St. Albert resident and councillor for the Campus Saint-Jean’s student association, the Association des Universitaires de la Faculté Saint-Jean, Taylor Good is concerned kids in St. Albert and western Canada will choose to take post-secondary courses in Ontario and Quebec because of funding issues.
"I'm just afraid that if there's no solution, and we don't do our part … people are going to forget about a beautiful institution like this and a rich community like St. Albert, that provides great French education," said Good.
"I would hate to see kids leave because they can't access the education that they deserve and they have a right to have,” said the former École Secondaire Paul Kane student.
On June 7, Edmonton's Campus Saint-Jean’s student association relaunched the #SaveSaintJean movement to bring awareness to funding issues at the campus.
“We want others, whether it's in Alberta or federally, to realize that this solution or this issue is not just about money, but it's about the preservation of the French language in Canada, and defending the bilingualism that we should rightfully have,” said Good.
In April, the federal government announced funding worth $121.3 million over three years to post-secondary institutions offering French programming in a minority environment.
Although the money has not yet been divided between provinces, the biggest concern the students at Campus Saint-Jean have is that the provincial government must match funds from the federal government to receive any money, and the provincial government has not yet committed to any funding.
“Currently, there's been no announcement of dollar-for-dollar matching. So right now, the campus finds itself in a situation where no funding has really been received from that offer,” said Good.
Taylor Hides, press secretary for the Minister of Advanced Education, said the province is committed to Alberta’s Francophone community and to Francophone education.
“The Government of Alberta and the Government of Canada are in ongoing discussions around funding for Campus Saint-Jean,” said Hides in an email.
In August of 2020, the Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta launched a lawsuit against the provincial government and the University of Alberta, as they allege funding cuts are in violation of an agreement made between them in 1976, and because the cuts violate Section 23 Charter rights – which guarantee the right to minority language education to combat assimilation.
“As a result of those cuts, the campus Saint-Jean found itself in a situation where they would lose approximately 20 per cent of their course offerings. And as a result of those losses, many of the students now find themselves in a situation where they're unable to complete all of their course offerings in French,” said Good.
Good said there are six course offerings at the campus – three of them in collaboration with the University of Alberta, and three of them that are supposed to only be offered at Campus Saint-Jean. Of those three that are strictly supposed to be offered at the campus in French, two now need to go to the U of A’s main campus to be completed, “which would require (students) to take some of their courses in English,” Good said.
As the only French-language post-secondary institution west of Saint Boniface in Manitoba, said Good, the funding for Campus Saint-Jean is an issue for all of western Canada.
“We feel that this no longer is a Francophone issue here in Alberta, but this is an issue for western Canada and that many provinces and territories are affected by this, and that this no longer falls on provincial jurisdiction, but affects many different provinces and territories,” said Good.
Good said the student association has been meeting with various other student associations across Ontario and Quebec, as well as with political representatives from the federal government, to share the student perspective.
“(We) are not trying to make them see anything, but we're just trying to show them that this is what happens on the student side, and just make sure that they are aware of that, so we can try and make sure that every voice is kind of heard on that issue,” he said.
Alberta has the largest Francophone minority after Ontario and New Brunswick. A 2016 census report stated that around 87,000 Albertans report French as their first language.
Good said there are deep roots tying the Francophone community to St. Albert and to him personally. The city has a rich Francophone culture.
He never imagined he would go to university to become a French immersion teacher until he fell in love with the language and Francophone culture after moving to St. Albert in Grade 9.
“Once you really immerse yourself in what the province and the Francophone community has to offer, you see how you really gain an appreciation for the community, the language, the culture, the traditions,” said Good.
