Liberals call on Andrew Scheer to denounce Doug Ford’s cuts to Francophones

September 25, 2019

25 September, 2019

Andrew Scheer
Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
1720-130 Albert St
Ottawa, ON
K1P 5G4

Dear Mr. Scheer,

Today, Ontario’s Francophones are celebrating more than 400 years of outstanding contributions to the cultural, social, economic and political life of our country.

Unfortunately, this contribution is under threat from the draconian cuts Doug Ford’s government has made to services for the Franco-Ontarian community.

The Liberal Party of Canada is a proud defender of official languages and will continue to stand united with Franco-Ontarians in protecting their linguistic rights. Our record includes, amongst other things:

  • The Action Plan for Official Languages 2018-2023 which includes a historic $2.7 billion investment;
  • A $675 million funding increase to the CBC/Radio-Canada;
  • Reinstatement and modernization of the Court Challenges Program;
  • Reinstatement of the long-form census;
  • Nomination of bilingual judges to the Supreme Court of Canada;
  • Prioritizing francophone immigration to Canada with the launch of a Francophone Immigration Strategy;
  • Commitment to modernize the Official Languages Act.

We regrettably note you have never had the courage to denounce Doug Ford’s direct attacks on the Franco-Ontarian community. By siding with Doug Ford, you have failed Francophones across the country.

Today, we call on you to once and for all denounce your friend Doug Ford’s deep cuts and that you commit to maintaining the funding we have put into place to support linguistic minorities.

In addition to denouncing Mr. Ford’s cuts, we call on you to explain to Canadians which services you plan to cut in order to balance the budget. Franco-Ontarians have every reason to fear the worst and that you will follow the same approach as Doug Ford: pretend you’re for the people during the election, then once elected, cut taxes for the wealthy and cut services for everyone else – and in this case, it is services for Francophones that will suffer.

Mona Fortier
Liberal candidate for Ottawa-Vanier and National Platform Committee Co-Chair

Marie-France Lalonde
Liberal candidate for Orléans

Letter: https://2019.liberal.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/292/2019/09/Letter-for-Franco-Ontario-Day-En.pdf