Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights of people whose first language is French or whose primary school education was in French to have their children educated in that language if they reside in a province or territory where that is the linguistic minority. In Hay River, Ecole Boreale services this right. In 2008, the Minister of Education issued a directive stating that admissions to French language programs shall be restricted only to those students who qualify according to a strict interpretation of section 23 and have the documents to prove it. This is contrary to virtually every other jurisdiction in Canada, where the power to determine admissions is delegated to the French language school boards. The result of this directive is that admissions to Ecole Boreale are at critical levels. There is currently only one child enrolled in kindergarten, in a split class with grades one and two. There are only three children eligible for kindergarten next year. If those numbers continue, Ecole Boreale won't survive. Parents and other residents are frustrated, confused, and angry about the situation, and I share those feelings. We have a school that is providing high-quality education, yet the government seems content to see Ecole Boreale close its doors. A closure would mean the loss of 17 full- and part-time jobs. It means people will leave the community, and it takes away a vital incentive for people from the South to move to Hay River.
According to the Supreme Court of Canada, section 23 was designed to correct the erosion of official language minority groups. Many of the children who have been denied admission to Ecole Boreale have grandparents whose first language was French; however, that language was not passed on because it was lost at residential schools or because of the historical lack of French language schools in the North. This loss of language needs to be corrected.
The Supreme Court also states that there's a critical need for vigilant implementation of section 23 rights to protect from further language erosion. In the case at hand, a vigilant implementation merely calls for allowing a small number of non-right holders to attend Ecole Boreale so that it remains viable in the long term.
I know that the Minister is well aware of these concerns. Parents, grandparents, and former students have been writing letters to the Minister pleading their cases and showing their support. We need the government to work with the French language and Hay River school boards to resolve this issue and assure that Ecole Boreale remains in Hay River for generations to come, and at the appropriate time, I will have questions for the Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
