Ms. St-Denis, thank you for your question. It's a great one.
Yes, sometimes it is discouraging. I'll put in in concrete terms. In 1981, Nova Scotia had 80,000 francophones. And 15 years later, only 42,000 were left. So that gives you an idea of assimilation in Nova Scotia. That was before the province had exclusively French schools, before K to 12 education was available there.
It wasn't until 2000 that Acadians finally got their own K to 12 schools. So it isn't surprising, then, that when young people look for a job, they aren't at all comfortable applying for a job that requires candidates to be proficient in French. It's unfortunate. These students graduated from dual stream schools where half the classes were in English and the other half, in French. UNESCO, not me, said that dual stream schools were a civilized way to assimilate a people.
I predict that, in one generation, things will change. The fact remains, however, that the people currently applying for jobs, whether in the community or the government, are immigrants. I talked to some of my government colleagues about the issue, and they are having the same problem: the francophones applying for jobs are indeed immigrants.
That's not a bad thing. It enriches the French language and enhances its value in our province. When an immigrant comes to Nova Scotia and speaks French, they are demonstrating the language's importance. Acadians and francophones in the region realize that they aren't alone in their tiny community and that the francophonie is much bigger. It attaches importance to the French language and strengthens it. But what I see happening now is heartbreaking and very worrisome.