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Location: What's New > Minister's Office > Speeches > June 18, 2007

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Speech by the Honourable Madeleine Meilleur, Minister of Community and Social Services and Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs

Reception at the Conférence de Montréal – Forum francophone des affaires

Montréal QC
Monday, June 18, 2007

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Ladies and Gentlemen,

Distinguished Guests,

Good afternoon.

On behalf of the Ontario government, I welcome you.

I am very happy that you have taken the time to join us.

The Conférence de Montréal is a prestigious event that will bring important benefits to all participating organizations and governments.

This year marks the first time Ontario is here as an official Conférence participant.

And what a participant! A number of key representatives of the Ontario government are with us today, form the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the Office of Francophone Affaires, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Research and Innovation and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

All of these ministries represent important facets of Ontario government activity and I am delighted that they are here today.

One could say Ontario has long been a well-kept secret from Canadian francophonie.

These days, Ontario's francophonie is making its mark in all forums and is asserting itself as a growing force on the national and international scene.

I am here to tell you that the Ontario government is proud to foster the development of its francophonie and the competitive advantage it brings Ontario.

Ontario is wide open to businesses and individuals who want to contribute to its prosperity.

And the French fact in Ontario is a growing part of this prosperity.

We call this Ontario's "Francophone capacity", whose full potential seeks only to be further developed.

More than ever, Ontario is attracting Francophones not only from Quebec and elsewhere in Canada, but also from Africa, Europe and all of international Francophonie.

Ontario's Francophones are very proud of their language, their culture and their traditions that go back more than four hundred years, traditions that are enriched by the growing ethnic and cultural diversity of the Franco-Ontarian community.

Being a Francophone in Ontario also means much more than this.

Speaking French in Ontario means having access to a myriad of possibilities.

What Ontario offers the world is a unique opportunity to develop and prosper in French in a province with a strong economy that is very active in international trade.

In the context of increasing globalization, the bilingualism of Ontario's population is a great asset that guarantees the competitiveness not only of business but also of public services.

And the Ontario economy is in very good shape.

In 2006, 95,000 jobs were created in Ontario. In fact, in the last few years, Ontario has been recording a continuous increase in the number of jobs created.

And the unemployment rate is at its lowest point in many years.

You may already know that Ontario's manufacturing sector is the second largest in North America.

One of Ontario's biggest challenges is precisely maintaining the strength of its manufacturing industries while also investing in a number of other key growth areas in order to guarantee a strong economy and continuing prosperity for all Ontarians over the long term.

New technologies, the knowledge economy and the pharmaceutical industry in particular are very important areas for Ontario.

Our government is investing especially on the rapidly growing life sciences sector.

Ontario Premier, Dalton McGuinty, has created the new Ministry of Research and Innovation, for which he is himself responsible, with a view to fostering a culture of innovation in Ontario and helping Ontario researchers and companies bring their discoveries to the national and international marketplace.

This vision for the future of a prosperous Ontario can come to pass only if its population is able to meet the challenges of a labour market seeking solid skills.

That is why, since it came to power in 2003, our government has been making colossal investments in the Ontario education system, from early childhood to post-graduate levels.

French language education has benefited greatly from these new investments.

Over the last four years, Ontario has passed the billion dollar mark in terms of annual funding for the education of Francophone children and youth in our schools.

The implementation in 2006 of the Politique d'aménagement linguistique, which is designed to foster French language and culture and improve the performance of Francophone students, has been very successful. This policy has resulted in Ontario's being cited as an example all across the country.

Postsecondary education is not at a standstill: in 2005, our government presented a daring plan that proposes investing a total of 6.2 billion dollars in postsecondary education by 2009-2010.

French language and bilingual institutions have seen their share of funding increase significantly in recent years.

Thanks to the French Language Services Act, whose 20th anniversary we celebrated with great pomp last year, Ontario's Francophones can receive government services in French in the province's 25 designated areas.

Twenty years after the French Language Services Act was passed, another historic page has been turned with the recent adoption by Ontario's Legislative Assembly of the bill creating the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner . Our government is very proud of this legislation. It marks a new and extremely important step in the evolution of relations between the provincial government and Ontario's francophonie and strengthens the foundations of the French Language Services Act.

The creation of the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner is a convincing example of the Ontario government's continuing commitment to fostering the development of its Francophone community.

In Ontario, active offer of services in French is more than a pious hope; we are constantly striving to ensure that the province's Francophone population receives the services to which it is entitled.

The Ontario government believes in the importance of a strong francophonie that contributes to the province's prosperity on the economic, social, cultural and political levels.

Ontario's Francophone capacity is a real asset for all Ontarians, for businesses that establish themselves or do business in Ontario, and for our entire province.

Ontario's francophonie is an asset of which we are all very proud. I invite you to discover and build on its potential.

Thank you and have a good afternoon.