Alongside popular culture, there was also an “official” French-Canadian culture, developed and propagated throughout the 19th century by a political and religious elite based in Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec. This culture’s stated goal was the “improvement” of the French-Canadian race through cultural expressions glorifying the French language, the Catholic Church and agriculture as the natural vocation for French-Canadians. At its worst, this ideology reflected that of the Ultramontanists, who identified French-Canadian destiny with the will of God and rejected all contacts with other linguistic and religious groups. This philosophy can be seen in the writings of Hyppolite Girardot, who was editor-in-chief for Le Progrès for a few months in 1882. He outlined his position in an open letter to local clergy . He also published letters from his friend l’abbé Casgrain, who made explicit links between Catholicism and the French language . Soon afterwards, Girardot was fired by the Pacaud brothers. He went on to found his own newspaper, Le Courrier d’Essex, in order to expound his views and those of the Conservative Party. His newspaper had the motto “Rendre le peuple meilleur” - “For the improvement of the people.”

Le Progrès, espousing liberal politics and being rather more modern in its approach, nevertheless reinforced the official French-Canadian values of the day and set about “improving” its readers and rescuing them from the corrupting influences of the Anglophone culture that surrounded them. It took as its own motto “My God, my religion and my country.” The paper promoted the Saint John the Baptist Society as defender of French-Canadian rights and gave much space in its columns to the Society’s activities. The biggest event of the year was always the June 24th picnic, which was held in a different French-Canadian parish every year. The day always included a solemn high mass, a parade led by le petit Saint Jean-Baptiste, a young boy from the parish dressed like John the Baptist and carrying a lamb. There would follow a day-long picnic featuring all sorts of games and activities. The day would end would a great banquet that featured numerous speeches delivered by special guests; these speeches tended to glorify the French-Canadian people and to reaffirm the values they held dear. Le Progrès gives several accounts of these grand event , , . Saint John the Baptist’s feast was still celebrated in Detroit at this time . The Society had an official hymn, which appeared in Le Progrès .

There were other cultural and political organizations. L’Union Canadienne, like the Saint John the Baptist Society, also celebrated and promoted French-Canadian identity . Francophones in Detroit celebrated France’s national holiday, maintaining links with the mother country . Even a religious holiday like la Fête-Dieu (Corpus Christi) had patriotic and nationalistic overtones . But not all of the elite activities centered on religion. The arts were another way to elevate the sensibilities of the local population. Le Progrès constantly sang the praises of the French-Canadian composer Mazurette, who was based in Detroit , . Publicity was given to a new literary circle in Windsor ( and also to a local theatre club , . Le Progrès likewise lamented the fact that Windsor’s French-Canadians didn’t read enough and refused to take advantage of the French books carried by the city library .

Some people welcomed with enthusiasm these attempts to improve the local population and tried in their own way to elevate the image of the Detroit River French. An interesting and sometimes quite humorous case is that of “Adrienne”, a regular correspondent who wrote from Anderdon Township (Rivière-aux-Canards) around the turn of the century. In her columns, she tried to elevate the tone of the gossip and rumors she was given to work with and to turn them into exemplary tales that showcased the ideal qualities promoted by the cultural elite , . River Canard became a model community through her flowery pen. As was perhaps to be expected, Adrienne soon had a rival, one who was determined to knock her down a peg or two. “Charles,” the new correspondent, soon identified “Adrienne”, whom he apparently found insufferable behind her anonymous mask . What followed for several weeks - and no doubt to the delight of the readers and the editors of Le Progrès - was a all-out battle between these representatives of high and low culture , , , .

Through its editorial policy, Le Progrès certainly reinforced the cultural ideology of its day. For example, the importance of marriage was often underlined, whether in editorials condemning divorce or in humorous pieces ridiculing bachelors and old maids , . The idea (if not the reality) of temperance was supported . Above all, the view was held that only in living a traditional lifestyle and following in the footsteps of its ancestors could the French-Canadian community find its true purpose and fulfill its destiny. In spite of its name, Le Progrès published countless articles supporting this view , , .