Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning, everybody.
Our presentation will be made in two parts. First, I'm going to provide some background for the Manitoban model—since everyone talks about models—a model that should definitely not be exported like that. Then I'm going to let Ms. Bintou Sacko make a detailed presentation to you on what Francophone Hospitality does.
When we talk about Manitobans, it has to be said that there are 47,000 Franco-Manitobans, two-thirds of whom are concentrated in Winnipeg. I think it's a good idea to keep that fact in mind. The rest are scattered across some 40 villages around Winnipeg, more specifically to the south. However, it must be said that there are more than 100,000 people in Manitoba who speak French. That in a way shows the importance of French, which is not just spoken by old stock Franco-Manitobans.
In addition, three Winnipeg neighbourhoods are designated bilingual: Saint-Boniface, Saint-Vital and Saint-Norbert. This creates a network, a nucleus. I think the francophonie is very important, since we're talking about bringing francophone immigrants to our communities. We also have a major asset. We have more than 50 francophone agencies, including the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, the CDEM, which is very much concerned with the economy, ANIM, the Agence nationale et internationale du Manitoba, which is also concerned with the economy, the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface, an institution that has been in existence since 1918, the Cercle Molière, which is one of the oldest theatre companies in North America in any language, the weekly La Liberté, the Centre du patrimoine, and so on. We also have well-established institutions in Saint-Boniface. So all that lends considerable importance to the issue of the vitality of francophones.
I won't go back over the historical points that you all know. Manitoba has been subject to measures since 1890, with the Official Language Act, which abolished French-language instruction in the public schools. To go from a francophone majority population in the 1860s to a francophone population of 4.3% of total population in 2010, some events definitely had to occur. I don't want to go back over the history because everyone knows it. In addition to this abolition, there were internal migrations that had the effect of diluting the francophone population in Manitoba. Now there are German speakers, Ukrainians, Filipinos and Icelanders. These populations are rapidly expanding. However, in the meantime, the francophone population has stagnated, as it were, and even declined. Assimilation doesn't help, and that's why immigration is important. All these populations that I've just named have also developed through immigration.
In one sense, the page has been turned, since Manitobans now form a proud, modern, dynamic and resistant community that wants to achieve its full potential, to continue living in French and to contribute to the development of the province and of the country. That is why the community has organized. Work is being done on a number of aspects, including sectoral, community, cultural, communication and other aspects.
Here's the point I want to make. An effort at reflection was started in 2001, at the very time when we took a close look at how to function within society, and when we asked ourselves what we were going to become in the next few years. Five strategic axes were developed with the intention of “expanding the francophone space”. We established a joint strategy for the period from 2001 to 2050 in response to the question concerning what we wanted to become in the coming years. This strategy to expand the francophone space consists of five axes, which focus first of all on old stock francophones. We want them to be proud of what they are and proud to ensure continuity of the francophonie through their families.
There are also what we in Manitoba call exogamous couples. The data on this phenomenon are extremely important because many young people under 20 years of age—I think it's 60 percent—are the product of couples in which each member comes from a different official language community. There are the newcomers who are having a significant impact, there are bilingual anglophones who must not be forgotten, and there are even unilingual anglophones. Consequently, all kinds of action is being taken to find support, to develop the francophonie—I don't mean “to sell the francophonie” since people are already open to it—to ensure that the francophonie is accepted and that it serves as a development lever for our communities.
I believe there has really been a great expansion in this area since 2001. It should be noted that, between 1960 and 1990, we took in roughly 30 francophone immigrants a year. Starting in 1990, that figure increased to 200, and now it's approximately 300. The objective is to take in 700 and even 1,400. Those figures I've just cited have been established based on the representation of the francophone population in our communities. They are also related to the provincial strategy to increase the number of immigrants generally. We're asking that a percentage of francophone newcomers be included in the calculations for increasing the number of immigrants. Having regard to assimilation and all kinds of things, we'll thus be able to maintain the situation of the francophone community.
I'll close by saying that it was on that basis that we asked ourselves how we could welcome these francophones who come to us from outside the province, hence the creation of Francophone Hospitality—I'll leave it to Bintou to talk to you about that. We've put structures in place to welcome francophones to an environment in which they are part of the minority, which involves preparing them to live in that type of environment. Indeed, not all jobs are necessarily found in francophone settings. Even the vast majority of old stock Franco-Manitobans work for anglophone organizations. Consequently, language proficiency is very important, in both French and English. That's necessary as well.
Earlier we talked about credential recognition, which is also a fundamental issue. In general, francophone countries do not have the same model, compared to the anglophone countries of Africa, for example. These are not the same elements. Consequently, an enormous effort must be made in this regard.
There is also the question of adult immigrants, whom we often tend to ignore, more specifically the issue of refugees. Manitoba takes in a disproportionate number of refugees among its immigrants. Sixty percent of immigrants who settle in French-speaking Manitoba are refugees. Even with all the challenges that entails, we absolutely have to consider enabling them to earn a diploma, to finish their secondary education and to go to university or to professional schools.
We currently have the Centre d'apprentissage franco-manitobain for adult training. Two years ago, there were 30 students, and we think there will be 150 this year. They barely have premises where they can study, but it's an outstanding success. It's important to think about these people as well, who have not necessarily taken training, and to enable them to acquire skills on site so they can contribute to the development of society.
I'm going to close very quickly. We're also addressing the housing issue, employment, and so on. However, we'll now let Bintou tell you about Francophone Hospitality as such.