{"time": "2019-04-10 19:30:00", "attribution": {"en": "Mr. Fran\u00e7ois Choquette (Drummond, NDP)", "fr": "M. Fran\u00e7ois Choquette (Drummond, NPD)"}, "content": {"en": "

Madam Speaker, it is always an honour for me to rise in the House to stand up for Franco-Ontarians and continue to call on the government to ensure that the language rights of francophones across the country and those of the anglophone minority in Quebec are respected.

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On November 28, I asked the Liberal government a question about Franco-Ontarians and the cuts being imposed on this minority community. Of course, I was talking about the elimination of the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner and Ontario's French-language university, which, unfortunately, will not become a reality. That was a serious blow not just to the francophone community in Ontario, but also to francophone communities all across the country. That is why the meetings that were held between the party leaders to discuss this crisis were so important. That was the least that could be done, given the circumstances. More action is required. That is why I said that the first ministers should hold a federal-provincial-territorial forum to talk about official languages and other issues. Official languages should be on the agenda, especially since this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Official Languages Act.

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I would like to talk about Drummond's anglophone community. Education plays an extremely important role in the development of our official language communities. In Drummond, the City of Drummondville is funding the construction of a new English-language elementary school. I would like to point out that the greater Drummond area has a very vibrant anglophone community.

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I recently had the opportunity to view a superb intergenerational art installation involving the residents of Manoir Drummond and Drummondville Elementary School students. Local artists also participated in this art project, and young and not-so-young people created works of visual art. I congratulate all participants, especially teacher Nancy Catchpaw and guest artist Mance Di.

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I also invite the citizens of the greater Drummond area to view the exhibit \u201cOnce Upon a Time... La petite histoire des \u00e9coles anglophones de Drummondville\u201d organized by the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 d\u2019histoire de Drummond. It tells some of the story of Drummondville's anglophone community. I would like to acknowledge the exceptional work of the entire team of the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 d'histoire de Drummond, including Genevi\u00e8ve B\u00e9liveau, director, Gabriel Cormier, cultural projects officer, Martin Bergevin, archivist, and all the members of the board of directors.

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As I mentioned, the crisis continues in Ontario. Sadly, the services of the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner have been cut and made the responsibility of the ombudsman, which has resulted in job losses. The federal government must absolutely show leadership and set an example. We would have liked to see money in the budget for Ontario's French-language university. We do not understand why the government did not choose to include these investments in the budget.

", "fr": "

Madame la Pr\u00e9sidente, c'est toujours un honneur pour moi de me lever \u00e0 la Chambre pour d\u00e9fendre les Franco-Ontariens, pour continuer \u00e0 demander que les droits linguistiques des francophones de partout au Canada et des anglophones en situation minoritaire au Qu\u00e9bec soient respect\u00e9s.

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Le 28 novembre dernier, j'ai pos\u00e9 une question au gouvernement lib\u00e9ral au sujet des Franco-Ontariens et des coupes impos\u00e9es \u00e0 cette communaut\u00e9 en situation minoritaire. Je parlais bien s\u00fbr de la suppression du Commissariat aux services en fran\u00e7ais et du projet de l'Universit\u00e9 de l'Ontario fran\u00e7ais, qui ne verra malheureusement pas le jour. Cela porte un dur coup non seulement \u00e0 la communaut\u00e9 francophone ontarienne, mais aussi \u00e0 l'ensemble des communaut\u00e9s de partout au pays. C'est pour cela que les rencontres qui ont eu lieu entre les chefs des partis, pour discuter de la crise concernant les services en fran\u00e7ais en Ontario, sont importantes. Vu les circonstances, c'\u00e9tait un minimum. Or il faut plus que cela. C'est pour cette raison que j'ai dit que les premiers ministres devraient tenir un forum f\u00e9d\u00e9ral-provincial-territorial, entre autres pour parler des langues officielles. Les langues officielles devraient \u00eatre au programme, d'autant plus que l'on c\u00e9l\u00e8bre cette ann\u00e9e le 50e anniversaire de la Loi sur les langues officielles.

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J'aimerais parler de la communaut\u00e9 anglophone de Drummond. L'\u00e9ducation joue un r\u00f4le extr\u00eamement important dans le d\u00e9veloppement de nos communaut\u00e9s de langue officielle. Dans Drummond, la Ville de Drummondville soutient la construction d'une nouvelle \u00e9cole primaire anglophone sur son territoire. D'ailleurs, je tiens \u00e0 souligner la vitalit\u00e9 et le dynamisme de la communaut\u00e9 anglophone du Grand Drummond.

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Derni\u00e8rement, j'ai eu l'occasion d'assister \u00e0 un superbe projet artistique de rapprochement interg\u00e9n\u00e9rationnel entre les r\u00e9sidants du Manoir Drummond et les \u00e9tudiants de l'\u00c9cole primaire Drummondville. Des artistes locaux ont aussi particip\u00e9 \u00e0 ce projet artistique, o\u00f9 jeunes et moins jeunes cr\u00e9aient des \u0153uvres d'art visuel. Je f\u00e9licite l'ensemble des participants, sp\u00e9cialement Nancy Catchpaw, professeure, et Mance Di, artiste invit\u00e9e.

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J'invite aussi l'ensemble de la population du Grand Drummond \u00e0 visiter l'exposition \u00ab Once Upon a Time... La petite histoire des \u00e9coles anglophones de Drummondville \u00bb, organis\u00e9e par la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 d'histoire de Drummond. On y relate une partie de l'histoire de la population anglophone de Drummondville. J'aimerais souligner le travail exceptionnel de toute l'\u00e9quipe de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 d'histoire de Drummond, dont Mme Genevi\u00e8ve B\u00e9liveau, directrice, M. Gabriel Cormier, agent de projets culturels, M. Martin Bergevin, archiviste, et l'ensemble des membres du conseil d'administration.

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Comme je l'ai mentionn\u00e9, \u00e0 l'heure actuelle, la crise continue en Ontario. Malheureusement, les services du Commissariat aux services en fran\u00e7ais ont \u00e9t\u00e9 coup\u00e9s. On a transf\u00e9r\u00e9 cela \u00e0 l'ombudsman, ce qui a engendr\u00e9 des pertes d'emplois. Il faut absolument que le gouvernement f\u00e9d\u00e9ral fasse preuve de leadership, qu'il montre l'exemple. Nous aurions aim\u00e9 que le budget consacre de l'argent \u00e0 l'Universit\u00e9 de l'Ontario fran\u00e7ais. Nous ne comprenons pas pourquoi le gouvernement n'a pas fait le choix d'inclure ces investissements dans le budget.

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