The Franco Health Network of Southern Ontario serves a vast territory extending from Penetanguishene in the north to Welland in the south, and from Peterborough in the east to Windsor in the west. The politicians around this table could never do any door-to-door campaigning because this is a vast territory.
Southern Ontario is a region of contrasts, marked by diversity and urbanization. A majority of the francophones belonging to a racial minority are found in Southern Ontario's major urban centres. The approximately 175,000 francophones in Southern Ontario are spread over 27 census divisions and form part of a total regional population of over 9 million.
Besides being in the minority in the province, we are also a minority within the smaller areas, that is, all the municipalities and all the counties. Although this francophone population constitutes the second largest concentration of francophones in the province—31.9% of the provincial total in Southern Ontario—it makes up only 1.9% of the total population of Southern Ontario.
This is what is happening in our region: there's absolutely no respect for the official language, that is French. We're constantly being compared to racial minorities, because they tend to be involved in a particular sector. For example, in the York region, we've been told that we are not a priority because it's much more important to focus on the Chinese population or the Italian population. The principle of the official languages is applied to newcomers to this country and yet there is no acknowledgement of French as an official language and the rights of francophones to demand services in French, especially health services.