Official Languages Committee on March 2nd, 2018

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Welcome everyone.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3), we will continue our study of access to early childhood services in the minority language. We are very happy to be with you, in Winnipeg, this morning.

First of all, we have some small technical issues to solve. We are missing equipment for the interpretation. I will ask my colleagues for unanimous consent to proceed without interpretation. Is that okay?

I don't hear anyone complaining, so it should be okay.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

We are complaining, but it is not the Committee's fault. We will therefore proceed this way; however, this is exceptional.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

It is exceptional, of course.

This morning, we welcome, as individuals, Dominique Arbez, professor and coordinator, Early Childhood Education, Université de Saint-Boniface, and Mélanie Cwikla, director, Technical and Professional Programs, Université de Saint-Boniface.

We welcome Carol-Guillaume Gagné and Peter Ormiston from the Association des parents fransaskois; Joanne Colliou from the Coalition francophone de la petite enfance du Manitoba; Alpha Barry and Hélène Grimard from the Conseil des écoles fransaskoises; Alain Laberge from the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine; Brigitte L'Heureux from the Fédération des parents du Manitoba; and Juliette Chabot, director of the daycare Les Chouettes de Lorette Inc.

I will explain how this meeting will work. You will each have five minutes, but, given that there's a good number of you, I would ask that you respect those five minutes, or else I will have to intervene and put an end to your presentation to allow everyone to speak. We want to hear from everyone. Do not get angry if I intervene. You will still be able to express your points of view during the second part of the meeting, during which members will each have six minutes to make comments or ask questions on your presentation. If you do not get the opportunity to finish your presentation, you can continue it by answering questions.

Is that okay? Yes? We will then start immediately with Ms. Arbez.

Ms. Arbez, you have the floor.

[Dominique Arbez, Professor and coordinator, Early Childhood Education, Université de Saint-Boniface, As an Individual]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Dominique Arbez. I am a professor and the coordinator of the Early Childhood Education program.

Personnel training is a key element to ensure the quality of early childhood services. In Manitoba, The Community Child Care Standards Act requires a ratio of trained personnel. The Early Childhood Education program of the Technical College at the Université de Saint-Boniface has existed for over 25 years now. This two-year training program leading to the ECE II classification is the only one to be offered in French in Manitoba.

Many of our graduates have become educators in nurseries, preschools, kindergartens and schools. Some of them manage educational daycare centres, others work for the government to ensure that daycare services are well coordinated. Some now teach this same program. It would be hard to measure the impact all these early childhood professionals have on our community, and to determine how many families and children have benefited from the fruit of their work.

We recommend implementing measures to re-enforce the recognition and the value of minority early childhood professionals, in order to help recruit and retain them.

We also recommend more support for networking and sharing opportunities among the various professionals, in order to give them the right tools and encourage their dedication.

In the classroom, we face many cultural and linguistic realities that we try to recognize and include in our teaching. This diversity brings some challenges in the mastery of both official languages. Our required practical internships in French- and English-speaking environments have led to new criteria for language courses. These restrictions, although necessary, have contributed to a drop in enrolment.

We recommend the provision of funds to provide additional preparatory courses for potential students in post-secondary education in both official languages.

We also recommend putting aside funds to recruit potential students, as well as to develop and offer online courses to ensure access to training.

Since we have implemented our second method of receiving a diploma, the accelerated program allows us to provide training to students who have acquired work experience, therefore making it easier to fulfill the personnel ratios as mandated by the Act. Despite the utility of this method of receiving a diploma, we had to significantly modify the offer this year, following a decrease in the amount of available teaching positions. Consequently, our program is the only one that simultaneously offers courses to both groups—those in year 1 and year 2—which has allowed this model to survive.

This is why we recommend that the provincial government guarantee stable funding, despite the limited number of candidates for this training model.

The Advanced Diploma in Leadership in Early Childhood Education is designed for early childhood managers, and was launched in 2008. Unfortunately, it did not receive regular funding. The program was suspended, and, alas, it is no longer possible to receive advanced training in early childhood in French in Manitoba. The Bachelor of Arts-Developmental Studies at the University of Winnipeg, with which we have signed an articulation agreement, recognizes our diploma as the equivalent of 30 credits. For at least five years now, we have been trying to get a similar agreement with the Université de Saint-Boniface. However, even if the discussions are moving forward, the agreement will not be recognized by the province under the ECE III classification.

