Supporting Ontario's Francophone Community

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - June 1, 2015) - Department of Canadian Heritage

Royal Galipeau, Member of Parliament (Ottawa-Orléans), on behalf of the Honourable Shelly Glover, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, today announced that the Government of Canada is providing more than $2.9 million to support the development and vitality of the Franco-Ontarian community.

The Government is providing more than $1.4 million over two years to the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario through the Cooperation with the Community Sector component of the Development of Official-Language Communities Program. This funding will help support the organization's 2015-16 and 2016-17 annual programming.

An amount of $1.5 million will also be provided through the Celebration and Commemoration Program's Celebrate Canada component to help commemorate Champlain's visit to Huronia (Ontario) and the establishment of the French presence in this province, through an interactive zones awareness campaign and a national participation campaign.

Quick Facts

• The Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario is an umbrella organization representing the interests of Ontario's Francophone population. Its mandate is to coordinate the province's Francophone community and speak on behalf of the 611,500 Franco-Ontarians.
• The interactive zones initiative will raise Canadians' awareness about Champlain by using a giant puppet and commemorative medallion pennants, and by distributing educational materials.
• The national participation campaign "Trouve ton Champlain / Find your Champlain" will invite Canadians to submit a text, a photo or a short video highlighting an element related to Champlain's visit.

Quotes

"Our Government is proud to provide support to organizations like the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario who work within the Franco-Ontarian community to ensure its vitality. As we approach the 150^th anniversary of Confederation in 2017, let's take the opportunity to highlight Franco-Ontarian history and heritage, of which we can all be proud."

-The Honourable Shelly Glover, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages

"It is important for our Government to encourage the vitality of Francophone minority communities. We hope that all Canadians will enjoy the celebrations for the 400^th anniversary of Champlain's visit in order to better understand French Ontario, its history and its culture."

- Royal Galipeau, Member of Parliament (Ottawa-Orléans)

"On behalf of the Assemblée, I congratulate and thank the Government of Canada for its support of the 400^th anniversary celebrations through its funding for the project Champlain 1615 et le Canada. This project will promote the province throughout the country and will not only raise awareness of the role Champlain played in Ontario, but also highlight his legacy to all of today's Canada. In addition, the renewal of the Assmeblée's funding for the next two years will allow us to carry out our operations and start new projects aimed at strengthening the community's capacities."

-Denis Vaillancourt, President, Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario

Associated Links

Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario

Development of Official-Language Communities Program

Ontario 400

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