We are writing to you on behalf of the Franco-Yukon community, who were surprised and shocked by a statement made in the Western Standard magazine, published on July 12, 2022..In the article entitled ''Liberals spend $660K to help Yukon's 85 Francophones'', it is mentioned that ''The Yukon has a total of 85 unilingual francophones living there. Despite the low figure, the federal Department of Social Development spent more than $660,000 preserving French in the Yukon, records show. That works out to almost $7,800 per person.''.This statement shows a profound ignorance and condescension and we regret the lack of research and knowledge for a Canadian journalist on the issue of Francophone communities in minority settings in Canada..It is important to remember that the Yukon ranks third in terms of percentage of bilingualism in Canada, after Quebec and New Brunswick. In the last census of 2016, the bilingual population in the Yukon represented 13.8 % of Yukon total population and figures continue to grow. In addition, more than 1 600 people have French as their mother tongue and use French as their first official language in the Yukon..No matter how many Francophones there are in the Yukon, the Official Languages Act exists and commits the Government of Canada to enhancing the vitality of the English and French linguistic minority communities, supporting their development and fostering the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society..For all these reasons, we ask you to please correct or withdraw these remarks..Thanking you in advance for considering our complaint, please accept, Sir, our respectful regards..Isabelle Salesse,.Executive Director,.Association franco-yukonnaise
We are writing to you on behalf of the Franco-Yukon community, who were surprised and shocked by a statement made in the Western Standard magazine, published on July 12, 2022..In the article entitled ''Liberals spend $660K to help Yukon's 85 Francophones'', it is mentioned that ''The Yukon has a total of 85 unilingual francophones living there. Despite the low figure, the federal Department of Social Development spent more than $660,000 preserving French in the Yukon, records show. That works out to almost $7,800 per person.''.This statement shows a profound ignorance and condescension and we regret the lack of research and knowledge for a Canadian journalist on the issue of Francophone communities in minority settings in Canada..It is important to remember that the Yukon ranks third in terms of percentage of bilingualism in Canada, after Quebec and New Brunswick. In the last census of 2016, the bilingual population in the Yukon represented 13.8 % of Yukon total population and figures continue to grow. In addition, more than 1 600 people have French as their mother tongue and use French as their first official language in the Yukon..No matter how many Francophones there are in the Yukon, the Official Languages Act exists and commits the Government of Canada to enhancing the vitality of the English and French linguistic minority communities, supporting their development and fostering the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society..For all these reasons, we ask you to please correct or withdraw these remarks..Thanking you in advance for considering our complaint, please accept, Sir, our respectful regards..Isabelle Salesse,.Executive Director,.Association franco-yukonnaise