Ford government votes down Francophone motion, betrays Franco-Ontarian community

QUEEN’S PARK — Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath says the Ford government has betrayed the Franco-Ontarian community again by voting against a motion to restore Ontario’s independent French Language Services Commissioner and the province’s Francophone University.

“Since Doug Ford axed the office of the independent French Language Services Commissioner and cancelled the Université de l’Ontario français, MPPs of all political stripes have heard the outrage, the frustration and the worry from all corners of our province,” said Horwath. “Today, we gave Mr. Ford a chance to fix what he broke.

“The Conservatives’ vote against this motion is a slap in the face to the Franco-Ontarian community.”

Conservative MPPs had a week to prepare for Horwath’s motion, while concern poured in from across the province. The motion would have reversed Ford's callous elimination of an independent French Language Services Commissioner and the Université de l’Ontario français.

"In Ontario, we need to do better to deliver services in French — not allow Doug Ford to drag us backwards," said Guy Bourgouin, the NDP critic for Francophone Affairs.

“The Francophone people of Ontario have a constitutional right that needs to be upheld. But for so many of us, this is also about whether our parents will be able to receive health care in French, and whether our children can be educated in French. It’s about our families, and the future of the Franco-Ontarian people here in our home province.”