We recommend that the provincial government provide clear instructions and adequate funding to develop and offer advanced training in early childhood in French.

Unlike us, the other public post-secondary institutions in Manitoba have one or more educational daycare centres that can benefit from collaborative agreements. These agreements give students in early childhood exceptional internship or shadowing opportunities. This is a major obstacle for the francophone community, specifically for families who could benefit from this high-quality centre.

We recommend that the federal and provincial governments approve funding dedicated to implementing a high-quality educational daycare centre on campus, which could serve as an educational model.

We know that the universities and the colleges could contribute to the creation of new knowledge by researching early childhood.

A golden opportunity is being missed with the decision not to move forward with the Centre d'excellence enfant, famille et communauté day care centre. The centre would have facilitated research on early childhood development in minority communities.

We are calling on the federal government to make a larger investment in research on early childhood development in minority communities.

It is clear that French-language early childhood programs in Manitoba are not on equal footing with English-language programs. We therefore ask the committee to support our request for adequate funding for early childhood training in French.

Thank you for listening.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Ms. Arbez.

We will continue with Mélanie Cwikla.

[Mélanie Cwikla, Director, Technical and Professional Programs, Université Saint-Boniface, As an Individual]

Good morning. My name is Mélanie Cwikla, and I am the director of the Université de Saint-Boniface's École technique et professionnelle, which is responsible for the university's technical and professional programs.

Members of the committee, welcome to our province, Manitoba.

During your brief visit, you will have an opportunity to see just how strong and proud Manitoba's francophone community is, in the heart of the Americas. That said, our community's vitality is far from certain, making better access to early childhood services in French essential.

As my colleague Ms. Arbez mentioned, the early childhood education program we offer at Université de Saint-Boniface has more than its share of challenges. We face numerous obstacles. There is no denying that, in order to provide access to quality early childhood services, day care spaces are, of course, needed, but so are trained educators. It comes down to creating a strong foundation for the continuum of education in French, from birth to professional life.

Our French-language programs have a dual mandate: train experts in early childhood development as well as experts in language transmission. Even though no anglophone institution has such a mandate, our training programs are often assessed based on the same performance criteria, in other words, the number of students we serve and the cost per student. Little to no recognition is given to our dual mandate or the fact that our recruitment pool is significantly smaller than that of our anglophone counterparts.

In order to support access to early childhood services in minority language communities, the federal government should ensure that a portion of the funds transferred to the provinces goes to post-secondary training in French. This would help francophone institutions provide comparable training to that of their anglophone counterparts.

As my colleague indicated earlier, our training program for educators, which includes job placements, continues to suffer from a lack of sustainable funding. Every year, we are forced to apply for funding yet again. How can we ensure the program's survival under those conditions? What's more, our advanced leadership program was suspended because of insufficient funding. What does that mean? It means that no French-language training is available to educators who want to become day care centre directors. In addition, anglophone colleges are able to offer advanced training programs that focus on children with special needs. At the Université de Saint-Boniface and École technique et professionnelle, we are barely able to keep our core programs going. Francophone children have the same needs as their anglophone counterparts, and our day care centres are desperate for qualified staff. I do not say that lightly; 11 of 21 licensed francophone day care centres had to ask the province for an exemption because they did not have enough trained staff. There is indeed a desperate need.

The shortage of trained staff is likely due to numerous factors, but I will focus on two of them—pay and working conditions. Red River College conducted a survey of its 2015-16 graduates. It revealed that they earned an average of $34,732 a year. After $8,000 in tuition fees and two years of study, graduates earn the same thing as someone who completed a five-month certificate program to become a personal care attendant for just $2,400.

When you consider the working conditions, I think you would agree that being an early childhood educator is something of a calling. The working conditions in minority communities are certainly difficult. Like their anglophone counterparts, francophone educators have to ensure children are well prepared to start school, but French-language school. They, too, have a dual mandate to fulfill: early childhood development and language transmission. Some of them eventually throw in the towel and leave the field. The federal government can help by adopting a holistic approach that recognizes the importance of the profession.

Yes, day care spaces are needed, but it's important not to disregard educator training, both in terms of basic skills and ongoing education. Children are our greatest asset, and the vitality of our communities depends on them. We need to have the means to match our ambitions.

