Thank you for the question.
That brings us back to what we refer to as asymmetry.
Traditionally, the country has adopted a symmetric approach. The federal government wanted to protect the French minority language in other provinces and, symmetrically, it acted in similar fashion in Quebec to protect English–speaking Quebeckers' right by promoting English. That was the symmetric approach.
We understand the political motivations underlying that approach. It allowed for a compromise between Canada's two main language communities, which seems very logical. However, what we are seeing 54 years after the Official Languages Act was enacted is that this logic of symmetry works against French in Quebec and in favour of English in Montreal. It favours French in other provinces, but very minimally.
The symmetrical approach helps many individuals and small communities. It contributes to the respect of minor individual rights, but, if we look at the whole picture, its impact on French in other provinces is very limited. However, this approach has a significant impact on the promotion of English and, in some respects, on limiting the promotion of French in Quebec. The only possible approach is to scrap this symmetrical logic in favour of the principle of asymmetry, whereby the federal government would not deal with the issue of English in Quebec in the same way it deals with it in other provinces.