Jane Keith sent the following powerful letter to Liberal MLAs, not in her capacity as an employee of CPF, but as a private citizen:
Dear Liberal MLA’s,
When is this going to stop? I have voted Liberal since I was 18 years old, but I don’t know if I will ever be able to again. I have been a dedicated Liberal all of my life, hearing discussions about Louis Robichaud’s forward thinking and inclusive education and health care policies at my parents dinner table as a child, voting for Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Frank McKenna in the past, and Shawn Graham in the last election.
I rejoiced as a parent when the Liberal government implemented French second language education policy 309 in 1994 under Education Minister Bernard Richard. Finally, parents and students had protection from anti-immersion school district Superintendents and principals who made their views plainly known that they didn’t think French Immersion was worth the money the government was spending on it.
My grandfather came to New Brunswick from Ireland, and he was a Protestant Orangeman who hated Catholics and therefore the French because in his mind they were mostly Catholic and therefore the enemy. Because of Early French Immerison my own children are open minded and have a truly genuine love for the French language, people, and culture. Some of their best teachers were francophones and they brought the French language and culture into our anglophone home with the enthusiasm that only young children can have. I learned more about Acadians from them than I ever did from my own history classes. And I watched them proudly approach francophone children and strike up conversations in French in Shippegan, Cape Pelé, the Acadian Village, and across New Brunswick and Canada, when we travelled on vacation with them. They were so proud in Quebec when they had to help their two anglophone parents buy gas, order meals in restaurants, and book rooms in hotels. This all before they were 10 years old.
My three children entered Early Immersion in grade one and are now fluently bilingual. My son with ADD was asked to leave the program once in middle school and once in high school because he struggled. He wanted to stay in French Immersion so we hired private tutors to help him out because the school told us they did not have any designated funding for student services for French Immersion students. All three of my children now tell me they will leave the province in order to get Early French Immersion for their children. This makes me very sad as a Liberal, as a New Brunswicker, and as a parent. You see as anglophones, they do not have the privilege of attending French schools. But, they can get Early French Immersion for their children in Halifax, Charlottetown, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, or Vancouver.
Why can’t we make Early Immersion inclusive for all students? Other provinces are doing it. It doesn’t appear to be rocket science. In the last year I have heard announcements from governments in Alberta, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia that they are putting more funding and resources into their Early French Immersion programs.
The Liberal government is not making anyone happy here. Parents who fully support a bilingual New Brunswick and who want their children bilingual as young as possible are sickened by your decision to eliminate Early Immersion. Parents who have chosen the English program (Core French) are disturbed their choice is being taken away and their children will be forced into the Intensive Core French program for five months in grade five. They know the government has been telling Early Immersion parents there is no funding to help struggling Immersion students and no Methods & Resource or student services available in French for Early Immersion students. So the parents are wondering where Lamrock will be getting the funding and resources for student services for those struggling Intensive French students in grade five if they are non-existent in grade one.
Sadly this decision to eliminate an Early French Immersion program in New Brunswick which is offered in every other province in Canada will taint the Liberal party for years to come. And the decision to take choice in education away from parents and force all grade five children into a mandatory Intensive French program is not going over well with parents either, for they fear their children will be thrown into something which they cannot handle and which they as unilingual parents will not be able to understand or help them with.
Please consider delaying this decision until further investigation and consultation with parents and French second language experts can be made. Everyone knows the FSL Review Commissioners were paid to say what they said and everyone agrees the Croll/Lee Report has no credibility, so to continue on the path to implementing their recommendations just seems foolhardy. No one would hold it against Premier Graham if he said that he will consult with the people and gather further information before gutting the education system so cruelly. In fact, the public will respect him for listening to their concerns. Not only doctors are disappointed in the governments decision and talking about leaving the province. So much for luring people back to NB.
I never thought I would be ashamed that I voted Liberal for all these years. Please do something soon to clean up this mess!
Jane Keith
Picadilly, NB
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