Francophones a big part of Ontario

Re: Thousands demonstrate in Ottawa for French-language rights, Dec. 3.

Premier Doug Ford indicated that francophones in Ontario are equal to the Chinese and Italian population. When my ancestors arrived in this country in 1652 and 1658, no Chinese or Italians were present. I am of the baby boomer era and as such I can proudly say that we are the first generation to receive an education (both sides of the family). We produced teachers, a biochemist, electronic engineers, religious leaders, municipal boards, business ventures, martial arts, IT specialists, government management and more.

Furthermore, I am also proud that we are the first generation to be fully bilingual in both official languages. Today, three generations later, they are all educated, bilingual and living in Ontario.

For my generation, the writing was on the wall. In the mid-1960s the choice of post-secondary education in the francophone language was very limited.

Also, but more importantly, where would one work in Ontario if one did not speak English?

While I do understand the Ontario government trying to overcome the deficit, 50 years later not much has changed for francophone post-secondary education choices in Ontario. Why can’t we have bilingual universities in Ontario like the University of Ottawa? Better still, make it mandatory for all schools to be French/English immersion. It will only take two generation to have a bilingual Ontario.

Oh, I forgot: We only count as 4.8465978 per cent of the population in Ontario. Claude Therien, Orléans