Hon. Rose-May Poirier: Honourable senators, I rise today to support Senator Cormier’s amendment to Bill C-35, An Act respecting early learning and child care in Canada.

As the senator explained so well, the amendment to clause 8 of Bill C-35 would confirm the federal government’s commitment to maintain long-term funding for early learning and child care programs for official language minority communities.

Honourable colleagues, as a senator from an official language minority community — the community of Saint-Louis-de-Kent — and proud Acadian, I must join the debate and support my colleague, Senator Cormier.

Ever since the federal government signed bilateral agreements with the provinces, official language minority communities have been worried about the fact that the funding will accelerate the assimilation of future generations.

Parents have expressed their concern for the survival of their language, whether in the testimonies heard at the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages or in the communications received by my office.

[English]

For some of you, this may be the first time or the rare occasion when you hear about the difficulties for francophones outside of Quebec in having access to an education in their first language. It has been and remains an important concern for many parents. During my speech on Bill C-13 at second reading, I shared the challenge for official language minority communities to effectively have access to education in the official language of their choice for their children from ages 5 to 17. It is where we are losing roughly 35% of the eligible children outside of Quebec who are not receiving their education in French despite their rights.

There is a similar issue for children aged 0 to 4. Currently, there are not enough spaces for francophone kids outside of Quebec. During the study by the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, Jean-Luc Racine, Executive Director for La Commission nationale des parents francophones, confirmed the difficulty:

The situation is alarming. According to the latest census, in 2021, 141,635 children aged 0 to 4 are entitled to French-language education outside Quebec. However, the number of authorized spaces only allows us to serve 20% of these children. In 80% of cases, parents must turn to English-speaking daycare centres.

As all francophones know, it has been and continues to be a constant battle. Colleagues, this is how assimilation happens, and how it is accelerated. Too many francophone parents across the country face the anxiety of their child’s education: Will it begin in their culture, in their language, or will it begin as assimilation at the age of 2? Too often, we hear the story of parents having to put their name on a wait-list before the birth of their child. Imagine the anxiety, colleagues, of not knowing if your child will even have a chance to begin their daycare in their language and culture.

There was a concrete example given at the Social Affairs Committee during its study of Bill C-35 by the President of the Acadian Society of New Brunswick, Nicole Arseneau Sluyter:

Let me tell you about a personal experience I’ve had since I’ve been in St. John that shows just how important the educational continuum is. If we fail in this continuum, we contribute directly to assimilation to English. There aren’t enough daycare centres in French, and some parents have no choice but to enrol their children in English-language schools. As a result, their children end up losing their mother tongue.

A friend of mine from St. John’s, a French-speaking Acadian, had no choice but to enrol her children in an English-language school. She told me: ”Nicole, I’m ashamed, my child doesn’t speak French anymore.”

The situation is similar in Ontario and in each province. The survival of official language minority communities across the country depends on long-term funding commitments from the federal government. We cannot take a chance that the federal government will fuel the assimilation process by not ensuring long-term funding commitments in bilateral agreements on daycares. It is irresponsible on the government’s part to refuse such a reasonable amendment.

Like the Commissioner of Official Languages, Raymond Théberge, said in his brief submitted to the committee:

. . . investing in early childcare centres for linguistic minority communities ensures greater success of the language transmission process, which in turn contributes to the vitality of the community. As Commissioner Fraser stated in his 2016 report, ”Early childhood development is an area for positive, preventive and proactive intervention to revitalize the French language and Francophone communities.”

[Translation]

If this situation does not change, colleagues, the French fact in Canada will slowly but surely disappear. The federal government must be responsible when granting large sums of money, as it does for the child care program. There must be clear commitments to official language minority communities.

With Bill C-13, the government committed to restoring the demographic weight of francophones in Canada to 6.1%, as it was in 1971. This commitment requires a collective effort on the part of the federal government, and Bill C-35 is part of that. Thanks to the amendment proposed by Senator Cormier, official language minority communities are being given a helping hand to maintain their demographic weight. Not only are they being given a tool to ensure that the government honours its commitment in future negotiations, but they are also being given a tool to help them if ever they need to go to court. All too often, Canada’s francophones have to turn to the courts to ensure their rights are upheld.

Linguistic minorities in Canada are a reality. Too often, we have to ask the courts to affirm our rights.

[English]

Colleagues, I’ve mentioned this a few times before, but I am an example of this assimilation. Due to there being no French schools in the Miramichi region at the time, I had to attend English schools while living in a French household. The linguistic environment outside the house was English, and slowly but surely, English became more predominant than French. My writing and reading skills in French suffered, and to this day, when speaking with my siblings, I often still do so in English. Colleagues, in today’s environment, with the internet, social media, et cetera, francophone kids are even more prone to lose their French compared to our time growing up with radio and limited television.

Honourable senators, the amendment presented by Senator Cormier is for future agreements on daycare with the provinces. We are voting on helping future generations to maintain the vitality of their language, their culture and their identity. By amending Bill C-35 in clause 8, we are helping the government’s own commitment to official language communities like it said it would in the Bill C-13 debates.

I want to repeat three words from the 2016 report on early childhood development from Commissioner Graham Fraser: positive, preventive, proactive. That is the essence of Senator Cormier’s amendment: positive, preventive and proactive. Colleagues, we complain so often about the federal government’s reactive approach to issues. And in this case, they are reactive. Therefore, let’s be preventive and proactive with a positive amendment to Bill C-35 and ensuring long-term funding to official language minority communities.

I want to personally thank my colleague Senator Cormier for his tireless advocacy on behalf of Acadians and francophones across the country. Honourable senators, let’s send a strong message to all official language minority communities in this country by supporting this amendment.

Thank you, colleagues.

Hon. Rose-May Poirier: Senator Gold, would you take another question?