Translation services prove that St. Pierre is more than a French town

The Village of St. Pierre is diligent in making sure it operates as a bilingual community, even though many people might see the village as a French town. 

Mayor Raymond Maynard says even though most residents are French, the Village is actually a bilingual community. He adds this is the reason they always translate Village communication into both official languages. 

“Last count was 426 of our residents are unilingual English,” says Maynard. “So, the fact that we don't send anything out strictly French, I'm sure they appreciate that.” 

Everything is fully translated and fully bilingual, he adds. 

Being a bilingual municipality and translating all the village's communication, one might think that it would become rather costly. 

But Maynard says they have not paid a dime for translation services. 

“We have the Association of Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities that does the translation for the municipality so that cost is absorbed by them, they do not charge us for it,” he explains. “So, we are very lucky that way.” 

Council recently heard that St. Pierre is the municipality that AMBM translates for the most. 

Being a bilingual community, Maynard says it goes beyond written correspondence. 

“We try to offer all our services in a bilingual format.”