Another reason they take French is that students are required to take at least one year of a second language to get a bachelor of arts degree at our university. French is overwhelmingly the choice, because they at least have some experience with it in high school; or, as Janice said, there is a recognition that French, as one of our two official languages, is the natural path to take, I think, for most of them.
On April 30th, 2009. See this statement in context.