That is extraordinary. That is unusual for me, usually I go over my allotted time.
With respect to bilingualism, for several years now, two approaches have been used at the federal policy level. One approach was to assist minority language groups asymmetrically, to a certain extent, and this involved allocating resources in different ways to different areas, resulting in a “no one size fits all” for communities. Do not think that in Saskatchewan, for example, one should decide that because the community is diminishing, its resources should be reduced. I do not think you should shoot someone who is vulnerable. Having said that, an asymmetrical approach is being used. However, I think that the government has realized over the past five or six years that it is important to make sure that more anglophones speak French because francophones need to have interaction, in some parts of the country, with anglophones who speak a second language. If fewer anglophones speak French then there will be fewer opportunities for francophones to interact in their own language. So I think that is also an approach that should be used.
I also think that when it comes to bilingualism, to teaching French as a second language to anglophones, Canada is not strong enough. We are even behind the United States, where people are learning Spanish as a second language at a much faster rate than what is being done here with respect to teaching French. More pressure should be applied in this area. I do not think, contrary to Joseph-Yvon, for whom I have an enormous amount of respect, that in a situation of cause and effect, bilingualism is the reason why there has been a decrease in the number of francophones outside Quebec. In fact, I think that the more people speak French the stronger the message is that it is important to speak French and the more this is valued in society.
I will conclude with two points. First, I think we need some strong social marketing in Canada in order to communicate the value of French to anglophones. For example, on English CBC, I have never seen any advertising encouraging people to learn French because it is important for their own advancement, for progress, etc. I rarely see this. Yet in the United States, you see that kind of advertising on PBS, where people say: Learning a language opens the mind. I think that if we have that kind of advertising here, people will react by saying that French is being imposed. They do impose French yet there is not enough progress. For anglophones, learning French as a second language is a very slow process. Even here in Ottawa, in two weeks I will be talking about a new study that I am doing on this topic.
Second—and I know that private companies do not like this idea—I think that with respect to federal government contracts, more pressure has to be put on private companies for them to require a greater knowledge of French from their employees. I know that this is difficult, and that businesses do not like having this imposed on them, that they would rather do it voluntarily. However my impression is that despite all the goodwill out there, not enough progress is being made in that regard.