Speaking Points
Royal Galipeau, Member of Parliament for Ottawa-Orleans
Ottawa, ON
March 20, 2015
Good morning ladies and gentlemen, friends and guests.
Thank you all for joining us. Thank you to Lise Bourgeois and her team at La Cité for hosting us this morning.
I'm especially pleased to be here today as it is March 20, which is la Journée internationale de la Francophonie, during the Rendez-vous de la Francophonie. At this time of year, events are taking place around the world to promote the French language.
The groups represented here today, La Cité and l'Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario, dedicate their time to ensuring Francophone organizations have the tools they need to grow and prosper.
As Member of Parliament for Ottawa-Orleans, it gives me great honour to deliver some great news on behalf of our Government.
I'm happy to report that under the leadership of our Prime Minister, Canada now boasts one of the best job creation records in the G7.
We are one of the world leaders in economic growth and we have been recognized globally as one of the best environments for investment.
Not only is our Government setting the right macro-economic conditions for businesses to grow and prosper, we are also making life more affordable for Canadian families.
With our recent Family Tax Cut initiative, Canadians now have more money in their pockets to spend on priorities such as their families.
As Prime Minister Harper stated, "Our Government is fulfilling its promise to balance the federal budget and we are now in a position to help families budget theirs."
The same sentiments extend to our focus on economic growth. We remain dedicated to providing the right resources to individuals and businesses in this region to create jobs, stay competitive, and prosper long-term.
Our Government understands that small- and medium-sized enterprises, entrepreneurs and economic development organizations, play a crucial role in job creation and strengthening Canada's competitiveness.
Simply put, small- and medium-sized businesses are big in Canada.
Our Government is committed to supporting the growth and diversification of the southern Ontario economy, through investments in the people and ideas that will help Francophone businesses and organizations succeed, grow and continue to play an important role in bringing economic prosperity to our region.
Official language minority communities are diverse and vibrant, with many institutions and associations in the fields of education, culture, health, justice, the economy and communications.
In Ontario, we have the largest Francophone population in the country outside of Québec.
Ontario is now home to 611,500 Franco-Ontarians.
This brings me to why we are all here today.
Our Government is proud to stand behind Francophone organizations like l'Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario and La Cité.
Today I'm pleased to announce a total of $1,924,844 for these two associations.
FedDev Ontario is providing l'Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario with up to $999,840 to develop and administer a youth internship program across southern Ontario. Through this internship program, they will help Francophone businesses and not-for-profit organizations to hire full-time youth interns for up to 52 weeks.
La Cité will receive up to $925,004 to develop online training modules to support Francophone businesses in the development of business management and entrepreneurial skills, and to support the development of new products through applied research partnerships with businesses and community organizations.
Providing Francophones with the tools they need to do business in Ontario helps to keep and create new jobs right here at home.
So, I am pleased to note that these projects are expected to create 36 permanent and 60 temporary full-time jobs during the projects.
Congratulations again.
