A group of Tantramar area residents are gathering signatures for a petition in support of maintaining French Immersion in the province. Organizer Lori Ann Roness says the petition is not just focussed on French Immersion, but on asking the government for the required supports to improve education outcomes in English learning as well.

“First, it asks the Department of Education to cease its pursuit of the framework,” says Roness. “It asks the department to maintain and enhance the existing French Immersion program and make it accessible to more students, with the long term goal of building meaningful bilingualism, not just reducing French to that capacity of being able to order a hamburger.”

The petition also ask the Department of Education to “strategically address the current challenges that exist across all facets of the education system,” says Roness. That includes more teachers, more support staff, and more educational health professionals says Roness. “There needs to be a lot more attention paid to basic things like having kids receive timely educational assessments right now. Some kids are waiting upwards of two or three years to be assessed, and this impacts their ability to have specialized learning plans and EAs and other types of educational support,” says Roness.

Roness and a number of other Sackville residents attended a public consultation session hosted by the Department of Education last month. Teachers, parents, and administers came out in droves to express their concerns about the governments proposed plan which would see French Immersion and English Prime phased out, and a new 50/50 program introduced starting in kindergarten and grade one.

The New Brunswick Teachers Association is the latest group to ask the government to shelve its proposed plan, calling for “an end to political interference in education.”

Image: @NBTeachersAssn on Twitter

Amidst the public opposition, Premier Blaine Higgs told reporters that the plan is not a sure thing. In his state of the province address on Thursday night, Higgs was non-committal either way about the proposed change.

Roness says that any possible capitulation is not enough to allay the need for the petition.

“We’ve definitely heard some rumblings,” says Roness, “and I know that there are other MLAs that are starting to voice their concern with the petitions from across all party lines.” But until there’s clarity from the government, Roness says “it’s important for people who believe that the education system should be improved in different ways to maintain that voice.”

“Petitions are one way that the regular person can put their voice to an issue,” says Roness, adding that the strength of a petition comes in numbers. “The more signatures on a petition that’s presented to the legislature, the louder that voice is perceived by the government. So I think it’s important to stay the course.”

The petition is not online, because it requires handwritten signatures in order to be presented to the provincial legislature in March by Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton. Roness says anyone in New Brunswick, of any age, can sign, and petition sheets are being circulated through members of the Facebook group “French Immersion Supporters in Sackville, NB”. It will also be available at the Deus Ex Macina coffee stand at the Sackville Farmers Market throughout February.

“If anyone is interested in signing, or if anyone is interested in collecting signatures, they are free to contact me,” says Roness. All copies of the petition need to be returned to Roness by March 3, 2023.