Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Before asking my questions, I want to say I am a bit concerned about immersion being regarded as an attack on francophone education, particularly in western Canada. I am a graduate of an immersion school myself. That school was the only option in northern Manitoba at the time. In fact, there has not even been both a French school and an immersion school for ten years yet. The reality is that in some of our communities, immersion is the only choice in the vicinity for rights holders and for families who want their children to be bilingual. So I don't believe the solution is to attack immersion, it is to determine what needs the schools have in common. Education in French is not the only thing that needs more support.
I will now turn to the witnesses, whom I thank for being with us.
Ms. Yetman, I appreciate your connection with Manitoba. Thank you for the clear message you have conveyed, which included the federal government's responsibility for funding education in French.
My question will be brief: do you think that the labour shortage in French first language education or in immersion programs is a crisis in this country?