BURNABY, British Columbia, February 27, 2009 - The Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, announced today at a meeting with students from Simon Fraser University that the Canada-British Columbia Auxiliary Agreement for the Development of Postsecondary Education in French at Simon Fraser University will be extended for an additional year.
This agreement allowed for the establishment of the Office of Francophone and Francophile Affairs (OFFA) at Simon Fraser University. With this extension, the Government of Canada is committing to contribute up to an additional $1.215 million to British Columbia's official-languages expenditures for 2008-2009.
"This extension, which devotes additional resources to students wanting to attend university programs and courses in French, enables our Government to contribute to the objectives outlined in our Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality. In this way, we are encouraging British Columbians and certainly all Canadians to take part in our country's linguistic duality and providing support to official-language minority communities," said Minister Moore, who went on to state that 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of the coming into force of the Official Languages Act.
"The OFFA's mission is to develop, coordinate, and promote French-language programs and courses to meet British Columbia's post-secondary education needs," said Claire Trépanier, Acting Director of the OFFA. "Since 2004, Simon Fraser University has offered a range of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs to the province's Francophones and Francophiles. Ottawa is right to invest in this innovative project, which contributes to educating the next generation of public service and education employees, among others, and promotes linguistic duality, the Francophonie, and Canadian identity on the West Coast."
"Our Government is committed to providing better choices and better access to post-secondary education so students can get the education they need to succeed," said the Honourable Murray Coell, Minister for Advanced Education and Labour Market Development. "Simon Fraser University is a valued contributor to the promotion and support of French studies in British Columbia."
Like the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-2013: Acting for the Future, announced on June 19, 2008, the Government of Canada's support for this project reaffirms its commitment to linguistic duality and the vitality of official-language minority communities. The Roadmap is an unprecedented government-wide investment of $1.1 billion over five years.
Information:
Deirdra McCracken
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage
and Official Languages
819-997-7788
deirdra.mccracken@pch.gc.ca
Media Relations
Canadian Heritage
819-994-9101
1-866-569-6155
