Premier Couillard of Quebec addressed the Ontario Legislature

On May 11, Premier Couillard of Quebec addressed the Ontario Legislature. He is only the 10th person since 1867 to do that and the 3rd Premier of Quebec to do so. The last time a Quebec Premier did this was in 1964. This event is a real cause for celebration as the ties between Quebec and the rest of Canada were being showcased. It was an honour to be invited to the speech and the small reception that followed as the representative of CPF.

Here is the speech via Hansard. These 2 paragraphs are of particular interest to us as Couillard quoted our statistics and gave a call to action to governments across the country to improve immersion:

Depuis 1980, partout au Canada on assiste à la multiplication des classes et des écoles d’immersion française, ce qui témoigne d’une présence accrue de francophiles et de leur désir de transmettre à leurs enfants une part de notre héritage francophone. En 1976, il y avait 260 écoles offrant à 23 000 élèves des programmes d’immersion en français à l’extérieur du Québec; en 2011, 342 000 élèves étaient inscrits aux programmes d’immersion en français à l’extérieur du Québec. C’est une croissance, bien sûr, très importante.

Cela dit, les progrès ne sont pas semblables dans toutes les régions, et les gouvernements peuvent encore faire plus et mieux. C’est d’évidence; les recours judiciaires en matière d’éducation le démontrent.

In a very brief encounter with Premier Wynne, Mary Cruden, President of Canadian Parents or French (Ontario), expressed our hope that this event would put some political energy into French Second Language learning in Ontario. Both Education Minister Liz Sandals and Francophone Minister Madeleine Meilleur formally welcomed Mary, as president of CPF Ontario, during Question Period.

In contrast to the positive messaging of the day was the private reaction of some of our Franco-Ontarian partners, who do not always feel as much kinship with Quebec as we might expect. Quebec limits its support of their efforts to further entrench their minority rights as it would require them to do the same for Anglopnones in Quebec. The support for immersion was noted by our partners in comparison to the lack of support they feel as Francophones outside Quebec. It reminds us of how carefully we must proceed in Ontario and as a national organization in this area of great sensitivity.