Official Languages Committee on Dec. 4th, 2018

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos]

Sure. Obviously, Montreal is well served; however, there are other areas outside Montreal that are not well served at all and they don't have any institutions, even though they're anglophone.

I think it depends on which region we're looking at.

[Carol Jolin]

We have the same problem in Ontario. In the larger cities, it's easier to see that the French services are there, but we have 26 designated areas that serve about 80% of our francophone population. That means that 20% of our francophone population don't even have those services. There's still a lot of work to do, and that's why we're working to have not only 26 designated areas, but only one big one in Ontario.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos]

Across the country we have lots of work to do—

[Carol Jolin]

I agree with you.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos]

—to protect minority language groups. I know that the QCGN is a big supporter of yours as well. They're on the same page and they would like to do as much as they can to help your cause. And for the anglophone community in Quebec, it's the same across the board.

Is there anything more that they can do to help support you in this fight?

[Carol Jolin]

First, I really appreciate the way they've been supporting us so far. They were at one of our press conferences, and they drove to Ottawa to support us. The organization, or their members, can write letters to our government, to the Government of Quebec; and we have the support of the Quebec government as well. This has been very important because having the support of the whole community—francophones and anglophones in Quebec—puts a lot of pressure on our government. We have to maintain that pressure in all kinds of ways that we can.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Ms. Lambropoulos.

I'd like to make a comment. Several people have already told us about ways to strengthen our language legislation. One witness even suggested in the past that we should impose a minimum threshold of two-thirds of the votes required to amend or repeal a law. This is an example of the possibilities that have already been discussed. If you have any other ideas for strengthening our language legislation in Canada, feel free to share them with us.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

I would offer an answer to the question.

Mr. Jolin, you said something that will stay with me all my life and that could help to get your arguments accepted. You said—and I think I'm quoting you—that Quebec had the government to defend its institutions, but Ontario relied on its institutions to defend the Francophonie. This is an extremely strong argument. We can only dream.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Mr. Samson.

Mr. Jolin, do you have any final comments?

[Carol Jolin]

We will get back to you about the work to be done on the Official Languages Act, which is being done under the auspices of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne. We will have the opportunity to get back to you on this subject. We have several suggestions for you about the work that needs to be done.

Thank you for having me here today. What is important for us is to move this issue forward. The university exists, and we must continue the work.

One of my concerns is the financial aspect. The university has funds until January 15; it is important to note this. I was saying earlier that the federal government can exercise leadership by ensuring that the current Governance Council can continue its work beyond January 15 and that the issue will continue to progress so that the university is ready to welcome students, we hope, on September 1, 2020.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

On behalf of all my colleagues, thank you very much for your excellent presentation.

[Carol Jolin]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

We'll suspend the meeting for a few minutes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

We're resuming the meeting.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108, we are continuing the study on the state of Canada's Francophonie.

During this second hour, we have the pleasure of welcoming Normand Labrie, Interim President, and Florence Ngenzebuhoro, a member of the Governance Council, both from the Université de l'Ontario français.

Welcome.

You know how this goes. You have about 10 minutes for your presentation, then there will be a round table during which my colleagues will ask questions and make comments.

Mr. Labrie, you have the floor.

[Normand Labrie, Interim President, Université de l'Ontario français]

All right.

Good morning, everyone.

Mr. Chair, Vice-Chairs and members of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, thank you for welcoming us. We are very pleased to have the opportunity this morning to come and speak to you in greater detail about the Université de l'Ontario français, the UOF, and its current needs.

For more than 40 years, hundreds of people, if not thousands, have worked hard to ensure that Ontario has a French-language university. Well, we now have in Ontario a new institution called the Université de l’Ontario français, an institution that is vital for francophone communities, for Ontario as a whole, and for the entire country. This institution was created by the Université de l’Ontario français Act, 2017. This Act gives the UOF a provincial mission that we intend to fulfill as a multi-campus university through affiliations with other postsecondary institutions that offer French-language programs in various regions across the province, as well as through any other form of partnership with these institutions.

The first campus is planned for Toronto, but the Université de Hearst has expressed interest in affiliating with the UOF, and the universities of Saint Paul and Sudbury have also expressed interest in considering some form of association or affiliation. A plan for a feasibility study has been proposed to this end.

Our university will be a magnet for francophones in Central—Southwestern Ontario, who suffer from a glaring lack of postsecondary education in French, all while French-language education at the primary and secondary school levels is growing rapidly—the president of the AFO mentioned this earlier and provided supporting figures—and is known for its excellence.

And, if I may add, French immersion programs are extremely popular with families of all linguistic backgrounds. Central-Southwestern Ontario, which already accounts for one-third of Canada’s population, is experiencing the highest population growth through immigration and inter- and intra-provincial labour mobility. This region will soon represent half of the province's Francophone population.

Moreover, the region is a major centre for innovation and economic development at the national and international levels. In these few words alone, I am sure you already understand all the potential that comes with creating this new French-language university in Toronto, a university that is not only designed in sync with its time, but that also anticipates the future needs of young people and employers.

