However, an effort needs to be made to determine whether the $2,400 fee that currently exists for the home child care provider program is a barrier for many French-speaking countries, particularly in Central Africa and Madagascar, for example.
I'd also like to ask you about the labour shortage. According to the Canadian Association of Immersion Professionals, 10,000 teachers are needed to meet the current demand for French immersion and French as a second language across Canada. We're well aware of this shortage here in Manitoba and in western Canada.
How can we solve this teacher shortage and attract the professionals we need to maintain public services, schools and day cares in French? What is the department doing to recruit teachers and early childhood educators to teach in French or French immersion?