Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Through you, Mr. Chair, Mr. Smith proposes an integrated schooling system as a way to address some of the problems with education in Montreal and in Quebec. Perhaps there's another option now, and I'd like to ask him about that.
Perhaps instead of having that approach, the other approach would be to say to school boards across the country to adopt this policy that I've been researching, to adopt the policy of trilingualism, to say “Okay, two of the three official languages must be French and English, and the third one is the student's choice”. I know in Montreal more and more students are taking up Spanish as their third choice.
So as a way to address some of the problems that you have identified, you would say that in order to graduate, every student graduating from CEGEP or from a high school would be required to know three languages, two of which must be French and English and the third would be their choice. It might be, if they're into classics, Latin or Greek. If they're into biblical studies, it could be Aramaic or Hebrew. If they're aboriginal, it could be a native tongue. If they're interested in an international commerce degree or pursuing international trade, it could be Spanish or Chinese or the like.
This could be a different way of addressing some of the problems you've identified and in a way that could be constitutionally consistent with some of the charter issues you've identified with respect to the different schooling systems along linguistic lines, but at the same time overcoming this lack of interaction between the solitudes, so to speak.
I'm interested in hearing Mr. Smith's comments on this, Mr. Chair.