Dare to experience Newfoundland and Labrador!
In collaboration with Adrien Poirier, Industry Canada
Industry Canada and Canadian Heritage recently contributed to the production of a DVD designed to enhance the vitality and support the development of official-language minority communities in Newfoundland and Labrador. The easily-accessed 15-minute video on the theme “A Francophone treasure – an exciting future – Dare to experience Newfoundland and Labrador!” promotes the liveliness of its French-speaking and Acadian minorities, bursting with innovation and looking to the future. The avowed aim is to retain, repatriate and attract more Francophones and Francophiles to live and work in the province.
The video focuses on three Francophone and Acadian regions -- Port-au-Port, Avalon and Labrador. The beautiful landscapes, catchy music and comments by French-speaking residents all serve to demonstrate the appeal of the quality of life enjoyed by those who live and work in this vast province. The project is also an example of the partners’ efforts to use modern communication media to improve the sharing of ideas and information.
This innovative tool, the result of an inclusive and intensive cooperative effort involving the community and the federal and provincial governments, illustrates in a very practical way the essence of Part VII of the Official Languages Act. You can see the video on the Web sites of the Fédération des francophones de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador, www.francotnl.ca/Oser-tnl, the project’s initiator, and the province’s Francophone school board, www.csfp.nl.ca, a key partner; for the English version, go to www.csfp.nl.ca/video-eng.html
Better serving communities with Part VII
In collaboration with Nathalie Ferreira, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has launched a campaign entitled “Our heritage, our advantage” to raise awareness and educate employees on the Official Languages Act (OLA). One important activity has been the creation of a fact sheet to illustrate the RCMP’s commitment to Part VII of the OLA. It highlights the organization’s responsibilities and provides examples of positive measures that have been successfully implemented. These include:
- youth officers offering awareness and education sessions at schools in official-language minority communi-ties (OLMCs);
- RCMP bilingual news releases sent to OLMC media;
- consultation with OLMCs on policy and program issues
- that concern them;participation of bilingual members in various OLMC events.
A key message of the campaign has been “Official languages are not only a part of the RCMP’s heritage and identity, they give employees an operational advantage in serving their communities.”
Devinez qui, devinez quoi
In collaboration with Shereen Ghattas, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
In connection with its official languages awareness activities and the implementation of section 41 of the Official Languages Act, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) held a quiz in May 2008 entitled Devinez qui, devinez quoi [guess who and what]. The idea was to give CRTC staff an opportunity to discover cultural wealth, both Anglophone and Francophone. Some 250 employees, including managers, took part in this interactive event. There were questions on music, literature, visual arts, theatre and film. Film excerpts, songs and images were used to provide inspiration. The result was heightened enthusiasm and greater awareness among employees of the importance of linguistic duality. This initiative was a first, but will certainly be repeated, and resulted from a joint effort by the official-languages, diversity, employment-equity and youth committees at the CRTC.
APTICA broadens its reach in Atlantic Region
In collaboration with Adrien Poirier, Industry Canada
The Association pour l’avancement pédagogique des technologies de l’information et de la communication en Atlantique (APTICA), a non-profit organization dedicated to progress in information and communication technologies in the Atlantic region, is working hard to broaden its reach. First, it obtained a second grant from Industry Canada’s Francommunautés virtuelles program, which concluded on March 31, 2008, to develop its Web site. As a result of the project entitled Ensemble sous un même toit : Réseau APTICA [the APTICA network: together under one roof], the site (www.aptica.ca) brings together the various virtual educational resources available in the region, providing one-stop shopping for the Acadian and Francophone educational community in the Atlantic region and elsewhere. The site offers educational games, links for teachers, recommendations on the use of wikis and blogs, and training activities.
Second, in May 2008, APTICA held its 8th Annual Congress at the Université de Moncton, on the theme Échangeons nos pra-TICs pour la réussite! [information and communication technologies as the key to success in learning], with support from Industry Canada. Some 80 workshops and a roundtable discussion involving experts from various educational communities drew more than 150 participants from the four Atlantic provinces as well as from Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
Celebrate La Francophonie around the world!
In collaboration with Denis Stevens, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade invited its network of world-wide missions to celebrate the Journée internationale de la Francophonie in March 2008, and the 400th anniversary of Quebec City throughout the year. Over 50 missions participated in activities for the Journée and over 30 missions celebrated activities for the 400th anniversary of Quebec City. These initiatives help to promote Canada’s bilingualism and cultural diversity on the international scene.
The Department provided financial support to several missions to plan activities celebrating the Journée internationale de la Francophonie. Cultural events were held in countries as diverse as Germany, China and Iceland. Books by Francophone authors, including authors from minority communities, were distributed abroad as part of a contest with a French theme. These books included Bonheur d’occasion, by Gabrielle Roy, and Lignes de faille, by Nancy Huston.
In China, the Canadian mission helped to organize nine public performances over 12 days for the Montreal group Chinatown, as well as concerts in Hong Kong and Shanghai for Quebec singer Athésia. Canadian French-language films were shown as part of the celebrations.
The Department also put forward various initiatives to promote the 400th anniversary of Quebec City to its missions, in close collaboration with Canadian Heritage.
Labrador City: A two-way radio!
In collaboration with James Prowse, Canadian Heritage
French-language community radio in Newfoundland and Labrador reminds us of the old saying: if some is good, more is better! Beginning in April 2009, this unique station will broaden its reach. In addition to off-air service, it will be broadcasting over the Web via the Newfoundland and Labrador French-language portal, www.francotnl.ca. Transmission will be carried out in two ways, and the effects will be significant: the station in Labrador City, with freshly upgraded technology, will serve as a clearinghouse for sound clips from across the province to be broadcast from its antenna; at the same time, all its programming will be webcast, making it available throughout the province and around the world. The primary purpose of this innovative project is to overcome the isolation of Francophone communities, which can be up to 1,000 kilometres apart.
According to project intiator Xavier Georges, of the Fédération des francophones de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador ‘s cultural network, its main financial backer is the Department of Canadian Heritage, which became a believer even before the technical studies began.