Freedom Flyer 23

By DAHLIA REICH
The London Free Press

Members of London's francophone community may, for the first time, get their choice of speaking their language when it comes to Ontario government services in the city.

The French population has surpassed the magic number of 5,000 making the city eligible for government services in French.

If an application now before the province is approved, London would become the first municipality to be designated since the French Language Services Act was passed by the province in 1986.

Currently, 22 Ontario cities or regions are designated under the act but all were approved at the time the legislation was passed.

If approved, francophones in the city could request Ontario government services - from drivers' exams to assistance at a liquor store - in French.

Health care in the city, numerous services provided by the ministry of community and social service, and all other government programs could also be affected. However, it's up to individual offices to decide what it can offer. Under the act, no specific level of service is stipulated.

Federal government services, meanwhile, have been available in both official languages in London and throughout Canada for almost 25 years.

Figures from the 1991 census show London's French community has reached 5,000 and local francophone leaders have told The Free Press they have made a formal request to the province for French services. Backlash is expected from some anglophones who question the rights of French-speaking Canadians - particularly when English people in Quebec are denied certain rights.

For example, Robert Metz, president and leader of the Freedom Party of Ontario, argues that providing French services is an "unequal right" because other minorities don't have the same right. "Therefore, it's not a true right. It's a special status."

But Diane Dubois, president of the London and Sarnia region of the Association Canadienne Francaise de l'Ontario (the French Canadian Association of Ontario) is not afraid to defend the request for French services.

"The right to French is a law and we do meet the criteria.

"This is a bilingual country. A lot of people don't like that but it's a fact.... They have to accept the historical base of the founding of the nation.

"The Fathers of Confederation certainly did - and politicians through the years have... and that's why French communities should have basic rights."

Dubois and other members of London's French community are hoping French services will provide them with a stronger sense of belonging, draw the community together, and stem assimilation of an important language and culture.

"If you are a designated area, the government says. 'Well, yes, there are French-speaking people in that city.' " Dubois said. "It acknowledges our presence."

Approval for French services is not automatic even though London is eligible, said Denis Bertrand, spokesperson for the francophone affairs office in Toronto. The government must decide whether it wants to add the city to the list of designated areas.

The office is reviewing the 1991 census statistics and will then look into what it would take to put French services in place in London. It could take months before the government decides whether to make London the 23rd centre to receive French services and years before services are actually in place, said Bertrand.

"The issue isn't French versus English or English versus French or this whole hodgepodge of racism. The issue is pay as you go."

When governments pay for programs of culture, such as French services, "it gets its money from everyone's pockets whether they believe in these programs or not."

Eric Frostad, director, Alliance for the Preservation of English In Canada, London branch: "What about all the other ethnic groups in London. Who services them? Why aren't their needs being met in the same way?"

The alliance is not anti-French, said Frostad, it's pro-equality. Until bilingualism is equally enforced across the country, including Quebec, programs such as French services in Ontario should be put on hold, he said.

"We have to treat all Canadians as one."

London Mayor Tom Gosnell: "I don't think the community would have a concern with the city becoming the 23rd designated centre in the province. I don't see it at all being negative."

The French community, he said, has always been reasonable in its requests to be accommodated in the city and "is sensitive to the fact that these are tough economic times."

Should the city be approved for French services, Gosnell said, there should be no problem as long as the services are reasonable, phased in over time and not debilitating to us financially.

Municipalities of: Metro Toronto, Hamilton, Port Colborne and Welland, Ottawa-Carleton, Mississauga, Sudbury, Windsor, Belle River, Tecumseh, Pembroke, Penetanguishene, Geraldton.

Counties of: Glengarry, Prescott, Russell, Stormont

Districts of: Algoma, Cochrane, Nipissing, Sudbury, Timiskaming