On behalf of the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, the Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Member of Parliament (Egmont), along with the Honourable Robert Ghiz, Premier of Prince Edward Island, today announced the signing of an agreement between the governments of Canada and Prince Edward Island on official languages.
The agreement will support the development and implementation of concrete measures to strengthen the province’s capacity to provide its Acadian and Francophone communities with French-language services in key sectors.
“When it comes to promoting our two official languages, our Government plays a leadership role in Canada,” said Minister Shea. “This agreement reiterates the harmonious cooperation between our Government and the Province of Prince Edward Island in delivering French-language services to official-language minority communities.”
“The provincial government is very committed to Prince Edward Island’s Acadian and Francophone communities in terms of engaging in direct and constructive dialogue with them in order to implement the French Language Services Act and contribute to the community’s long-term development,” said Premier Ghiz. “The renewal of this agreement over the long term will help us meet our objectives.”
“Prince Edward Island’s Acadian and Francophone communities are the concrete expression of the development of minority-language groups in our country,” added Minister Shea. “This agreement will encourage the development and provision of services that meet the needs of those communities.”
The Government of Canada will contribute $6,250,000 over four years while the Government of Prince Edward Island will contribute $5,615,100 over the same period, for a total investment of $11,865,100. Under the terms of the agreement, the Government of Prince Edward Island will ensure the implementation of a strategic plan.
This agreement is associated with a special project entitled Updating the French Language Services Act. The project will be funded by the governments of Canada and Prince Edward Island in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011.
Part of the funding announced today is being provided under the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008–2013: Acting for the Future, an unprecedented government-wide investment of $1.1 billion over five years. Support for this initiative reaffirms the commitment of the Government of Canada to our two official languages and the vitality of Francophone and Anglophone minority communities. This agreement is under the Official Languages Support Programs.
The Intergovernmental Cooperation on Minority-Language Services aims to help provincial and territorial governments offer provincial, territorial, and municipal services in the language of the official-language minority community, as well as the necessary infrastructure to provide these services. Cost-shared investments are made within the framework of multi-year cooperation agreements with provincial and territorial governments. These agreements include multi-year action plans. Special contributions may be added to the investments in order to implement special projects of a timely nature.
Agreements between Canada and the provinces and territories under the Official Languages Support Programs are posted on the Department of Canadian Heritage website at www.canadianheritage.gc.ca.