IMMIGRATION

Forum on Rural Francophone
Development in Prince George

On November 5 and 6, 2010, Ms. Pascaline Nsekera, immigra-
tion coordinator at the FFCB, travelled to Prince George to
attend a forum on rural Francophone development, organized
by the Société de développement économique de la C.-B.

in cooperation with the Cercle des Canadiens Francais de
Prince George.

Ms. Nsekera spoke of the issue of Francophone immigration.
She spoke at a round table organized by CBC/Radio Canada
regarding the role of immigration as a revitalization factor,
and then, at a panel examining the themes of immigration
and rural development. She presented the political and
regional context of Francophone immigration, focussing
discussions on the contribution of immigrants. It should

be noted that the forum also marked the 50th anniversary
of the Cercle des Canadiens Frangais de Prince George.

A National Visit

The event was marked by the visit of a delegation from the National
Implementation Committee for fostering Francophone immigration
in FMCs:

e Mr. Wally Boxhill, Committee co chair - Citizenship
and Immigration Canada

e Mr. Jerry Clement, Committee co chair - MSC

e Mr. Réda Lounis, Immigration Agent with the Fédération des
communauteés francophones et acadienne du Canada (FCFA)

To highlight their visit, the FFCB, in cooperation with CIC,
organized an event for the co chairs to meet and speak with
representatives from BC’s Francophone community.

Ms. Pascaline Nsekera and Dr. Réal Roy (left) with some members of
the National Implementation Committee for fostering Francophone
immigration within Francophone minority communities.

Forum on Immigration and Economic
Development in BC

Organized in cooperation with the Pacific Federal Council,

the forum on immigration and economic development brought
together representatives from the Francophone community
and officials from several federal governmental agencies and
provincial partners.

Held peripherally with the FFCB’s annual Meeting of Presidents,
the goal of the forum was to identify support that officials
could provide to the community.

The first part of the day was spent informing participants of

the political context of immigration in Francophone minority
communities (FMC) and presenting a status report for BC. The
afternoon focussed more on the challenges and initiatives that
are underway to meet the integration need of a growing number
of new Francophone immigrants in the province.

BOT
ptleux vous informer sur Nenmigration francophone

The Immigration Website
Has Improved:

This year, the CCFI and FFCB worked
together closely to improve the website

vivreencolombiebritannique.ca. This new version
has been online since this Spring. It includes

new functions, particularly a Facebook page

(Facebook.com/vivreencolombie-britannique.ca).