Thank you.
Good morning. I represent the Association franco-yukonnaise, which is more commonly called the AFY. I'm going to give you a few details, to clarify a little the background of the association, which isn't always known outside its area.
The Association franco-yukonnaise is the voice of the 1,200 Francophones in the Yukon. It's also one of the youngest Francophone communities in Canada. In 2007, we'll be celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of AFY, which is central to the community's development. It's often said in the rest of the country that we're an exemplary, innovative and responsible community. One of the best examples that I can give you is the following. We're now champions of funding diversification. In 1991, 70% of our funding came from Canadian Heritage, whereas that department now provides only 20%.
The association operates somewhat like a federation. It has a number of sectors, a cultural sector, a youth sector, which we call the Youth Hope Committee, and the Adult Orientation and Training Service, in the area of continuing education. There's also the Yukon RDÉE, the Regroupement de développement économique et d'employabilité, which operates in economic development, and the Carrefour d'immigration rurale, our latest program. In fact, it was created in the wake of the Action Plan for Official Languages, which encouraged immigration. So we've only very recently acquired an immigration sector.
Some organizations created over the years also support community development. The oldest of them is Aurore boréale, a bimonthly newspaper founded in 1983. It thus had its twentieth anniversary in 2003. There's also an organization representing Francophone women of the Yukon, the Partenariat communauté en santé, which aims to facilitate access for Francophones to French-language services, and the Comité francophone catholique. We also have a child care centre and Émilie-Tremblay school for students from junior kindergarten to grade 12. Lastly, there's the Commission scolaire francophone du Yukon. A lot of these organizations are housed under the same roof, the Centre de la francophonie. The centre is, in a way, the heart of community development. People who go there are almost certain to find what they're looking for. If they can't, we tell them where to go.
Having said that, we have done everything possible with the financial and material resources at our disposal to pursue the development of the Francophone community.
Now I'll get to the heart of the matter. You've asked us to tell you about our community's challenges and expectations with regard to the Action Plan for Official Languages. The plan is closely linked to the Northern Strategy that was implemented in the Yukon during the year.
Under that strategy, the Franco-Yukon community was virtually disregarded. When it implemented the strategy, the Canadian government didn't require the territorial governments to support the Francophone communities. The Northern Strategy contains no provision for the territorial government to be required to provide services in French. Furthermore, it defines a new parameter that is really unfavourable to the Francophone community.
Under this strategy, which is mainly designed to promote economic development, only the territorial and First Nations governments can file project funding applications. If the Franco-Yukon community wants to file a project, it has to go through the First Nations government, which is excluded, or through the territorial government. This isn't at all advantageous. It undermines more than helps the community's development.
The Dion Plan has had promising consequences for the Franco-Yukon community, mainly in two areas. In immigration, as I told you earlier, one sector was created under at the AFY. In education, a bilateral agreement was signed and funding allocated for family literacy. Except for these two sectors, this action plan hasn't had any effect in the Yukon.
We're still having as much trouble getting services in French from the federal and territorial governments. In fact, the two federal departments with which we can work in French are Service Canada and Justice Canada. Apart from those two departments, we're not offered services in both official languages, even though it is the government's responsibility to do so. People no longer even ask to be served in French because, in some cases, if the person who speaks French is on a break or gone to lunch, you have to wait for him or her to come back. The chairman recently told me that he no longer even asked to be served in French, whereas he's the chairman of the board of AFY.
I simply want to say that health is a sensitive sector in the Yukon, as it is in the rest of the country. On December 14, in Ottawa, you'll be hearing from Sandra St-Laurent, the coordinator of Partenariat communauté en santé, as well as two people from the other two territories. The health issue will be on the agenda. Sandra will be in a much better position than I to answer health questions.
Whatever the case may be, I'll be pleased to answer your questions.