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The International Day of the Francophonie

On March 20, I had the pleasure of speaking about the International Francophonie Day, a day to celebrate the global francophone community and their contributions.  You can read the text of my remarks below, or you can see it on video at this link - Journée internationale de la Francophonie.

Mr. Gerrard: Madame la Président, je parle aujourd'hui de la Journée internationale de la Francophonie. C'est une occasion de mention les grandes contributions de la France, de la langue française et des régions avec les peuples qui parlent française dans notre monde.
      Ici, au Manitoba, nous avons beaucoup qui parlent française et nous avons une culture francophone vibrante qui existe et contribué jour à jour à notre province. Le nombre des enfants qui sont  'régistrés' dans notre programme d'études en française augmente année par année. Malheureuse­ment, notre gouvernement Pallister a décidé de couper des fonds pour le Secrétariat des services en langue français, et de couper sévèrement le Bureau de l'éducation française. Le gouvernement a aussi éliminé une sous-ministre adjointe qui parle française et a laissé une personne en haut de ce section de gouvernement qui ne parle ni écrit la langue française.
      Il y a une façon mieux de faire gouvernement au Manitoba, qui respecte mieux la communauté francophone et la culture francophone dans notre province.
      Bienvenue à toutes les membres de la communauté qui sont ici, et heureusement pour tout pour le Journée internationale de la Francophonie.
Translation
Madam Speaker, today I am talking about International Francophonie Day. It is an opportunity to mention the major contributions of France, the French language and the regions in the world with French-speaking peoples.
Here in Manitoba, we have a lot of people who speak French and we have a dynamic francophone culture that exists and contributes to our province day in and day out. The number of children enrolled in our French learning programs is increasing year after year. Unfortunately, the Pallister government has decided to cut funds for the Francophone Affairs Secretariat and to severely cut the Bureau de l'éducation française. The government also did away with a French-speaking assistant deputy minister and left a person at the senior level in this part of government who does not speak or write French.
There is a better way to govern in Manitoba that better respects the francophone community and culture in our province.
Welcome to all the members of the community who are here, and happily for all, for International Francophonie Day

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