Good morning. My name is Angélina Gionet, and I am the Director of the Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta, Wood Buffalo region, Fort McMurray. I have been working for that organization since January 15, 2007.
From 2000 to 2011, the population of Fort McMurray increased by 138%. The number of residents went from 56,000 to 116,000. In 2010, the population was expected to increase by 7.2% a year. However, in 2013, the population increased by 9.2%. There are approximately 14,000 francophones in the Fort McMurray community. Over the past 12 months, the birth rate has been 120 births per month.
I would also like to give you a few figures: 30% of the population earns between $175,000 and $189,000 a year; 25% of the population earns approximately $250,000; 24% of professionals hold down two jobs; 21% of the population lives under the poverty line. Over 60% of the population needs to see a distinct improvement in its housing conditions. Renting a room costs $800 a month, and a two-bedroom apartment costs $2,000 a month. The average cost of an ordinary house is $740,000.
Over 230,000 inhabitants are expected to have settled in Fort McMurray by 2020. Over 75,000 employees currently work in the region. In 2030, we expect there to be 905,000 employees. Between 2012 and 2020, $92 billion will have been invested in the region.
There are more than 300 community organizations in Fort McMurray. However, none of these organizations offer services in French. When we want to refer francophones who have trouble understanding or speaking English to another organization, we have to go with them. The ACFA is the only spokesperson for the development of the local francophonie. We have the responsibility to offer and create services so as to meet the needs of the entire community.
As for the Albertan government, it only offers services in French in two specific sectors, that is francophone school governance and French-language criminal trials. This last aspect leaves something to be desired. No funds are allocated for community movements or primary care.
I am one of the two employees of the ACFA in Wood Buffalo. In addition to English and French, over 135 languages are spoken in Alberta. More than 250,000 residents speak French. After English, French is the most taught language in Alberta schools. On average, one child out of three is registered in a French-language program. Since I took up my position in 2007, the francophone population has grown by 18%.
Among the services the regional Wood Buffalo ACFA offers to the community are bilingual, mandatory security courses to allow francophones to find employment as quickly as possible. We receive telephone calls on a daily basis as well as emails from francophones throughout the country and elsewhere in the world. We offer a settlement service to French-speaking newcomers from other countries. This service has been made possible thanks to a partnership we created with the Centre d'accueil et d'établissement du Nord de l'Alberta in Edmonton.
With the assistance service for new francophone entrepreneurs, we have, for instance, helped eight small businesses to settle in our region. They have from two to eight employees. More francophone businesses have settled there, but those are the ones the ACFA supported.
We have a service to support French-speaking victims of violence. The only francophone day care was opened by the ACFA five years ago. We offer that service for children from zero to five years, as well as before and after-school programs. There is monthly coordination of sociocultural activities in French. A women's committee especially for the French-speaking women of Fort McMurray celebrated its fifth anniversary in April of this year.
Since I took up my position in 2007, the ACFA has welcomed over 2,000 clients a year.
In 2011, we lost the only bilingual employment service. It had been managed by our association for 10 years and was in full expansion. The government makes decisions without consulting the francophone community. An equivalent service was attributed to an anglophone agency that has no experience with respect to the needs of francophones. It offers a very poor service.
The seniors' centre is a multi-million dollar project. It was negotiated. An attempt was made to open its doors, but it failed because of a francophone clause regarding the lot. Since there is nothing regarding discrimination in matters of language, we have little recourse, even in the workplace. Our unions themselves are not open to the needs of francophones or to defending their rights.
The Centre des ressources francophones will be supported by the end of May 2014 by the public library. We should have our own resource centre with francophone books and teaching material. No public library service can support our francophone community.
Our French-speaking elders are leaving the region because they have no services. We are working with the Alberta Health Services north zone to establish a bilingual health service. In northern Alberta, 10% of the population is French-speaking. There are still some Alberta hospitals that do not allow bilingual nurses to speak French to their patients, under threat of reprimand.
All the services offered by the ACFA are made possible thanks to the support of Heritage Canada. The cuts to Heritage Canada are going to have an adverse effect on the services offered by the association.
The services the ACFA offers to 2,000 clients a year cost about 70¢ per person in Fort McMurray.
The needs are so great that it is impossible to make a recommendation that could meet all of them.
Thank you.