This article explores the historic accounts presented in the briefs submitted by francophone minority associations to the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in order to better understand the discours d’enracinement or sens of belonging, which is firmly rooted in the past. Our research focuses on a precise moment in time in order to better understand the similarities and differences in this historic discourse a few years prior to the États généraux which are often presented as a key moment in the redefinition of French Canadian minority groups. As this article demonstrates that, at the time of the Commission, a number of contradictions exist in this discourse.