CPFMagazine_FALL2017_Vol5Issue1_eVERSION

On June 12th, 2017, three former
Concours d’art oratoire winners
appeared before the Committee
and discussed the current state of the
Official Languages Act. The three CPF
representatives, Austin Henderson
from New Brunswick, Cristina Andronic
from Ontario, and Lucy Asante from
Manitoba not only participated in
Concours, but in other projects, such as
the #CPFLaurier campaign, and have been
active CPF volunteers in their respective
communities.
When we first approached the
students, they were nervous about
speaking directly to a Senate committee,
as that can be a little intimidating. We
explained that this was not something
to be nervous about, as we just wanted
them to speak about their experiences
and to be honest about their thoughts on
the Act.
They did not disappoint. The three
provided their unique takes on the Act
and illustrated its importance in their
views. The stories that the three brought
to the table were inspiring, from growing
up in Canada’s only officially bilingual
province, to being a medical student and
learning in both official languages, and to
being the daughter of a Congolese mother
growing up in the prairies.
The Senators were blown away
by their accounts. After the students’
opening statements, the Chair of the
Committee, the Hon. Claudette Tardif
said “These are remarkable young
professionals and I want to commend
“ I think it’s important to increase the
resources and make it flexible for students
to be able to gain access to [minority]-
language learning across the board.”
— Lucy Asante
each of you on the personal initiatives you
have taken to move forward in making
French more of a reality for many others
in your group of peers.”
When answering questions, the youth
continued to hold the senators’ attention,
and committee members commented
about their eloquence in both English and
French. (Could participating in Concours
have something to do with that?)
The questions they were asked
were not easy as they ranged from the
underlying motivations to learn French,
to the reason why French immersion
students lose their ability to speak French,
to how the Canadian government should
promote official languages in Canada.
The three students articulated
the largest problem with the current
approach to bilingualism in Canada: a lack
of “normalizing” both languages. Austin
stated that “it is important to normalize
not only French, but also English in order
to normalize bilingualism”. And it was
agreed amongst the students that the way
to normalize bilingualism is by learning
the minority language at a young age.
Cristina illustrated this idea best when
replying to a question from Senator Gagné
on her optimism about the future of
bilingualism in Canada. Cristina stated,
“If we can help children begin to learn
[their second language] as soon as they
start Grade 1, then yes, I would feel
optimistic, especially if [second language]
programs are mandatory.”
The students did a very impressive
job speaking about their experiences and
answering the Senators’ questions. Lucy
summed up the common feeling amongst
the three when she said, “I think it’s
important to increase the resources and
make it flexible for students to be able to
gain access to [second]-language learning
across the board.”
Recordings of the proceedings and
each student’s opening statement can be
viewed on the CPF National YouTube page
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjzbfJ8vX8Y). n
Canadian Parents for French Vol 5 • Issue 1 • 2017 23