The President of the AMBM and Reeve of the Rural Municipality of La Broquerie, Mr. Ivan Normandeau, issued the following statement on the signing of a new five-year bilateral agreement on French-language services:

On August 12, 2024, the federal Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, and the provincial Minister of Sport, Culture, Heritage and Tourism and Minister responsible for Francophone Affairs, the Honourable Glen Simard, signed the new Canada-Manitoba Agreement on French-Language Services (CMAFLS) 2023-2028.

In so doing, the federal and provincial governments are taking action to help build and develop Manitoba’s Francophone and bilingual communities.

We would like to thank Minister Simard and his government for taking action to ensure that the French-speaking population of Manitoba has access to important government services in French, including municipal services.

Thanks to the Province’s support through the CMAFLS 2023-2028, the AMBM and its member municipalities will now be able to take decisive steps towards implementing their new Municipal Maturity Model (3M) and increasing access to municipal services in both official languages. This funding is in addition to the annual investment of over $1 million by Manitoba’s bilingual rural municipalities in the provision of services in both official languages.

We commend the Honourable Ian Bushie, provincial Minister of Municipal and Northern Relations, for publicly announcing in March 2024 his government’s endorsement of the modernization of the municipal regulatory framework for services in both official languages (the 3M created by the AMBM for its members). The expertise and collaboration of the experienced team at the Department of Municipal and Northern Relations played a central role in the implementation of the 3M, a first on the national scene in terms of municipal service delivery in both official languages.

Like the Manitoba government, the AMBM and its members are committed to enhancing Manitoba’s bilingual character.

In his mandate letter to the Honourable Glen Simard, as Minister responsible for Francophone Affairs, Premier Kinew urged him to ensure that Manitoba becomes a truly bilingual province. We believe that the new CMAFLS will serve as a springboard for Minister Simard to move towards this ultimate accomplishment, especially since the Kinew government’s leadership in this area is so clear. Our special thanks to Minister Simard for his leadership and deep understanding of rural and Francophone issues in our province. The AMBM and its members look forward to continuing to work with him.

Today, with the signing of the new CMAFLS 2023-2028, the Province will be able to strengthen its support for the delivery of municipal services in both official languages, notably through the gradual deployment of the 3M in Manitoba’s rural bilingual municipalities. To achieve this, the support and commitment of the AMBM team will be of prime importance, in particular in accompanying each municipality and ensuring intergovernmental coordination as the project moves forward.

Thanks to the 3M, Manitoba is emerging as a leader in the continuum of government services (federal, provincial and municipal) in both official languages. As such, Mr. Justin Johnson, AMBM Chief Executive Officer, has just returned from Halifax, where he took part in the opening of the Francophone Economy Agora of the Ministers’ Council on the Canadian Francophonie (MCCF). He was a panellist at a workshop on improving government services in French across the country. All in all, the event was a great success, bringing together players from the private, academic, associative and government sectors to identify ways of better supporting the Francophonie’s contribution to Canada’s prosperity.

The AMBM is the voice of bilingual municipal leadership in the province of Manitoba. It represents 16 local governments committed to providing services in both official languages to their citizens. Together, these municipalities represent the majority of Manitoba’s population. Manitoba’s bilingual municipal leadership is also at the helm of the AMBM Group, a consortium of three complementary organizations: AMBM, the Economic Development Council of Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities (Conseil de développement économique des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba, or CDEM) and Eco-West Canada (EWC), which specializes in the green economy. Complementary, these three organizations actively contribute to the development, vitality and sustainability of the province’s Official Language Minority Communities (OLMCs).

Information: Office of the Chief Executive Officer (O-CEO), 204-289-4077, bcdd-oceo@ambm.ca.