Madam Speaker, my colleague talked at length about languages and the fact that French is under threat. He sits on the Standing Committee on Official Languages.
French is indeed under threat. This weekend, I learned something that I never knew before, which is that French is the 17th most spoken language in Toronto and about the eighth most spoken language in Calgary and Edmonton. It is not doing too well. It is not doing too well in Quebec either. All the indicators are red. The Official Languages Act promises to send $700 million over the next five years to Quebec's anglophone community. How much is being sent to Quebec's endangered francophone community? Just $50 million. Anglophones represent 8% of the population and are under no threat whatsoever in North America, but they get $700 million, while only $50 million can be spared to protect French.
If the Conservatives take power in a year's time, will my colleague commit to reviewing this absurd funding arrangement?