In the late 1960s or the 1970s, there was only one French school in the Évangeline region, which is a homogenous region of Acadians and francophones.
During the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, schools were merged. Several Acadian schools were assimilated into anglophone schools. But we started the French immersion program, which is still a very good program. Actually, in addition to the 5,000 to 5,500 Acadians and francophones, there are also 10,000 to 12,000 francophiles, who graduated from immersion schools. We also want to integrate the francophiles in our communities to help us further develop and promote French language and culture.
As I said earlier, we have only been able to reverse the assimilation trend since the French-language education system was set up. We will keep going, but we still need the support of the federal government through the roadmap.
As Mr. Godin was saying, sometimes we are not sure if the funding comes from the roadmap or from another program. There is always the danger of deciding to reduce funding and not knowing whether it will be funding from the roadmap or funding from an existing program.
All of this is to say that Prince Edward Island is now on the right track, especially in terms of reintroducing French to people who no longer use the language. But we need support to keep the momentum going.