Thank you once again for a very appropriate question.
I would've liked to go through immersion as well, but the program was cancelled when I was 14 years old and in grade 9. I had to take the French 30 program to get into university. Imagine.
In response to your question, we've invested $16.3 million in immigration for the corridor for the selection and retention of French language teachers in order to attract francophone teachers.
In addition, why did we invest $170 million in the post-secondary education system last year? It was to ensure that institutions such as the Collège Mathieu in Gravelbourg, the Université de Saint-Boniface in Manitoba, Campus Saint-Jean in Edmonton and other institutions here in Ontario could train the next generation of teachers so they can go out into the francophone or immersion system. That's essential.
When I was parliamentary secretary to Ms. Joly, I remember that the committee had made an effort to provide more money for education. This isn't the first year that we've had that money. This is an issue that constantly has to be raised with our provincial counterparts because this is their jurisdiction. In the negotiations on minority-language education programs, this is a very important factor that affects teacher training.
I hear you clearly, Ms. Ashton. This is the issue we are dealing with. We've put the money on the table to address this labour shortage.