Official Languages Committee on Nov. 21st, 2024

[Sylvianne Maisonneuve]

That's a good question.

Our territory is huge. It's in northern Alberta, and most parts of it are quite rural. Our three schools are located in three towns and cities.

Of course, there are rights holders outside those centres. According to the data we've been able to analyze, some rights holders in the very northern part of the province don't have access to francophone education. There are also some in the western and southwestern portions of our territory, in the Slave Lake region. It's quite a large population, but it's spread out all over our territory. We have received applications that we will analyze soon, but, again, funding constraints make it difficult for us to take action.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Ms. Maisonneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Iacono. Six minutes go by fast.

Next up is the Bloc Québécois, with the second vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

Mr. Beaulieu, you have the floor.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to our guests for being here.

First of all, for the NorthWest Francophone Education Region representatives, I want to follow up on my colleague's question. What is the number of rights holders compared to the number of spaces in your schools?

[Sylvianne Maisonneuve]

That's a good technical question.

I'll turn it over to Ms. Kropielnicki.

[Brigitte Kropielnicki]

Okay.

At the moment, the CSNO has 480 registered students. According to the 2021 statistics, nearly 2,000 students are eligible to attend our schools.

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

Okay.

Staying with this, yesterday, we heard from a witness who found that, in his region—I think he's in Ontario—many schools accept lots of people who are not rights holders because they don't have enough students. In order to maintain their funding, they have to accept anglophones, people who don't know French.

Is that the case in your schools as well?

[Sylvianne Maisonneuve]

I would say no. We've made some exceptions, but we have an administrative directive for the percentage of cases we accept. They really are exceptions. The vast majority of our students are rights holders.

I'll let Ms. Kropielnicki elaborate.

[Brigitte Kropielnicki]

Among those exceptions are francophone immigrants who do not yet have Canadian citizenship, but who come from francophone countries. They're considered exceptions in our schools.

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

Okay.

Does the school board have the authority to designate new rights holders?

I am asking you this question because, the day before yesterday, we learned that school boards could accept people who are not rights holders, and those people then become rights holders.

[Sylvianne Maisonneuve]

Fortunately, the province gives us full control over this issue, so we can decide whether students are accepted or not.

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

Okay.

This is a detail, but you said earlier that, after Ontario, your province has the most rights holders.

Are there more rights holders in your province than in New Brunswick? It's not a big deal, but it surprised me.

[Sylvianne Maisonneuve]

According to the info I have, the answer would be yes, but Ms. Kropielnicki may have something to add on that.

[Brigitte Kropielnicki]

I meant west of Ontario. According to the statistics, there are 68,000 rights holders in the province.

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

Okay. Thank you very much.

Mr. Laberge, if I understand correctly, Collège Éducacentre is the only francophone college in British Columbia, so there are no francophone public colleges in British Columbia.

[Yvon Laberge]

That's correct.

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

In addition, there is no university by and for francophones in British Columbia.

[Yvon Laberge]

That's correct. As I was saying, the closest thing would be the Office of Francophone and Francophile Affairs at Simon Fraser University. The other universities have a few people in the faculties of education or romance languages.

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

Basically, one of your main problems is that you're not recognized as a public college. A lack of political will on the part of the Government of British Columbia is preventing you from growing as much as you should.

[Yvon Laberge]

That's correct.

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

Do the students who study at your college mainly come from French schools in British Columbia? Do you also accept a lot of anglophones or people who are not rights holders?

[Yvon Laberge]

Our college programs get students from the francophone school board or newcomers. People who enrol at our college may have spent one year at the school board or none at all. The majority of our college students are, on average, between 32 and 34 years old, so it's an older student population.

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

They come to you to retrain.

[Yvon Laberge]

Yes.

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

If I understand correctly, not many anglophones attend your educational institution.

[Yvon Laberge]

There aren't many in college programs, but we offer French as a second language programs to immigrants. That program has a mix of immigrants from different countries.

Also, for the English-language learning program for immigrants, which is called LINC, we prioritize francophones. However, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada encourages us to accept non-francophone students because there are long waiting lists for this program.