Over the past year, we have made considerable efforts to establish the conditions required to open the UOF in September 2020. Indeed, just this past November 21st, we published on our website the report of our first year of operation, of which you have a copy. While much work remains to be done by 2020, we are confident of the project’s success.

According to our forecasts, the Université de l’Ontario français will begin with a cohort of 300 students, full-time equivalents, in 2020, reaching about 2,000 students ten years later. Therefore, by 2030, the UOF will reach the size of Bishop's University, the smallest of the three English-language universities in Quebec, after McGill and Concordia, which together total more than 60,000 students, full-time equivalents, enrolled in English-language programs, of which there are more than 10,000 Canadian students from other provinces and more than 12,000 international students.

While every other university grapples with the challenges of adapting to the new conditions of the contemporary world, such as globalization, human migration, cultural diversity, or digital transformations, the UOF has the privilege of starting out from scratch and distinguishing itself from traditional universities.

Created in the 21^st century, the UOF has no history except for that of the political project carried out over more than 40 years by the Francophone communities who claim their own institution, governed by and for Francophones. It has no liabilities. It can therefore develop into a forward-thinking institution that can serve as a model for other universities in Ontario, as well as elsewhere in the country and around the world. It is a unique opportunity.

The UOF has designed its academic programming around three major components.

The first and most distinctive component of the UOF is a set of four transdisciplinary academic programs, specialized bachelor's programs that were developed and submitted to the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities on October 1^st last.

These programs are not limited to the traditional disciplines normally offered at today's universities. Instead they deal with objects of study that are crucially important problems for society today and that requires contributions from multiple disciplines. We need to have a clear understanding of those problems. The content of these programs has been selected based on the objects of study rather than disciplines and on issues that face our society and that builds on the strengths of the Toronto region, such as human plurality, urban environments, the globalized economy, and digital cultures.

Those are the first programs, in which students will be encouraged to develop the skills they need to understand and analyze those problems, develop a critical approach, imagine appropriate means of intervention and improve human conditions in those sectors.

Our programming includes a second component focusing on professional programs, such as education, social work, law, and health sciences. These programs will be selected to meet the most pressing needs of Francophone communities. Since most of these programs are accredited by professional orders, it takes more time and effort to have them approved. We intend to make them available in collaboration with partner universities that already offer them and that may do so at our university in French, in partnership with us on our Toronto campus.

The first of these programs will be an alternative, part-time bachelor's degree in education, for those who hold another bachelor’s degree, and will also be available to teachers who practise by means of a letter of permission until they can earn their qualifications. This program will enable them to continue working while they study on a part-time basis to acquire the qualifications they need and will thus help remedy the shortage of French-language teachers in Ontario.

The third component focuses on students enrolled in English-language institutions in the region. Of the thousands of students at the 13 universities in Central—Southwestern Ontario whose first language is French, more than 3,000 are enrolled in pharmacology, engineering and computer science. Under reciprocal agreements with nearby universities, we want to enable those students to come and take elective courses in French at the UOF, thereby retaining their language while they pursue a four-year bachelor's degree in English. We will offer them courses with French content so they can improve their language skills for professional or university purposes and feel comfortable using their language when they leave the university. Even if they have studied in English, they will be professionals who are capable of functioning in French when working in the region's Francophone communities.

What also differentiates the UOF from other universities is its pedagogical approach. Pedagogy is very important for our university, and we have adopted an approach that is not merely a process of transmitting knowledge but rather a highly inductive approach in which we take objects of study and work together with professors, other students, the community, society and employers to develop ways of directly observing those problems and reality and find conceptual, theoretical, methodological and professional explanations that we can use to address and solve those problems.

We have adopted a pedagogy that is based on collaboration among students, faculty and society at large and that is based to a large extent on digital technology. We want to offer our programs in co-modality, in other words, in person but also on online platforms that give students the option of participating wherever they may be: on an internship, in the workplace or outdoors.

We have adopted an experiential pedagogy that enables students to acquire experience in the workplace throughout their academic program. This aspect is very important. All the studies show that students who follow this kind of curriculum find jobs upon completion of their university studies. This will also be done thanks in part to an innovative initiative that we proposed and that resulted in the creation of the Francophone Hub of Knowledge and Innovation, which will involve some 15 Francophone organizations across the Toronto region, including Groupe Média TFO, which has 220 employees, and the Centre francophone de Toronto, directed by Mrs. Ngenzebuhoro, which provides health and social services, legal services and immigration assistance.

As a result, some 15 organizations will set up at the university on its permanent campus, where they will help create a Francophone living environment in Toronto while becoming an integral part of UOF's academic mission. We won't be just sharing premises. This form of partnership will be part of the UOF's academic mission in Toronto, where students may complete internships and find jobs.

These organizations will definitely evolve in a constant and positive way in contact with our students and academic research. At the same time, the University will remain in contact with the community throughout its development, which will definitely encourage it to develop in the right direction.

