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I am told that the best way to promote New Brunswick is to be an ambassador for our province when we are abroad.

As most of you know, I was not born in New Brunswick but I do consider myself a New Brunswicker now. Growing up as a teenager in Quebec, I was always faced with debates on language. As I was born in Hull, on the other side of the river separating Ontario and Quebec, I always understood the need to speak both English and French.

I always found it gut wrenching having to defend the need to be bilingual. When I moved to New Brunswick, this issue, for me, became irrelevant. It was as though language was no longer an issue here. I attended Université de Moncton and found myself surrounded by both French and English speaking students, working together without necessarily identifying themselves as either French or English; they were New Brunswickers.

Most of these students were the product of Early French Immersion. I was amazed that they had access to an education system that promoted both languages at such an early age and appropriately so, as New Brunswick is the only bilingual province in Canada. As I reflect on what has happened since the Croll and Lee Report, I cannot help but feel that we are regressing in any progress we may have made with the Early French Immersion program since its introduction.

That being said, an eight-year-old Evergreen Park School student challenged Mr. Lamrock to spend the morning in her third grade classroom so that he could see firsthand what he is about to destroy . . . oh excuse me, what he has already destroyed!

Smart don't you think? A 3rd grader would not see such an important decision based solely on the conclusions of a single report. What we have not informed this eight-year-old of is that the result and conclusion of the Croll and Lee Report is deeply flawed and biased and its statistical analysis is highly misleading.

Please refer to a document entitled "Response to the Review of FSL Programs and Services in NB" written by Dr. Diana J. Hamilton and Dr. Matthew K. Litvak. So, Minister Lamrock, I too challenge you to see for yourself how Early Immersion is "failing our children".

One of several missing links to this reform is that Mr. Lamrock has never informed New Brunswickers of the true costs associated with his revolutionary new system. The retraining of teachers and the reworking of curricula are most certainly costly, or is this just like his plan for self-sufficiency where he is once again unable to inform us of its costs? Or, if my memory serves me right, did Minister Boudreau not say that it would be foolish to predict so far in the future as to how much self-sufficiency will cost?

Also, Mr. Lamrock, would you please tell us what "grandfathered-out" means? Will the children currently enrolled if EFI be afforded the opportunity to continue in EFI through Grade 12? Is this guaranteed?

If the Minister is so worried about test results, is he going to invest in EFI for the next 12 years so that the children's supposedly "unacceptably low scores" don't negatively impact the overall provincial results.

What astounds me the most is that this debate about education has become a debate about language. What made us strong seems to be dividing us now.

It appears as though Minister Lamrock expects to achieve higher test scores across the board at the cost of the elimination of parental choice. Please be aware that no matter your children's needs or particular situation, your children will be commencing, in September, 2008, a cookie cutter, one size fits all approach to second language education despite the fact that many children face very different realities.

The Minister has, for days now, given interview after interview confirming that social standing and language categorize our children and that the EFI program deserves to be eliminated on this basis. I must say that for all that I know, this program is offered in cities, rural areas. Let's be honest, to pretend that the streaming is based on social standing is completely ridiculous and only serves to divide us more.

It is important to note that it is very worrisome that this government governs based on reports. We should all be very concerned that the Liberals are more inclined to listen to so-called authorities rather than parents and educators with hands-on experience. It is very disconcerting that this government has made certain groups of concerned parents out to be lobbyists. They have the interests of their children at heart and they alone understand the success EFI has offered their children.

I am very concerned that the Minister is ignoring the first-hand relevance of the parents' concerns. Parents are the very fibre of family and are best suited to make decisions in the best interests of their children. This is not a choice that should be left to the government. If we want our children to succeed, we, as parents, must be an integral part of our children's education, our children's future. What is next Mr. Minister? Will you eliminate our elected members of our District School Boards?

For me, family should be at the heart of the government. Family is where education starts, where education is promoted and where the road to success begins. I feel that this generation has, through education, achieved what previous generations who have not had the benefits of EFI, could not. It is their battle for a better life for us, wanting us to have the opportunity to be educated in both official languages so that we can thrive in New Brunswick as well as abroad.

Opposition Education critic Madeline Dubé is right on point in making the comment that New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province in Canada and now New Brunswick will be the only province without Early Immersion. For 40 years, we have offered immersion for students with a first year point of entry. With these new liberal reforms to education, early immersion programs will be gradually eliminated. The Opposition suggests that the Liberal government improve early immersion rather than destroy a program, a program that is the envy of parents in other provinces.

Shawn Graham has destroyed what was built and nurtured by other premiers, from Louis J. Robichaud to Bernard Lord.

* Marie-Claude Blais, of Moncton, is a lawyer with a general practice in the city. She shares the On The Issues column with Dave Barnett on Saturdays.