Good morning.

I thank the committee for inviting the Association des conseils scolaires des écoles publiques de l'Ontario, or ACEPO.

ACEPO represents the four French-language public school boards of Ontario and the Jules-Léger Centre Consortium. Together, they manage 153 schools for a total of more than 35,000 students. Among the four school systems in Ontario, the school boards that we represent obtained the best educational outcomes. The goal of our schools is to build a pluralistic francophone culture that, in addition to celebrating the diversity of origins and experiences, creates a sense of belonging. However, to achieve their ambitions, our schools need adequate resources.

As a reminder, judges unanimously ruled that students whose access to French-language education is guaranteed under article 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms have the right to institutions equivalent to those of the majority, but often that is far from the case. Under that principle, francophones have the right to a school of comparable quality to that of the anglophone schools in a given attendance boundary. The chronic underfunding of francophone school boards is limiting access to an education in French for children who have such rights and francophone newcomers, and is an obstacle to the development and consolidation of existing educational services.

There are many challenges. Language minority schools are dealing with demographic pressures, geographic constraints and limited resources. They have to reconcile the reality of a dominant anglophone environment with the mission to preserve and promote French. This double mandate cannot be met without adequate financial support.

That is why the Official Languages in Education Program plays a key role. Through that program, the provinces and territories receive funding that allows them to support key initiatives.

In the context where the majority of French-language school boards are underfunded because of provincial per-student funding formulas, for many school boards and schools, federal funding is a lifeline that allows them to offer enriching services and programs that guarantee that students will not only learn French, but will flourish in a fully francophone environment.

However, this support needs to go beyond simply maintaining the status quo. It is imperative to commit to strengthening and improving this funding in order to guarantee that each child in a minority community has access to a higher quality education, without compromise. What is more, the funding must take into account not only the rapid growth of the French-language system, but also the higher inflationary costs that are putting extra pressure on the resources that are available.

It is essential for the federal government to enforce the provinces' obligation to implement an authentic process with the French-language school boards so that the funding is used to meet the real needs of the school boards. The right to managed French-language school boards exists from one end of the country to the other.

Another crucial aspect is the funding to address the shortage of teaching staff. That funding needs to be significantly increased and be much less dependant on the centralized control of the provinces in order to provide the school boards the flexibility they need to attract qualified teachers and keep them in the community. It is about the survival of French-language education in Canada. I would even go so far as to say that in the longer term, it is about the survival of the francophonie in our beautiful country.

In conclusion, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the fundamental importance of adequate federal funding to ensure a full continuum of services. Our elementary schools rely on early childhood services that are funded and structured to meet the needs of francophones, while the survival of our secondary schools depends on access to quality post-secondary francophone institutions that are nearby. All of these components are indispensable to the vitality and survival of the Canadian francophonie. Without financial support from the federal government, our efforts for ensuring an education in French from early childhood to adulthood would be seriously compromised, which would threaten not only the quality of teaching, but also the future of francophone culture and identity.

We still have a long way to go, but preserving and encouraging the French language is everyone's business.

Thank you.

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