The upcoming Throne Speech provides Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with a golden opportunity to make good on a longstanding pledge – and take the final steps needed to modernize the Official Languages Act.
Time and circumstances have converged. As Parliament resumes later this month, consensus on how to update the Act has already been achieved.
The QCGN is very pleased to report that we have just received a letter from the Prime Minister unequivocally reiterating his personal commitment to the rights of our English language minority community and to those of the French language minority outside Quebec. The letter was gracious and heartening, as it was clear our Prime Minister understands the importance of speaking to minority language communities in their own language.
The QCGN has in turn responded to the Prime Minister’s letter expressing gratitude for his continuing support and the collaboration demonstrated by the Government. We have also extended an invitation on the community’s behalf to meet at his convenience to discuss the special challenges English-speaking Quebec faces.
Read the letter from the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed to the Quebec Community Groups Network.
“L’avenir du bilinguisme au Canada est, pour l’essentiel, une affaire de francophones. Si les trois quarts d’entre eux jugent cette langue menacée, à peine le tiers de leurs voisins anglos partagent cet avis, révèle un sondage commandé par Ottawa à la veille du 150e anniversaire du pays.”
Bilingualism’s future in Canada might only be a Francophones issue according to a survey by Canadian Heritage. In this article from le Devoir, Philippe Orfali comments on the “two solitudes” argument which seems to be validated by low results from English-speaking citizens about the state of French language in Canada. Such results might be suprising, but not shocking, comments Linda Cardinal from the Chaire de recherche sur la Francophonie.
QCGN Director General, Sylvia Martin-Laforge, commented that more contact between the solitudes might change English-speaking Canadians’ vision of linguistic minorities and their precarious state. On the other hand, Maxime Laporte, president of Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste praised the awareness campaign about linguistic issues, especially for the future of French language in Canada.
Read the full article in Le Devoir
The West Quebec Post, Julie Murray
English high school students from West Quebec traveled to Pointe-Clair for the annual Concours d’art oratoire, or French-language debate contest, held May 14. The Concours d’art oratoire is a French-speaking contest for secondary students organized by Canadien Parents for French […]
Better French skills are a key aspiration for Quebec’s English-speaking youth, as highlighted in the Quebec Community Groups Network’s report, Creating Spaces. The Concours d’art oratoire program, now in its ninth year, helps fulfill that aspiratin by giving youth a meaningful forum in which to practice and develop their French-speaking confidence.
The Equity
MONTREAL – More than 100 seniors and representatives from institutions and community groups from across Quebec gathered in Monteral last week to take the first important steps towards the creation of a provincial network for English-speaking seniors.
The forum, hosted by the Quebec Community Groups Network, was the result of a year and a half of work by a steering committee of 16 volunteers from across the province. Participants determined that English-speaking seniors need their own Netowrk, not a bilingual one where their specific needs would not be addressed, said QCGN Seniors Project co-ordinator valerie Glover-Drolet.
Sylvia Martin-Laforge was interviewed by V Télé reporter to react to February 2 Gazette article
”Montreal is bilingual, poll finds”.
Watch the interview by clicking on the thumbnail below.
Interviewed last night on CTV News, Sylvia Martin-Laforge, Director General of the Quebec Community Groups Network, says that the new bilingual exchange program initiated by the Marianopolis College and the Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf will generate better language skills for the students who will participate in the program.
”This is not about language politics. This is about providing Quebec’s young people with the skills they need to fully realise their economic potential here at home, and to give them the necessary tools to compete in the global marketplace. The more languages in which a person is literate, the better equipped they are to assist Quebec secure its financial future,” Sylvia Martin-Laforge said.
The interview will discuss the impact of the newly created bilingual exchange program between the Marianopolis College and the Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf.
http://www.ctv.ca/nationalnews/
It has been estimated that more than half the world’s population is bilingual, that is lives with two or more languages. It is a cognitive, social, and cultural experience. Presentations will consider the benefits and costs of bilingualism in the verbal and cognitive domain for both children and adults.
To learn more about the Symposium or participate, visit the events section of the QCGN website:
Rehab facility’s status concerns anglo group
The Gazette, Philip Authier
A Montreal rehabilitation centre should be allowed to retain its bilingual status even if it does not have the required numbers under the law, a group representing English-speakers across Quebec says.
“If they were being generous about an institution that already had status, why would they not continue to give the new institution status?” said Sylvia Martin-Laforge, executive director of the Quebec Community Groups Network. Read more…
The QCGN is funded by the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage.
