17th Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie: Edmonton (Alberta), June 26, 2012

EDMONTON, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - June 26, 2012) - Provincial and territorial ministers responsible for the Canadian Francophonie met today in Edmonton, Alberta, for the 17^th Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie.

The Ministers discussed the upcoming expiry of the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-2013: Acting for the Future and the need for a federal action plan to follow it. They hope to actively collaborate with the Federal government to this end. They consider the Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie to be the preferred forum for this type of discussion. The Ministers acknowledged the Federal government's efforts to consult Francophone and Acadian communities with regards to what will follow the Roadmap.

"It was a pleasure to meet with my colleagues today" said Heather Klimchuk, Alberta Minister of Culture responsible for the Francophone Secretariat. "I appreciate their enthusiasm about their Francophone and Acadian communities and I've enjoyed hearing how we are all pursuing community development within the scope of our respective commitments."

Ministers discussed the status of various federal policies and their actual and potential effects on Francophones, including changes related to immigration, services delivery and economic development. During their discussions, the ministers also emphasized the important contribution of bilateral agreements on French language services in reaching their respective objectives, and indicated they are confident that the established intergovernmental collaboration should lead to their renewal for April 1, 2013.

Created in 1994, the Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie is the only intergovernmental forum bringing together the ministers responsible for the Canadian Francophonie. The Conference works toward an open, dynamic and diverse Francophonie which contributes to, and fully participates in, the growth of Canadian society.

Information:

Consult the Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie website: www.cmfc-mccf.ca.