Mr. Speaker, the new minister responsible for official languages has inherited quite a challenge.
Assimilation is taking a heavy toll on Canada's francophone and Acadian communities, despite the courageous efforts of these communities. According to Statistics Canada the rate of assimilation is constantly increasing and stood at 36% in the last census.
If the minister truly wants to change this state of affairs, and I hope he does, and come up with solutions, will he first admit that he must recognize the problem of assimilation from which these communities are suffering, rather than deny it, as the federal government has for too long done?