Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from La Pointe-de-l'Île for pointing out that the NDP was the first party to support Quebec's right to self-determination. What he did not mention, of course, is that the NDP is the only political party in Canada that promotes the French language in the provinces it governs and here in the House of Commons.
As the member well knows, in British Columbia, it was an NDP government that put in place the network of primary, secondary and post-secondary schools throughout the province. More and more children are studying in French throughout their school years.
Although the sad history of francophone rights in Canada, which the member for La Pointe-de-l'Île mentioned, is true, it is in the past. Today, we are seeing more and more progress. I am rather optimistic about the future of our beautiful language, because I see that, in the coming years, there will be 500 million francophones in the world.
Is my colleague ready to come to British Columbia to see the British Columbian francophonie?