Interdepartmental coordination in the West
In collaboration with Marie Gaudet, Canadian Heritage
Around the topic "creating positive measures," 65 participants from different federal agencies and institutions, and from the Franco- Albertan community, participated in an interdepartmental consultation meeting on October 12, 2007, in Edmonton, Alberta. The brainstorming session dealt with items such as setting out positive measures provided under the new Official Languages Act aimed at fostering the growth of the Francophone community. Issues that were addressed included the Franco-Albertan reality, the role of the Alberta Federal Council regarding the Francophone community, and the vision of Graham Fraser, Commissioner of Official Languages, concerning the new Act. The Interdepartmental Network of Official Languages Coordinators of Alberta was there and showed examples of collaborative achievements between the federal public service and the community sector. Afterwards, participants attended workshops, which generated many innovative ideas. Among the most promising ideas was the launch of a promotion and visibility campaign regarding the French reality in Alberta in 2008–2009, and the setting up of a telephone line for Francophones and Francophiles to present an inventory of Francophone services/activities/resources available in Alberta. Another suggestion was to prepare a document summarizing the positive measures adopted throughout the country, which would also serve as a reference tool for government agencies and the Francophone community.
Post-Sommet des communautés francophones et acadiennes
In collaboration with Manon Larocque, Canadian Heritage
In September 2007, Canadian Heritage announced support of $175,000 to the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada (FCFA). This support will enable the Fédération and 33 key organizations to develop and implement a community strategic plan by March 31, 2008, based on findings from the Sommet des communautés francophones et acadiennes, held from June 1 to 3, 2007. The national community strategic plan will include actions to be undertaken over the coming decade in five specific areas: increase in the population of communities, improvement in their ability to live in French, strengthening of their governance, increased influence among governments, and improvement in their quality of life, and economic and social development.
The FCFA is the national and international advocate for Canada's French-language minority communities. It brings together provincial and territorial Francophone associations as well as national organizations working in different operations sectors.
Culture in cyber-evolution!
In collaboration with Kiran Cahoon, Industry Canada
Following the acceptance of its project called Imagine l'espace culturel francophone canadien en cyber evolution through Industry Canada's Francommunautés virtuelles program, the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française (FCCF) launched, this fall, its brand new Web site: www.fccf. ca. According to Raymonde Boulay LeBlanc, President of the Fédération, "in 2007, as the FCCF celebrates 30 years of commitment and passion for arts and culture, it became crucial to offer Canadian Internet users, as well as the entire world, a dynamic, modern, multimedia window onto the Canadian Francophonie's artistic creation and cultural development."
The Fédération's mission is to promote the artistic and cultural expression of Francophone and Acadian communities. It brings together representatives of seven national groups in theatre, literature, song and music, media arts and visual arts, as well as representatives of eleven provinces and territories in Canada.
[ Previous Page | Table of Contents | Next Page ]