EDMONTON, September 11, 2009 -
The Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, and the Honourable Diane McGifford, Minister of Advanced Education and Literacy for Manitoba and Chair of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), announced on Friday, September 4, the renewal of the Protocol for Agreements for Minority-Language Education and Second-Language Instruction. Approximately $938 million will be invested over four years in provincial and territorial bilateral agreements, complementing the provincial and territorial investments in minority-language education and second-language instruction.
The protocol
paves the way for bilateral agreements on official-languages education. Under
the protocol, the federal government will invest more than $1 billion over a
four-year period in the provinces’ and territories’ delivery of
minority-language education and second-language instruction (English
in Quebec and French in the other provinces and territories). The protocol,
which extends from 2009–2010 to 2012–2013, reiterates the objectives pursued in
past protocols and includes, for the first time, an outcomes framework that will
serve as a basis for the development of performance targets and indicators in
provincial and territorial action plans. This framework will enable governments
to provide relevant and timely public information on the outcomes of this
intergovernmental collaboration.
“This agreement
marks another important step in our Government’s plan to ensure that both our
country’s official languages are promoted and respected,” said Minister Moore.
“Having studied in an immersion program from elementary through high school, I
can personally attest to the value of having the opportunity to learn in one’s
second language. I’m proud that our Government is standing up for
second-language and minority-language education by making such an important
investment.”
The Government of Canada’s
investment in official languages education comes, in part, from the Roadmap
for Canada’s
Linguistic Duality 2008–2013: Acting for the Future.
The Roadmap is an unprecedented, government-wide investment and reaffirms the
Government’s commitment to linguistic duality and to the vitality of minority
official-language communities.
This promising news coincides with
the 40th anniversary of the Official Languages Act, which came into
effect September 9, 1969, and ensured
that both French and English have equal statuses as Canada’s languages of
government and justice. The Act expanded the
scope of the constitutional guarantee regarding the use of French and English in
Parliament and federal courts (set out in section 133 of the Constitution
Act, 1867)
to cover all federal institutions, including federal departments, agencies and
Crown corporations as well as quasi-judicial bodies and administrative agencies.
Canadian Parents
for French, Alberta Branch is extremely pleased to support the signing of
Official Languages in Education Protocol, and looks forward to the promising
opportunities it presents to Canadians.
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Canadian Parents for French, Alberta Branch is the provincial network of volunteers which values French as an integral part of Canada and which is dedicated to the promotion and creation of French-second-language learning opportunities for young Albertans. There are currently more than 3,000 members across Alberta.