One of these hub partners, the Centre francophone de Toronto, is well positioned to offer services to UOF students in its areas of expertise, which include immigration services for international students, housing, health services, social services, legal advice, etc.

In designing the UOF, we drew on prominent studies from leading organizations such as the OECD, the Conference Board of Canada and the Royal Bank of Canada, among others, all of whom agree that university education must be transformed to adapt to the world of the 21 ^st century. We have a duty to prepare future generations for a society and a labour market that are undergoing profound change. That's the approach we adopted when we designed our programs.

We also drew on some of the best new universities in the world: for example, Quest University in British Columbia, a private university created in 2007 with tuition fees as high as $35,000. We at the UOF want to offer an education of equal quality but in a public institution that is accessible to all, regardless of one’s financial capacity.

We were also inspired by the University of Bozen-Bolzano, created twenty years ago for the German linguistic minority of Northern Italy, which is ranked among the ten best small universities in the world. Furthermore, we were inspired by Azim Premji University in India, created in 2012 thanks to the generosity of billionaire Azim Premji, who donated his fortune to create a model university to raise the standards of education in his country.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Since time is short, I would ask you please to summarize the rest of your presentation. In fact, I suggest that you do so as you answer questions from members of the committee.

I turn the floor over to Mr. Blaney.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Right off the bat, I'd like to tell you that the Université de l'Ontario français project is in very good hands because it's executive officer is from Bellechasse. That's a guarantee of the project's success right there.

[Normand Labrie]

There are some good people in Bellechasse.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Some good people come from there. We're pleased to see that.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Labrie, your institution stands at the top of the education pyramid. We've talked about various academic institutions. Some, like the Université de Hearst, are francophone, and others are bilingual. However, you are really the founder of a university designed for French-speaking Ontario by members of the francophone community.

I would nevertheless offer one criticism. I think the enrolment projections for your university are very conservative. You mentioned 200 enrolments, a number that could rise to 300 in 2020. I think the number could be much larger because your project's so exciting.

As regards the programs you offer, you explained that you didn't want to create a university in the usual sense of that term but that you were aiming more for a transdisciplinary niche. In your presentation, you also mentioned the communities' needs for education, social services and health services. Could you explain to us how your university will stand out in the postsecondary education sector?

Could you also go back over Mr. Jolin's remarks on the AFO's place in the consultations conducted by members of the Franco-Ontarian community?

[Normand Labrie]

Thank you very much for your question.

Two years ago, when we started planning the university, we had to bear in mind that the funding framework would be different. The university funding framework established in Ontario is based on differentiation, not on duplication of supply. We had that in mind at the outset.

Some people in the francophone community definitely would've liked to have a university equivalent to McGill University operating in French in Toronto. However, McGill University has an annual operating budget of more than $500 million. We couldn't work on that basis. We had to do it progressively.

We're striving for excellence. We're in an academic ecosystem characterized by excellence, where existing universities are world class in that regard. If our francophone university proved to be of poor quality, we wouldn't have any students. We had to join that network of excellence.

We therefore designed a small university that would grow with time. Bill 177 enables us to design programs in all fields, and we can do that, but we have to start somewhere. We thought of bachelor's degree programs that are offered at other universities. Having regard to the existing market, we targeted a specific niche we could build on.

The planning council consulted 300 persons throughout the province and across the country for 6 months and continues to do so. A student council is working with us, and some 30 volunteers signed up on our website to help us.

To develop our programs, we recruited some 100 consultants, who are among the best university professors in their fields in Canada.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

It's a special excellence niche. As you mentioned, Ontario's university environment includes some highly reputed universities. It's reassuring to see you've adopted that niche.

The sector is currently booming. We have to admit that the financial situation of any project is often difficult, but there are some possibilities here. In recent weeks, I have taken a closer look at your plan. I was in the streets of Quebec City on Sunday. As they often say, where your heart goes, there goes your money.

Mr. Labrie, have you considered creating a foundation? There's talk of a financial arrangement. This morning the representatives of the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario told us the federal government had said it was willing to provide start-up capital for the first four years. Talks on the subject are also under way on the Ontario side.

Are there any other funding sources that could be used to start setting up the UOF? I'm thinking of patronage. My colleague Mr. Généreux cited the example of Bishop's University, which you referred to. That university has a long tradition, of course, but it has nevertheless raised $40 million.

We believe in this project, but how can we support it? Are there any funding initiatives in sight?

[Normand Labrie]

That's in our documents. The board of governors was established in April, and we've only been able to use our bank accounts since May. We've also requested a charitable registration number from the Canada Revenue Agency, but that process takes several months and the registration number isn't automatically assigned. However, we believe we'll soon be able to conduct a fundraising campaign to support the university.

In the meantime, since we can't yet do it, we're trying to see whether other foundations with academic missions similar to ours might work with us to raise funding for the Université de l'Ontario français.