Official Languages committee  That's the only answer I have for now.

Official Languages committee  No problem.

Official Languages committee  Statistics Canada regularly consults representatives from official language minorities, but not necessarily people from the legal community.

Official Languages committee  We will be consulting anyone able to provide as much useful information as possible to Statistics Canada, so that those needs are met.

Official Languages committee  My answer will always be the same. A very large number of communities and associations tell us about urgent measures. Everyone has their own urgent measures, and Statistics Canada, as the national statistical agency, must take into consideration each of those requests and assess them very carefully.

Official Languages committee  That is a great question. I will quickly answer by saying that what seems obvious often isn't to the people surveyed and to the respondents. The first question was to find out whether the people did part or all of their primary schooling in French. Clearly, if section 23 is applied, we must also—although I'm not a lawyer—find out whether the people went to primary school in French for three months and whether that makes them eligible under section 23.

Official Languages committee  I mentioned earlier that, in the national census tests of 1993 and 1998, Statistics Canada conducted testing on the language of instruction. The results were not perfect and led to other questions. We have formed partnerships with the federal government departments on an ongoing basis.

Official Languages committee  What we said is that the 2006 survey was accurately measuring the number of rights holders in official language minorities. The survey counted all the parents outside Quebec whose mother tongue was French. French was either the only language or one among others. In addition, it counted all the people who, not having French or English as a mother tongue, stated that French was their primary official language spoken.

Official Languages committee  It actually was a Canada-wide survey that included all the provinces. There was a sample of about 50,000 people taken from official language minorities, not from the entire Canadian population.

Official Languages committee  Ultimately, the recommendation is submitted to the government, and cabinet decides...

Official Languages committee  ... and approves the content of the census.

Official Languages committee  No problem.

Official Languages committee  I would like to make a small correction.

Official Languages committee  I did not say that it was not up to Statistics Canada to make decisions on these issues. In fact, Statistics Canada conducts tests, takes recommendations into account, and assesses the possible options very carefully. That is why I mentioned the census tests; the 1993 and 1998 census included a question on language of education.

Official Languages committee  Thank you for your question. My answer has two parts. You talked about adding four questions. That is not the case, because the seven questions in the current census cover other dimensions. There is a possibility of adding 10 other questions because the 11th is the one that is already included in the census; it concerns citizenship.