Good morning, Minister. Thank you for being here today.
The issues surrounding immigration are extremely complex, particularly when it comes to encouraging French speakers to settle in provinces other than Québec. As the population pool in question is very limited in size, it is difficult to introduce effective measures. It is difficult to implement an action plan that will truly create ideal conditions for first attracting people and then holding onto them. A number of people have told us that the plan has serious shortcomings on this front, making it difficult for us to know where exactly we are heading.
For example, the plan does not provide us with an overview of the situation. It does not explain what our starting point is. It provides us with various insights and statistics but, at the same time, informs us that there has been no specific study into the current or targeted number of immigrants in Canada. By way of example, we are told that Canada plans to open its doors to 225,000 to 255,000 immigrants in 2006.
When the plan was launched, you and Ms. Verner opted to maintain the initial targets, meaning that you intend for 4.4 per cent of Canada's immigrants in 2008 to be French speakers who would settle in communities in provinces other than Québec. If immigration levels were to remain stable between now and then, that would mean that French-speaking communities outside Quebec would welcome between 9,900 and 11,200 French-language immigrants per year. However, the same plan also forecasts that 15,000 French-speaking immigrants will settle in provinces other than Quebec over the next five years. This gives us an entirely different figure, and one that is four times less than the official target.
When members of the steering committee appeared before us they explained that this confusion has stemmed from a change in the definition. Under the terms of the new definition, the target is 1.25 per cent, which is equivalent to current levels.
We are finding it difficult to pinpoint the actual target. I would like you to tell us about your targets for 2008 onwards and the instruments you will be using to measure whether they have been met.