Others have analyzed the issue, but I think it's now time to take action and make an investment in early childhood development, one that is needs-based. It's important to research early childhood development in minority communities. Special funding should be made available to support research by francophone institutions in minority communities. This would pave the way for universities and colleges to work with francophone communities to conduct research, documenting the positive impact of early childhood investments on the vitality of francophone minority communities.

The more evidence we have, the better-equipped we will be to make the right decisions. That is just as true for us, the institutions and communities, as it is for you, the governments.

We believe we have a role to play in the access to quality child care services, and we hope that the federal government recognizes this role by supporting post-secondary early childhood education training in French. This involves helping us to contribute to the continuum of education in French, from birth to career.

In closing, if the committee would like to broaden its consideration, I invite it to look at the application of section 23 of the Charter with regard to education continuum from early childhood to the post-secondary level.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Ms. Cwikla.

We'll now move on to Mr. Gagné and Mr. Ormiston.

[Carol-Guillaume Gagné, Chief Executive Officer, Saskatchewan, Association des parents fransaskois]

My name is Carol-Guillaume Gagné, and I am the chief executive officer of the Association des parents fransaskois. We are used to operating with limited resources. I will let the vice-president give the presentation. If there's time, I will add some information. Ultimately, I think it's important to hear the voice of the parents. In fact, without the parents, culture can't be passed on.

[Peter Ormiston, Vice-president, Saskatchewan, Association des parents fransaskois]

Members of the committee, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Thank you for inviting us to this meeting.

Before I start this presentation, I would like to thank all our partners, especially the representatives from the Conseil des écoles fransaskoises, the CEF, who are here today and who helped us to put together our presentation. I would also like to thank the committee members for giving us their attention.

We would like to talk to you about a part of the reality experienced by the early childhood sector in our Franco-Saskatchewanian community. Multiple challenges affect early childhood services in Saskatchewan. We need only think of the needs of newcomers and exogamous families, who make up a growing proportion of the Franco-Saskatchewanian community; the considerable distances separating our Franco-Saskatchewanian communities; and disparities in services offered in urban centres and rural areas. I could go on.

Established service providers, including early childhood centres, ECCs, family and child support centres, or FCSCs, pre-kindergarten and home child care, are required to explore innovative approaches to address these challenges. As you know, Part VII of the Official Languages Act states that the government is committed to taking positive measures for official language minority communities. This implies that all partners in this community must be involved, in accordance with their mandate, to support the community's development.

Can you imagine just how important it is to support early childhood in our minority communities?

It's important to remember that a waiting list in early childhood services is equivalent to a loss of clientele, not only for ECCs, but also for our schools in Saskatchewan. Finally, it is the community as a whole that loses vitality.

The statistics clearly show that the risks of assimilation are still very real. Language proficiency is the most effective way to counteract assimilation. In October 2016, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages published a report stating that the later children start learning a language, the less likely they are to master it. This confirms what many studies have reported, namely that the critical period for language acquisition is early childhood, from zero to four years of age.

In that same report, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages made clear some dark realities that contribute to this assimilation. It says that, in francophone minority communities, early childhood development is hampered by a lack of resources, a shortage of staff in early childhood centres and a fragmentation of services.

In Saskatchewan, services for young children are funded by the provincial Ministry of Education. For us francophones in a minority situation, such a universal approach that does not take into account our particularities, our actual situation and our specific challenges can in no way adequately meet our needs.

Early childhood services must therefore be part of a continuum, from birth to the end of a child's studies. In order to respond adequately to the needs of children and their parents, many partners need to work together, with an approach that favours the exchange of services and information, all in a climate of trust and true partnership.

As you can imagine, it isn't always easy to establish constructive partnerships in a context of financial scarcity. It's clear—

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Mr. Ormiston. I have to end your presentation, but you will be able to complete your explanations later when you respond to questions or observations from members of Parliament.

We now go to Ms. Colliou.

[Joanne Colliou, Manager, Centre de la petite enfance et de la famille, Coalition francophone de la petite enfance du Manitoba]

Good morning.

I am here as a representative of the Coalition francophone de la petite enfance du Manitoba, a coalition of partners that provides programs and services to families of children aged zero to six. We are not responsible for child care centres, but rather for supporting parents. The steering committee of the coalition is composed of the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine, the Fédération des parents du Manitoba and the Société de la francophonie Manitoba. There are also round tables where all of our provincial partners can sit to deliver programs and services to families. One of the coalition's major projects is the early childhood and family centres, the ECFCs, which are resource centres for parents. There are 16 ECFCs in Manitoba. Five of them are in urban areas, the others are in rural areas.

