Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to speak on the bilingualism you mentioned in paragraph 14. Let me be very clear: I do support bilingualism. However, for millions of immigrant families, English or French is neither their first nor their second language. They come here, they study hard, they work hard, and they become proficient in one of the official languages. For them, entering the public service is a major, major problem.
Two weeks back when I went door-knocking, I met an immigrant family where the dad and his daughter were professionals. She spoke to me at length of her experience. She interned in one of the federal departments here, and she was not recruited because her manager told her that she was not bilingual. Now she works with one of the four major audit firms. Not only did we lose a good professional, but it leaves a very bad taste in the mouth of the family.
I understand that some of your recruitment ads mention something like “bilingualism is an asset”. Maybe the managers are using that to recruit only bilingual candidates. I think unilingual candidates should be recruited and then trained in the second language. With our aim to improve bilingualism, if you start recruiting only among the groups of young professionals who are already bilingual, it creates a major problem.