This site will be a venue of exchange, interaction and discussion. Thus, we encourage the sharing of different viewpoints and arguments, without however a private exchange solely between two individuals. Please be aware of the conditions of use before participating in this blog.
François Boileau
French Language Services Commissioner
This faculty offers French, linguistics and languages courses to help students prepare for entry into programs in areas with a significant language component, such as speech-language pathology, education, and language teaching. The faculty also aims to raise awareness of structural and socio-cultural differences between French and English among students. My presentation aimed at raising awareness of the richness and complexity of Francophone cultures and at emphasizing the way they contribute to the Ontarian society.
As stated in my 2011-2012 Annual Report, nearly a third of Francophones in Central Ontario were born outside of Canada, compared with nearly 50% in Toronto. This presentation was therefore a great opportunity for me to discuss the importance of the new Inclusive Definition of Francophone (IDF) in Ontario.
Most questions that were raised by students were about the IDF. An interesting fact: many of these students are Francophones according to the IDF. Some students in attendance already defined themselves as Francophones and therefore didn’t need the IDF to confirm this. However, other students who didn’t consider themselves Francophones actually are according to the IDF. These students therefore contribute to the vitality of the Ontarian Francophonie.
It was a terrific experience to meet these students who study languages with passion and make them part an integral of their future. I wish to congratulate the staff of University of Toronto’s Centre for French & Linguistics for their commitment and efforts in raising awareness of the new face of our Ontarian Francophonie among citizens.
I am telling you about this today because as you know, it is absolutely vital to always read Commissioners of Official Languages’ annual reports (including the French Language Services Commissioner for Ontario’s)!
This being said, I wish to congratulate my two colleagues for all their efforts and their excellent annual reports which I encourage you to refer to.
Tomorrow, I will meet with Commissioners Fraser and Carrier in Ottawa at Canadian Parents for French’s Annual Conference. I will let you know more about this event next week.
Everywhere in the news since yesterday, including in social media and particularly on #ONpoli and #ONfr on Twitter, Ontario’s population is speaking about Premier McGuinty’s decision to step down as Premier. Although the Honourable Dalton McGuinty will continue to serve as Premier in the followings months until a new leader is elected, I thank him today for his significant contribution to Ontario’s Francophonie.
After 9 years as Premier, 16 years as Liberal leader and 22 years as MPP, the Honourable Dalton McGuinty’s accomplishments are numerous. In this blog post, I mention a few ones that, in my view, had quite an impact on the lives of Franco-Ontarians.
For all of these non-exhaustive reasons, I thank the Honourable Dalton McGuinty and congratulate him for his contribution to the sustainability of Ontario’s Francophonie.
My colleague the Commissioner of Official Languages for New Brunswick has begun publishing a series of fact sheets about the language rights of New Brunswick residents. I am pointing out this initiative because I believe that it is always important to educate the public regarding their language rights and, in particular, to promote those rights. I encourage you to read the first fact sheet, which describes the linguistic obligations that provincial government ministries and Crown corporations have with respect to citizens. I should also mention that we, too, recently published an infographic on Francophones in Ontario and that my colleague’s fact sheet has given us further interesting ideas!
After visiting Thunder Bay, I went to Sudbury yesterday to take part in the provincial meeting on the Élargir l’espace francophone initiative, hosted by the Centre canadien de leadership en evaluation (CLÉ). About 30 representatives from French-language school boards, the Ministry of Education and the Élargir l’espace francophone initiative were in attendance.
We discussed the importance to stimulate youth to use French more actively. Although there is no miracle solution for this, one thing is for sure: this work also starts by increasing awareness among adults who at times accept a menu provided in English only at the ByWard Market in Ottawa or a government service available in English only.
As I mentioned in my 2010-2011 Annual Report, Élargir l’espace francophone is a project of the Ministry of Education that engages various partners from the Francophone community as well as from the private sector. Working with three community liaison agents from the CLÉ, the program led to a number of successful initiatives involving Francophone students.
For instance, the initiative saw over 300 under-privileged students from three eastern French-language school boards take part in an all-French day camp in Quyon, Quebec, organized by the Tim Horton’s Foundation. Over the course of three to seven days, these students enjoyed various sports and cultural activities in a totally French-speaking environment.
The project also allowed a delegation of 100 students from French-language high schools to attend the annual convention of the Association française des municipalités de l’Ontario (AFMO) in September 2010, as part of the school activities. The goal was to allow these students to gain a better understanding of the roles of municipal representatives and school trustees.
The initiative also led to partnerships with the YMCA, and health promotion agencies Health Nexus and the Ontario Physical and Health Education Association (OPHEA). Over the past three years, these partnerships have made it possible for 300 students from Sudbury and North Bay to take swimming lessons in French and 150 other students to take part in an after-school program, Après l’école, for sports, recreational activities, and nutrition.
I am very happy that the government continued funding the Élargir l’espace francophone projects that have shown many positive results with modest resources and investment. I believe these partnership initiatives fully support the objectives of the government’s Aménagement linguistique policy.
Although I have never declined any invitation from NOSM, I have always been relatively hesitant to fully take part in its events as I was concerned that the Commissioner’s attendance could be considered as a tacit approval for this university not to offer any medicine courses in French in Northern Ontario. Well, not anymore.
Firstly, the excellence of international and national attendees (close to 850 delegates from over 43 countries including 110 representatives who attended the Francophone Symposium) reiterates the very unique role of NOSM as a training institute that respects social accountability values. The panellists in attendance reminded everyone that the community, including the Francophone community, actively takes part in all levels of governance, including the development of the curriculum. NOSM is a university where not only we train future health professionals but also agents of change.
What is also highly inspiring and motivating is to see the constant and positive progression of the acceptation of not only the French fact but also the Francophone culture, particularly in Northern Ontario, and its influence on the questions relating to health. Quite refreshing!
For instance, the learners’ society (the students!) accepted to create a group of interest on clinical services in French. This is quite something, even though it seems similar to the policy of small steps that we have known for a long time in Ontario’s Francophonie. Indeed, as 23% of students are Francophones, there is more and more awareness as to the important role that they play, especially when the interest of the patient and the Francophone community are at stake.
There has been interesting discussions on the increasing role that NOSM, other institutions in the health sector and the community could play at various levels. I can’t wait to know the follow-ups to this Symposium. There is more work to be done for NOSM but I am confident that the Francophone and Community Advisory Panel will encourage NOSM’s governance to take the decisions it must take to promote the well-being of the Northern Ontario’s Francophone community as a whole, and not only in Sudbury, Hearst or Thunder Bay.