We currently receive funding for 11 of these 16 ECFCs. We had to stretch the funding. We are applying for grants in a number of places to meet the needs, because the communities have asked us. We recommend that the federal government give us money so that we can continue our project. Five school communities are still waiting for an ECFC. There is a lack of funds, and families are clamouring for an ECFC in their community. The remaining five communities are also the communities that are a little further away from the urban area and have more needs than many others.

We also have a staff shortage. We want our ECFC staff to have a level two early childhood education, to start with, because we also provide support to parents. We would also like to increase the hours of work for these coordinators, who work 20 to 30 hours a week, depending on the region. A region that has a coordinator working only 20 hours a week can't offer as many programs and services as another. We recommend receiving funding to improve this. Also, we can't offer pension or benefit plans to our staff. For the last six years, salary increases have been non-existent. The funding we receive has been stable since 2009 with no cost of living increases, among others. Everything increases, except funding.

We also have a good problem. The ECFCs attract families to the school division, which increases the number of students. This means that, at the moment, there is a lack of space in the schools for ECFCs, although the school division is trying to support us as much as possible.

There is also a great lack of programming for exogamous families, since the large population of our users comes from exogamous families. We only have a small number of programs for this clientele. We must improve that too.

Finally, there is a great lack of funding for early childhood assessment and research. We have had ECFCs in francophone school communities in the province since 2004, and we know that our programs have a great qualitative effect. Yet research doesn't show it. We have a lot of data that we could use to complete the research, to prove that it is important to invest in early childhood and that we should continue to do so.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Ms. Colliou.

We'll now move on to Alpha Barry and Hélène Grimard, who will both be presenting.

We'll hear from you first, Mr. Barry.

[Alpha Barry, Chair, Conseil des écoles fransaskoises]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Members of Parliament, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the entire Franco-Saskatchewanian school community, allow me to convey our best wishes.

I sincerely thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Conseil des écoles fransaskoises, known in brief as the CEFSK.

Our presence here is motivated by a strong desire to see the Official Languages Act modernized, especially with respect to early childhood education in a minority situation. We have a brief, and it has already been translated into both official languages. The title is “Help! The Franco-Saskatchewanian community is at the mercy of assimilative policies of the Government of Saskatchewan and Parliament is missing the call”.

Therefore, the CEFSK would like to take this opportunity to share with you the pressing challenges that it is currently facing in early childhood education. These challenges must be tackled.

The first part of the brief that we are presenting today deals with the legislative framework for early childhood education in Saskatchewan. The second part covers the challenges that the CEFSK is faced with in early childhood education. Lastly, the third part of our brief contains a proposal for amending the Official Languages Act.

In short, it is critically important that federal funding for the Franco-Saskatchewanian community be used effectively to fill the gaps created by the legislative structure adopted by the Province of Saskatchewan. It is with this in mind that we are today emphasizing the paramount importance of modernizing the Official Languages Act.

[Hélène Grimard, Vice-Chair, Conseil des écoles fransaskoises]

The importance of the early childhood period for intellectual, emotional and identity development no doubt no longer needs to be demonstrated. As your committee is well aware, the early childhood period is even more fundamental for the francophone and Acadian minority communities. The Franco-Saskatchewanian community is facing one of the highest rates of assimilation in the country and linguistic exogamy is constantly growing. Also, the chronic underfunding of the CEF does not allow it to boost the number of places it offers for pre-kindergarten.

We are very pleased that the current federal government seems more receptive. We would like to point out that the 2017 Multilateral Framework on Early Learning and Child Care is a great initiative, but let's be realistic: it has a seven-year term, and the bilateral agreements for implementing it will expire three years after they are adopted. Still, taking into account the interests of our communities during the implementation of these instruments depends on a lenient political will of our government towards us, which, let's be frank, is rather rare. There is a big gap between the early childhood programs offered to the majority and those offered to the minority. This is unacceptable, and it contributes to the assimilation of the province. This is why intervention by the federal government is critical. It must ensure the promotion of French-language communities in Saskatchewan, and at least partially bridge the gap between our communities and the English-speaking majority in Saskatchewan.

The gaps identified on several occasions by minority francophone school boards and by this committee require structuring solutions that go beyond the adoption of another protocol, a roadmap or a multilateral framework. Providing protections for early childhood education in the Official Languages Act would be a permanent solution to these problems.

Your current study is the perfect opportunity to recommend legislative changes, which could then permanently remedy the problems of the CEF in the field of early childhood education.

The CEF thanks you for giving it the opportunity to present its concerns and solutions.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Mr. Barry and Ms. Grimard.

We'll now go to Alain Laberge.

[Alain Laberge, Director General, Division scolaire franco-manitobaine]

Thank you very much.

You've received a folder in the colours of the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine, the DSFM. It's our brief, which is a little lengthier than I can present to you right now. We didn't want to draw things out for nothing.

Mr. Chair and committee members, the DSFM thanks you for being here. It is a privilege to host you in the land of Louis Riel, and I invite you to visit his grave and our schools if you have time this afternoon.

As this committee has noted time and again, early learning is the foundation of the education continuum. It is a crucial stage in life, particularly with regard to language and identity development in children.

Despite the consensus on the importance of that period in child development, particularly in minority situations, the solutions identified by the federal government have not provided a lasting solution to the problem of access to early learning services in French.

This committee is once again studying the issue. That is excellent. The DSFM urges you to use this latest in a string of studies on the subject as an opportunity to recommend to the government permanent solutions. The DSFM asks that the obligations of the federal government be strengthened so as to ensure that the Government of Manitoba can no longer use federal funds under an agreement such as the Multilateral Framework without identifying and responding to the needs of the DSFM.

It is not sufficient for the DSFM and the Franco-Manitoban community to receive part of the federal funds for early learning in proportion to their populations. The fair share is the amount that provides for substantive equality.

The solution is simple: Parliament must limit the discretion of federal institutions to allow the Province of Manitoba to do what it likes with the federal funds. Confer rights upon the communities through the Official Languages Act.

I want to state that the Government of Manitoba recognizes the importance of early childhood education, both in the Public Schools Act and in its budget. That said, the DSFM continues to be concerned about the place accorded to the needs of the Franco-Manitoban community in relation to that of the majority.

The DSFM's experience in the area of early learning is positive, but many challenges remain. Since at least 2012, the establishment of full-time pre-kindergarten programs for four-year-olds in all DSFM schools has been one of its priorities. However, not all DSFM schools have adequate spaces—or even any spaces at all—to accommodate such a program.

In January 2014, the DSFM launched a pilot project to create a full-time pre-kindergarten program. Today, the DSFM offers this pilot program at five of its schools.

The DSFM has collected preliminary data on the results of students enrolled in the program, and particularly their progress in DSFM schools. Using the 2014-15 cohort at École Gabrielle-Roy, which is now in grade 2, the level of francization of the students enrolled in the four-year-old program was significantly higher than that of students who started school in kindergarten at age five. Please consult table one, which is at the end of the lengthy brief.

The DSFM has found that, unless they have learning difficulties, students who started school at the age of four no longer require transition phase support by grade 1.

Although the Manitoba government recognizes the importance of pre-kindergarten programs for four-year-olds, the DSFM uses its operational budget to fund the pre-kindergarten programs it offers in its five schools, as well as the spaces it leases from organizations.

One of the greatest challenges for the DSFM, apart from the lack of funding for pre-kindergarten for four-year-olds, is the competition of the nursery programs offered in English-language schools. This competition puts the DSFM at a disadvantage, and it loses students to the schools of the majority that are closer and offer a pre-kindergarten program for four-year-olds, thanks to federal funds.

To ensure that federal funding granted to the minority in the area of early learning truly goes to the initiatives chosen by the DSFM and has a real impact on the success of our students, the obligations of the federal government must be strengthened.

As an example, we can look at the agreement signed in December 2017 that does not meet the needs of the Franco-Manitoban community. In fact, the DSFM is concerned about the language clauses as they do not impose sufficient obligations on Manitoba. In its news release, available in English only, the Government of Manitoba also describes its objectives for the funds from the agreement, without mentioning the specific needs of the Franco-Manitoban community or the DSFM. Let's remember that the Department of Employment and Social Development can change this in three years, when the agreement is renegotiated.

