Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome to our witnesses. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure my five minutes won't be enough time to ask everything I want to.
I'd like to point something out and shift the focus back to where it should be. We aren't here to discuss official languages. Our purpose isn't to check whether everyone in the country speaks English or French. That isn't the issue. What we are talking about is linguistic duality.
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act was amended in 2002, and the following provision was added:
The objectives of this Act with respect to immigration are . . . to support and assist the development of minority official languages communities in Canada;
Canada's official languages are English and French, not Italian or Chinese. We don't have to know both languages, but we do have to protect official language minority communities.
And that brings me to the much talked-about, Express Entry system. I'd like to hear what both of you have to say on the subject.
Earlier, we talked about temporary foreign workers. Someone said that of 10,000 applications, 100 have been made by francophones. An immigrant who comes to the country under this system has a passport or train ticket, so to speak, to speed up the immigration process. Eligible applicants have to meet requirements with respect to language—which language isn't specified—education, work experience in Canada and other factors that contribute to success in Canada.
French is the fifth most spoken language in the world. Africa and OIF member states have the biggest pool of French speakers. We know, however, that the recognition rate when it comes to African credentials isn't very high.
Is the government really making an effort to integrate francophones into communities and raise the number of immigrants? Will this program hurt linguistic duality?