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Judging by the reaction of some of Canada’s top political leaders, Ontario must have imposed pretty significant cuts on services for its francophone citizens.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “I was deeply disappointed by the decision of the Ontario government to cut services and protections for the francophone minorities in Ontario.” Federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer has “concerns” about the cancellation of a proposed francophone university. Quebec Premier François Legault is “disappointed” by the changes announced last week by Premier Doug Ford’s government.

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So what, exactly, is it that Ford is doing to raise all of this concern? It’s time to get out the policy microscope and examine the changes.

Yes, it’s true that the French-language services will no longer have a standalone office to handle complaints. The commissioner will be let go and the work of the office will be rolled into that of the ombudsman’s operation. That’s a small symbolic change, but francophones will still have an avenue of complaint if they find services inadequate. The disbanded office received 200 or so legitimate complaints a year with a budget of $1.2 million. That’s something the ombudsman, a francophone, is quite capable of handling.