Statement made on 23 March 2010 by Senator Maria Chaput
Hon. Maria Chaput:
Honourable senators, March 20, 2010, was International Day of La Francophonie, a day when we celebrate the vitality of the French language around the world, and mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of the international organization that promotes the French language: the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, or OIF.
The OIF consists of 56 member states and governments and 14 observers around the world that share French as a common language.
Spoken by more than 200 million people worldwide, French is the sole official language or one official language of 32 OIF member states and governments. In Canada, French is an official language. It has equal status, equal rights and equal privileges, as guaranteed by the Constitution.
Canada has more than 9 million French speakers, more than 9 million people who can communicate in the language of Molière.
In the early 17th century, French colonists began settling the land that would later become Canada. These first French speakers in Canada gradually migrated west and north. Today, minority francophone communities can be found in every province and territory.
Over the years, these early French settlers were joined by francophones from all over the world — Lebanon, Haiti, the Central African Republic, Senegal, Cambodia, Belgium, Switzerland and elsewhere — who enriched and bolstered French Canadian culture.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the equality of the official languages as well as the right of the Canadian public to communicate in French with federal institutions. These fundamental rights were entrenched in our Constitution and will be passed on to future generations.
Canadians are right to see their French language, a language bequeathed to them by history, as a boon and something that deserves to be promoted and celebrated with pride.
Together, let us celebrate the future of the French fact in Canada. Together, let us celebrate the place of French in the world.