This shows that Canada is becoming increasingly diverse and that Canadians' ability to speak more languages is a success for the country. We will continue to invest and meet our commitments under our roadmap, but it is also important for the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism to maintain his commitments towards new Canadians. In my opinion, the census figures are generally good news for Canada. They show that the number of Canadians who speak English and French is increasing. Some successes have certainly been achieved.
As for what Mr. Dion just said, it is really childish to suggest that governing the population of Canada allows the government to ensure that a specific number of Canadians can speak both official languages. It's as if it were just a matter of central economic policy, a central linguistic capacity, and specific results could be obtained simply by providing sufficient funding for our system. It is not as easy as that. Our country is complex. The country's levels of immigration and diversity are constantly changing.
As a government, we have the obligation to protect both official languages—in other words, to protect the federal government's capacity of to fulfill its mandate in both languages. In addition, we have to implement policies and programs to promote official languages and convince young people and immigrants arriving in the country that speaking more languages is an advantage, that it will increase their cultural, social and economic opportunities, and that French and English are both Canada's official languages.