That's a complex question. I'll try to do justice to it.
In general, I'm not sure that assimilation and the rate thereof is the right question. I think we have to look at the reality on the ground and what we're trying to achieve. Certainly that has been the case in Manitoba.
We wouldn't be having this conversation today if we had taken the status quo in 1998 and said, “Why are we bothering?” If we'd said that immigrants weren't coming to Manitoba and they'd be crazy to, which was certainly the attitude that potential immigrants received from some immigration officers overseas, we wouldn't be having this conversation today, because we wouldn't be in the process.
You have to start somewhere. The reality for a lot of minority official language communities outside of Quebec is that you have to start with the bilingual reality first before you can talk in realistic terms about being able to both live and work in French in most areas.
We feel that with the objective we have—the 7% target—and the partnerships we have on the ground, we can transform and bring more vibrancy to communities. If we had brought them to the table today, they would probably tell you that St. Boniface today is different from what it was 10 years ago.
Whether we're talking about St. Pierre, St. Malo, or any of the other communities we have throughout Manitoba, we are seeing possibilities and an optimism that stagnation and assimilation are not the only things on the table. The potential for growth, expanding communities, and the francophone reality in Manitoba are there.
We have work to do. As we said, it means more investment in the services available across all walks of life. You started with the question of assimilation; I would start with the question of how we build on the successes we've achieved so far.