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Before the provincial election in June, Leduc said, there were assurances that a Progressive Conservative government would support Franco-Ontarians. Since the election, what had been a full ministry of francophone affairs has been downgraded to an office, the planned university has been abolished and the well-respected language commissioner’s job has been abolished.

François Boileau, who has been commissioner since 2007, was respected around the world for his advocacy work on behalf of Franco-Ontarians.

Boileau worked as an advocate, community members say, often anticipating issues before they became problems. Leduc and others worry that the province’s ombudsman, who now has charge of the file, will not have the time or energy to focus on language issues until they become serious problems.

Leduc said members of the province’s French speaking minority were worried about what might come next from the provincial government.

“The community is saying, ‘What is next?’ We seem to be an easy target because we are a small community and we know there are further cuts coming.”

Ottawa councillor and Franco-Ontarian advocate Mathieu Fleury called the province’s move “a major step back.” He also noted there had been no financial information about how much cutting the commissioner’s job would save. “If we are going to do this, then explain the finances. We see it as an attack on the French community.”

Fleury and others said they feared the move would put the community back in the position of having to fight to retain language rights. Many still remember the bitter battle over the Montfort.

Photo by Jack Boland / Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

Dupont said she feared the move and the premier’s view on language rights would move things back to the days when there was animosity toward French speakers in Ontario.

“It has opened up these wounds that I was convinced were healed. It is unfortunate.”

Dupont said groups opposing French-language support in Ontario seemed “emboldened” by the province’s move and to be celebrating it.

She, too, said she was concerned about what might come next. “The biggest worry is that this is the tip of the iceberg.”

epayne@postmedia.com