It is an honour to have the support of my team.
Thank you for your presentations.
I represent the riding of Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe. As you are no doubt aware, Dieppe is experiencing both economic and population growth. This city has a population of approximately 20,000 people, almost exclusively unilingual francophones. The city of Dieppe has a policy based on respect for the official languages. The language of business for the municipality is French and, if necessary, English. As you may know, the neighbouring city, Moncton, is officially bilingual, and 40% of residents are French-speaking Acadians. Finally, with regard to education and training in our region, our schools offer English immersion programs.
In listening to your presentation, I got the impression that there are no problems in regions outside the major centres for immigration in this country, such as Toronto, Vancouver and others. No doubt you are trying very hard to improve the situation.
However, when I look at the table on page 18 of your strategic plan, I am surprised. In fact, despite what you have said and the efforts you have made—which I want to highlight because we appreciate your efforts a great deal—statistics show that, in Moncton, the heart of Acadia, where the highest percentage of francophones outside Quebec live, only 60 immigrants out of 10,000 can speak both languages when they begin the trip that will take them to Moncton.
Could you tell me, and the people of my riding, if that number is enough? Is there anything else that we could be doing?