Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank you again for inviting us to testify in the context of this study on French and English as a second-language programs.
Founded in 1926, the mission of the Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta, ACFA, is to defend the gains of the Albertan francophone community, to promote its rights and further its vitality. It represents 268,640 French-speaking Albertans, and speaks for them on issues that impact the Albertan francophonie.
In the context of this study, I would like to focus on these three main points: acquiring an official status for French immersion programs; obtaining support for Campus Saint-Jean so that it can respond to the shortage of French-language teachers; creating closer links between the francophone communities and French learners.
Regarding the first point, acquiring an official status for French immersion programs, I want to point out that ACFA is preparing a brief which it will soon submit to the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages in the context of its vast study on the modernization of the Official Languages Act. ACFA wants to contribute a novel idea by proposing that a new education clause be included in the Official Languages Act to confirm the official status of French immersion programs and propose a framework for the federal government's financial contribution to the teaching of French as a second language.
In order to explain my suggestion, I would like to describe a situation which occurred recently in Alberta; Ms. Mueller spoke about it earlier.
Last June, a Calgary school board made the decision to charge parents who wished to send their children to French immersion school for bus transportation, under the pretext that this was an optional program. Since the parents could not afford it, some of them had to remove their children from that program.
ACFA feels that this situation is untenable. If linguistic duality is one of this country's fundamental values, and Minister Morneau repeated this Tuesday when he presented Budget 2018, French immersion must be viewed as a basic program allowing us to train Canadian citizens who will be able to think, express themselves, and work in both official languages.
Thanks to Albertan parents who fought for their rights, French-language education is now protected and enshrined in section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which has lent considerable support to the vitality of francophone and Acadian communities from one end of the country to the other. We firmly believe that the time has come for French immersion programs to also benefit from official status, protection and a framework, and the Official Languages Act could be the proper place for the integration of that change. It will be our pleasure to share this important part of our brief once it has been finalized and tabled.
The second point of my presentation discusses support for Campus Saint-Jean at the University of Alberta.
Campus Saint-Jean is the only French-language post-secondary institution in the province. It is therefore of capital importance for the francophone community of Alberta. There is an increasing demand for bilingual workers, particularly for qualified teachers to teach in primary and secondary French-language schools. Unfortunately, the activities and capital assets of Campus Saint-Jean are chronically underfunded, and it does not have sufficient autonomy to meet specific needs. And so, in order to deal with the shortage of French-language teachers, the federal government could work with our community, the University of Alberta and the Albertan government to find specific solutions to remedy the precarious situation of Campus Saint-Jean.
My last point is the rapprochement between the francophone communities and those who are learning French.
Last summer, the ACFA concluded an agreement with Canadian Parents for French of Alberta in order to develop closer links and promote the French language and the advantages of official bilingualism. This type of co-operation is particularly important in the current context.
Today more than ever, graduates and students who study in French Immersion programs can dream about promising careers. The adoption of a French language policy by the Government of Alberta and this morning's proclamation which recognizes the month of March as the annual month of Albertan francophonie are jesters that normalize the French fact and increase the possibilities of living, working and thriving in French in Alberta.
However, the responsibilities in this file are shared by our provincial government, which really does not have any official linguistic obligations except for a few exceptions, and the federal government. It is thus important that the federal government play a role in awareness-raising, persuasion and leadership in order to respond to the issues raised, because ultimately Canadian citizens as a whole are affected by this.
It is with a great deal of respect that we submit these avenues of reflexion. I thank you for your attention. I am ready to answer your questions.