DIEPPE, New Brunswick, August 6, 2010 - During a tour of the Atlantic provinces, the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, today announced the signing of agreements on official languages with the Government of New Brunswick and the province's Acadian and Francophone community.
"Our Government is a leader in Canada on official languages," said Minister Moore. "The important agreements we are announcing today are crucial to the development of New Brunswick's Acadian and Francophone community and the promotion of our two official languages."
The Honourable Hédard Albert, New Brunswick Minister of Wellness, Culture and Sport and co signer of the Canada-New Brunswick agreement on French-language services, highlighted the importance of the federal-provincial partnership for the growth and development of New Brunswick's Acadian and Francophone community. "As the only officially bilingual province, New Brunswick has put in place measures to strengthen dialogue and to help bring about true equality of the province's two official-language communities," he said.
Under an agreement on French first-language education and second-language instruction covering the period from 2009 to 2013, the Government of Canada announced a contribution of $86,810,768. This investment supports the provision of French-language teaching for New Brunswick's Acadian and Francophone community, as well as French second-language instruction.
Accompanying the education agreement are a series of projects intended to support teaching at the elementary, secondary, and postsecondary level. The Government of Canada is providing support to the Université de Moncton for teacher training ($162,568 in 2009-2011); the Language and Cultural Development Policy for Acadian and Francophone Schools in New Brunswick ($400,000 for 2009-2013); the development of French-language educational resources at the Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick ($450,000 in 2009-2011); and the "Making the choice of learning French" project ($70,000 in 2009-2011).
Under another agreement covering the period from 2009 to 2013, the Government of Canada will provide $7.2 million for the delivery of provincial government services in French. The agreement on official languages will assist with developing and implementing specific measures to support the provincial government in providing services to the Acadian and Francophone community.
In addition, the Government of Canada announced ratification of the cooperation agreement between the Department of Canadian Heritage and New Brunswick's Acadian and Francophone community. This type of agreement promotes dialogue between the community and the Department, allows for a more strategic approach to cooperation, and stresses the follow up steps required to achieve the planned objectives. The Government of Canada is providing yearly funding of $2,440,000 to organizations representing New Brunswick's Acadian and Francophone community. As part of this support for community organizations, the Minister announced funding for a group of projects, including the Éloizes awards presentation ceremony of the Association acadienne des artistes professionnel.le.s du New Brunswick ($150,800); the project "Des leaders bien outillés pour assurer l'intégration des arts et de la culture par l'aménagement culturel du territoire" ["Leaders who are well equipped to ensure the integration of arts and culture through regional cultural development"] of the Association francophone des municipalités du Nouveau-Brunswick ($15,000); and the youth missions of the Fédération des jeunes francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick ($45,000).
This announcement includes funding totalling $95,093,336 to support our two official languages in New Brunswick. Added to that amount is $2,440,000 in yearly support for community organizations. Part of the funding announced today is provided under the
Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-2013: Acting for the Future , an unprecedented government-wide investment of $1.1 billion over five years.
The education agreement is an outcome of the renewal of the
Protocol for Agreements announced on September 4, 2009, and signed by the Government of Canada and the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, a key partner for federal action in the field of education. The Protocol provides a framework for all bilateral education agreements.
Intergovernmental Cooperation on Minority-Language Services seeks to help provincial and territorial governments provide provincial, territorial, and municipal services, including the necessary infrastructure, in the language of the official-language minority community. Shared costs are funded under multi-year cooperation agreements with provincial and territorial governments. Attached to the agreements are multi-year action plans.
The Government of Canada is proceeding with the ratification of agreements with official-language minority communities under
Cooperation with the Community Sector , part of the
Community Life component of the
Development of Official-Language Communities Program . This program of the Department of Canadian Heritage is designed to foster the vitality of Canada's French and English-speaking minority communities and enable them to participate fully in all aspects of Canadian life.
The agreements between the Government of Canada and the communities, provinces and territories under the
Official Languages Support Programs are available at
www.canadianheritage.gc.ca .
Matthew Deacon
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage
and Official Languages
819-997-7788
matthew.deacon@pch.gc.ca Media Relations
Canadian Heritage
819-994-9101
1-866-569-6155
media@pch.gc.ca
