In March 1915, German classes in Canadian schools were abolished. The Berliner Journal described the reasons the government had to make this decision and partly justified them. Nevertheless, they also printed articles which were clearly in favor of the German lessons. Supporters stated that learning a second language always has advantages and that since there were many people of German origin in the Waterloo region, the diversity of cultures and languages should be preserved instead of being eliminated. When the teaching of German finally was abolished, the newspaper clearly expressed anger and disappointment. Furthermore, they reported on a meeting of the “Deutscher Schulverein” (“German School Association”) where members of the German community protested against the decision.
(“Das Deutsche in der Schule” Berliner Journal, 10 March 1915; “Deutscher Unterricht abgeschafft” Berliner Journal, 24 March 1915; “Der Unterricht im Deutschen” Berliner Journal, 31 March 1915)
