Madam Chair, I want to inform you that I will be sharing my time with the member for Hochelaga.
First of all, I want to note that Marc-André Bédard has passed away. He was a great Quebecker who did a lot to modernize Quebec and who was, according to all those who were fortunate to meet him, a very gentle man who was very charismatic and intelligent. I offer my sincere condolences to his family, in particular to his son Eric, who I worked with at Fasken Martineau and who, when I was 26 years old, gave me my first piece of political advice when embarking on this political adventure. It was a very simple piece of advice. However, it is important to remember it, and easy to forget. He told me never to speak ill of my adversaries. That is very much the philosophy of the entire Bédard family. We should not be surprised because the apple does not fall far from the tree, of course.
As for the subject at hand this evening, I have a few comments to make in the little time I have available.
The first is that one cannot change what one is unaware of, be it because of ignorance or because one refuses to see things as they are. The fact is, when it comes to language, we know one thing with absolute certainty. French is in decline in Quebec. Many Quebeckers perceive this as a feeling they get from time to time, but one look at the numbers turns feeling into knowing, and that knowledge is deeply disturbing.
What do the numbers tell us?
Between 2001 and 2016, the number of Quebeckers reporting French as their mother tongue fell from 81.4% to 78%. It is the first time in the 150 years that these records have been kept, the first time since 1871, that the percentage of Quebeckers whose first language is French dropped below 80%. According to Statistics Canada, if this trend continues, the percentage of Quebeckers whose mother tongue is French will be somewhere between 69% and 72% by 2036.
The situation is even more dire in Montreal, where the percentage is five points lower than it was 15 years ago. Francophones now account for less than 50% of the population, and this is happening in the suburbs too, in places like Laval and even Longueuil. Demographer Marc Termote did a study for the Office québécois de la langue française in 2011, and such findings recently prompted him to state that things were progressing much faster than he thought just 10 years ago.
This is due in part to the fact that more and more people are speaking English. Unlike people who live in France or Belgium or even Spain or Portugal, people who live in Quebec are not removed from the magnetic attraction of English. They are immersed in its electromagnetic field. They are stuck right to the magnet.
It took craftiness, resilience, persistence, intelligence and courage to resist for four centuries and to still have a francophone society in the Americas. More than 100 years ago, Armand La Vergne's determination brought about the first language law in Quebec, and this determination was mirrored by Dr. Laurin and René Lévesque with Bill 101. Much like my former colleague, Stéphane Dion, I think this is a great piece of legislation, which enshrined the French language in law and cemented its place in Quebec, all while respecting the rights of the anglophone minority in Quebec, which was fundamental to the authors. This is just as important now as it was back then.
It is in our hands now, and to borrow the words of Antonio Gramsci, I am a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will. I sense that will in Quebec. I sense it here. We heard it in the throne speech.
Frankly, I am more concerned about the indifference I see and feel, especially among people of my generation. I hope with all of my heart that I am wrong, but I think this shows how important this evening's debate is.
I believe that we have an individual and collective duty, as Quebeckers, to ensure that the French language is passed on and that it survives. Our language is central to the soul and character of the Quebec people.