SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Francophonie Month

Esteemed colleagues, as we do every year during Francophonie Month, we recognize the 300 million French speakers spread out over all five continents.

We also acknowledge that French is the fifth most commonly spoken language on the planet and the fourth most-used language on the Internet.

We’re excited about the projection by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the OIF, that over 700 million human beings will live in francophone countries in 2060 and that three quarters of them will be under 30 and will live in Africa.

That’s very encouraging for the future of this language, which some call the language of peace, democracy and human rights. In Canada, however, while we are proud to celebrate our two official languages, the statistics are alarming. For all its global promise, French is no less fragile, and we must act now to protect it and enable it to thrive.

That means making sure we have effective legislative tools, robust public policies and concrete means to ensure the substantive equality of our two official languages, but we must do much more than that.

Every year, the Canadian Foundation for Cross-Cultural Dialogue organizes the Rendez-vous de la Francophonie. This year, the Rendez-vous’s theme is “Acadia, at the heart of my country.”

As an Acadian senator, I would like to rename this theme to “Acadia, the land of my heart,” because no law, strategy or declaration will really work, honourable colleagues, if we do not instil a love of the language and culture in our fellow Canadians.

That is why we must do more to support sectors like education, to strengthen our francophone immigration strategies and, more importantly, ensure adequate support for our artists and cultural workers who have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. All levels of government have a duty to provide this support.

We must appeal to all provinces and territories to act now to ensure that as many Canadians as possible have access to the French language if we are to celebrate the Francophonie, its culture, diversity and inclusiveness all across Canada.

This must not in any way overshadow our duty to protect, promote and revitalize Indigenous languages, on the contrary. We must take into account the legacy and invaluable contributions of Indigenous peoples through specific and essential actions to revitalize those languages.

Next year’s International Day of La Francophonie will take place on March 20 under the theme “Francophone women, Resilient women,” as announced by the OIF.

We applaud the courage, determination and daring shown by so many francophone and francophile women in this country to keep the French language alive and to showcase the richness of its culture.

I will conclude by thanking some such women who are working passionately for the benefit of all Canadians. Thank you to Carmen Gibbs, Marie-Thérèse Landry, Rosella Melanson, Marie-Claude Rioux, Isabelle Dasylva-Gill, Pascale Joëlle Fortin, Monique Brideau, Sophie Thibodeau, Véronique Mallet, Nicole Thibault and all the others for their invaluable contributions.

Thank you for your attention.