Official Languages Committee on Oct. 22nd, 2024

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

The Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement—2021 to 2026 includes provisions on French. Are you aware of any new funding for your day care services?

[Stephanie Hickey]

I'm not aware of that at this time. As I mentioned, the day care is now managed by a federation. I'm sorry. I don't have an answer for you.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Ms. Nicolas, do you have any idea? You don't know either, do you?

[Nicole Nicolas]

No, I don't have that information.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Basically, if there were more funding, would that make it easier for you to recruit more teachers and keep them?

[Nicole Nicolas]

Again, this is my opinion. It would be very interesting to see the data to find out how many of our high school students want to go into education.

Here in Thompson we have a small group of seven high school students, but none of them are interested in teaching. Here, in the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine, we want a certain percentage of our students to become teachers, because that is important. However, I think that fewer and fewer students are interested in entering the field of education, which is a major challenge and a major concern.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Is there an institution in or around Manitoba where those who choose education can study?

[Nicole Nicolas]

Yes, there is the Université de Saint-Boniface in Winnipeg. I believe it's the only francophone university in western Canada. They have a very good education program.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

In terms of statistics, I see that the proportion of the population speaking French at home in Manitoba was 4% in 1971, but 1.3% in 2021. So there has been a real decline in French. Is that decline noticeable around you?

[Nicole Nicolas]

Yes, absolutely. We see it in our school, where the majority of students come from exogamous families. There's an expression that says English is as easy to catch as the flu. We're not worried about students not learning English, because English is all around us. Rather, we're worried that they won't acquire the basics and sufficient French oral communication skills.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Despite everything, you are persevering in speaking French and working towards that end.

[Nicole Nicolas]

Yes, absolutely. When we went to school, we were told things. That was less the case for my generation, because we had a certain pride in being francophone. That being said, students must not be constantly reminded to speak French. We strive to work with teachers to help them understand that learning a language and identifying with a culture can be fun. Having fun in French so that students can take pride in the francophonie is really what we are aiming for.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Thank you. When you look at the numbers and you see the underfunding and everything else, it's really hard to be optimistic. However, we are not really hearing any alarm bells coming from western Canada, apart from the one you are sounding today.

[Nicole Nicolas]

There are big red flags behind me!

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Things have happened with the provincial governments. In Manitoba, there were anti-French laws. It's no coincidence that French has declined to that extent, especially before the 1970s. However, it's as if there were no acknowledgement of the harm done or any real willingness to repair it.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. You're well over your time.

Ms. Ashton, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Thank you very much.

I want to start by saying something to my colleagues around the table. It may be fairly obvious, but Ms. Nicolas, Mrs. Hickey and I are all from the same community. Thanks to them, my children and the 106 children you heard about can live in French and learn French in our community. I want to thank them for their hard work. The situation is not easy at all.

Mrs. Hickey and Ms. Nicolas, I also want to thank you for speaking honestly about the challenges you face and those that affect our schools in official language minority communities. Before turning to the school level, I want to ask you about the preschool level, which I've talked about a lot before this committee.

As for my family, we have been on a waiting list for a long time, but we've never been able to access day care because of the labour shortage. I remember the principle telling me about it at the time.

Mrs. Hickey, can you tell us about the waiting list for families who want to put their children in day care? Is the message we need to hear that many families in our communities want access to those services?

[Stephanie Hickey]

Yes, there are many families who want to enrol their children in preschool in French. This often has to do with the little brothers or sisters of children who are already in our schools, and their parents want them to learn the language so that they are ready to start kindergarten. I see many of them when I go to the day care, but I know that the waiting list is very long and that many more children need those services. I don't have the data, but there is an ongoing need for day care. As this hasn't always been the case, only since 2018, and given the significant interruptions related to the services that could be provided to the nursery, this demand will continue.

People end up trying to find a place in an English-language day care, which has a significant impact on the language. For example, my first child didn't benefit from francophone day care services. For three and a half years, my daughter received English-language day care services. In terms of social development, everything was done in English with her little friends. She is the only one of my four children who has not had access to preschool services in French, and she is the only one who continues to have difficulties in French. She always wants to switch to English, because that's the social language she learned first.

The waiting list for those services is long, and it pains me that we cannot provide them to all families who need or want them.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Thank you for sharing that with us. This affects us all personally.

You talked about access to training and the fact that our program, for example, is in English. Would it be useful to use federal funds to provide distance training in French, as well as wage incentives? We know that those who work in the early childhood field are not well paid. Should we be doing something about that, particularly by investing federal funds in early childhood?

[Stephanie Hickey]

Yes, absolutely. We are competing with large urban centres for the same workforce. If you take a course at a francophone institution in Winnipeg, it is easier to stay there because you're already there. If you live here, in the north, and you have to travel, that adds to the cost of living. That has financial consequences. So, if we could pay the labour force more to attract it here, that would have a significant impact.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Thank you.

I don't have much time left, Ms. Nicolas, but I would like to ask you if you have any comments on early childhood services as an important link to facilitate entry to school, as well as any improvements that should be made.

[Nicole Nicolas]

The first five years of a child's life are very important. If we reach out to francophones and those who want to go to a francophone school sooner rather than later, that has a marked effect on their educational and social development. Preschool is almost essential in minority communities.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Chair, I think I'm out of time. I will continue my questions for Ms. Nicolas in the second round. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Ms. Ashton.

Mr. Généreux, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Ladies, thank you for accepting the committee's invitation. I imagine that Ms. Ashton proposed you as witnesses, obviously.

I went to Google Maps to see where Thompson was, because I honestly didn't know. In my riding, when a concession road is a little far away, I say that it's lost in the wilderness. You are lost in the far north, let's face it. However, you are not really lost. You decided to live there in a small community. I imagine that's a choice you've made.

What is the population of Thompson? I suppose Ms. Ashton could answer me, but you can answer as well. I guess it's not a large community, from what I've seen.