The 13th annual Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie (MCCF) was held on September 17 and 18, 2008, in Quebec City, as part of the festivities marking Quebec City’s 400th anniversary and over 400 years of French presence in North America.

During the meeting, MCCF ministers adopted new strategic and operational plans for the organization and discussed a number of related issues. They also took the opportunity to congratulate the federal government for having renewed its commitment to preserving Canada’s linguistic duality in June, by tabling the Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality 2008–2013: Acting for the Future.

French-language broadcasting is a vital issue for the Canadian Francophonie. The ministers therefore established a task force to flesh out an action strategy with respect to the mandate that the federal government gave to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) regarding access to English- and French-language broadcasting services in English and French linguistic minority communities in Canada, in connection with the Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality 2008–2013: Acting for the Future.

Many other issues related to the implementation of the Roadmap were discussed, including intergovernmental cooperation as agreements between the federal government and the provincial/territorial governments with regard to French-language services are renewed.

Youth leaders were present during discussions on the Conference’s Youth Strategy. They stressed the importance of youth participation in building our society. They also invited the ministers to attend the Youth Dialogues, held in each province and territory across Canada in the fall of 2008.