Official Languages committee  That's true. In Quebec—

Official Languages committee  It's important to remain consistent. Outside Quebec, funding is mainly given to francophones. It's a tricky question. How do you take care of René Lévesque's so‑called “dead ducks”? Maybe they aren't so dead after all.

Official Languages committee  I assume that we're talking about Quebec universities. Is that right?

Official Languages committee  Okay. It's partly historical, because they used to provide services. There are two strategies: the carrot and the stick. The carrot acts as an incentive. Let me make a suggestion. This doesn't fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government, Mr. Serré, but it's still relevant.

Official Languages committee  The relative capacities of both groups must be taken into account.

Official Languages committee  I believe that asymmetrical treatment applies. This goes back to Mr. Beaulieu's question earlier. The first international student is often highly valuable to a class, as is the second. When 50% of students are international, having one more doesn't make much difference to the profit margin.

Official Languages committee  This isn't about encroaching on provincial jurisdictions. However, while listening to Ms. Pelletier, I thought of a website that could, for example, help companies identify their English‑to‑French translation needs. Companies could then be put in touch with translation programs at schools.

Official Languages committee  I just have one comment to add. It's entirely reasonable for employers to set up in-house child care, but it's not good for society. It hinders worker mobility between employers. Say you put your one-year-old in your employer's child care program, and down the road, when your child is three, you get a great opportunity to work somewhere else.

Official Languages committee  There was the Quiet Revolution, in 1960. This revolution was necessary because we were lagging behind. Let's give Duplessis his due: He had started to put in place a catch-up plan for high schools, not university, but high schools. Traditionally, we've had lower-paying jobs, lower-rung jobs.

Official Languages committee  I don't think federal research funding would have a significant effect on the training of francophones.

Official Languages committee  Defining who is an anglophone or francophone is always a bit tricky when it comes to determining what services we can offer. However, historically, let's be honest, it's the mother tongue that's used. If you look at the comparisons over time of English speakers, French speakers and mother-tongue speakers in Quebec, what happened was that there was significant immigration between 1970 and 1980.

Official Languages committee  I think we need to distinguish between two types of policy. On the one hand, the recognition of the right to minority-language education, found in the Constitution Act of 1982, has created a foundation that may not be as secure as it could be, but still ensures important fundamental rights.

Official Languages committee  Thank you very much for having me. Mr. Arseneault, I also want to mention that my wife is from the Madawaska Valley, so I agree with what you said about the great things that Edmunston and that part of New Brunswick have to offer. Someone said earlier that French is a difficult language.