Language rights lawsuit sponsor defends francophone school commission

I expect that most of your readers are tired of reading in your paper about internal divisions within the Francophone community and the ongoing saga concerning Ecole des Trois Soleils.

However, I feel compelled to respond to the relentless public relations campaign launched by the APFN, a self-styled parents group, that seeks to denigrate the CSFN and the legal action that we have taken to protect our minority language rights guaranteed by Section 23 of the Charter.

It is needless to say that both myself and the CSFN are very disappointed with the position taken by the APFN concerning the legal action that we have commenced in order to grow Ecole des Trois Soleils.

As a result, we feel that we must clarify even further what the legal action is about. All of the francophone parents know that Ecole Des Trois Soleils does not have many of the basic things that the schools of the linguistic majority in Iqaluit have, such as a gymnasium, proper science labs and a 100 per cent French high school program.

Does the APFN deny that Trois Soleils is lacking these basic things? If it does, I challenge it to say so publicly.

The CSFN has been asking for years that the GN make the necessary investments in order for the school to have these basic things which the linguistic majority in this community takes for granted.

The GN has said no to these things for years, and we can only expect that it will continue to say no for the foreseeable future. As a result, a lawsuit is the only means by which these deficiencies can possibly be rectified.

By opposing the lawsuit, the APFN is opposing a gymnasium, science labs, a Grade 12 program and a larger school for our students. There is no doubt about that.

This should be alarming for all of the francophone parents of our community who believe that our students deserve these simple things.

The APFN has been stating that the lawsuit somehow undermines Inuit and their language education rights.

This is completely untrue. Both myself and the CSFN strongly support Inuit language education rights.

The Inuit of Nunavut and the French-speaking people of this territory share a common challenge in that we both make up a linguistic minority in Canada. We are struggling to preserve our language in our schools.

Therefore, I can speak for the CSFN in saying that we would strongly support and defend any efforts undertaken by Inuit to protect their language education rights through the court process or otherwise.

We would also hope, in return, that Inuit would strongly support the CSFN in its efforts to protect the education rights of our linguistic minority. The only way to stop assimilation into the English language majority is for French speaking Nunavutmiut and Inuit to mutually support each other in our respective efforts to advance our language education rights.

I can speak again for the CSFN in saying that we profoundly believe in that proposition and we expect that our parents do as well.

I hope that I have provided even further clarity as to why this lawsuit is necessary and important. As I have attempted to explain above, minority language rights can only flourish when cultures come together and support one another.

Doug Garson
Iqaluit

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