For this reason, the DSFM is using this opportunity to propose a permanent solution to the problems in the area of early childhood education, namely the amendment of the Official Languages Act. The DSFM is of course grateful that a clause dedicated to the needs of the Franco-Manitoban community was included in the agreement, but in reality, this is not a reason for celebration because the francophone community has a right to expect federal institutions to include such clauses systematically. I am sure you will agree that women should not be grateful to receive the same wages as men.

In closing, I am not a legal expert, much less a parliamentarian, but in my humble opinion, there is no need to try to stop the world from turning or to change the country's Constitution. What is needed is to amend the Official Languages Act. This would be a permanent, structural contribution that would be certain to promote the development of French here in Manitoba.

The Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages is studying the question of the modernization of the act. The DSFM hopes you will do the same.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Mr. Laberge.

We will now give the floor to Brigitte L'Heureux from the Fédération des parents du Manitoba.

[Brigitte L'Heureux, Managing Director, Fédération des parents du Manitoba]

Good morning, members of Parliament and members of the Standing Committee on Official Languages. Welcome to Winnipeg.

I would first like to thank you for the invitation and for giving me the opportunity to appear on behalf of the Fédération des parents du Manitoba, or FPM, and to provide recommendations to the federal government on early childhood in minority contexts.

The FPM is an organization with a mandate to promote education in French by offering programs, workshops, services, resources and educational materials to children from zero to 12 years of age, to preschool and school groups, to early childhood educators, in-home and in-centre French-language educational child care services, boards of directors of French-language educational child care services, school committees and other parent groups.

We promote the importance of the parent's role as a primary educator in the educational journey and development of their children, regardless of whether they choose to stay at home or use an educational child care service in a centre or at home.

Given the reality of today's families and the large number of exogamous couples, our approaches are inclusive so that all parents, including English-speaking parents, are aware that they have a positive influence on the choice of language for their children.

As a parent organization, our challenges are many. We lack human resources to accomplish everything we would like to; we can't pay our staff adequately, which makes it difficult to recruit and retain qualified staff; we face high rental and operating costs; and on and on.

The FPM's vision is quite simply “For the love of our children and our language”. It's really the passion for our cause that spurs us on every day.

We benefit tremendously from networking and sharing projects with other minority parent organizations across the country, under the auspices and leadership of the Commission nationale des parents francophones, the CNPF. For our organizations, sharing projects and good moves is essential. The more we can develop pan-Canadian projects in early childhood, the better our communities will be served.

I recommend that the federal government increase core funding for early childhood organizations, including parents organizations, so that they can hire and retain qualified staff; enhance the quality of programming and services offered to parents and children; continue the important work of raising awareness of the importance of French-language education from early childhood; develop effective communication mechanisms to attract and retain families entitled to our services and those offered by the community; support exogamous families; contribute to the vitality of the community; and close the funding gap with the inflation rate.

I recommend that the federal government give priority to the intermediary approach by and for communities offered by organizations such as the CNPF. This approach allows us to maximize federal investments to develop pan-Canadian projects based on best practices and successes in other provinces, to share our knowledge, expertise and challenges facing our minority communities and to make the voices of parents heard at the provincial and national levels.

We can't talk about the challenges of early childhood without mentioning the desperate need for spaces in French-language educational child care: about 800 children are on waiting lists for a place in French-language educational child care in our province. The bilateral agreement has just been signed, and we are pleased that the provincial government plans to fund 250 francophone spaces over the next three years, but this funding alone does not meet all our needs.

Given the importance of the early childhood period for the vitality of all communities and, at the individual level, the importance of early childhood for learning the French language, building identity and developing the feeling of community membership, I recommend that the Canadian government invest more in high quality, equitable, accessible and affordable educational child care; that early childhood, given its importance, be taken into account in the next Action Plan for Official Languages; that the importance of preschool education in the educational process be considered in the application of section 23 and that it may enjoy constitutional guarantees.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much for your presentation, Ms. L'Heureux. I would especially like to thank you for helping us to plan today's meeting.

The next speaker is Ms. Chabot from Les Chouettes de Lorette Inc.

Ms. Chabot, the floor is yours.

[Juliette Chabot, Director, Les Chouettes de Lorette Inc.]

Good morning, everyone.

Thank you for inviting me to speak to you about what is happening in child care services.

