I acknowledge—and it concerns me a lot—that the enrolment rate among rights holders is very low. I think the census study showed that there is an average enrolment rate of about 50% across Canada. It is all the more worrying because rights holders only have this right for one single generation. It is not an ongoing right, it disappears.
It is my deeply-held belief that we need to acknowledge the importance of excellence in our minority schools. Parents will not sacrifice the education of their children just for the sake of principle. If we give them an education where there are fewer programs, fewer services, less equipment, fewer sports, and if their young 14-year-old boy wants to play soccer and there is no soccer team at the French-language school and yet there is one at the English-language school, their choice will be quite difficult. My belief is that francophone schools are destined to provide excellence in education, and I have already told them that. They don't have any other choice.
Now, the departments of Education also share an obligation and that is to recognize that these schools cost more. Ontario has acknowledged this. The Government of Ontario acknowledged this difference after having calculated the per-student cost of minority francophone schools. There is now more money for students in minority schools than there is for students in majority schools. And no one is complaining about this. There has been an acknowledgement of this difference.