ACTUELLEMENT AFENO AVRIL 2017 Page 7 SUGAR SHACK (from page 6) Also of note, our festival this year ran for five days. The festival, as usual, began with our Kick-off Social at Cowpuccino’s on Wednesday, January 25. Frances Riley provided the music, and more than 25 people participated. On the Thursday, thanks to our friends from the Prince Rupert Arts Council, we were’ able to present a Francophone film at the local cinema, and more than 100 people attended. One of the festival’s high- lights occurred Friday night, at the Tom Rooney Playhouse. We celebrated the return of Dessert Theatre where we pres- ent a bilingual play consisting of local actors and musicians. The premise centered around what might happen if Quebecers started to take over Prince Rupert, and it was rather hilarious. See ‘Another huge success”’ on page 18. festival de la Cabane a Sucre en janvier. Shutter Shack photo Les Copains du Nord, de Terrace, sont venus jouer de la musique pour notre 7ieéme LE VOTE (de la page 5) “Alors, le frangais doit étre égal avec l'anglais, mais er a demandé si le personnel de CMSD pouvait faire des option. fasse des recherches sur cette au niveau secondaire, et de présenter ce rapport au pub- comment peut-on faire cela financiérement?» Warcup a dit que la décision n’était pas facile. «Nous som- mes a la croisée des chemins ot (le programme) doit étre abordable pour tous les étudi- ants.» Aprés le vote ott la proposi- tion a été rejeté, Brand-Danus- recherches sur la possibilité d’avoir le programme par dif- fusion en direct. «J’ai changé d’avis (pour le vote), elle a dit. ‘J’ai le droit de faire ca, mais je veux savoir si offrir le cours en ligne est une option.» Le CMSD a voté oul pour que le personnel du CMSD Apres deux ans de réunions avec les parties prenantes dans la région (parents, étudiants, professeurs, etc.), le CMSD 82, en janvier, a décidé de faire rédiger un rapport par leur personnel sur I’état de l’immersion en frangais et les avantages de continuer ou d’annuler le programme lique a une réunion. Le rapport n’était pas prét pour la réunion de février, alors, le CMSD a présenté le rapport de 68 pages a la réunion du 29 mars. Le rapport présentait 6 op- tions, avec la recommandation de choisir option 4. Voyez “Les rapports”’ a la page 9 TELL ME A GOOD STORY (from page 3) And anyone who spoke; parent and teacher alike, were still ignored, and now, the higher-ups began to allegedly flex their muscles, and the silencing of the program began. No one dared speak about French Immersion, or there would be alleged consequences. French Immersion began to be eradicated. One by one, small town by small town, the program was in danger of being extinguished, and in fact in one town, was completely eliminated. True, one particular town remained quiet and did nothing, but the rest all seemed to want to jump on the opportunity to eradicate the French language. But this time, the parents had had enough. They banded together. Those who had never even spoken a word of French stepped forward, ready for civil war. Meetings were held, decisions were made, and the gauntlet swung mightily at the higher-ups, as the future of education hedged on a single vote. Then suddenly, French Immersion received a surprising reprieve. The higher- ups were shocked, how could this have happened? People ran in to the streets, laughing ... happily. “French Immersion has been saved! French Immersion has been saved!” But was it? Would the higher-ups accept defeat? Meanwhile, in a neigbouring small town, the parents had joined forces with a higher-up of their own, and were preparing for their own battle, one from which those other higher-ups might not survive. Parents everywhere in that small corner of northern B.C. were smiling again. Already one win under their belt, could more be forthcoming? Was the education of their offspring safe? Could they finally bring back their happily-ever-after? To be (or not be) continued ...