A day care that shows an interest and--
Evidence of meeting #44 for Official Languages in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was dawson.
Evidence of meeting #44 for Official Languages in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was dawson.
8:20 p.m.
Board Member, Centre de la Francophonie à Dawson
A day care that shows an interest and--
8:20 p.m.
Board Member, Centre de la Francophonie à Dawson
No, not even. One is trying to open, but it's quite a challenge because there is a lack of resources in the community. People order resources, but they aren't really well suited to our reality.
There is a lot of groundwork to be done. That's why the Centre de la francophonie simply can't do everything at this point. We are waiting until we know each other better and are stronger to secure the resources we need, so that what we do will be relevant.
8:20 p.m.
Bloc
Monique Guay Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
You need an organization to be in charge of all that, with people working full time on it.
8:20 p.m.
Board Member, Centre de la Francophonie à Dawson
Well, we continue to work with the Association franco-yukonnaise because it is a source of inspiration for communities like ours. We are seeing the results that have been achieved after 26 years. French is cool now in Whitehorse.
Our school would like to organize a trip to Whitehorse with young students, to show them that French is cool. But we are not at that stage. There is still some conflict, particularly since it's a small village. It causes a lot of friction.
We mustn't forget the First Nations. That is one reality. In our area, Anglophones and Francophones form a minority, compared to the First Nations. So, management of the primary school is done jointly with that cultural group.
8:20 p.m.
Bloc
8:20 p.m.
Member, Centre de la Francophonie à Dawson
As a general rule, I would say they are not. Actually, though, they are not Inuit; they are First Nations.
8:20 p.m.
Member, Centre de la Francophonie à Dawson
And that actually results in an interesting kind of friction.
8:25 p.m.
Bloc
Monique Guay Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
That really suggests that you face quite a challenge in your region.
8:25 p.m.
Board Member, Centre de la Francophonie à Dawson
People often say that if we receive something, they will get less, but when you look at where the resources are coming from, it's clear that they really are two completely different and separate channels.
8:25 p.m.
Bloc
Monique Guay Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
In Dawson, you don't have a community centre. You have nothing in French--
8:25 p.m.
Board Member, Centre de la Francophonie à Dawson
There is the Centre de la francophonie, which is located in the building which houses l'école Émilie-Tremblay. We now have our own space. It is consistent with everything else. There is an interesting place in Dawson, which bears the name of Joseph Ladue--
8:25 p.m.
Member, Centre de la Francophonie à Dawson
Lorraine would like to add something.
8:25 p.m.
Executive Director, Commission scolaire francophone du Yukon
I'd like to talk about the program that Marie-Ève taught and which has since been cut back, in spite of her determination and the compromises that some families were prepared to make. This year, a family in Dawson came and registered their children at l'école Émilie-Tremblay. They were two boys, one in grade 7 and the other in grade 9. The mother, who is a rights holder, had decided to re-immerse her two sons in Francophone culture, since they did not speak a word of French. Now they attend l'école Émilie-Tremblay and are really being francisized. The father lives in Dawson and the mother comes to Whitehorse with her children so that they can benefit from French first-language education. That is the kind of compromise that some families are prepared to make.
8:25 p.m.
Bloc
Monique Guay Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
Was your program a success? There were seven students initially, but after that the number rose quite significantly.
8:25 p.m.
Member, Centre de la Francophonie à Dawson
There was an official evaluation at the end of the second year. The parents were very satisfied, despite the lack of resources. In the evaluation, they said that certain things needed to be improved but that, ultimately, given the cuts made to program resources--
8:25 p.m.
Conservative
8:25 p.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Leclerc, I believe Mr. Bélanger asked you what the population of Dawson was, but I didn't hear your answer.
8:25 p.m.
Board Member, Centre de la Francophonie à Dawson
It's about 1,380 in the winter and almost 5,000 in summer.
8:25 p.m.
Conservative
8:25 p.m.
Board Member, Centre de la Francophonie à Dawson
According to Statistics Canada, there are no Francophones in Dawson; however, according to the statistics gathered by the Centre de la francophonie, there are now 125 of us.
8:25 p.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Does the Centre de la francophonie operate with volunteers alone?
February 7th, 2011 / 8:25 p.m.
Board Member, Centre de la Francophonie à Dawson
Yes. A volunteer will be arriving in February. She is only there six months of the year. Her child goes to school; so, she can be there in the summer.
Earlier, I wanted to take the time to tell you more about our circumstances. There are a lot of volunteers, and burnout is frequent, but there are also a lot of great things happening.
