Evidence of meeting #121 for Official Languages in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was schools.
A recording is available from Parliament.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Educacentre College
That's correct. We have to rely on other funding programs from the federal government to fill the void.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
How does the provincial government justify its refusal to recognize you as a public college?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Educacentre College
That's a good question.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Educacentre College
I don't have a clear answer, but I think it has something to do with the demographic standing of francophones compared to other groups.
The government doesn't really recognize the importance of French as an official language, so it uses other—
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Okay.
I'm going to ask you one last question, Mr. Laberge, and then I'm going to go to the other witnesses.
Does the provincial government respect the rights holder rule?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Educacentre College
Yes, but the rights holder rule, which is section 23 of the Charter, doesn't apply at the post-secondary level—at least, not yet.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
I hope our report will change that.
Thank you, Mr. Laberge.
Now I'm going to turn to the folks from Alberta. Ms. Maisonneuve and Ms. Kropielnicki, you raised a major problem, the ECE shortage.
Can you tell me how you recruit dedicated people who have that valuable teaching vocation?
Board Chair, NorthWest Francophone Education Region
Our problem is two-fold. We talked about ECEs, but there are also licensed teachers.
Most of our ECE candidates are people who are already working in our schools. Their communities and families encourage them to train as ECEs, but there are barriers, because the college doesn't offer that training remotely. These ECEs are therefore trained in English.
I'll let the executive director, Ms. Kropielnicki, comment on licensed teachers.
Brigitte Kropielnicki Superintendent of schools, NorthWest Francophone Education Region
We post our teaching positions all across Canada.
I'll give you an example. Ten years ago or so, we would get dozens of resumés for every position. Last year, we got just three resumés for all the positions we posted.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
That is a big problem, Ms. Kropielnicki.
Thank you very much.
You talked about rights holders, and I have to say that, back in 2019, our committee fought to include an enumeration of rights holders in the census. This is something of a victory for the Standing Committee on Official Languages, for all the parties here. It's important to recognize that.
Can you tell me about your current clientele, compared to the number of rights holders who should have access to French-language schools, but who are denied admission?
Do you have that figure, Ms. Maisonneuve or Ms. Kropielnicki?
Board Chair, NorthWest Francophone Education Region
I'll let Ms. Kropielnicki take that.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
If you don't have it, you can send us the information through the clerk of the committee.
Board Chair, NorthWest Francophone Education Region
If I understood the question correctly, the rights holders who apply—
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
I'm asking you to compare the number of rights holders to the number of people who currently have access to a French-language school in your area.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
We can come back to that later because you've gone over your six minutes.
The next speaker is from the Liberal Party.
Mr. Iacono, you have six minutes.
November 21st, 2024 / 11:20 a.m.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for being with us this morning.
My first question is for Ms. Maisonneuve and Mr. Laberge.
In your opinion, do the recent changes to the Official Languages Act ensure that funds transferred to the provinces and territories for minority-language education are redirected to minority school boards? Is that happening?
Board Chair, NorthWest Francophone Education Region
If I understand correctly, we're talking about the funds allocated in large part by the official languages in education program. As I mentioned in my remarks, Alberta has experienced incredible growth in the number of rights holders in the province in recent years. The number has gone up, but the amount of money that goes to the province has not.
Clearly, the allocation is insufficient. Alberta is second only to Ontario for the number of French-language education rights holders outside Quebec. That makes this is a major challenge.
Liberal
President and Chief Executive Officer, Educacentre College
I can't speak on behalf of school boards, but ours is the only entirely francophone post-secondary or college-level institution in British Columbia. At the university level, Simon Fraser University's Office of Francophone and Francophile Affairs, or OFFA, has the best-defined francophone structure.
That said, other major universities receive an enormous amount of money from the official languages in education program, which means there's less money to support what we're doing, at least at the college. I know the director of the OFFA, Gino LeBlanc, very well. He says the same thing. He needs more resources, but the resources go to big anglophone institutions.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
Thank you.
Mr. Laberge, the committee often hears about the labour shortage in the education sector, which seems to be a major concern.
What is your institution doing to address this shortage?
Also, do you offer incentives to encourage enrolment in your programs?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Educacentre College
We have two education programs: early childhood education and special education assistance. As I mentioned, most of our college-level enrolment is in the early childhood education program. Our institution is the only one that can offer this training in French, so we're the ones who train early childhood educators in French in the province.
Could you repeat the second part of your question?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Educacentre College
Yes. We receive funding from Canadian Heritage. We get a number of scholarships for francophones and for young people coming out of immersion. However, we aren't really seeing many students from immersion programs at the college level because, when they've completed their grade 12 in immersion, they generally opt for university programs. That's why I was saying that a little flexibility in funding envelopes would be helpful. For example, if there are scholarships earmarked for immersion students at the college level, maybe we could give those to students whose first language is French.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
Thank you, Mr. Laberge.
Ms. Maisonneuve, the committee often hears witnesses say that distance from home to school poses a significant problem for many families.
Can you tell us about your school board's territory?
Are the schools near where community members live or far away?