It is absolutely crucial, in fact. The ability to be francophone and to continue to be francophone in all provinces and territories in Canada is contingent upon equal access to daycares in French. We worked hard for the last generation in order to improve access to French-language schools throughout the country. We now have 740 French language schools in a minority setting and our rights are guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, in order that our young people may go to these schools, they have to live their first years in French and often, because of a lack of access, they can't do so. The first years of life are incredibly important for language development and French-language acquisition, so much so that if the children don't go to daycare in French, very often they will not go to school in French.
It is therefore crucial, and unfortunately right now, the bill does not specify that spaces in French must be guaranteed equitably in all provinces and territories. There are no guidelines to ensure that the funds transferred by the federal government will go to providing the necessary French-language child care spaces. Over 9,000 French language spaces are needed in the country. The bill provides a framework for this new program which has been hailed everywhere in the country, but it must be more specific as to objectives and funding obligations for French language daycares in the various provinces and territories. We also have to include the voice of minority francophones on the national advisory council in order to set the tone for all the policies that will follow this bill.