Mr. Speaker, in 2001 Canada will be hosting the IVth Games of la Francophonie. They will be held in Ottawa, the capital and a unilingual English city.
Here are a few useful statistics for the countries who will be coming to visit us and who will be told that Canada, “the best country in the world”, is bilingual.
First, according to Statistics Canada, 91% of the population of the city of Ottawa speaks English only, and 9.5% are francophone.
Second, the rate of assimilation of French speakers in the unilingual English capital of Canada is close to 30%.
In light of this, it would clearly appear that the expression best reflecting the true picture of the unilingual English capital will be a sign in English saying “Welcome to the Games of la Francophonie”.