Public consultations for New Brunswick’s proposed Innovative Immersion Program have received pushback after their first day.
New Brunswick Education Minister Bill Hogan hosted a virtual question and answer forum Monday evening, which has since been labelled by opponents as “scripted” and “awkward.”
Chris Collins, the executive director of Canadian Parents for French in New Brunswick, said the province missed an opportunity to engage with those who can’t attend in-person sessions.
“It was just canned questions and canned answers. It was a bit of a disappointment and a letdown,” Collins told Global News on Tuesday afternoon.
Collins felt the approach lacked real answers in an attempt to “lull (viewers) to sleep” on the topic.
The start of public consultations for the controversial reform of French second-language learning in anglophone schools comes on the heels of a new CPF NB survey conducted by Leger Marketing.
According to the survey conducted in December 2022, 63 per cent of respondents are against abolishing French immersion programs in New Brunswick.
Additionally, the survey indicated 72 per cent of respondents said their opinion on Premier Blaine Higgs has deteriorated over the past few months.
“What they need to do is bring back French immersion, re-establish that and fix the prime French, that’s where the issue is. What they’re doing here is they’re throwing the baby out with the bath water,” Collins said.
The new plan will phase in the proposed immersion program this fall for students in kindergarten and Grade 1.
They will receive 50 per cent of the instruction in French and 50 per cent in English. From grades 6 to 8, French would be only 40 per cent of their instruction.
New Brunswick Liberal Leader Susan Holt said after the “superficial” Q&A, there remains a lack of public research to back these changes.
“The most important change right now would be to pause. We don’t have the resources to deploy a new program in September without throwing the school system into chaos on current teachers and administration that are trying their hardest to work with the challenging system today,” Holt said, speaking from Campobello Island.
Holt added that she doesn’t have confidence the public consultation stage will result in meaningful change to the provincial plan.
“I know the minister is on record saying there could be changes, but it’s hard to trust that that’s the case when they’re sort of selling and promoting, rather than listening and considering the point of view of New Brunswickers.”
In-person consultations begin Tuesday evening in Bathurst ahead of stops in Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John.
Until changes to the process are made, MLA Megan Mitton told Global News, the public portion remains a “sham.”
“It would be nice to actually hear some numbers, hear some concrete plans about whose going to have access, are students in rural areas going to have access, is this going to be rolled out consistently, how are they going to ensure high levels of bilingualism are achieved.”
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