Thank you for the question.
In terms of funding, I will give you two examples. The first is an organization in the Fort McMurray area, which was providing employability services to francophones. Its funding has been cut and the money directed to anglophone organizations. That French-language service has almost disappeared.
I remember that this issue was raised at our community’s annual general meeting. This is a specific case that you can check. Right now, the francophones who arrive in Fort McMurray to look for work have to go to an anglophone organization, whereas our community had provided those services for a long time and it was going very well.
I refer to the second example in my document. It is an indirect cut in the sense that francophone positions are funded within anglophone organizations, to prevent us from providing services in French. We believe that those funds should be directed to francophone organizations, so that we can deliver the services ourselves. That’s why we keep using the slogan that my colleague used just now: “We want services provided by and for francophones.”
Why fund the position of a French-speaking person? A French-speaking person in an anglophone organization is not a francophone. The position is basically limited to interpretation, but it does not create links between those immigrants and the community.
In a settlement and integration process, the community is really the sap that enables newcomers to thrive in the community. Once they become members of their own francophone community, they will also integrate into the larger majority community.