None, Nada, Nil, Zip, Zero.

Next week my oldest son is off to Quebec on a school trip, paid for by Mom and Dad. This trip was not paid for by the school, nor the provincial government, nor the federal government, not one red cent of support. None, Nada, Nil, Zip, Zero.

I encouraged my son to stay in French (it's an option after grade 8) so that he would have more choices for jobs, and learn another language. Now we have to pay $2,000 to send him to Quebec for a week. You would think that some level of government would help with some of the costs. If the governments are not helping students and their parents, where is all that money going? Who is getting all the funds that we, as taxpayers, are forced to pay for bi-lingualism?

As a matter of fact, the parents are also paying for the substitute teacher that is needed because not all of the students taking French could afford to go on the trip. It's not only my school either, I talked to another Mom who's kid is doing the same trip, and they are in the same boat. No funding.

Where is the money for bi-lingualism going? Who is benefiting, not kids out here in Alberta, I might as well have enrolled my kid in Chinese, or here in Edmonton, Ukrainian, they would have been better off, and I would be $2,000 richer.

Is there any politician out there who would like to answer my questions? Is there some program out there our schools don't know about? I've tried looking on the federal government site, but found nothing, so if there is a program it's hidden from the very people who could benefit from it.