Thank you very much, Mr. Donnelly, for that introduction.
Good morning, Mr. Blaney.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and ladies and gentlemen. I feel very honoured to be able to speak to you today as a young English speaker from Quebec. Thank you very much for this opportunity to testify in front of the committee today.
As Mr. Donnelly said, I am an English-speaking youth from the Eastern Townships. I believe that as English-speaking youth, we have an unique identity. We're unique because we live in a dynamic place where we have the opportunity to become bilingual and where we are surrounded by people who are French or English or both.
Because of this, we often feel that when we leave Quebec, there is something missing. We value the bilingual and bicultural home from which we came, and many of us want to stay or come home.
Like many young Quebeckers, my hope is to remain a fully engaged member of the province and of my home region, contributing to its future in every way that my talents will allow. To do so, I, like many other Quebeckers, have worked hard to achieve bilingual skills. Eighty per cent of English mother tongue Quebeckers between 15 and 45 are bilingual. In return, we expect acceptance and the space in which to preserve our English identity, and the opportunity for greater integration into the Quebec society as bilingual, bi-literate, and bicultural Quebeckers.
But the reality is that the English-speaking youth in Quebec face lower political participation and representation and higher unemployment rates compared to their francophone counterparts. We are effectively barred from the Quebec civil service, with a participation rate of 0.2%. For example, my master's degree is meant to effectively train me to work in the federal or provincial civil service, but I know that it will be a major challenge, and perhaps even an obstacle, for me to be able to serve in the public service of my own province, because I am an English speaker. In contrast, many of my classmates will return to their home provinces to work in the provincial civil service, building on a sense of identity, belonging, and ownership that is perhaps not available to me and others like me.
As well, for many, the hope of economic well-being and belonging lies elsewhere, beyond the regions in which we grew up. Ironically, our bilingualism is an asset to employers beyond Quebec. At the same time, being an English speaker puts us at an economic disadvantage at home.
For a person like me, who will graduate with two degrees, the statistical likelihood of residing in the province is low. Statistics show that the higher the education level attained, the lower the probability that graduates will stay in or return to Quebec. This further fuels population decline in rural communities, including the Eastern Townships, where I am from and where there is a considerable “missing middle”.
But on a positive note, today's youth clearly express their desire to stay in Quebec and to contribute to Quebec's society. They wish to move away from past conflicts and insecurities as they embrace bilingualism, social cohesion, and an authentic desire to put an end to the two solitudes.
We know that the rate of out-migration is slowing. The bilingual, highly educated cohort has made the effort to gain the linguistic skills needed to fully participate in Quebec's society by seeking and receiving better French language instruction and by linking to our French society. The youth of the English-speaking community of Quebec are a tremendous resource, capable not only of translating the English-speaking world but of acting as organic linguistic brokers able to bridge cultural as well as linguistic barriers.
So today we urge the Government of Canada to fulfill its obligations towards the English-speaking youth in Quebec, to engage us in a formal, meaningful, and sustained way to ensure our success, and to lead the process of demonstrating that we are a valuable and a recognized asset to Quebec and to Canada. We want to stay in Quebec, but often our chances of staying are stacked against us.
But we are more than willing and more than able citizens of Quebec, so I urge you today, for the sake of tomorrow, to help us to live in our own province and to allow us to enjoy our unique background, as well as our unique, contemporary, bicultural context. Allow us both to enjoy and to contribute to this quality of life and to this opportunity.
Thank you once again for giving me this opportunity to speak to you today. I sincerely hope that my own experience and my suggestions will prove useful to you today.