I understand Mr. Dion's concern about bilingualism, especially since part of his career, not to mention that of some of his friends, has been built on the idea that Canada is a bilingual country.
Looking at the statistics, I see that bilingualism among francophones has risen, reaching 43.4%. But as for the 17.5% of people who identified themselves as bilingual in Canada—a jump of 0.1%—we should keep in mind that the increase in bilingualism is primarily attributed to francophones, as well as anglophones in the Montreal area. But bilingualism in other parts of the country is either stagnating or declining. The rate among young people is said to have dropped between 1996 and 2011, going from 15.2% to 11.2%. Members of that age bracket usually identify themselves as bilingual because they have taken immersion or language classes at school. And yet, 10 years later, those same young people report being less bilingual.
How many of the 11.2% of young people who call themselves bilingual today will be left come 2017?