I'm sorry. I'll slow down. I want to get to the end of my remarks.
The changes anticipated at the federal and provincial levels obscure even more significant local changes. Suburban Montreal, for example, has been rapidly changing for the past 10 or 15 years, and that change will continue for the next few decades. We're witnessing a geographic spread of the anglicization phenomenon.
I should point out that the geographic concentration of speakers is a key factor in the survival of linguistic communities. The more geographically concentrated the speakers of a language, the greater their potential linguistic vitality.
When the percentage of francophones in a region falls below a certain threshold, the percentage of those who don't speak French and adopt English as their language of integration rises quickly.
I would like to emphasize one final point. The percentage of bilingual francophones is rising sharply in Quebec, as Mr. Castonguay mentioned. That growth will continue over the next few decades. The long-term consequences of that increase are not yet well understood. That may mean an increase in the consumption of cultural goods in English, a decline in incentives for anglophones to learn French, an increase in the use of English in the public space, a decline in support for linguistic planning measures and so on. This is an issue that we will have to explore.
May I make a final remark, in conclusion, Mr. Chair?