Thank you Mr. Chair and respected members of Parliament.
You said this was a historic moment, and that is true for me, too. I have not been in this room in nearly 12 years, and I previously appeared here a number of times. There is no doubt that this committee is one of my favourites, along with its Senate counterpart, of course. I don't want to make anyone jealous.
Thank you for inviting me to discuss the situation of Canada's francophonie. Obviously, I will consider it from the perspective of a fairly hot topic right now, the Université de l'Ontario français.
I am really happy to talk about this, but I don't plan on making a long speech. I have followed your work, and you have been very active in this area; the interest is there. I feel that you want to engage in dialogue, ask questions and get clarifications.
I have been leading this file for over two years. We first had a year of planning, which brought the previous Ontario government to decide to create a homogenous French-language university, the first of its kind in Ontario. Afterwards, we had a year for implementation.
Today, I would like us to explore solutions to break the impasse after the university's funding was withdrawn. That said, before I begin, I would like to come back to a message I have often repeated here, when I was Commissioner of Official Languages. The federal government must show clear and proactive leadership in Canadian linguistic duality, especially when it comes to the growth and development of official language minority communities.
When I was commissioner, I had the privilege of working closely with parliamentarians to strengthen part VII of the Official Languages Act. I think that is the last, if not the only, amendment to have been made to the act. It happened in 2005 or 2006.
Some parliamentarians, including the Honourable Mr. Paradis, will probably remember that it was thanks to the leadership of Senator Jean-Robert Gauthier and Mauril Bélanger, two Franco-Ontarians, that part VII of the act could be amended. The amendment aimed to provide more teeth to that part and clarify the federal government's responsibilities toward official language minority communities.
That amendment was made 12 years ago, and I have not followed closely how the government proceeded to implement that section of the act fully. At the time, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages had conducted a study to help the government further define what was meant by “positive measures” and “obligation to act”, and aim for concrete results in the growth and support for the development of official language minority communities. I have with me provisions that talk about commitment and obligations.
Positive measures mean an obligation to act. That is what you are currently doing. You are trying to find ways of doing things that will help Ontario's francophonie acquire a tool necessary to its full development and growth.
The Franco-Ontarian community is at a crossroads. For the first time in its history, our community had cleared the last hurdle in the control and management of its homogenous French-language educational institutions.
We have our elementary and secondary schools, our homogenous francophone colleges, our school boards and, finally, a university charter, our provincial university. Its first campus is planned in Toronto, in the region with the most significant growth of francophone minorities in the country. We anticipate that more than 50% of the Ontario's francophone population will reside there in the next decade. The growth is very rapid. The university should not be built in 10 years, but now.
A single sentence in an economic statement is robbing the largest French minority community in the country of a tool necessary to its full intellectual, social, economic and cultural development. The shockwave created by that decision and, of course, by the scrapping of the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner, has strongly affected the province and the country as a whole. In my opinion, that reflects the fact that linguistic duality and the protection of minorities are at the heart of the Canadian identity. The situation has really captured the imagination of all Canadians.
Not everyone could take the time to create a petition, but I will leave you a copy of a petition initiated by a citizen, Clayre Bertrand. In a few weeks, she managed to collect more than 5,000 signatures to support the cause of the Université de l'Ontario français. In addition, a petition launched by the AFO has collected dozens of thousands of signatures from Canadians across the country. We are not just talking about French Ontario. Your file on Canada's francophonie is very relevant. In fact, if Ontario's francophonie stops evolving and is not healthy, the entire Canadian francophonie will lose out.
I think it is time for our government to adjust and exercise strong and remedial leadership. I am here talking about leadership and obligations, under the Canadian Constitution, aimed at progressing toward the equal status of French and English in Canadian society. I am also talking about the obligation, under the Official Languages Act, a quasi-institutional piece of legislation, to take the necessary steps—I would say all the necessary steps—to support the development and growth of the Franco-Ontarian Community.
The federal government has a number of institutions, a number of jurisdictions. A university is a place of innovation, an economic development tool, a place of creation, research and knowledge, a place of synergy and community development, and a place of intersection and partnerships between the private and the public. The federal government operates in all those spheres and in many others.
The project of the Université de l'Ontario français has the following vision: we are in Toronto, in a sea of anglophones, but we are numerous. The university is a project of a francophone hub of knowledge and innovation. Our objective is for the university to be at the heart of that hub. We have more than 14 francophone partners.
Among others, I am talking about TFO, the Théâtre français de Toronto, Collège Boréal, Canadian Parents for French and school boards.
Fourteen francophone organizations that are already partners will be housed at the same address, in the heart of Toronto. That will really become a place of meetings, exchanges and creation, in French, and a place to create, evolve, develop projects, take action and, of course, educate the young people who are waiting to attend the institution.
This is a 21st century university, an innovative university. A slew of reports published by the federal government and other sources are saying that universities do not always meet the expectations of modern and contemporary society. They have trouble keeping up to date because, in my opinion, it is difficult to change long-standing practices.
The advantage of a small university that is starting up in the 21st century is that it can align even more with the needs of contemporary society and can become a benchmark for other university institutions in Canada.
