I'm going to answer in English.
The process has already started. What it takes is the Council of Ministers of Education--it's all the different ministries of education--which meets in Toronto regularly, coming together to discuss joint projects, because many of the decisions are done at a provincial level.
We started working on the dialogue in about 2003, and one of the biggest issues was exactly that: knowing what a French immersion program produces. What's the level of bilingualism in a French immersion program from kindergarten to grade 8 or from kindergarten to grade 12? What is the level of bilingualism, core French, and
English as a second language.
--it's the same idea in different provinces--so that universities can get a sense of exactly what entrance requirement you could ask for?
I think that goes back to the question of why some of those requirements were taken away. It was because if you were coming from different provinces, the expectations were different. If you finished your immersion in this province, you didn't get the entrance requirement for that university.
That's a little bit about why those things were relaxed.
The dialogue has already started. The agreement on what framework to use has already happened. We're now at the stage of having the different provinces look at how they can begin to implement it at the K to 12 levels. We're starting to encourage some piloting of actual testing.
The example John gave was Edmonton Public Schools. They are quite a leader in this area. They've actually tested samples of immersion students, core French students, and so on so that they can get a sense of their level on the grid.
They're also working at the Faculté Saint-Jean at the University Alberta, which is now looking to implement that entrance requirement to say that in certain faculties--not all faculties, but certain faculties--you would have to have a B2 or a C1 or whatever level those are.
I can give background information on what the framework is. It's based on a European model that was developed over 20 years. It's a very good research base. The Department of Canadian Heritage actually did a study on all the frameworks that have been developed, and that's why they've moved forward with this framework. It best fits the autonomy of the provinces in education but also the joint work that can happen at a pan-Canadian level. So it's moving.
The next stage for us is to push that project towards post-secondary. That means meeting with community colleges and meeting with university programs and encouraging them to use a portfolio and a tracking system with their students.
One of the pilot projects we have going on right now is having six different faculties of education developing this. They'll use it in the teacher education programs. We are a little closer to that.