Thank you.
Yes, that is accurate, although I'm going to say it was grâce à mes parents, thanks to my parents, that I am bilingual. Education decisions are made by parents, although the reason they continue to embrace their other official language or their bilingualism as adults is left to themselves. For someone like me, I decided when I started university. Parents make those decisions for their children à la maternelle, en première année, or even when we're lucky enough to have immersion tardive, late immersion, in some of our communities across the country.
I'm not going to say it's not important to be engaging youth, but it starts when people are little, before they are youth. It's about putting information into the hands of parents as to why being bilingual is such an asset, how it builds character in an individual, how it helps build a community, and helps build a country. It's a choice every parent should be able to make and have access to in their communities. That's critical. We would say to start there.