I assume that you have already received quite a bit of information, as Joseph-Yvon Thériault has already said. I will emphasize some data, some trends that various policies have had a hard time accommodating.
I will deal with identity because there is a strong relationship between demography or demographic trends as we know them and the categories that we define to measure the progress of linguistic communities and identity. What is identity? It is the way in which people define themselves in terms of their language. It is belonging or not belonging to a community.
What does it mean to be a francophone in Montreal, in Moncton, in Edmonton or in Regina, for example, where there already exists an asymmetry in the reality that the francophone communities experience in different areas? I am also of the opinion that, when it comes to their policies, the federal government practices a type of de facto, if not de jure asymmetry in their distribution of resources to these communities.
I mentioned trends. One thing that I found striking in the census was the issue of exogamy. There are three elements or three factors that have greatly influenced francophone communities outside Quebec. There is more than one reality when it comes to francophones living outside of Quebec.
One of these trends is exogamy. Exogamy applies to people who, like myself, are married to francophones. In my household, since my wife is a francophone and since women play a greater role in the choice of language that their children will speak, my children's mother tongue is French. When the situation is reversed, when the woman is an anglophone and the man is a francophone, then English is the language that is usually passed on to the children. Naturally, it depends on the part of the country, which does have an impact on language. According to the census, this is often what happens.
Across the country, we see an important link between the levels of outmarriage of francophones to anglophones and the rates of language transfers.
For example, in Newfoundland, about 80% of francophones are married to anglophones. In Nova Scotia, 55% of francophones are married to anglophones. In New Brunswick, it's the opposite—only about 15% are married to anglophones.
Then we go on to places like Winnipeg, where it's about 50-50. In Saskatchewan, some 70% of francophones are married to anglophones; Alberta, 66%; Calgary, about 40%, etc.
So when you look at the results of the census, you can see that there is a relationship between exogamy and francophone adoption of English, wholly or partially.
That's a hard reality for any government to address. It's hard to encourage people to marry within their community, even though there are communities that do such things. But we need to take this into consideration as we think about what can be done from a policy standpoint in a world where there is increasing diversity and duality of identity.
With respect to vitality, immigration is also an important factor in some francophone communities outside Quebec. We have to be realistic about the notion of vitality. If we assume that vitality means substantial growth in numbers, then we risk setting up unrealistic targets in our language policies, since these dual and multiple identities are becoming more common in many parts of the country.
You can see from the StatsCan data that in certain parts of the country—in British Columbia and Toronto, for example—immigration plays an important role in the composition and size of the francophone community. This assumes an inclusive definition of that community, which the StatsCan data support.
In places like British Columbia and Alberta, francophone populations have grown in real numbers, and this growth is largely a function of Quebeckers
moving to these areas. For example, in British Columbia approximately 50% of the population was born in Quebec. These are Quebeckers from British Columbia, if you will. They play an important role.
Over the five years between 2001 and 2006, these gains were less significant because Quebec's economy was more stable and its political situation was more reliable. Fewer francophones left Quebec for these other areas. Paradoxically, you might say that the more instability there is in Quebec, the more francophones will leave for other areas, where the population ends up increasing as a function of that instability. It is somewhat paradoxical.
There is, then, this linguistic duality. A study conducted after the census noted that many francophones outside Quebec called themselves bilingual. In Manitoba, in British Columbia, they called themselves bilingual. It is difficult to measure identity in the census, where people were asked to tick off one box or another. Identity is a word used in the singular, despite the fact that it is possible to declare one's mother tongue to be both French and English. That is surprising because two languages are not taught to very young children at the same time. It is really over the years that their mother tongue is determined.
It is this mix that is important. Causes of this demographic change are also evident. Between 2001 and 2006, there is a decrease in young francophones and an aging of the babyboomers in several areas outside Quebec.
I am now going to talk about bilingualism, because I assume I have about 30 seconds left.