Phil Duguay

BA '05 (Honours in History)

French is a global language. You learn this first-hand at Dalhousie. During my time in the French Department, I had teachers from Cameroun, Switzerland, Sudan, Morocco, Belgium, France and Canada. My third year, I studied abroad in Dakar, Senegal. Living in francophone West Africa taught me so much about culture, geopolitics, economics, colonialism and civil society. I learned all of these lessons through the French language, with Senegalese friends, and with people from Lebanon, Morocco, Mauritania, Côte D’Ivoire, and Mali – as Dakar is a cosmopolitan hub.

Speaking French was integral to my later legal studies at McGill University, which has a bilingual program where students study both common and civil law traditions. Working for the Government of the Northwest Territories, my French skills helped me stand-out, as I was able to converse with colleagues from Québec at conferences about national energy policy issues. It was one of these very colleagues who eventually helped me to get hired here at the Québec Government Office in Boston, where I now represent Québec in New England on a wide array of public policy and cultural issues. It is a distinct pleasure to represent la belle province here! 

Now that I am back in New England, where I grew up (speaking only English), I am learning more and more about myself through the French language. While my mother is from Montreal, my father is a Franco-Américain from Rhode Island. My grandfather, Robert René Duguay, was born down the road from Boston in Woonsocket, RI, and French was the only language he spoke until the fourth grade. I think he would be proud that I work for Québec, and speak French every day with my colleagues. While my language skills are far from perfect, I am certainly proud to have French-Canadian lineage, and constantly remind people that there are strong cultural bonds between Québec and New England.