality' and the 'conduct of conduct'. Finally, a fourth analysis compares this model of community governance with those in other national minority communities within French Canada, notably in Ontario and in the Maritimes. In conclusion are identified the advantages and disadvantages, its strong features and possible further development of this collaborative model of community governance, as well as implications of these experiences for other host communities within urban contexts.