My name is Juliette Chabot. I am the director of a child care centre, Les Chouettes de Lorette, which is in Lorette, Manitoba. Lorette is a small community where there are many francophones, and it is really nice to work in such an environment.

Our centre is attached to the École Lagimodière, which is part of the DSFM. We have a baby corner, which is very small—with only four spaces—spaces for preschoolers and others for school-aged children. We have an effective partnership with the school, and we feel well supported in providing French-language services in our centre.

Since we are attached to a French school, we always try to recruit francophone families first. Our clientele is often made up of exogamous families. Therefore, we have several little ones whose mother tongue is English. We must work very closely with these children so that they learn as much French as possible before they enter school, given the limited resources available to us.

Like any other centre, we also have to manage waiting lists. We are the only centre in Lorette offering services in French. A few years ago, we asked the government for funding to expand our centre, which was approved. However, the government has suspended our project.

When we have to provide special services to a child, these services are not always in French. In fact, instead of putting the child on a waiting list and delaying our assistance, most of the time we use English-speaking specialists to provide such services.

As for the staff, we must always recruit francophones to work in the child care service, which is honestly very difficult for us. Again, we work in partnership with the Université de Saint-Boniface, which sends us students on internships. It's a great way for us to recruit well-trained staff.

Since salaries are very low, it is a big challenge to recruit qualified staff. We must rely entirely on our partnerships with DSFM, the FPM, the Coalition francophone de la petite enfance du Manitoba and Université de Saint-Boniface. There are not enough resources to provide child care services in French.

We, too, hope to get more help from both the federal and provincial governments.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Ms. Chabot.

We'll start with the questions and comments period. I would ask MPs to introduce themselves, and say who they are and where they're from so that our friends across the way can recognize them

We'll start right away with Mrs. Boucher.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

My name is Sylvie Boucher, and I am a member for the Quebec region, specifically the riding of Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d'Orléans—Charlevoix. I'm a Conservative MP. To be honest, I am the only Conservative woman in Quebec.

From 2006 to 2008, I was the Parliamentary Secretary for Official Languages. From 2008 to 2011, until I lost my election because of the "orange wave", I was Parliamentary Secretary for the Status of Women. You know that we represent several political parties, but this committee is one of the few that doesn't play politics. It's very rare. I often take jabs at other MPs, but it's always jokingly. I'm saying it before others do. Language isn't a question of political affiliation, but of identity and deep roots.

This trip has been very eye-opening for me. I am shocked to see that in 2018, we still have to fight for language. I read a lot of things—and here I'm not going to play politics, but be political—including bilateral agreements in several provinces. For example, on February 23, my colleague Mr. Vandal announced the signing of a $47 million agreement representing 1,400 new child care spaces for Manitoba. Funds have been allocated to Manitoba.

What proportion of these funds will go to the francophone community?

My question is for any of the witnesses. Anyone may respond.

[Dominique Arbez]

There are 250 spots out of 1,400 in child care that have been reserved for francophones. But, I think we need to provide some context. Since we, francophones, had major catch-up to do, the shortage we had to deal with was greater than that of anglophones. This is what the centralized waiting list indicated. So we can speak about a slight catching up.

However, it should also be noted that approximately half of the 1,400 child care spaces were already promised. These existing places were not funded. The new funding is therefore intended for half of the 1,400 spots. Of the 250 spaces, some are already existing.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Okay, thank you.

On page 8 of 13 of your brief entitled À l'aide! La communauté fransaskoise est à la merci de politiques assimilatrices du gouvernement de la Saskatchewan et le Parlement manque à l'appel, I was startled by something in point 24.

Roughly translated, it says the following:

What is more, the Saskatchewan government funded the creation of 889 English-language preschool spaces, including 810 spaces in 18 new community schools in Saskatoon, Regina, Warman, and Martensville. No funding was provided to Saskatchewan's francophone community.

Do you know why?

For my part, I am from Canada, specifically from Quebec, and I know the MPs from that province. We all speak French. Those who speak English get funny looks.

I do not really know the local MPs, so I have to ask you, are there any French-speaking MPs in your province who could help you?

This might not seem important to you, but we give a lot of money to the provinces.

Are there members of Saskatchewan's legislative assembly who speak French, as we do, who can help the francophonie and can also help you communicate with us?

[Alpha Barry]

Thank you for your question, Ms. Boucher.

I will try to be as diplomatic as possible.