Catégorie : Actualités

The Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne (FCFA) du Canada, the national voice of Canada’s French-speaking minority communities, is launching a new website called www.ourofficiallanguages.ca to promote a thorough and speedy modernization of the 32 year-old Official Languages Act. The FCFA’s website allows citizens to generate and send letters to their MP requesting action to ensure a bill to modernize the Act is introduced in Parliament as soon as possible.

“Modernizing the Act has been in the works for three years now and substantial efforts have gone into it. The COVID-19 crisis has caused delays and having a minority government means an election could be called in a matter of months. We’re almost at the finish line and the government has to introduce a bill now – nobody wants to have to postpone this long-overdue overhaul to 2022 or 2023,”says FCFA President Jean Johnson.

Incidentally, from the FCFA’s point of view, the COVID-19 crisis has also exposed the inequality of Canada’s two official languages, just as the Speech from the Throne acknowledged the importance of acting to protect and promote the French language.

“Modernizing the Act was already a pressing matter in 2019, and it’s even more so in 2020. We’re counting on Canadians to call on MPs to act on this issue,” comments Mr. Johnson.

The website is also available in French at www.noslanguesofficielles.ca.

As the national voice of Canada’s Francophone and Acadian communities, the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne (FCFA) du Canada is issuing the following statement today by its president, Jean Johnson, regarding this week’s incidents in Nova Scotia.

“The FCFA has been watching with growing concern the clashes about fishing in the southwest of Nova Scotia. Acts of intimidation and violence toward Mi’kmaw fishermen are utterly unacceptable and we condemn these acts in the strongest possible terms. Nothing, absolutely nothing justifies such violence.

I am asking all Francophones and Acadians, throughout the country, to join me in this condemnation and in calling for respect for Mi’kmaw fishermen.

The FCFA is also calling on the federal government to play its role so that the situation is resolved through dialogue and respect.”

Le président de la Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne (FCFA) du Canada, Jean Johnson, a émis la déclaration suivante concernant l’élection d’Annamie Paul à titre de cheffe du Parti vert du Canada :

« Je tiens à offrir mes plus sincères félicitations à Annamie Paul et au Parti vert. Le parti s’est doté d’une cheffe qui incarne à la fois la dualité linguistique et la diversité du Canada du XXIe siècle.

Je suis confiant qu’avec Mme Paul, le parti va continuer de se positionner comme une formation réellement nationale, soucieuse non seulement des enjeux environnementaux majeurs auxquels nous devons nous adresser sans délai, mais aussi de questions reliées à nos valeurs comme pays. Lors de la dernière élection, le Parti vert a appuyé la modernisation de la Loi sur les langues officielles et nous comptons sur l’appui de la nouvelle cheffe et des députés verts pour mener ce projet à terme au cours des prochains mois.

Je souhaite enfin remercier Elizabeth May pour l’accueil et l’ouverture dont elle a toujours fait preuve envers la FCFA et les communautés francophones et acadiennes durant son mandat comme cheffe du Parti vert ».

Le président de la Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne (FCFA) du Canada, Jean Johnson, a émis la déclaration suivante pour souligner le Jour des Franco-Ontariens et des Franco-Ontariennes : 

« Il y a 45 ans, Michel Dupuis hissait le drapeau franco-ontarien pour la première fois à l’Université Laurentienne à Sudbury. Ce faisant, il posait un geste d’affirmation culturelle et politique, un geste qui s’inscrit dans une longue tradition de militantisme franco-ontarien qui se poursuit jusqu’à nos jours.  

Cette affirmation culturelle et politique a franchi cette semaine un autre jalon symbolique, lorsque le drapeau franco-ontarien est devenu un emblème officiel de la province. J’en suis très fier, parce que ça contribue à normaliser encore un peu plus la présence du drapeau vert et blanc en Ontario.  

Chers amis et amies francophones de l’Ontario, votre place, elle vous appartient de par vos actions et votre militantisme. À défaut de pouvoir participer à des levées de drapeaux en personne aujourd’hui, vous trouverez, j’en suis sûr, de nombreuses manières d’afficher le vert et blanc. Vous saurez vous assurer, pour paraphraser Brian St-Pierre, que tous et toutes voient bien que vous êtes franco-ontariens et franco-ontariennes.  

Même la COVID-19 ne peut arrêter votre affirmation culturelle et politique ».  

The Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne (FCFA) du Canada, the national voice of Canada’s French-speaking minority communities, was very pleased to hear the Throne Speech send a strong message on the government’s plans to modernize the Official Languages Act.  In the Speech, delivered by the Right Honourable Julie Payette, the government reiterated its commitment to “strengthen this legislation (…) taking into consideration the unique reality of French.” For the FCFA, this is a very positive statement.

However, the FCFA wants to stress that what’s required is a full overhaul of the Official Languages Act, instead of just strengthening the existing Act. Furthermore, the FCFA looks forward to finding out more on the government’s timeline leading up to the introduction of a bill in the House.

“We know from our government contacts that work on a bill is fairly advanced. With the government’s signal today, introducing a bill before the end of the year is very realistic,” states FCFA President Jean Johnson.

The FCFA points out that Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault has promised a bill on the web giants before the Holidays. “If that sort of a timeline is possible in this case, it’s most certainly possible in the case of the Official Language Act,” says Mr. Johnson.

The FCFA plans to pay close attention to the contents of the new mandate letter for Economic Development and Official Languages Minister Mélanie Joly. The Fédération wishes to acknowledge Minister Joly’s intervention to ensure that the Throne Speech included a mention of the government’s plan to modernize the Act.

The national voice of Canada’s Francophone and Acadian minority communities is calling on the federal government to keep its promise to modernize the Official Languages Act. The Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne (FCFA) du Canada expects the upcoming Speech from the Throne to spell out the government’s commitment to introduce a bill to that effect before the end of the year. The FCFA will be looking for the same commitment in the Minister of Official Languages’ mandate letter.

“We’ve been talking about this for two years now. An incredible amount of work has gone into paving the way to modernize the Official Languages Act – there have been government consultations, two parliamentary committee reports, another report by the Commissioner of Official Languages, briefs by numerous organizations from official language minorities, as well as a bill proposal by the FCFA. There’s no reason not to act now,” says FCFA President Jean Johnson.

In October of last year, Prime Minister Trudeau confirmed that a six-month timeline for introducing a bill was feasible. While the COVID-19 crisis has obviously modified government priorities, the FCFA believes that introducing a bill before the end of 2020 is still quite realistic, considering all the work that’s been done on this issue up to now.

“The COVID-19 crisis has also shown once again that when there’s a national emergency, one of our official languages takes a back seat. English-only press conferences by governments in several regions – including Canada’s only bilingual province – and unilingual labeling on cleaning products have shown how badly we need a modernized Official Languages Act now, if French and English are truly to be equal in this country,” comments Mr. Johnson.