B.C. government marks Francophone Day with more money for services

As it hoiststhe Franco-Columbianflag at the legislature to observe FrancophoneDay on Tuesday, the B.C. government is also raising its financial contribution toservices forthe province'sgrowing population ofFrench speakers.

The NDP government will boost its commitment to francophone programs and services by $250,000 in cash this year, according to Adrian Dix, B.C.'s health minister and minister responsible for the provinces' francophone affairs program.

Dix said the federal cash contribution of $700,000 and provincial contributions of in-kind services worth $700,000 have remained unchanged for many years.

With the growth in French immersion education and francophone immigration, he told On the Island host Gregor Craigie, historic objections to French language services in the province no longer hold sway.

"When we're talking about services and opportunities in French we're really talking about investing in young people, in investing in the future, not the past," he said.

Currently, more than 70,000 francophones and 300,000 French-speaking people live in British Columbia.

Much of the new money will be spent on French-language library services, as well as education and health care, where accuracy of the information provided is particularly important.

Dix said that while half of his own constituency members in Vancouver-Kingsway speak a variety of languages other than English at home, francophone services are an important priority of the federal and provincial government.

A Statistics Canada reportfrom 2016 says965 people in Vancouver-Kingswaylisted French as their mother tongue; 6,260 said they speakboth official languages. In comparison,30,215 reported speaking a Chinese language, predominantlyCantonese.

"We're a bilingual country, it's a huge advantage for us economically, socially and culturally, and our history" Dixsaid.

Serviceusers include new parents, homeless

"Young people aren't confused about the elements of this debate. They're just becoming more bilingual."

Examples of funded programs from the most recent annual report for the francophone affairs program, for the year 2016-2017, included:

• Distribution of 142 welcome packages for expecting parents with useful information in French about pregnancy and newborn care.
• A total of 2,720 social services interventions in French (compared to 792 requests in 2015-2016).They included987 interactions to help families and 192 homeless individuals.
• A web-friendly French resources map created to connect French-speaking citizens to education, daycare, health care, business and tourism services available in French in British Columbia.

With files from CBCRadio's On the Island with GregorCraigie.