Mault: Central Ottawa badly needs a French-language high school

Article content

At the core of our nation’s capital — an area representing approximately 40 sq. km from Lowertown to Nepean and the Ottawa River to Baseline Road — there are no (yes, zero) French-language middle or secondary schools. This highlights the disconnect between the image our politicians paint of our capital and the reality that residents live.

Living in Ottawa’s core with a family can be wonderful. The city is full of parks and green spaces, museums, events and, most importantly for families, quality schools. It’s becoming increasingly possible for residents to access their daily and weekly needs within their neighbourhood, thus making people more connected to, and invested in, their community. Unfortunately, when it comes to education, this is not the case for many francophones and French-speaking Ottawans.

Article content

Article content

Beyond the fact that francophones have a constitutional right to access French education in their community (no small detail), this critical missing link for students who graduate from grade 6 among any of the four thriving French-language elementary schools in this area has long-term impacts for families. Parents are faced with transferring their kids to one of the seven local English-language secondary schools, almost ensuring cultural and linguistic assimilation, or sending their kids — as young as 11-years old — on buses with up to two hours of commute per day, to the nearest French-language high school, which is probably bursting at the seams.

These schools — serving parents, immigrants and linguistic minority communities more broadly — are essential catalysts to  the vitality of  the French language and culture. So many parents find the situation mind-boggling and are fed up. That is why parents are getting organized, even seeking legal advice, to ensure all levels of government respect the Section 23 Charter right of continuity of language instruction.

Article content

In 2019, a group of civic minded parents created an advocacy group (secondaireottawacentre.ca) with the goal of opening a new French-language high school by 2028/2029. The group has now grown significantly in membership and has met with many politicians of all levels and community organizations, hundreds of parents and, obviously, school boards. Faced with this “missing link,” both French-language school boards (CEPEO and CECCE) have confirmed that they would open a new secondary school tomorrow if funds were made available. In fact, one school board has been petitioning the provincial government since 2018 for such a project and has yet again requested funding during this round of capital project applications to the Ontario Ministry of Education, which is expected to render its decision as early as April 2024.

Premier Doug Ford and ministers Stephen Lecce and Caroline Mulroney need to act now to ensure a French-language secondary school opens, whether it be purpose-built or refurbished. There are existing facilities that are under-utilized and could be quickly repurposed as secondary schools. For example, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board is sitting on half-empty schools in the city’s core. This hoarding of facilities is deplorable if you think French school boards are desperately looking for spaces.

Article content

According to the OCDSB’s own figures, it has the following under-utilized schools: Adult High School (62 per cent occupancy); Ottawa Technical (32 per cent); Richard Pfaff (50 per cent), all within a five sq.-km radius. The facilities at the Adult High School are so under-appreciated that the school’s sports field is currently a staging ground for an MTO highway bridge replacement, rather than being used by children and the community for sports and physical activity.

The provincial government understands that school boards selfishly guard their property portfolio and therefore recently adopted Ontario Regulation 374/23. This regulation allows the provincial government to direct boards to dispose of their school properties if they are not being used to meet the pupil accommodation for the next 10 years. It remains unclear if this new regulation can force boards to amalgamate half-empty schools, which could free up much needed school sites for French-language boards.

Another option would be to provide funding to purchase and adapt empty facilities such as those sitting empty at Tunney’s Pasture, the Booth Street complex or others.

Article content

Politicians of all levels need to step up and make the most for the broader community, but especially for today’s students who are the leaders of tomorrow.

The dithering has lasted long enough. Local parents are more motivated than ever and will continue to pressure all levels of government, especially the province, to unlock funding.  Simple proactive steps taken today can quickly rectify this situation; otherwise, there is a real risk that  the provincial government may yet again have another fight on its hands with francophones in Ontario.

Mathieu Mault lives in the Hintonburg neighbourhood of Ottawa.

Article content