OTTAWA, April 30, 2009 - On behalf of the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, Royal Galipeau, Member of Parliament (Ottawa-Orléans), today announced a Government of Canada contribution to the project to build the Trades Centre at La Cité collégiale in Orléans.
"La Cité collégiale is an important institution in our region," said Mr. Galipeau. "The Centre, which will increase opportunities for training and acquiring new skills, will be a major asset for residents in this area. I'm proud that our Government is a partner in this project."
"The needs of our Franco-Ontarian young people are very important to me, and I have worked closely with La Cité collégiale and our Government to secure funding for this critical project," said Pierre Lemieux, Member of Parliament (Glengarry-Prescott-Russell).
"The federal government has always been an indisputable ally of Francophones living in a minority environment," said Andrée Lortie, President of La Cité collégiale. "This funding will enable a great many Franco-Ontarians to get quality training in French in the trades sector and contribute to the economic development of their province."
The new campus will enable La Cité collégiale to triple its learning programs to include training in 18 construction trades, as of September 2010. More than 750 additional students will benefit from a learning place that favours applied research projects, particularly in the area of new construction technologies.
The Government of Canada has provided $4 million through the Minority-Language Education component of the Development of Official-Language Communities Program. The goal of this Department of Canadian Heritage program is to improve the educational offering of provincial and territorial programs and activities in the first language of minority official language communities, at all levels of learning, as well as to increase the development and distribution of innovative knowledge, methods, and tools to support minority language learning.
As with the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-2013: Acting for the Future, announced last June 19, support for this project re-emphasizes the Government of Canada's commitment for 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
