The base funding hasn’t really increased. We have received additional funds. In this respect, second language education receives four times more funding than education in the minority language. It’s huge. Imagine everything we could offer if we had better funding.
It should be noted that the OLEP, the official languages in education program, does not target basic education. This aspect falls under provincial jurisdiction; that’s agreed. The OLEP is for doing additional activities, to offer additional programs, to enhance what we should already be doing. Remember that, as a francophone school board, we have a dual mandate: language and culture. It’s not just about teaching French. It’s about teaching in French, but also about bringing to life all this culture, and francophone cultures, in fact. Indeed, as mentioned earlier, immigration brings many francophone cultures to our country.
So, to echo your words, we find it very absurd that French immersion receives four times more funding than the French-language school board.