Cornwall is designated as a bilingual region for language-of-work purposes, where both English and French are official languages for federal and provincial government services.
La Citadelle faces higher student enrolment. The facilities no longer meet the educational, cultural, and technological needs of today’s students and it was built in 1949.
The Ontario government recently provided $11.9 million to enable the Upper Canada District School Board to purchase land on Nick Kaneb Drive in Cornwall, the future site of a new $51 million English-language high school.
The lack of investment at La Citadelle constitutes unacceptable inequity and could potentially be contrary to section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter guarantees equality in education for Francophones in minority situations.
Cornwall is a city well known for its bilingualism, with a significant portion of its population proficient in both English and French. Approximately 43.26% of Cornwall residents can converse in both languages, making it one of the most bilingual cities in Ontario.
We know that our MPP Quinn and the PC Party of Ontario have not committed to any funding. Ironically, some other entity in SDG has to step in.
The elected officials at Cornwall City Council have a golden opportunity to show leadership on this file. If you talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. Thus, the city council should provide some kind of funding to get it going.
Mario Leclerc