Honourable senators, it is once again with great enthusiasm that I rise here on this Thursday. The night> is still young, but I'm going to follow the advice of the Speaker and keep it brief and to the point.

Dear colleagues, I would like to add some of my own thoughts about Horizon 2018: Toward Stronger Support of French-language Learning in British Columbia to the detailed presentation given by the chair of our committee, the Honourable Senator Tardif, on Tuesday.

I would like to reiterate Senator Tardif's words of thanks to the staff of the Senate and the Library of Parliament, as well as to the communications team that supported our committee in this study. It was a real pleasure to work with such dedicated and competent individuals. On behalf of myself and all of my committee colleagues, I also want to thank and congratulate the Honourable Senator Tardif, the committee chair who led this study.

Honourable colleagues, our committee's trip to British Columbia and our visits and public hearings in Vancouver and Victoria greatly enriched our report.

I am grateful that the committee was able to travel to the area and see the unacceptable state of many of the francophone schools in British Columbia. In her speech, Senator Tardif described the substandard and outdated infrastructure of these schools that accommodate more students than they have space for.

We were also able to see with our own eyes the striking contrast between these overcrowded dilapidated buildings and the bright smiles and eyes of the children who study there. Honourable colleagues, the communities we visited are certainly not declining in numbers. They need infrastructure that can accommodate their continued growth.

The committee was able to hear from francophone parents and school boards who have had no choice but to turn to the courts to obtain for their children what we tend to take for granted, or want to take for granted; that is, the right in this country to an education in your official language.

Honourable senators, I know there is a strong and, dare I say unanimous, belief in this chamber that in Canada, children should be able to obtain a quality education in their official language; that this education should take place in classrooms that are just as comfortable, well-maintained and conducive to learning as those occupied by their friends and neighbours studying in the other official language down the street. That this is not the case, and has not been the case for some time, is an unsettling reality.

The evidence is not anecdotal; as it appears in our report, the shortcomings are glaring. As the Supreme Court of British Columbia has found, the issue of underfunding is systemic.

The committee was also able to hear from the growing number of francophile and allophone parents who want to provide their children with the opportunity to learn and live a part of their lives in French. In that network as well, the demand far exceeds the offer.

What I take from this trip, and this study, is that British Columbia could be a fantastic success story. It is a largely anglophone province with a sizeable and diverse immigrant population where demand for French language education, both under section 23 of the Charter and within the French immersion programs, is booming and shows no sign of slowing down. This should be good news for both the province and the country.

In this one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Confederation, this should be celebrated and supported, yet the government, despite decisions by the courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, is not providing equal resources to these children.

Senator Tardif presented the committee's 17 recommendations, which aim to improve access to francophone schools; increase bilingualism among youth; review the funding mechanism and improve accountability; and support the vitality of francophone communities.

During the press conference we held to release the report, we saw how welcome our recommendations were. Since then, we have heard from people across the country. The challenges we identified in our study are not unique to British Columbia. Francophone parents across the country are fighting for their children's right to be educated in French, which is a Charter right.

Thousands of francophile and allophone parents also want their children to have the opportunity to learn French. Thus, in their own way, they are helping to achieve the goals laid out in the Official Languages Act, whose purpose is to foster the full recognition and use of both English and French across Canada.

Honourable colleagues, it is high time all of these parents saw the federal government as an ally. Our recommendations would go a long way toward achieving that.

My esteemed colleagues, I hope that this chamber will adopt this report before the summer break, and I very sincerely hope that the government will follow up with concrete action.

Thank you.