Tour in Ottawa: Centre Jules-Léger, Centre Séraphin Marion in Orléans and Fondation franco-ontarienne

Last Friday, I visited the Centre Jules-Léger in Ottawa. This institution is unique as it ensures the delivery of preschool, elementary and secondary school, residential and consultation services to French-language school boards and Francophone families with children having learning disabilities, who are deaf or hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired or deaf and blind.

Almost 100 professionals and paraprofessionals ensure the delivery of these services to the Francophone community and over 700 students have completed one of the Centre’s programs since 1979.

I was highly impressed by this tour and deeply moved by the staff’s commitment to actively contribute to the learning experience and well-being of these young Francophone citizens. Their commitment is contagious and generates great results for our youth. I wish to congratulate them for their exceptional contribution to the development of Franco-Ontarian youth.

I urge you to consult Centre Jules-Léger’s website to know more about its broad range of initiatives. As to myself, I will certainly go back.

While in Ottawa, I also delivered a presentation to approximately 50 members of Centre Séraphin-Marion in Orléans. It was great to discuss current challenges in the delivery of French-language services in the health sector. I also emphasized why seniors play an active role in identifying failures in the application of the French Language Services Act et how they can improve French-language government services. I wish to thank Centre Séraphin-Marion’s staff and members for their warm welcome!

Lastly, I ended this tour in Ottawa by playing a game against the National Hockey League’s Greatest Stars. This game was organized by the Fondation franco-ontarienne. Frankly, I really enjoyed my experience as goalie for the foundation’s team. What a remarkable initiative. The experience of a lifetime!

Although I took part in this event strictly on a personal level, I am sharing a few pictures with you just to show you how much of a success this initiative was. Our team (finally) lost 10-5 to the Greatest Stars. They were sport and put on the brakes as this could easily have been a massacre. Read this article from L’Express d’Ottawa to know more.