ORLÉANS, Ontario, August 20, 2009 - On behalf of the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, Royal Galipeau, Member of Parliament (Ottawa-Orléans), today announced funding for the Orléans Youth Resource Centre. The funding will help the Centre develop a program of bilingual activities and services for young people aged 12 to 18.
"Our Government continues to take concrete steps to promote and support both of our official languages," said Minister Moore. "This funding is proof of our commitment to linguistic duality, community vitality, and our support for youth, one of our country's most valuable resources."
"Bringing young Anglophones and Francophones together though this program will strengthen the foundation of our community's linguistic duality," said Mr. Galipeau. "This initiative by Sketch Orléans provides the basis for our future success, and the Government of Canada is proud to be a partner."
"This Trillium Foundation grant totalling $64,100 is great news for Sketch Orléans and the youth in our community," said Phil McNeely, Member of Provincial Parliament (Ottawa-Orléans). "It will allow this valuable organization to continue to work with its community partners in developing recreation and social programming for youth age 12 to 18."
"This new support for the Orléans Youth Resource Centre enables us to expand our organization so we can offer more services and programs to youth in Orleans. Federal support, from the Government of Canada, strengthens our mandate as a bilingual organization, thereby respecting our community's special character," said André Brisebois, Executive Director, Sketch Orléans. "Our lessons learned will certainly help many other organizations and communities. Also, renewed support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation strengthens our capacity to create a business culture in our organization, ensuring our long-term viability as a social enterprise for youth. Over 16,000 young people in Orleans will benefit from this support."
The Government of Canada has provided funding of $70,000 under the Enhancement of Official Languages Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage. This program is designed to foster among Canadians a greater understanding and appreciation of the benefits of linguistic duality.
Like the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-2013: Acting for the Future, support for this organization reiterates the Government of Canada's commitment to linguistic duality and the vitality of official-language minority communities. The Roadmap is an unprecedented government-wide investment of $1.1 billon over five years.
This year also marks the 40th anniversary of the adoption of Canada's first Official Languages Act.
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
