| would also like to direct your attention, Monsieur le Premier Ministre, to the negative
impact this Convention has had on the francophone community. The representatives
of the Fédération’s member associations were gathered in Vancouver for their semi—
annual Council of Presidents at the time, and were all, without exception, appalled on
learning of the nature of the discussions held during the Annual Convention of the
party forming the province’s government. We are witnessing a hardening of party line
and your own public statement recommending French in Quebec and English
elsewhere in Canada is but a single illustration of that fact. As | stated in my
previous letter dated September 15th, during these past few years, we had been much
impressed by your understanding of the problems faced by the francophone minority
in British Columbia and by your seeming willingness to contribute to its promotion and
development in accordance with the Federal government's policy. We therefore hope
and expect that any resolution contradicting our common efforts towards the
development of the francophone community will not be adopted by your government.
We would also like to see your government make a public statement to the effect that
these resolutions do not, and will not reflect government policy.

We were equally astonished by the proposed resolution on the Meech Lake Accord.
We understand that the agreement in its present form is not perfect. It does not
resolve all the problems, nor answer all the questions raised by concerned Canadians
from coast to coast; it was never intended to. Constitutional reform is an on going
process and the Meech Lake Accord is but one step in that process. We would.
therefore hope to see the Premier of the Province of British Columbia as a full
participant in the Meech Lake discussions at the First Ministers Conference, renewing
his support for the agreement, and committed to resolving the impasse in which we
find ourselves.

We hope you will be able to resolve the contradiction between previous official policies
of your government and the resolutions proposed during the Party Convention and that
we will always be able to rely on your government's agreement with the spirit of
Canada’s bilingual Constitution.

Sincerely,
(lettre originale signée par)
Marie Bourgeois
President
CONSULTATION DE LA COMMUNAUTE FRANCOPHONE DE LA C.-B.
AVEC LE SECRETARIAT D’ETAT
Cette consultation annuelle de la communauté francophone par le Secrétariat d’Etat

s‘inscrit dans le contexte du renouvellement du Programme d’appui aux organismes et
aux institutions des communautés de langue officielle.