Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank the witnesses for their presentations. What they have told us is very important, including their recommendations to the government.
I'm going to return to Mr. Termote's presentation, but would like to begin by talking about my own experience.
I am a Francophile who lives in Manitoba. My mother tongue is neither English nor French, but Greek. I had the opportunity to learn French in an immersion program. I would have liked my two children, 4-year-old twins, to have the same opportunity. For over a year now, we have been trying to enrol them in the only francophone day care centre where we live, but unfortunately, they are short-staffed, partly because of COVID‑19. The people in charge of the day care centre tried to hire some immigrant women, but encountered some obstacles. As a result, the waiting list is very long and my children are unable to have this French language experience. I am only a francophile, but other parents, who are francophone, are experiencing the same problem: when all is said and done, our children will be learning English in day care and at school, even though we are very keen for them to attend francophone institutions.
The failure to make francophone immigration a priority constitutes a barrier to learning French for the next generation.
That then is the experience I wanted to tell you about. I would now like to hear what advice you might have for us on this matter, Mr. Termote.
Do you think that immigration initiatives would make it possible to provide more support for francophone communities outside Quebec?