Francophones in 40 Ontario Communities, including Sarnia Lambton, organized protests for Saturday against cuts made by the provincial government. Sarnia-Lambton Francophone Centre spokesperson Meghan Reale said Doug Ford's announcement to scrap plans to build a French University to save money, isn't sitting well with over 622,000 Francophones in Ontario. "This is something that has really galvanized the Francophone community in Ontario," said Realesmith. "The premier now realizes there are more Franco-Ontarians than he thought there were. Because of our first response, he has decided to step back a little bit. Instead of abolishing Ontario's Office of the French Language Services Comissioner, he will reinstate a form of the commissioner, this time under the Ombudsman's office." The Ford government also cancelled a planned French university in Toronto. "A Francophone university is key to maintaining the cultural, social and professional development of Francophones. We are raising our children to be French-speaking, to tell them about the advantages of being Francophone, but then we're saying, once you turn 18 we're going to cut off that development." Saturday's Sarnia demonstration is from 12 p.m. until 2 p.m. outside MPP Bob Bailey's office at 805 Christina St. N.
Hundreds of students from Sarnia's french language schools celebrate Franco-Ontarian Flag Day. September 25, 2017 (Photo by Melanie Irwin)
