Franco-Ontarians live either in very isolated communities, relatively francophone communities where they can function entirely in French, or in an anglophone community, as in my case. I am francophone by birth, but sometimes I have trouble expressing myself in French. In the past, for example, if I called the telephone company, I spoke English. That causes problems relating to language and belonging. The FESFO has done a lot of work on this and that has given some people the motivation they need to continue to live in their language, which is very important.
On the other hand, I have a lot of friends whose parents decided to move to the Toronto area for work reasons. My friends later wanted to move back to the community where they were born, for example to Sudbury or Timmins, to work there. They all became teachers. It was as if, to be able to go back home and live in the community where they were comfortable, they really had no other choice.
Do you see the lack of economic opportunities that the francophone regions of Ontario suffer from as a barrier?