Brief of the Conseil des écoles fransaskoises Presented to the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages in the Context of its Study on Canadians’ Views about Modernizing the Official Languages Act Concrete Proposals for Modifications of the Official Languages Act: Shielding the Role of the Federal Government in French-Language Education from Partisan Politics Alpha Barry, President, Conseil des écoles fransaskoises ([email protected] ; 306-551-0223) Hélène Grimard, Vice-President, Conseil des écoles fransaskoises February 12th, 2018 Introduction [1] Established in 1995, the Conseil des écoles fransaskoises (“CÉFSK”) is the only school board authorized to provide French first-language instruction in Saskatchewan. More than 1,600 students are enrolled in its twelve schools, from kindergarten through grade twelve. [2] The study published by the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages (the “Senate Committee”) on the perspective of Canadians regarding the modernization of the Official Languages Act provides the perfect opportunity to recommend legislative changes. These changes would address problems that have been raised time and again regarding the management framework governing federal financial support for minority language education. [3] The Department of Canadian Heritage has been entering into agreements with the provincial and territorial governments as part of its Official Languages in Education Program (“OLEP”) since 1970. These agreements govern the terms of federal fund transfers intended to pay for additional costs associated with minority-language education and second-language instruction. [4] However, the management framework governing federal support for minority-language education is very problematic and has never met the needs of the community.1 [5] In 2005, this Committee highlighted a series of shortcomings in the management framework for federal funding of minority-language education, including: the lack of transparency, the lack of mechanisms for consultation with communities and for ensuring accountability, and the delays in the renewal of the agreements.2 [6] To remedy these shortcomings, this Committee recommended in 2005 “[t]hat the federal government and its partners develop a new framework for the administration of the Official Languages in Education Program for the purposes of […] ensuring the direct participation of French-language school boards in the negotiation of education agreements; […] separating minority-language and second-language programs in the negotiation of education protocols and agreements; and […] respecting the deadlines for the renewal of 1 Fédération des francophones hors Québec, À la recherche du milliard : Analyse critique des programmes fédéraux de langues officielles dans l’enseignement, Ottawa, 1981 (Annex “1” (in French, excerpt only)); Commission nationale des parents francophones, Où sont passés les $ ?, Saint-Boniface, 1996 (Annex “2” (in French, excerpt only)). 2 Senate, Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages, Interim Report: French-Language Education in a Minority Setting: A Continuum from Early Childhood to the Postsecondary Level (June 2005) at 51-58 (chair: the Honourable Eymard Corbin) [Senate Committee, Interim Report]. Page 1 of 18 the protocol and bilateral education agreements.”3 It also recommended in 2005, “[t]hat the federal government, through the Official Languages in Education Program, implement: a) effective accountability and reporting mechanisms to ensure that the allocation of federal funds corresponds to the objectives of the federal government and the expectations of Francophone communities in a minority setting; and b) better evaluation measures to determine whether the expected results have been achieved.”4 [7] These recommendations were unfortunately never implemented. The shortcomings that were highlighted have not only persisted but have been aggravated. [8] In December 2016, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages put forward similar recommendations in its study on the Roadmap for immigration in Francophone minority communities;5 this Committee did the same in its report of May 2017 on the challenges associated with access to French-language schools and French immersion programs in British Columbia.6 The current federal government appears to be more receptive to these recommendations than its predecessor.7 [9] The CÉFSK asks that the Official Languages Act be amended so as to make the federal government’s role in minority language education independent of partisan politics. [10] The following paragraphs provide the Senate Committee with: A) an outline of the management framework for federal funding of minority language education; B) an overview of its current shortcomings; and C) a series of proposed amendments to the Official Languages Act aimed at addressing these shortcomings. 3 Senate Committee, Interim Report, supra at 56. 4 Senate Committee, Interim Report, supra at 58. 5 House of Commons, Standing Committee on Official Languages, Toward a New Action Plan for Official Languages and Building New Momentum for Immigration in Francophone Minority Communities, (14 December, 2016) at 54 (chair: the Honourable Denis Paradis). 6 Senate, Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages, Horizon 2018: Toward Stronger Support of French- Language Learning in British Columbia, (May 2017) at xii-xiii (chair: the Hon. Claudette Tardif) [Senate Committee, Horizon 2018]. 7 Fédération nationale des conseils scolaires francophones (FNCSF), Strategic Education Agreement between the Government of Canada, the Fédération nationale des conseils scolaires francopohnes (FNCSF), the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes du Canada (FCFA) and the Commission nationale des parents francophones (CNPF), (July 19, 2017) [Strategic Agreement]; Government response to the fourth report of the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages, signed by the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage, and the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement; Government response to the sixth report of the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages, signed by the Honourable Bev Oda, Minister of Canadian Heritage (November 2006). Page 2 of 18 A) The management framework for federal funding of minority language education does not respect section 23 of the Charter nor does it respect the CÉFSK’s right to management and control [11] The Department of Canadian Heritage supports various official language funding programs to fulfil its obligations under Part VII of the Official Languages Act8, which can be divided into the following four components: development of official language communities; minority language education; second language learning; and promotion of linguistic duality. [12] The “Minority Language Education” component aims “to improve the provincial and territorial supply of programs and activities to provide education in the language of official-language minority communities […] at all levels of education.” This component “also aims to increase the production and dissemination of knowledge and innovative methods and tools to support teaching in the language of the minority.”9 [13] The graphic below identifies the various instruments in the “Minority Language Education” component: (4) The action plans (2) The Protocol for created and adopted Agreements for (3) The bilateral by provincial and (1) The Roadmap for Minority-Language agreements that territorial ministries Official Languages Education and implement the of education to Second-Language Protocol obtain the targeted Instruction federal funding under the Protocol [14] Since 2003, the vast majority of funding for the “Minority Language Education” component has come from the Roadmap for Official Languages10 (initially called the Action Plan for Official Languages) (1). 8 Official Languages Act, RSC 1985, c 31 (4th supp), part VII. 9 Department of Canadian Heritage, “Funding – Minority Language Education” (17 July 2017), Official Language Funding Programs. 10 Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages 2013-2018: Education, Immigration, Communities, catalogue no. CH14-31/2013E-PDF, Ottawa, Canadian Heritage, 2013. Page 3 of 18 [15] For more than 30 years, the Department of Canadian Heritage (and its precursor, the Department of the Secretary of State) has entered into a Protocol for Agreements for Minority-Language Education and Second-Language Instruction11 (“Protocol”) with the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (“CMEC”) (2). This Protocol “sets the key parameters for collaboration between the two levels of government on official languages in education and provides a mechanism through which the federal government contributes to the costs incurred by the provinces and territories in the delivery of minority-language education and second-language instruction.”12 [16] This is precisely the source of the problem! There are three and not two “levels of government” in the area of minority-language education. The Protocol has always ignored or shown a lack of concern for the existence, perspective and interests of the level of government responsible for conceiving of and delivering that education: the minority language school boards and commissions, whose constitutional protection is guaranteed