Controversy continues over Premier Blaine Higgs’ decision to axe French immersion in Canada’s only officially bilingual province. 

The controversial decision became widely known in October, when then-Minister of Education Dominic Cardy announced his resignation in an explosive open letter. 

At the time, Cardy blasted Higgs, saying the premier had pushed the Education Department to “abolish French immersion by September 2023.” 

The province says French immersion will be replaced with a program geared towards better conversational French for all students. 

Supporters of that plan argue that immersion has failed to produce enough graduates fluent in French, while creating a two-tiered system of education, in which students with learning challenges are concentrated in the non-immersion stream. 

But many questions remain about what exactly will replace the French immersion system, which some parents say is a crucial aspect of the education system, especially in New Brunswick. 

Critics of the government also point to the premier’s push for a unilingual province dating back to the 1980s, when he ran for the leadership of the anti-bilingual Confederation of Regions Party (CoR).. 

The planned abolition of French immersion in New Brunswick has provoked the wrath of some local residents. 

A grassroots organization appears to be taking shape in Sackville. People involved in the initiative held their first in-person meeting Tuesday evening at the Sackville Commons Co-op. 

About two dozen people turned out for the public meeting of the group, which is calling itself French Immersion Supporters in Sackville. 

CHMA asked parents at the meeting why they decided to get involved. This report also includes clips from two guest speakers who attended the event, Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton and Chris Collins, executive director of Canadian Parents for French NB, or CPF NB: