Ontario party leaders try to connect with francophone voters

A token bonjour here, an offhand Bienvenue there — there may not be much more French uttered than that when Ontario’s party leaders shortly take the campaign road since none is proficient in the language for the first time in recent years. The last two Liberal premiers, Kathleen Wynne and Dalton McGuinty, both spoke French, which meant that at least one leader could speak directly with Franco-Ontarians. According to the party, Steven Del Duca, the party’s head since 2020, has attended French classes on an irregular basis since 2013. However, he rarely attempts much in planned statements.

“French fluency is a long-term endeavor for him, as it is for any non-native speaker,” said spokesperson Andrea Ernesaks. Doug Ford, the Progressive Conservative leader, stated last year that he had stopped taking French classes during the epidemic, but that he was “back at it” and learned phrases from Caroline Mulroney, his francophone relations minister. Andrea Horwath, leader of the New Democratic Party, has taken some French courses but is not currently enrolled. According to a representative for Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, he has been taking French classes with a tutor for the previous few years.

According to Statistics Canada, there are over 600,000 francophones in Ontario. According to Genevieve Tellier, a political science professor at the University of Ottawa, not understanding their language makes it impossible to communicate directly with francophone voters. “The good news for all of them is that because none of them understand French, they have no benefit or disadvantage,” she explained.

Carol Jolin, president of l’Assemblée de la Francophonie de l’Ontario, believes it will not be a major issue for voters, but a few critical topics will. Jolin mentioned one example: access to health care and long-term care in French. “Many francophones struggle merely to locate a family doctor, and there is a significant geographical variation in access to health care,” he added. In long-term care, francophones account for 5.5% of seniors in the province, according to Jolin, and fewer than 2% of long-term care institutions are recognized under the French Language Services Act.

Jolin’s organization is also advocating for the expansion of francophone space, or areas where the government is required to provide services in both languages. There are already 27 such zones that service around 80% of the francophone population, but he claims that one in every five persons is neglected. According to Kelly Burke, Commissioner of French Language Services, health is usually one of the main topics she hears about, and one major concern for the community is a francophone labor shortage. “The other huge sector that I keep emphasizing on that I think the broader francophone community would like to hear more about is our labor “and how we’re developing that francophone workforce for the future,” she explained.

Burke recently published a report on Laurentian University in Sudbury, concluding that the university violated the French Language Services Act by cutting 72 programs, including 29 French-language ones, during insolvency proceedings. She said that the government might have done more to help them.

The Liberals have committed to expanding equitable access to French immersion programs, investing in new and renovated schools to meet the demand for French-language education, recruiting, training, and retaining more French-language teachers, and increasing the number of French-language early childhood educators. The Greens have committed to hiring and retaining more French-language teachers, collaborating with French school boards to analyze their needs and increase the provision of mental health services in French.