Official Languages committee  If I understood the question correctly, it's clear that at all times and as far as possible, we need to support people's language development and skills. If people are not able to use their second language or their mother tongue, there will certainly be a decline of the language in the community.

Official Languages committee  Over a year ago, we set up a special working group to examine the impact of the new powers to be granted to the Office of the Commissioner. This group examined what these new powers will mean for our resources, our organizational structure, our relations with the communities, and so on.

Official Languages committee  We're getting ready. I hope that when Parliament reconvenes in the fall, we will have the opportunity to present our new plan to you.

Official Languages committee  The sooner a person takes ownership of the cultural elements of a community, the more quickly they will integrate into it and feel that they belong to it.

Official Languages committee  Let's look at part VII of the act. In terms of immigration, if we want not only to maintain, but also to re‑establish the traditional demographic weight at a rate of 6.1% or 6.2%, it's clear that we have to maintain the concept of mother tongue. I think that part VII of the act gives us the means to do that.

Official Languages committee  The language spoken at home is a very complex indicator. It depends on where you live and who you are. Are you an immigrant or a native speaker of French? Are you an exogamous couple? The language spoken at home is one indicator among many.

Official Languages committee  I take it with much anticipation. I wonder if that will translate into an active offer of service in both official languages. For example, if we are offered a glass of juice, are they going to say “would you like” and “est‑ce que vous voulez”? That's what we call an active offer.

Official Languages committee  Okay, but that's very short. I think the answer is quite simple. It shouldn't be specified that services are offered in both official languages today, since that is part of the norm. That's what's normal.

Official Languages committee  I think it varies from region to region and from university to university. Obviously, if we want to retain international students with a view to granting them permanent residency, the process has to be started as soon as they arrive, not in their fourth year of study. Contact with the communities needs to be established in their first year of study.

Official Languages committee  Obviously, if we want to increase the student population in the school system, we have to start with early childhood, before children go to school. We have to ensure that children have a sufficient command of the minority language to be able to go to school. It's a choice that parents make based on available resources.

Official Languages committee  I think it's Air Canada.

Official Languages committee  We've seen a number of barriers to achieving that target in the past. First, we must ensure that we recruit candidates where there are significant francophone populations. In the past, I think we focused on certain European regions, but I often say that the future of French lies in Africa, and that we have to recruit from the francophone pools.

Official Languages committee  Thank you for the question. Earlier, I talked about the labour shortage in education and health care. A number of provinces have recruited a lot of nurses from abroad, but they don't seem to be doing the same thing to find teachers. It's crucial that we provide guidance to these individuals, given the whole cultural aspect of what teachers do.

Official Languages committee  Early childhood services are not offered in the official language of choice—I'm talking about French here. If we want to encourage people to learn a language in a minority situation, we need to start as early as possible. We also have to take into account the fact that there are a huge number of exogamous or mixed couples.

Official Languages committee  The administrative monetary penalty regime will not come into force immediately upon royal assent. There will have to be an order in council, followed by regulations. This is not a power that I will be able to use right away. The other mechanisms in the bill will also be very useful for dealing with entities like Air Canada, whether for compliance agreements or orders.