OTTAWA – The Ontario Liberal Party released the following statement on the anniversary of “Jeudi Noir”:
November 15th marks one year since Doug Ford’s conservative government made drastic cuts to services for Ontario’s francophone community. When Ford eliminated the French Language Services Commissioner and played coy with the Université de l’Ontario Français, Franco-Ontarians came together with such force that our demonstrations made national headlines.
Known as “Jeudi Noir”, this day continues to cast a shadow over our province’s Franco-Ontarian communities. All the while, this government refuses to acknowledge or respect the value of the francophone community in Ontario.
Public pressure and local mobilization forced Ford to backtrack on a few promises and pushed his only Franco-Ontarian MPP to leave his conservative caucus.
Francophones and Francophiles across our province continue to fight the short-sighted cuts of this provincial government. Franco-Ontarians are still left underserved and underheard without their independent French Language Services Commissioner.
The Ontario Liberal Party will always stand with Franco-Ontarians and will never give up the fight for greater and more equal access to services in both official languages. We will continue to fight against Doug Ford’s cuts and ensure that their interests are not only maintained but promoted. Franco-Ontarians deserve so much more than this.