In Canada, there is a shift from biculturalism to multiculturalism, in my opinion. I think we have to make it clear to our brothers and sisters from other parts of the world who want to come and live here that we have two official languages. We should be encouraging them to retain their own language, but telling them at the same time that, in order to become properly integrated—and the Chinese population in British Columbia is a good example of that, in my opinion—they must also learn French and English. Ideally, people coming here should set as their own personal goal and challenge—and be told this right from the outset, as soon as they leave Slovenia or Russia—the learning of two languages, which is not necessarily a daunting task. Europeans, in particular, are used to learning several languages. It is we, Canadians, who have trouble learning other languages—especially English-speaking Canadians.
I do not understand how it's possible that 7% of English-speaking Canadians are bilingual here, whereas in England—which is not a bilingual country to my knowledge—20% of English people speak English and French. That is a contradiction that I just don't understand. And that's why I say we are missing the boat by not focussing more on this country's fundamental values, including the bilingual component.
So, for me, interculturalism means that, from the very beginning, wherever people come from, they know there are two official languages that define this country. We encourage them to retain their language and its specificities, but they must subscribe to bilingualism. So, we should be promoting biculturalism, rather than multiculturalism, which seems to be what we are doing now.