Thank you, Mr. Godin.
I will begin by speaking about a paper that I submitted to the New Brunswick Minister and Department of Education , because it contains some things that could be useful to you.
The Association of French Speaking Teachers of New Brunswick is particularly concerned about issues that affect education, and also that affect the community in general. Programs for youth, seniors or any segment of our community have an impact, whether direct or indirect, on our community schools, particularly in minority communities.
We are especially concerned about the fact that there appears to have been a desire to cut programs which for us were closely tied to our youth education system, as well as by the effect this would have on parents or grandparents, and the direct impact this would have on the communities in which our schools are located.
Although these do not relate to all the programs, there are here in New Brunswick a number of federal programs that fall under the official languages programs. Grants made to the Department of Education, on a 50-50 basis of course, and that serve our schools and the education system in general under various initiatives or programs, all have a reasonably positive impact on our young people and on the system. These enable us to work on developing their pride in belonging to the francophonie and getting them interested in culture. As we know, schools are often rallying points for young people. They are in the majority as francophones at school, but outside of the school, they often become a minority or part of a basically anglophone community. These centres must therefore become centres for the promotion and dissemination of language and culture, a place where ties and their sense of belonging to a group can be strengthened so that they can continue into adulthood.
Yhere are two main challenges surrounding the whole issue of francophone schools in minority communities. The first has to do with academic performance or student success as young people, and later, success as adults. The other dimension is the whole issue of language and culture, which necessarily become part of the school's mission. We need additional allies and resources in order to attempt to meet all these challenges. In a school that is located in a predominantly anglophone community, people don't need to organize French pride weeks or activities like this, which are often found in francophone schools in minority settings, simply because the culture is part of their everyday lives. For our young people in a minority community, the fact of being francophone is something experienced at school and in the family, but in the community, the francophone fact often disappears.