I'm a Franco-Ontarian. I was born in a small town called Kapuskasing, in northern Ontario. I've lived all my life in Ontario. I've studied and I've always worked in French in Ontario.
I'm very optimistic by nature, but I have to tell you that the situation troubles me. We acknowledge that the greater Toronto area and central and southwestern Ontario are the places where francophone immigrants arrive, and we acknowledge how important immigration is for the vitality and growth of Ontario's francophone community. If we don't provide access soon—and I mean soon—to French-language programs, whether at colleges and universities or French-language schools, and to French-language health services, there's a significant risk that those francophones, who should be adding to the vitality of francophone community, may move over to the anglophone side. That wouldn't help us expand the community.
We saw in the 2021 census that the demographic weight of francophones outside Quebec had fallen to 3.3% of the population from 6.1% 50 years earlier.
Consequently, we need to act very quickly so the community can develop.