Annual Report 1991-1992 SSS Ee ETS NET CI TI ON 8 SE EEE PL RELL SIE TSG IES ET OB ES IE SI ES A SEER COL IEE INTRODUCTION This annual report covers the principal activities of the Fédération des Franco- Colombiens spanning the period April 1991 to March 1992. At the last annual general meeting, francophones, aware of the constitutional situation, were debating the choices to be made and the actions to be taken inresponse to the approaching political challenges. And the political challenges were just around the corner. In presenting its report last July, the Citizens’ Forum marked the first step in a series of constitutional commissions and parliamentary committees. Political change and constitutional upsets have often dictated the activities of the F.F.C. These activities included consulting with the community regarding our constitutional position, presenting briefs before various committees, establishing a strategy on how to proceed during the provincial election, responding to the findings of the Task Force on Minority Language Education and making our constitutional position known to both federal and provincial government authorities. This was a period during which the community established working and decision-making mechanisms to enable it to participate in a fundamental struggle for its very existence. Our activities in this area were focused on a single objective: the vitality and development of our community through the securing of constitutional guarantees. The governance of education remained a priority issue throughout the year with the francophone community anxiously awaiting the filing of the Gallant Report. The recommendations contained in this report were made public in February 1992. On the community front, the F.F.C. consulted with its members in order to set up the meetings that would be essential in launching acampaign Consultation on Constitutional reform in Prince George. to promote awareness of the francophone presence in British Columbia. By way of regular meetings with the permanent staff of the member associations, we have been able tohold training workshops andestablish a dialogue regarding the activities of the various organizations. The francophone community is becoming ever more firmly rooted in British Columbia and the celebrations surrounding the 50th and 25th anniversaries of the Société Francophone de Victoria and Le Club Bon Accueil de Powell River are ample proof of this fact. And finally, on the cultural front, with the adoption of a cultural development policy, the F.F.C. is being looked up to as a pioneer within the community of francophones outside Quebec. ESSER ae SSS SS ASS SS SESS SS Em SSS te a CMS La Fédération des Franco-Colombiens