Annual Report 1991-1992

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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.

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La Fédération des Franco-Colombiens