Strengthening the Office of French Education (BEF) is high on the list of electoral priorities for the Société de la francophonie manitobaine (SFM). The organization published a document with its demands to the political parties on Friday.

Education, health, immigration, arts, culture, sports and tourism, and francophone affairs and community services are the top six priorities according to Manitoba Francophonie MFS.

A spokesman said they consulted with other community organizations to develop this list of priorities (New window).

A document setting out our priorities and our recommendations on those priorities has been sent to every major political partyemphasizes the press release.

The document is accompanied by a questionnaire asking what vision each party has on these key issues. The answers will be published on the website MFS how they are receivedShe adds.

Strengthen BEF

The election document MFS confirm that French education is the primary vehicle to ensure the vitality and survival of Manitoba’s French-speaking minority. It offers five recommendations.

The first is empowerment BEF. The organization does not provide any information on this subject, apart from claims the paramount importance Organization for students in Manitoba. THE BEF establishes contact between French schools in the provinces and the ministry and develops, among other things, French teaching materials.

In 2017, the Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Education was responsible for BEF was transferred, and the BEF was under the responsibility of an English-speaking deputy minister.

This move to an institution that had played a key role in promoting the teaching of French to the Minister of Education since the 1970s had provoked the ire of Francophonie.

The structure of BEF has since been adjusted, notably to strengthen his presence at the minister, but the post of deputy minister at the BEF was not restored. There MFS does not indicate whether it calls for the return of a deputy minister.

The second recommendation of MFS in education concerns early childhood. She asks the government to further encourage the development of a continuum in French teaching from early childhood to post-secondary education and training.

The early childhood system is currently in crisis. The system suffers, among other things, from a lack of funding and lengthy procedures for accessing new provincial operating grants.explains the MFS. The latter also illustrates the lack of staff.

There MFS also calls for French and immersion classes to be funded so that any parents who wish can send their children to a French-speaking school. She also asks for support for the establishment of the Université de Saint-Boniface.

Addressing the health setback caused by the pandemic

The second priority of the organization is health: the MFS calls on the parties to work to counteract a decline in services in French caused by the pandemic.

Certain achievements, such as the active offering of services in French through the Health Links – Info Santé telephone information service, were lost during the pandemic at precisely the time when access to information in the minority language was most criticaldesignates the document.

While these telephone services were provided from the Saint-Boniface Health Center by a bilingual team, they were transferred to the Misericordia Hospital, eliminating fast and, above all, guaranteed access in French.he continues.

There MFS therefore calls for the return of French telephone service to Info Santé and general improvements in French coverage.

She wants the government to do the same Take action to address the shortage of French-speaking and bilingual healthcare professionals, either by strengthening the Université de Saint-Boniface’s capacity to train and recruit candidates for its programs [et] by running its own recruitment campaign in the French-speaking world.

Francophone immigration target of 15%

There MFS also underscores the importance of immigration to the vitality of Manitoba’s Francophonie and proposes several actions.

Therefore, it asks the Ministry of Labor and Immigration to restore the target for French-speaking immigrationwith a rate of 15%, in a catch-up and recovery effort to stabilize and strengthen the demographic weight of Francophonie Manitoba.

Other SFM recommendations:

• That the province increases the funds for the Center culturel franco-manitobain and finances the construction of a new one Francophonie Atrium inside the building;
• That the government supports Voyage Manitoba’s French-speaking tourism strategy;
• That the government’s French language services policy will be replaced by new, clearer regulations;
• That the Secretariat for French-language Affairs be committed to developing and implementing a multiannual strategic plan for French-language services to ensure a coherent government-wide approach;
• That the provincial government supports the maturity model developed by the provincial government for the delivery of municipal services in both official languagesAMBM;
• That the Province supports the modernization of Part 9 of the City of Winnipeg Charter to ensure equal rights of access to services for all French speakers regardless of their neighborhood.

In its press release, the MFS mentions that they have a community mobilization campaign called ” Vote in French, it’s our future! next week. Its purpose is to encourage the community to consider these priorities in polling stations.

At the request of Radio-Canada, SFM was unable to grant us an interview on Friday.

Manitobans will be called to vote on October 3rd.