42nd Annual General Meeting: An Overview of a Very Busy Year

Held in a hybrid format, this annual general meeting was an opportunity to review the achievements of the Fédération des parents with respect to the themes that have been at the forefront over the past year.

President Suzana Straus was delighted to welcome delegates from member associations, some in person and some virtually, before taking a look back at our organization's achievements over the past year. In particular, she spoke about the establishment of Le Phare C.-B. – an entity within the Fédération des parents that works to address the shortage of Francophone child care spaces in British Columbia. Ms. Straus emphasized that since its creation, this new team has been dedicated to the establishment of several new preschool and school child care centres, in addition to providing support to Francophone child care centres in the province to help them carry out their mandate.

The President also discussed the implications of the Supreme Court of Canada's 2020 decision in the legal case for education in French in B.C. She stressed that the Fédération des parents was closely monitoring developments and was ready to intervene, if necessary, if expected outcomes of that case are slow to materialize in some regions. In addition, she mentioned the issue of modernizing Canada's Official Languages Act, which continues to be of concern to our organization, and spoke about the participation of elected officials and members of our team in various committees and processes, both provincially and nationally, to ensure that the interests of local parents are taken into account.

For her part, Executive Director Marie-Andrée Asselin presented an annual report highlighting the practical actions carried out by the organization's team from July 2020 to June 2021, as well as the strategic planning put forward for the following year. She also indicated that the Fédération des parents would step up its efforts in the coming months to further support its members, for example by informing them, equipping them, and facilitating networking between them, in addition to continuing the measures taken to develop Francophone child care centres in British Columbia.

Subsequently, the delegates present from the member associations of the Fédération des parents were called upon to elect, for a two-year term, three of the seven members of the organization's board of directors. Marie-Hélène Hinse and Marc Paris were re-elected, as members for the Northern B.C. region and North Vancouver Island region respectively; while Laura Grefford was elected member for the Fraser Valley region.

A big thank you goes to these parent volunteers who get involved for the benefit of Francophone parents' associations and Francophone parents across the province. The Fédération des parents team would also like to thank Karine Leblanc Sault, whose term on the board of directors ended this year.

Therefore, the composition of the 2021-2022 Board of Directors is as follows: