Parti acadien

As a result, the Parti Acadien advocated the formation of a separate Acadian province within Canada, a proposition that would require an amendment to the Canadian Constitution following a provincial referendum.

Their platform had several socialist policies, though officially their goal was to work for reforms using the already-existing framework of New Brunswick law.

They also explained that they were not anti-anglophone per se, but felt that the capitalist system in place in the province favoured the predominantly English south.

However, Richard Hatfield and the governing Progressive Conservatives also promoted a platform that promised to increase the role of the Acadian people and culture within the province.

A convention of Parti Acadien supporters, SANB members and other Acadians in 1979 produced a split on the issue of whether to vote to secede from New Brunswick or work for reform from within.

The SANB (still a cultural association at the core) risked having its funding from the Government of Canada cut off before it explained that the convention produced no consensus and was not binding.

As a result, it lost funding from both the federal and provincial governments, who feared that radicals had taken over the group (and by extension, the Parti Acadien).

Approximate map of an Acadian province. In light blue, the areas of New Brunswick with a significant proportion of Francophones. In dark blue, the areas with a Francophone majority.