Official Languages

The committee studied the minority-language education continuum, hearing from Daniel Dion of the Association locale des enseignantes et des enseignants fransaskois, Marie-Andrée Asselin of the Fédération des parents francophones de Colombie-Britannique, and Denis Desgagné and Geoffroy Krajewski of the Réseau pour le développement de l'alphabétisme et des compétences (RESDAC).

Daniel Dion described persistent challenges in Saskatchewan, including a teacher shortage, especially in rural schools, a lack of educational resources adapted to local programs, and long wait times for French-language professional assessments. He noted that many rights holders cannot access francophone schools due to distance or overcrowding, and that provincial funding does not account for the cultural mandate of francophone schools. He recommended establishing fee mechanisms to ensure federal funds reach minority populations and protecting the court challenges program.

Marie-Andrée Asselin highlighted a severe shortage of French-language early childhood spaces in British Columbia, with only 450 spaces for 4,000 eligible children, and stressed that the lack of stable, long-term funding creates uncertainty beyond the 2023-2028 action plan. She called for consultations with francophone communities before federal-provincial agreements are signed and for accountability mechanisms with performance targets for francophone clauses. She disagreed with the idea of mixed schools, arguing that English would dominate and that francophone spaces are shared unequally.

Geoffroy Krajewski and Denis Desgagné argued that the education continuum should be broadened to include lifelong learning, encompassing non-formal and informal contexts as recognized in the Official Languages Act. They noted that federal skills development investments largely ignore francophone minority communities and that RESDAC receives only $6 million over four years compared to billions for majority-language organizations. They recommended that the committee encourage federal institutions to adopt positive measures supporting their initiatives, such as provincial summits, round tables, and the Francobadges platform, and to require language clauses in federal-provincial-territorial agreements.

The committee adopted budgets for several studies and agreed to send a follow-up request to provincial governments for information on funding for minority schools, with members noting that responses received so far are limited and that school boards can also submit briefs.