Standing Committee on Official Languages

Comité permanent des langues officielles

For immediate release

Ottawa, February 19, 2018 -

From 26 February to 2 March 2018, seven members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages will travel to Whitehorse, Yukon; Vancouver, British Columbia; Edmonton Alberta; and Winnipeg, Manitoba, as part of two studies on French-language education and the promotion of French in Western Canada.

The first study focuses on French second-language education. While minority-language education receives constitutional protection under section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, second-language education is not similarly protected. Access continues to be a problem despite action by the federal government to improve the delivery of second-language programs. The Committee will meet with stakeholders to find ways to resolve these problems so that all Canadians can participate fully in our country’s linguistic diversity.

The second study concerns access to minority-language early childhood services. In its December 2016 report Toward a new action plan for official languages and building new momentum for immigration in francophone minority communities, the Committee noted the close connection between early childhood and the vitality of official language minority communities. That is why the Committee is studying French-language early childhood services in Western Canada. It will meet with stakeholders from the community and education sectors, and with families that want to improve early childhood services in French to ensure that children aged 0 to 5 can develop a sense of language security and attachment to their community.

The Committee Chair, the Hon. Denis Paradis, MP, will be accompanied by Vice-Chair François Choquette, MP, as well as the following members: René Arseneault, MP; Sylvie Boucher, MP; Bernard Généreux, MP; Darrell Samson, MP; and Dan Vandal, MP.