Nearly 80% of respondents believe it is important to protect the French language so that it has a future in the province. The trend is even more marked among the oldest, a situation that does not surprise the director of the Federation of French-speaking seniors and retirees of Ontario (FARFO).
The elderly fought, when you look at the history of Montfort, the fight to get schools
recalls Michel Tremblay.
” We fought for that and we don’t want to lose French, we want to continue to use it and above all to have services in our language. »
The Association of Franco-Ontarian Teachers (AEFO) reiterates that it is important to invest in French education, because it contributes directly to the vitality and sustainability of the Francophone community in Ontario
.
The language in decline?
One of the highlights of the survey is the perception of more than 60% of respondents that French is in decline in Ontario.
The president of theAFOCarol Jolin, questions the choice of the word decline
. It seems to mean that we’re going to disappear, and we’re not about to disappear Francophones in Ontario.
Mr. Jolin recognizes, however, that the demographic weight of Franco-Ontarians is decreasing and that this trend must be countered by greatly exceeding the Francophone immigration targets. However, Ontario is not even managing to reach its target of 5%.
However, Francophone immigration is a priority issue for less than 10% of those surveyed and nearly half of respondents believe that the province is doing enough to facilitate their integration.
If there is a lack of staff on the English side, well on the French side it is even more obvious
notes the President of theAFOwho believes people may not be making the connection between insufficient immigration and labor shortages.
A decline in services
We believe that Francophones should have access to services in French equivalent to those offered in English, such as health services, mental health services and government services.
said in a written statement the president of the association of French-speaking teachers, Anne Vinet-Roy.
More than three quarters of the respondents also think that they should have access to health services equivalent to those offered in English, but this is not a unanimous answer.
Michel Tremblay, of the FARFObelieves that people are probably being realistic. Health is an environment where there is a lot of vulnerability
, he observes. Injured, in the hospital, who would be prepared to wait any longer for treatment? I think we want to settle the pain issue before we fight for the language.
Mr. Tremblay thinks that the situation of services in French does not improve
that sometimes services are offered on paper, but the reality does not follow
.
promises of improvements
Carol Jolin notes that Ontario’s political parties have committed to recruiting and training more Francophone health and long-term care personnel.
” We saw during the pandemic how important it is to be able to serve people in both official languages. »
The president of theAFO is also hopeful that the overhaul of the French Language Services Act will increase the services available to the 20% of Franco-Ontarians who do not live in a designated region. We are working to have a large designated region that would be all of Ontario and that would be a step towards bilingualism in the province
he concludes.
With information from Camille Gris Roy
Survey methodology
The Ipsos survey commissioned by Radio-Canada was conducted online from May 5 to 16, 2022 among 501 Ontarians whose native language or mother tongue is French.
Weighting was applied based on gender, age and region to ensure that the composition of the sample is representative of the entire Francophone population of Ontario, according to census data. .
Results are accurate to within plus or minus 5 percentage points (19 times out of 20).
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca