Evidence of meeting #17 for Official Languages in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was students.
A recording is available from Parliament.
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Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
Oh, good. Very good. We should make it a recommendation of the committee.
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Dean, Faculty of Arts, Acadia University
We had quite a discussion on that about ten years ago. There was a motion in the faculty of arts to get rid of that requirement. It was quite a rigorous debate, and the motion lost overwhelmingly. It wasn't the language department that ended up supporting it, but in fact the other departments.
But as you can see, I've been wearing my earpiece most of today. I'm probably the least able to communicate in French, but that's because I studied Chinese and Japanese when I was at university. I did Asian history. So I think I have a small excuse for being a little deficient in my French abilities.
It was in fact people like me, people in political science, and people in other disciplines, who argued for this, and the classicists all joined in, because the reality is that it's not just a question of the ability in the language you can get from the one year or training, but how it trains your mind. It really focuses you and makes you learn in a different way. I think that the most rigorous course you can take in university is probably learning a second language. The other thing is that it opens you up to a different culture and a different way of thinking. And several of us have mentioned the internationalization from this, or just learning about other people. I think that's one of the other great benefits from language acquisition.
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Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
Thank you, Mr. Gourde, for letting me share the time with you.
Go on. There's one minute left.
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Assistant Dean to Research, Saint-Jean Campus, University of Alberta
To answer your question, there are various groups. There's one group that comes from immersion. Within that group, there are two ways of thinking.
There are some for whom it's simply a question of values or ideology. The group Canadian Parents for French sometimes adopts a solidly “Trudeauist” ideology. These parents want a bilingual Canada and want their children to be bilingual. Those children, having grown up in that environment, subsequently wind up at our university.
There are also some for whom it is a question of career choice. You have to understand that 100 percent of our students find jobs after graduating. The education students who speak French are snatched up. Their jobs are guaranteed.
10:50 a.m.
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC
As you said, we are now on perhaps the second generation or the start of the third generation in the promotion of bilingualism in Canada. With respect to the third generation of those who promote it, is the language better, in families, in English and in French, relative to the language of the first or second generations?
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Assistant Dean to Research, Saint-Jean Campus, University of Alberta
There's a particular phenomenon in immersion. These people often speak what we call “Immersionese”, a distinct French that they understand amongst themselves. When they arrive at the Saint-Jean Campus, it's a shock. They have to relearn the language. Is it better? For the reasons mentioned earlier, probably not. At the university, we're trying to correct that.
You asked the question whether students speak other languages. Increasingly, yes. Currently, we at Saint-Jean Campus offer Spanish courses which are very popular. The hardest language to learn is the second language. Subsequently learning a third language is easy. Students are ready to do it. They are open to the world and want to do it.
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Acting Dean, Faculty of Humanities, University of Calgary
We have a lot of students who choose a double major. There is a second language requirement at the Faculté des sciences humaines. Students in international relations, international trade, have to study a second language for at least two years. We have a lot of students who figure that, since they're in Canada, they should learn French. They've chosen a career in which French is a major asset for them.
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Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
Thank you very much, Mr. Gourde.
With that testimony, we conclude this morning's business. We've had some cool presentations from British Columbia and some “tripping” ones from Calgary.
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Some hon. members
Oh, oh!
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Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
Thank you very much. Your work is important. In fact, you are the leading edge of linguistic duality.
And thanks as well to the members for their cooperation. We'll see each other next week. Have a good trip!
Thank you.