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MINISTER DION STATES THAT STRENGTHENING LINGUISTIC DUALITY BENEFITS ALL CANADIANS

June 22, 2002 – Speaking at the 27th Annual General Meeting of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, the President of the Privy Council, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister responsible for official languages, the Honourable Stéphane Dion, outlined the action plan that the Prime Minister has asked him to prepare.

Minister Dion first gave a positive review of the consultations and exchanges he has had over the past year with various Francophone communities and the activities of his Cabinet colleagues in connection with official languages.

"The Government has been very active in the official languages area in the past year. Stimulated by the Throne Speech in January 2001, the establishment of the Ministerial Reference Group on Official Languages, the work of the Standing Joint Committee on Official Languages, the regular observations of the Commissioner of Official Languages, Dr. Dyane Adam, notably her document on the Government’s strategic framework on official languages, and continually spurred on by intensified dialogue with you, the Government has laid solid foundations which I am sure you will build upon for the future," said Mr. Dion.

The Minister then highlighted the three pillars upon which the official languages action plan, to be released in the fall, will be based.

1) Education

In this area, Mr. Dion stressed that the key objective is to increase the proportion of students from minority communities enrolled in French schools, which will require "partnership with the provinces and territories, while fully respecting their constitutional jurisdictions." That proportion rose from 45% in 1986 to 54% in 1996. Such progress can continue only if a number of different factors are heeded: "the need to act starting in early childhood," at the preschool level; the need to facilitate the existence of French schools accessible at a reasonable distance; the need to improve the quality of minority-language education; and the need to retain students in the Francophone school system after primary school and improve access to French-language postsecondary education.

2) Community development

Stressing the importance of arts and culture, through which a language flourishes, and noting the progress seen in that sector overall, Minister Dion highlighted other areas of community life where the Government is called on to promote official languages: health, justice, immigration, and economic development.

In the health care field, specifically, Mr. Dion confirmed on behalf of his colleague, the Minister of Health, the Honourable Anne McLellan, a "forthcoming investment of $1.9 million, making possible in 2002-2003 the transition to full network deployment [...] These resources will be allocated to maintaining or creating a number of networks, conducting feasibility studies and creating a national cooperation network able to support these various initiatives."

3) An exemplary public service

Mr. Dion pointed out that the recruitment of public servants to replace those retiring in the next five to ten years is "a golden opportunity to reinforce the language capability of the public service." "We want excellence in our public service. We demand a public service that respects official languages and that truly serves Canadians in their official language of choice." Referring to a proposal by the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, the Minister announced that the Government’s action plan will include "an accountability framework that will serve as a constant reminder to ministers and officials that linguistic duality is a priority."

Minister Dion then stated that humanity is currently at a turning point in its linguistic history : a reality caused by the communications explosion and increasingly intense exchanges among cultures. While languages are disappearing at a growing rate, Canada has the advantage of being able to count on two international languages as official languages, an asset it must conserve, despite the assimilating force of English. "According to a February 2002 Environics poll, 82% of Canadians, including 91% aged 18 to 24, support the federal official languages policy," the Minister pointed out.

"So yes, we do need to prepare an effective, realistic and reasonable action plan to reinforce Canada’s linguistic duality. And yes, we need communities to be active, on their own behalf and on behalf of all of Canada. Together, we can and must do better. We will do better," Mr. Dion concluded.

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