Mr. Lauzon.
Evidence of meeting #20 for Official Languages in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was saskatchewan.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #20 for Official Languages in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was saskatchewan.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank our witnesses for being here this morning.
I have five minutes, but I have about a dozen questions.
If I understand correctly, obtaining funds from the Province of Saskatchewan to fund your schools is a major challenge.
9:25 a.m.
President, Conseil scolaire fransaskois
That's right, and we are given funds based on a funding formula that is comparable to that of the majority.
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Is it based on the number of students? How does it work?
9:25 a.m.
President, Conseil scolaire fransaskois
Yes, it's determined by the number of students. Imagine 1,500 students spread out over 15 schools, in our case, and for the majority, it's 1,500 students in one or two schools. So we're talking about one principal and two vice-principals, whereas for us, it's 15 schools, 15 principals, 15 buildings.
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Are the numbers per student the same for anglophones and francophones?
9:25 a.m.
Director, Conseil des écoles fransaskoises
Actually, there's no longer a formula for that. Since 2009, it has been under review, and we are still waiting for the new model. We received 1.34% of the base value, but some factors have been eliminated. Previously, we received $600 more per student, but at some point, that amount was reduced to $12 for the teaching of another language. If we multiply $12 by 1,000 students, that comes to $12,000. But teaching English, first language—and we are in fact teaching both languages—costs $630,000.
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
I'd like to ask you to give a very brief answer.
Of the 1,565 students, what portion has francophone roots and what portion has anglophone roots?
9:25 a.m.
Director, Conseil des écoles fransaskoises
Close to 4% or 5% are anglophones; the rate isn't very high. We are not accumulating very many, the way we see it.
But when this involves lost generations, under section 23, we must consider them anglophones. At that point, the percentage increases to 20% or 25%.
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Do you have difficulty finding francophone teachers?
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
It's a problem in my riding, as well. Perhaps it's one of the reasons people can't get enough funding. How does that apply in your situation?
9:25 a.m.
Director, Conseil des écoles fransaskoises
When we have to go to university fairs to recruit, we have to pay for advertising. We are competing with everyone else to get those teachers.
Then there is continuing education. At the University of Regina, education courses focus mostly on immersion. We have to invest more money to allow our teachers to meet their obligations in their first language.
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
I think you mentioned that 12% of your population is of francophone origin.
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Of the 12%, how many live in French and use French?
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
That's real progress.
The other 10% is lost...
9:25 a.m.
Director, Conseil des écoles fransaskoises
It is not necessarily lost with remedial action and good marketing. When immersion schools were established, the federal government had a national advertising campaign to promote immersion education and the use of the method. But, when we built our schools and set up our school boards, there was no advertising and no money was invested to let those eligible know that they could use the service.
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
In my constituency, there are a lot of francophones who cannot speak their language anymore. Children often go to anglophone schools or immersion schools. But parents cannot help their children. At some stage, they lose the ability to speak French.
9:30 a.m.
President, Conseil scolaire fransaskois
But we still provide assistance to parents. We are well aware of the problem.
If parents see that the school is stable, well established and getting good results, they might be more responsive. Many parents are sitting on the fence and looking to see if the whole range of services is available or not. If we provide all the services, we will attract many more parents. As the saying goes, if you build it, they will come.
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
That depends on where the schools are located.
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
You currently have 16 schools. Are they in good locations?